Right now i am sitting under an awning leaning against a thin bamboo pole. I’m sitting on a mix of concrete, red dirt, and gravel. In front of me is a small light blue house with a rusty tin roof. I’m not sure if anyone lives there because i haven’t seen anything come out of there other than wild dogs. Looking in front of me beyond the little blue house is nothing but mountains. As far as the eye can see. Mountains on top of mountains on top of more mountains. The reason i can see so many is because the village we are staying in is on top of a mountain. This afternoon there is a cool breeze coming from beyond the mountains. It smells and looks like there’s rain coming. Far beyond the mountains i can see it… dark sheets of rain flying across the cloudy sky. Now I’m worried about how i am going to keep all my stuff dry due to the fact that at the moment the place i call home is my tent.
Taking a look behind me i can see a large building consisting of 6 rooms with bunk beds crammed in the corner of each room. Flimsy doors do their best to close out unwelcome guests such as stray dogs and snakes. Inside one of the open air rooms is my tent… of course sharing a space with Emma’s tent. With about 1/3 of a foot in between our tent doors we have quickly learned how to live within such close quarters. Now that you can imagine the inside. Let’s take a look at the outside of this giant cage. Walking around to the side there are three bathrooms. One of which i got stuck in yesterday. If that doesn’t tell you how sketchy these bathrooms are i don’t know what will.
Showers? What are showers? We wash ourselves here by dumbing a bucket full of cold water on our heads and calling it clean. These are called… wait for it… bucket showers! Creative right?
Yes, living conditions are a little rough. However, i wouldn’t trade it for the world when i am blessed enough to be sitting on top of a mountain with an indescribable view above the clouds. While listening to Spanish music blaring from a house down the hill, the sweet sweet aroma of campfire mixed with honeysuckle flows through my nose. Some moments i smell an occasional waft of homemade cooking and the cool mountain breeze… and now back to reality… a spider just bit the back of my leg… 🙂 gotta love the race!
