Guatemala Photo Of The Day – When You Have To Go, You Have To Go

Jose waits patiently outside the door which leads to the only bathroom on the property shared my his family and a few other family units.

The bathroom situation is kind of interesting in Xenacoj.  There is a sewer system of sorts which runs underneath the concrete streets of the village.  The system in unable to process toilet paper.  After taking care of your business (if you know what I’m talking about), you put your waste paper in a trash can beside the toilet.  Then you can flush the toilet.

Isaac had to use the facilities while he we were working.  When he went into the bathroom, he immediately came out a little confused.  There wasn’t any toilet paper in the bathroom.  We asked Betty, and she sent one of her boys to a local tienda (convenience store) to pick up some toilet paper.  This was clearly a luxury for this family (and for most in the village).  We came to realize the magazine laying on the back of the toilet paper doubled as reading material and toilet paper.

Guatemala taught us many lessons.  One of the lessons which was repeated over and over again was how wealthy we are as Americans.  As Jose looks at us with hesitation, he is soaking it in and learning along the way.  What he may not realize is that we are soaking it all in and learning too.