He gives and takes away

So this blog will be quick. I have two super high quality stories to accompany the photos.

First the bottom pic. It is a picture of my latrine. I think you need to click on it to really appreciate the story.

My dad is a real handy man so of course he built his latrine by hand. It is really nice. Normally the latrines are made from corragated metal. Which you might imagine this close to the equator are just plain aweful. Our is made of a hole covered by wood support beems covered with a mud- concrete mix. It has adobe walls and has got great airflow.

Between us volunteers we joke around alot about are digestive tracts. We are always sick, and it is a part of every day life for us. So it manifests itself in conversation. This story is along those lines. About two weeks ago I went for my morning stop at the latrine. All seemed normal enough. As I sat down and got comfortable I experienced one of the scariest moments of my life. It needs to be mentioned that I have seen multiple scorpions in the latrine before, but this blows that level of fear out of the water.

So I was just getting comfortable when I felt the floor move. I do not mean an earth quake but the hand patched floor started to give way. I can only begin to describe to you what was going through my head, and it goes something by this. The floor is about to give way to a two meter deep hole filled with awefullness. To top that off I have my pants around my ankles and the walls look like they will fall on top of me as well. I have intergrated but if this were to happen I would not want anyone to save me.

The floor did not give out. But due to my irregular bowls I would continue to use the latrine. For another two weeks at least. Two days ago it happened. If you look closly at the foto you can see that the far side of the floor has caved in. I can say this for all of you that it takes a awlie to wake up in the morning. Being inside a collapsing latrine will get your motor going.

Now the big news. You can see in the fisrt picture one of my resident bats. I have no screens on my windows so at night the fly in and rest on my light bulb. The battle these noctural birds that have a call very similar to a monkey. We do not have electricity so at leasts it has some purpose. I have sat awake many nights listening to the squabbles thinking I wish I had electricity so that when the bats landed on the bulb it would burn thier feet and I would not have to worry about night rabies exposure. Well last saturday the elventh of July 2008 electricity came to LAs Colmenas. I can now do my work from home. I do not have to lug my 20 lbs battery 7 km to get it recharged. LIfe is good. Can you say ability to cook after 7 pm. Man this is awesome.