Two words which translate so easy, but if you had been me the first few days here, you might have had the typical lost in translation look on your face when you heard women on every corner saying it.
I heard those words then and just thought, “What are you saying?” I hear them now and think to myself, “oh crap I forgot my umbrella.” Because para agua (for water) is how they say umbrellas. And it has rained everyday but two since I have been here. I hear those words and think, not again!!!!!
It’s summer in Peru which makes it a rainy season anyways, but this year, they have had record rainfall and the government has declared a state of emergency. This has resulted in the city of Arequipa shutting off the water supply in 80% of the town for FOUR days to give the water plants time to clean all of the water that has backed up. You know what that means? Four days of no showering or flushing toilets. Thankfully, I live in the 20% of the city which has water. Can you imagine, if I were in the 80%, I would have to be exiled from the country and sent back to the United States. Not because I would smell worse than anyone else, but I might cause a riot in the streets of this conservative town. Because, despite me always saying that I am not high maintenance, I NEED a shower everyday...
In reality, it doesn’t compare to the amount of rain we get in the States at times, but here, there isn’t a drainage system. So, any bit of water collects and basically floods the town. Try walking up Pt. Grau while the downhill road is like a waterfall. Try it everyday and you would wish you were walking in two feet of snow instead.
Recently my friends and I decided to go to the beach to escape the rain. We journeyed to Camana one weekend. The trip did not start off as planned, however, when my housemate Matt ran upstairs at approximately 30 minutes prior to our bus leaving. It turns out, everyone had overslept. Perhaps this was because we had stayed out the night before and returned home only 2 hours before, but still…blame it on our alarm clocks. In a panic, we made it to the station, which was playing My Heart Will Go On on the speakers, and at that moment I wanted to puke. I wasn’t sure if it was because Celine Dion was belting it out, don’t get me wrong I love Celine but NOT at 830 in the morning, or if it was from the previous night.
Anyways, we made it onto the bus and had a lovely view of the Andes plus sand dunes on our drive. However, I was absolutely terrified when I looked out the window and saw just how close the bus was to the edge of the narrow roads that wind through the mountains. Not to mention, I was about the vomit all on the three year old child urinating in a cup in the seat across the aisle from me. Who ever heard of a little decency in public?
In addition to urinating children, another co-passenger had a companion in her purse. A cat. Sometimes this country drives me mad, but despite its quirks, I love it.
When we arrived in Camana, we found a lovely hostel. Lovely is sarcasm and Im not even sure I would call it a hostel. It was located in the upstairs of a restaurant. The “hostel” had no name, had no front door, the bedroom had no lock, the only furniture in the room was three beds, there were no electrical outlets, the toilet had no toilet paper and no toilet seat…
Camana, despite its lack of hospitality on the busy weekends, was lovely. The beach was fun even though the water was freezing. However, when at the beach and in need of a bathroom, Sabah and I paid one sole each to use a “toilet” (which was basically like a bucket) located behind a tarp in a little hut. At least for the 1 sole, we got a few pieces of toilet paper which we kept. Because if there is one thing I have learned while in Peru, take toilet paper in your purse wherever you go. Im not sure if this is more or less important than remembering to always squat when using a bathroom because there are no toilet seats here. Oh well, both are equally important, because everyone’s gotta go to the loo right?
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