PC Handyman skills

You learn a lot of things in Peace Corps.

Some things you expected to learn, like Spanish; some things you didn't want to learn, like how to manually flush a toilet with a bucket of water; some things you want to learn but can't seem to, like how to work effectively with Honduran counterparts; and some things you didn't expect to learn, like how to hotwire an electric shower.

Maybe you can just chalk it up to living on your own. Or Living on Your Own: Honduras version. I've never had a shop class, plumbing or electrical workshops, or even home ec, but I've found I learned a thing or two along the way. Now this isn't a blog post about how uneducated or ignorant Hondurans are. Rather, it's just part of the culture differences that exist between the countries. We all have indoor plumbing in the U.S. and we've probably all had a plumber come over at some point, or we Googled 'DIY electrical outlet'. But those resources don't exist here. Internet is something pretty rare in my mountain town. And the people that do use it are checking facebook on their mobiles, not looking up thermodynamics on Wikipedia. The plumber is the guy who figured out how to get his own toilet to work once, and the electrician is the guy who didn't completely electrocute himself installing the breaker box.

I've read a few stories and blogs about people making good relationships with 'host nationals' (Hondurans in this case) because they needed something fixed or installed in their home, and I can say with confidence that I started out with this approach, specifically in regards to my electroducha (electric shower). Well, the first attempt involved me going to the next town and buying a simple extension cord (which I clearly said I was going to use for an electroducha), coming back and testing it out only to start an electrical fire in my house! After that I examined the situation with the local handyman and asked lots of questions. I went to the store, bought the appropriate parts he told me, and returned home to assemble it all. In the midst of assembly, the plan stopped making sense to me. Like I said, I never had any home mechanics class, but I did have high school physics so I know a thing or two about electricity (although calling dad to confirm everything never hurts). I scrapped the Honduran plan and dusted off the old American self-reliance. Several hours later, after multiple trips to the hardware store, tedious stripping and splicing cables, making effective use of electrical tape, and replacing a breaker, I am now the proud owner of a working hot shower! The rumors are true, however. The shower's nickname is the "suicide shower ". But to me, that's just a testament to how amazing they are! (WARNING: Lame joke) People are dying to take a hot shower! But seriously, people are taking their lives into their own hands just to get a warm shower and I, for one, can relate.



I guess the interesting part to you all is 'what do you do if you don't have running water?' Well, if you're lucky, you have a pila - one of those cement bathtub/holding tank where you do your laundry and that's full of water. However, if you're me, you don't have one of those. So what you do is buy yourself a large metal or plastic barrel (metal is cheaper, plastic is more durable) and fill it up with water when you have it. It's kind of like a makeshift pila. Or I guess you could call it a broken water heater.

Other tales include fixing the kitchen sink plumbing. Someone had a crack at it before and made it halfway viable. One of the problems is I live at the end of the waterline, so I only get water when no one else is using it, which narrows it down to nights/evenings (6pm-6am) and, I hate to say it, but during church. Meanwhile, when there's not water in the pipes, air gets in and causes a quite a disturbance when the water starts coming back, so it tends to be rough on the pipes. I was dealing with a pretty leaky sink. It was a Catch22. I didn't have water all day, but then when I did, I had too much water dripping below the sink. Oh, problems! I would wash all of the day's dishes as quickly as possible and would inevitably have to mop the entire kitchen due to the small flood that had accumulated. But that just warmed me up for the cold showers I was taking every night!

Once again, thanks to American self-reliance I took the sink apart and, unlike Humpty Dumpty, I put it all back together again, better than ever. I will admit it still drips, but not nearly as much! And no more reason to workout before the nightly cold shower, because there's only warm water in the future... until something breaks. There's still plenty of mopping to be done when you have a small furry friend like Whiskey living with you. The other small huge miracle is that I've had water nearly all day this entire week. It's possible someone's on vacation and I'm getting their water supply, but I'm hoping this change is of a more permanent nature. Plus, it's easier on my pipes when they're not thrashing in an air-bubble exorcism. I need to find the newly-elected water board  members and give them all high fives.

Last but not least, I almost forgot, I had internet installed. That's right. All you other volunteers who are using Tigo or Claro modems that barely work, cost lots of money, and have download limits: welcome to the future. This company called Metropolis just came over on Wednesday to put up a dish on my roof and it is currently wired to my laptop. It's no T-1 line, but I get a solid 256kbps connection and the best part is it's unlimited. (P.S. I pay L.570/mo for you PC/H volunteers).

What's to eat in Honduras?
I'm thinking about putting a food section at the end of each blog post. I never thought I would be one of those people who posts food pictures on their blog. But hey, it feels like a big accomplishment to make pizza or pasta or beef stew with all of the challenges Honduras brings. And besides, who doesn't like food?

On the menu: Beef stew made with all fresh ingredients, including that hand-delivered meat I talked about last blog post. OK, I used two cans of mixed vegetables, but put in my own onions, potatoes, and carrots. This dish is accompanied by a piece of our freshly-baked white bread. Ah, reminds me of home on the farm (if I grew up on a farm). I'm breaking into the yeast category of foods. It's new territory, but more developments to come on delicious breads.


Adam & Whiskey