The “Baby Wipe Shower” and Other Chichi Things

Y’all its time that I shed some light on the more hilarious side of living with 12 other people, in a tiny building in the heart of Chichicastenango, Guatemala. I’m sharing this not to complain or to make fun, the simple fact is, our reality can be pretty comical sometimes. I love this life. I love living in this city and I love every person I meet here. The thing is, life here is so different from what I am used to in the US, that about 10 times a day I just look around and chuckle at my reality! I count it all a joy! Since many of you have been asking, here are 14 hilarious realities of living in my community for the past two months:

1) We get ridiculously excited about mediocre foods such as stale donuts or cold Fantas. Grocery stores are very limited here and so foods that I probably wouldn’t like very much in the US are like striking gold here! Simple joys, people!

2) “The baby wipe shower:” This is a very common term to us. Since we don’t have running water, and pouring a bucket of water over your head can be pretty cold, our most common method of getting clean is wiping down with baby wipes. I’m pretty sure I’ve gone through more baby wipes this last two months than when I was an actual baby. Pro tip: get a friend to wipe your back since you can’t reach, lol!

3) Stray animals everywhere. If I have food in my hand there is basically a 100% chance that a dog is following right behind me. (Sometimes I feed them, oops.) Yesterday a chicken pecked my toe while I was writing this very blog, I was literally unphased by this.

4) “The walk of shame.” All of my fellow racers in Chichi know that this term refers to the act of retrieving a bucket of water after you leave the bathroom stall. I’ll say this; a bucket is needed to flush #2. If you’re getting a bucket, we all know what you did in there. Pro tip: just own it by calling out to a friend and asking them to bring a bucket for you!

5) Spitting your toothpaste into “noodle river.” Noodle river is the name for the stream of water that flows through the property containing scraps and dirty water from the sink and peoples nasty shower water. It is also where we usually spit after we brush our teeth, just don’t let it splash on your shoes!

6) Private conversations are not a thing. There are 4 tiny rooms and since the walls and floor are only made of thin boards, we are able to hold a conversation with anyone from any point in the house! How many times can you have a coherent conversation when people are in 4 different rooms, honestly going to miss that one!

7) Our work days are 9am-4pm. There tends to be a lot of free time afterwards. Most of the time we use that time wisely… but also we may or may not have had a photoshoot with chickens one day. Yep, that was a thing, no comment.

8) Things flying off the clothes line. If I could go back in time I would pack like 100 clothes pins instead of 0. Hand washing that finicky spaghetti stain out of my favorite sweatshirt is one thing, but washing it a second time because the wind launched it off the line into noodle river is quite another.

9) Washing each others hair. I’m going to be honest, I’d like to adopt this one back in the States. Bucket showers are hard, but washing each others hair is like going to the spa every 3 days, I love it!

10) Never alone. I sleep so close to everyone on the floor that sometimes I wake up breathing their air. For safety reasons, we are required to leave the property in groups of 3. This looks a lot like taking walks together but separately; 20 feet apart it.  Gotta get that alone time when you can!

11) Meals hurt my ears. Literally. 13 people eating around a dinner table together 3 times a day. We all love to talk and by the end of the meal we are basically all screaming. Oh gosh do I love meal with these people though.

12) Exercising using random things. Listen, people in Central America know how to eat! The concept of “freshmen 15,” has nothing on the world race. We have to exercise when we can, even if that means using cinder blocks as dumbbells.

13) Guacamole crusties left on plates.  Listen, we eat a lot of avocados in Chichi.  When you’re washing a plate with a bowl full of water and a food coated sponge you do the best you can.  Clearing dishes of the little food crispy’s is an art, and the cleanest plates are a coveted commodity. 

14) Singing everything. All the time. If you know me you know how much I love singing at completely random times. As it turns out, so does everyone on my team. Without exaggeration, about 50 times a day someone on my team is breaking into song and without skipping a beat we are all joining in. It’s like heaven on earth to me, maybe my favorite thing. Love me some community living!

If I wanted to this list could be 100 entries long. Living here is different but it’s good. This is not a “my life is hard and feel bad for me” post, it’s a “look at all the joy in unexpected places” post. 

One of the things that frustrates me about this race is the way people perceive me to be giving up a lot.  I’m not. I’m not serving the Lord in any way that is “better” than you are at home. I haven’t given up anything, if anything I’ve been given more joy and contentment than I know what to do with.

Anywhere you go in the world people live differently, who are we to judge what is good or bad? There is freedom to be found in having less, there is joy to be found in all things!
I’m thankful every day that this is my life.