Probably one of my biggest lifestyle adjustments in Guatemala is laundry. My options are hand wash everything in cold water and ripping up my clothes by rubbing it on the rough rock that is the pila (washing station) or take it on an hour bus ride (with one change) into Xela. I will never be bored enough that I have the desire to hand wash all of my clothes. Also, it only costs 15Q to have a good sized bag of laundry machine washed and dried and folded.
There is no laundromat in my town or much closer then an hour away. As far as I know, no one in my town owns a washing machine. So, every day I see women sitting on the rocks by our river washing clothes. The issue then becomes where to dry all of these clothes. The answer: everywhere. I am constantly surprised by all of the places that I see clothes drying so I thought that I would try to document some of the more creative places.
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| On the fence in front of the hardware store |
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| Here you can see the heads of women washing clothes |
It seems to me that putting your clean clothes/blankets on the ground defeats the purpose, but it's a pretty common drying strategy.
Its would seem to be especially difficult during the rainy season. On the other hand, if you were in an area where amenities like washing machines and dryers (and refrigerators) were common, then it probably would not be a place where the Peace Corps would need you.
ReplyDeleteAs a positive, this does make for a colorful landscape.
I admire the Guatemalan women for their ingenuity and creativity and stamina. I doubt if I would last long doing laundry on the banks of the Charles and Cambridge probably has a law prohibiting drying clothing in public areas.
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