From the Hammock Day 4

Yesterday we decided to walk along the coastal road to the supermarket. It is amazing how different the sea can be from one side of the island to the other.  Where our sidewas calm and tranquil with lovely shades of blues and greens, the other side was dark, wild and untamed, waves crashing fiercely along the rugged coastline, equally as beautiful.

About three quarters of the way into our walk I decided I had to go to the bathroom. A few minutes later it became a matter of urgency. No worries, right? There was bound to be a little restaurant or something along the way where I could stop….not. By the time we got into town I was in tears. Poor Mr. Granny Pants was running around asking people over and over again…”banio? Donde Este banio?”

We were met with blank stares and hand gestures pointing in various different directions; directions that led everywhere but to a banio. We kept wandering and did find ourselves in some interesting places, including a local market. Normally I love these happen-upon moments but at this point I was in way too much pain to appreciate it.  Mr. Granny Pants was starting to really feeling helpless and decided our best bet was just to go to the supermarket. They were sure to have a banio. We headed over there and found a store clerk and asked, “Donde este banio?” He looked at us blankly and said “banio?”

He then went to another man and said a bunch of things which included the word “banio”. This man was obviously in a position of authority so he contemplated the question for a moment and then rattled off some instructions. The young clerk took off towards the back of the store and I obligingly followed, happy that relief was soon at hand. He headed up some concrete stairs at the back of the store and as I went to follow him I was stopped by a security guard.  I backed down from the stairs and tried to explain that I was going to the banio but he just looked at me blankly. My new best friend, the store clerk had disappeared upstairs so all I could do was stand there and wait.
 At this point all the store employees were staring at me, probably wondering who this crazy gringo lady was and why was she trying to seek entry into the secret upstairs sanctuary of their store.  Finally my clerk friend came back down, exchanged a few words with the security guard and I was given clearance to enter the sanctuary. I must of taken those concrete stairs two at a time and finally….relief.  I didn’t care that the washroom was a holy mess. I didn’t care that it smelled like a sewer.  I was just so happy to be there. When I was finally done I went to flush the toilet and…nothing happened. I lifted the lid and the tank that holds the water was empty. My humiliation was about to get a whole lot worse. I left the bathroom and saw a sink with a bucket and figured out that this must be for flushing purposes. As I went to reach for the bucket my little clerk friend emerged from the shadows and gestured that he will take care of it…yup…my humiliation just became a whole lot worse.  When I came downstairs there was Mr. Granny Pants waiting for me.  He told me that I had caused quite a stir and as I looked around I could see the quizzical expressions on the employees’ faces. I think I brought a little excitement to an otherwise ordinary day.

Now onto the pictures and no, there will be no pictures of banios .

This place was massive

Another huge place

Nice colors

A community amid the opulance

The famous sea shell house