photo in words

i´ve been a little slack on the posts, but right now the computer i´m on won´t let my camera in.

so here´s a photograph in words:

today, the sun pouring into the courtyard, maria apoligizes for the lack of water. her house is without water for most of the day, but recently, it´s been even more extreme and i take cold showers at seven in the morning, which seems to be the only time the ancient shower head gives up a small stream. the house isn´t heated, so it might be around freezing sometimes, and then the water is too...

maria heats up water on the stove and brings it outside into the patio. just tell me anytime you want a bath like this, she says, gathering her soap and clean clothes by the outside sink. you do need to be clean once in a while!
¨feliz baño!¨i say. she laughs, and pauses at the end of the dark hallway that leads to the patio. she is framed in between the two wooden doors with the sun at her back. ¨feliz baño del mes!¨ she cracks up.

i forget my notebook and come back to the house. through the small open squares at the bottom of the patio doors, i see sun, and the water from maria´s ¨shower¨catching the light as it falls onto the painted cement.