Surprises in Sua...

Hey All! So I'm back in Sua, I returned yesterday.

I has such a blast in the states and I will write a complete recap soon.

I wanted to write about some surprises that I found upon my return and I don't know if I should throw a fit, or pick and choose my battles and let this one slide....

So after over 14 hours of travel by plane and bus, I get off of the final bus that drops me off right in front of my door.

As I am walking to unlock the gate this guy walks right along side of me. He says good morning and waits for me to open the gate...so not in the mood for shenanigans after my long journey I ask if he's a new neighbor here? (has he moved in with the Gernman couple next door?) He tells me that he's doing construction on the building and gestures to the pile of dirt outside of my door and the 2x4s piled up in front of my window and back by the pools....

My apartment looks untouched, they must be doing it in the back or something. As long as I can get in my bed. I don't care. I let the man pass...He proceeds to the back just as I suspected.

I walk into my apartment... do a sniff test...and just as I thought... MOLD. as I opened my unplugged refrigerator I find the culprit...yeeeps...

I really want to just lay down, but I bust out the bleach and get to work...I unplugged my refri because we have power outages and when the power comes back sometimes it's in a powerful burst and can jack up your electronics i.e. blow up your fridge!

I unpack, clean the house, and finally lay down for my "night bus" nap to the sounds of hammers banging somewhere in the buidling.

When I wake up at night, I decide that I have to go explore the premises. I mean I have said "hello" to my pools, to my shower, to my bathroom and most important taken a deep breath or two on my precious most sacred rooftop terrace. My little quiet corner of the world.

With excitement I head right up to the roof first, it's night time, the moon is high and that is my favorite rooftop scene...

I run up the stairs

GAAAASPPPP!!!!!!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!

To my dismay, horror and surprise, I see a whole monument of cement and steel being build allll up on my rooftop completely taking the space from open breezy beautiful to a crowded, icky, construction site.

I thought the guys were filling in cracks in walls or something, I had no clue that they were building a whole new room it appears.

Where am I going to have guitar practice? What's going to happen to rooftop morning yoga? Where am I going to hang up my freshly washed clothes? The rooftop the top floor of my mansion, it's like a hurrican came through and knocked off the the top of my house. Grrrr, Ack, Weep.

So stunned I just go downstairs in disbelief. I have to use the ladies room so I enter my bathroom. Hmmmm the doors closed...I never close the door so that air can circulate but, I guess the neighbors figured I'm gone and would want it that way.

I go in. OH HEEEEEELLS NAW! Apparently the construction guys have been using MY Bathroom! (which is outside of my apartment) Mud all on the floor, SOOO very smelly and to top it all of they have used all the toilet paper I had in there!

So I tell myself to stay calm. Jen, you're probably just mad about this rooftop thing... Or am I?
I mean it's already asking a lot of me to exit my apartment to use my personal bathroom but to share it with countless construction men? Without my permission? Without a chore chart of who is going to take out the trash (you know people don't flush paper in Ecuador right?), who is going to mop the muddy floor, who is going to buy the toilet paper. Cause if I'm sharing the space I'm sharing the cost and responsibility too!

Sigh. So I try to be Zen Jen and not trip. I borrow some TP from my neighbors and leave the door open when I leave. I feel embarrassed at all the "girly" items I have stored in there that countless men have seen now, but what can you do. My private bathroom has just gone public.

So Zen Jen gives it 24 hours and in that time the new roll of TP has been used up. The trash can has filled up and I REALLY don't want to go into detail about what that means...especially since it's only men, sigh....

and the floor that I bleach swept clean is now a mud pit again.

I don't think I can do this people and this is where I need advice!

I mean, construction is temporary, they won't be here forever...should I just bite the bullet and deal with it? I can imagine it's really convenient using a bathroom within the building.

However there IS A public bathroom right on the otherside of me in the comedor (cafeteria) that all the fishermen use.

Should I be punished for having a conveniently located bathroom for all to use? It's my private bathroom that just Happens to be outside. And the door is open to welcome air flow, NOT guests.

I'm going to be passing by these guys daily and I don't want to be the stuck up gringa that can't share.

I just feel more ready to share my home, my dinner table with these guys than my Bathroom, ya know?

Did I mention I also can't shower during the day because they are on the roof and could stare right down....So night cold showers with the huge cucarachas that come out at night is going to be the new jam until the construction is complete.

So am I reacting emotionally to all of the inconvenience this has brought me, or do I have a right to raise some H E double hockey sticks about my (MY) bathroom?

Whatcha'll think?