Being the Sideshow…Again.

Had a very fun afternoon today. Here in Guatemala, being white, tall, bald, and for 40 days growing blazing red pork chop side burns (like my great, great, great grandfather, Septimus Blacklock. For real, his name was Septimus), I can draw a lot of attention. When people stare at me here, I just stare back until they turn away. It makes for some fun times. We call our family, “The Side Show”, because of the attention we draw.

Anyways, today was an especially sideshowy day; in the lovely town of Guazacapan.

Liam and I were driving to the health center there to pick 5 of our Casa Esperanza kids and a Tia. We were almost there and the tire goes flat. I check it out and there is a nail sticking out.  I pull it out and we walk up to pick up the kids. Then we return.  Because this is a unique vehicle it takes me a while to find the spare tire, the jack and the rest of the stuff. (For example, the jack is under the hood).

I get the flat out from underneath and it is dirty and FLAT. Being Guatemala, there is always a “Pinchazo” (tire fixing) store close by. I walk 100 meters to the place and get the tire filled up.

To start the compressor, the young man takes a live wire and touches it to another wire to send the electricity through. I see the spark and hear the electricity moving. (never seen it done that way before.)

I get the tire filled and then I head back to the car. (Remember I am white, tall, bald, and have blazing pork chops and a flat tire leading Liam and 6 Guatemalans through the streets, so I have already attracted enough attention.)

There are no cars coming either way, so I start rolling the tire; quickly, with a bit of bouncing. No problem. I start running after it and push it along, until it hits a bump and I lose control of it.

The tire then bounces to the side of the street and DOWN what we would consider the sewer. No problem, I say quickly to myself as I see it fall 10 feet down and hit the bottom; I can get that. But then it disappears into the culvert. (Big concrete pipe that drains away all rain, fluids, etc.)

Now I have attracted a lot of attention.

I look down the hole, dumbfounded, laughing and thinking how could this happen. After a minute or two, I start to climb down. I am thinking that I need to check and see if the tire went anywhere. The slanted sides were very slimy and slippery, but it was no problem getting down there. I had 10-15 Guatemalans supervising and laughing and offering their advice.

I see the tire. It did not go anywhere. No Problem. Then one Guatemalan, from the street, who speaks some English, says, “Be careful, my dog lives down there.”

I say, “What?? Does he bite??”

Then I say, “Can you come and get the tire for me?”

I climb out and he goes down and gets it. I did not want to risk any bites.

We get the tire on and head safely back to Fe Viva. I tell all the kids not to say a word about this crazy escapade, knowing full well everyone will find out.

LONG LIVE THE BLACKLOCK SIDE SHOW!!!!!