Guanajuato, Mexico -- The Plumber's Coming...Maybe

Two weeks ago we notified our landlady that the toilet wasn't flushing correctly. She gave us stuff, some noxious liquid, to pour down the poop-hole. That didn't work. We plunged and plunged until I thought the plungers (they call it "La Bomba"--the bomb) would break. One of them did. Then we tried the hot, soapy water. That was useless.

So, she called El Plomero (the plumber).

It is now two weeks that the plumber has been coming. Two weeks and counting.

This is not unusual and if you intend moving to Guanajuato this is a cultural glitch with which you will have to contend.

A direct and truthful answer will rarely be forthcoming. That is how it is. Get used to it now. Get over it.

Since Mexicans can often be the masters of excuses. Do not confront them on why it's taken so long to show up. It would be absolutely useless to be confrontational. You won't get far in the argument and the excuses will keep flying in your face.

What does one do? What do you do when you've been fight recalcitrant poopies that wont "go down."

Call a different plumber. Have him fix the potty, and when the previous one eventually shows up, politely tell him that you know he was obviously too busy and that he got to you as soon as he could, but you couldn't wait since it was a dire situation. Then tell him you will call on him again when trouble returns.

He leaves with this pride intact, nothing was confrontational, and you have a fixed commode.

Trust me when I say, if you want to live in this community and do so with the least bit of trouble, do not try being an American here. It won't work to stomp and screech like a, well, like an American.

Don't forget, yes can mean many things. "Yes, I am coming to fix your plumbing," can mean a lot, none which will it mean I will be right there.

Trust me!


A Walk Through Mexico's Crown Jewel: A Guanajuato Travelogue CLICK HERE

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