Conservation

If there is one theme that resonates about being down here in Guatemala on the boat, its conservation. No matter what you have to deal with, you need to conserve "everything", or else you're in big trouble. It's amazing at how the littlest things in Canada, things that you never think about like water and power, are so easily taken away.

As I'm writing this, I have lost complete power in the boat. My computer is the only light I'll have until either power is restored or dawn breaks. This isn't a rare occurrence like a random blackout, but something very common when either too many lights or too many appliances are running. I dare you to run the washer and dryer at the same time...

Water, precious precious water. We've all been in the scenario when taking a shower, there is no hot water left. That's pretty annoying isn't it? Imagine now, taking a shower, but no water comes out of the shower head. Your toilet is bone dry, all the taps give a squeal of running air. This is another reality on the boat, every few days we will run out of water, and be forced to fill the tanks again. At least my toilet uses sea water. I just hope that the power doesn't run out!

Food, the thing that keeps me from going cranky. On the boat, you can't just get in your car and drive down to the store to get more food. You need to take another boat, drive it down the river, hope that the docks aren't full, and then see a store with very little selection. Good lord how I miss Canadian food! Nobody south of Texas knows how to make a decent donut.

Finally, let's talk about the internet. In Canada, we are lucky to have virtually no restrictions over how much bandwidth we use. In Guatemala, it's an entirely different story, you're only given so much bandwidth per month. If you use all of it before the month is over, well tough luck, no internet for you. I hope I never have to deal with running out of internet. What a terrible thought that is...