My First Experience Paying a Bill...

I had a crazy afternoon...

Of course, I've paid a bill before. "We" have paid bills before. But me, by myself, never. Marcos is still in the mountains and I was alone with Leyla and Maria. So this was my first real experience having to take care of something in the adult world in Honduras.

I come home from school and Maria tells me that the electricity is out and that a red truck with a ladder had been at the house but she noticed it too late and they didn't knock or say anything. She said she thought they had cut the lights off because she had heard music earlier from the house next door. Luckly, the electric company is right next door to our house! So I went over and asked and they said yes, it had been cut off and that I needed to go pay and then bring them the receipt (that is as much as I understood at least).

So I went to the bank before they closed at 3 and paid the bill. On the way back, about a block from our house, it started pouring rain! A nice lady let us come sit on her patio though until it passed - because of Leyla, I think :) I get lots of nice favors because of her! And then when it passed we made it home. I went next door to show them the receipt and they told me I had to go to the office in town and show them! I really didn't understand then. Apparently there's a second office and they do the reconnections there ONLY. So I went back to the house and met someone else on the way who told me that the office closed at 3! and that I'd have to look for someone and pay them to reconnect it now! That didn't make sense to me, and I was afraid he was lying to me for money. Made me really mad Marcos wasn't there, because I have no way to tell whether or not I'm being taken advantage of, not knowing how things work in this country!

I couldn't call anyone to ask, either, because the phones don't work when the lights are out. But I had an idea to go next door to the little grocery store and ask him, since he speaks English and is always nice to me. He told me the office shouldn't close until 4. So I rushed out to try and grab a taxi again. THEN I saw the son of a friend of my mother-in-law and asked him where his dad was, and since he said "At the business" I just told him quickly my problem and hailed the next taxi. I had no idea his dad's business was around the corner! Anyway, I jumped in the cab and then daw his dad running out and stopped the taxi and got out to go with him to the office in town. BUT the stupid taxi still made me pay him!! Full price, for half a block!! grrr.

So anyway we made it to the office, they weren't closed, and miraciously they made it to the house 15 minutes later and reconnected the electricity. And it turns out the man was not lying, I did have to pay a reconnection fee that will appear on the next bill. AND one more thing - because of the storm, the lights everywhere in Catacamas had gone out 30 minutes before that. So we still had no electricity. Go figure!