Public laundry washbasins (sometimes river and lake shores) serve as the gathering place for news, gossip and community building through the interactions that take place there. In many places in Guatemala public washbasins could be considered the first news broadcasting sites or rural social media networks, similar to Facebook or Twitter for people with computers in mayor cities.
Don’t ask me, but how did the venerable utilitarian pila (water tank) and lavadero (washbasin) became decorations elements or design accents?
In The Venerable Colonial Pila is Now Used as Decoration I introduced you to the washbasins and water tank inside McCafé in La Antigua Guatemala with the following words:
What’s a pila (pee-lah), I hear you ask? simple, the omnipresent pila guatemalteca is basically a water tank and one or two sinks or washbasins for doing dishes and washing the clothes. You have seen a colonial-styled pila before as part of La Casa Antigüeña series and you have also recently seen the public washbasins. So you now know how pilas are basically smaller versions of the public washbasins and water tanks, right?
I bet you never thought a colonial utilitarian washbasin and water tank could be used as decoration for a upscale, hi-tech wireless internet, coffee shop. I think it works and it does especially well, since the water is running all the time between the main two water compartments and adds a wonderful relaxing sound.
In Water Tanks and Colonial Style Social Networks I mentioned that “as in colonial times, these public water tanks and washbasins serve as the places for doing the laundry and for water distribution. Furthermore, public laundry washbasins (sometimes rivers or lake shores) serve as the gathering place for news, gossip and community building through the interactions that take place. Public washbasins could be considered the first news broadcasting sites or social networks such as Facebook or Twitter; computers are not required. In many places in Guatemala this stills holds true.”
In Colonial Washbasins from Guatemala I showed you how the washbasins and water tanks are often the central piece to decorate an inside patio in colonial homes.
Today’s entry showcases the pila and lavaderos right next to Cafetenango restaurant inside Finca Filadelfia. Looking at main photo above I am thinking I should have captured a video clip a few seconds of the running water and resulting sound. I have to keep a thread around my finger to remember to capture more videos, as my dear friend Kara Andrade has rightly recommended to me. Oops, sorry!
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Palo de Izote is the Mesoamerican cousin of the Joshua or Yucca tree. I have a fascination with the Izote tree; I don’t know why, maybe its many branches that look like arms and hands.
Anyhow, I like it and it’s used often in the hedgerows around Antigua Guatemala. Its white flowers are edible and they are considered a delicacy. The izote tree flower is also the national flower for the neighboring country of El Salvador.
So far I have posted several photos of the palo de izote tree, but Palo de Izote Tree is my favorite. I might even include it in my Antigua Abstracta series. I also like today’s version of Palo de Izote.
How about you, which one you like better?
The venerable colonial pila from Guatemala is often in my focus, don’t you agree?
Now, if you can tell exactly how many pilas, washbasins, have appeared in AntiguaDailyPhoto since May 1, 2006, I will mail you a post card made from the washbasin photo you choose. Good luck to all players!
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The first step of making the Guatemalan washbasin is to set the concrete mold pieces and then filling it with concrete. The concrete mold pieces are covered with burnt oil so they don’t stick to the fresh new concrete. The whole process from setting up the mold pieces to putting the final details like white dots, takes about 24 hours.
I have to share with you that I was also pretty ignorant about how pilas were made and having Don Eduardo González explained every step of the process was an eye-opener. I hope you enjoyed this mini-series. Let me know what questions you would like to have answered.
Actually, I should say removing the mold pieces. Basically, to manufacture pilas, washbasins, there four basic steps:
Here we see the worker removing the concrete mold pieces by hitting them with a hammer and piece of wood so they break loose.
Don Eduardo Gonzalez shared with me that a good quality pila like the ones he builds could be bought for Q25/$3 when he started 24 years ago. Compare that with today’s going price of Q500/$60. Of course, 24 years ago the Quetzal was worth a lot more; if I am not mistaken, the exchange rate was Q3 per $1 (today’s exchange rate is Q8,39 per US$1).
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These pilas go for a little over Q500/$60 because they use higher quality paint and more cement in the concrete mixture. Cheaper pilas can be had for a little as Q300/$36. Don Eduardo González shared with me that he knows people who have over 20-year old pilas manufactured by him. Also, he made it very clear that his pila factory was inspired by God in a dream about 24 years ago. He received no training from other pila artisans, except for the inspiration from God, he continued. Now his factory also produces pots, concrete figures like tecolotes, lions, birds, etc., and garden and colonial design elements.
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First of all, I read ALL your comments. I don’t always find time to reply every single comment, but I do read each one. Second, I keep requests in my to-do list. Third, eventually I get to your requests as time and circumstance allow. Fourth, I don’t follow a logic order; what can I say, I love films like Irréversible or Tarantino’s films because of the creative use of story lines.
So, we begin a new series about making pilas, washbasins, as requested by Margaret on the entry The Venerable Colonial Pila is Now Used as Decoration. Pilas pues, Manolo would say!
The last step of the Guatemalan pila building process is putting those little white dots. Eduardo Gonzalez, the owner of the factory, has over 24 years of experience building washbasins and a quick and sure hand that splatters the right amount of dots.
What step do think will come next?
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I have shown you before the Tanque de la Unión public washbasins, but I don’t think I ever showed you what they look like in a typical laundry day in Antigua Guatemala.
Below you can find two different takes on the same Tanque de la Unión from Upside Down Arches and Arches Reflected.
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I pass by Tanque de la Unión at least twice a day. Lucky me. So it shouldn’t come as a surprise that I’ve fallen in love with this utilitarian water tank and public washbasins. If you don’t believe me, follow the links to see some of the previous pictures of Tanque de la Unión.
Anyhow, today’s catch I took it while making a left turn as I was driving, barely slowing a bit so I could click the shutter. If I may say so myself, it is not too bad. What prompted me to take the photograph was the stare of the little girl. I believe she’s going to grow up to be a people-watcher herself, like many of us. 
The venerable colonial pila from La Antigua Guatemala finds a new use as decoration in a fast food restaurant.
What’s a pila (pee-lah), I hear you ask? simple, the omnipresent pila guatemalteca is basically a water tank and one or two sinks or washbasins for doing dishes and washing the clothes. You have seen a colonial-styled pila before as part of La Casa Antigüeña series and you have also recently seen the public washbasins. So you now know how pilas are basically smaller versions of the public washbasins and water tanks, right?
I bet you never thought a colonial utilitarian washbasin and water tank could be used as decoration for a upscale, hi-tech wireless internet, coffee shop. I think it works and it does especially well, since the water is running all the time between the main two water compartments and adds a wonderful relaxing sound.
What do you think? Do you want to have a pila guatemalteca at your home? I take orders!
Today, as in colonial times, these public water tanks and washbasins serve as the places for doing the laundry and for water distribution. Furthermore, public laundry washbasins (sometimes river or lake shores) serve as the gathering place for news, gossip and community building through the interactions that take place. Public washbasins could be considered the first news broadcasting sites or social networks such as Facebook or Twitter; computers are not required. In many places in Guatemala this stills holds true.
As I took these pictures, I took the time to talk to several of the women doing the laundry and I asked what were some of the reasons for utilizing the public washbasins even though most of them have running water at home. These are some of the answers:
This morning Kwallek asked the following questions:
Things that matter with water wells: what are they casing off the bore with, is it cased all the way to the water table, is it potable the way it comes out of the ground, what is the recovery rate, how deep is the water and depth or thickness of the water table.
And tonight we already have the answers, thanks to Ted from Wells of Hope.
Steel well casing is used. Because of the earthquakes that are possible in Guatemala, the well should be completely cased to the aquifer, which will prevent the well from collapsing if there were tremors in the area. We have found that the water in the mountains of Jalapa is very potable directly from the well. A 24 hour pump test is done after drilling a well. This helps us to determine how much water we can safely remove from the aquifer without extensively drawing down the water table or drying the aquifer. Every well is different when it comes to recovery rate. It is very difficult to determine the dimensions of the water table. It is only through the use of very expensive measuring equipment and extensive study that one can propose a dimension of a water table. Our volunteer program does not have the necessary finances in order to do this.
What do think of public washbasins and water tanks?
It was almost a year ago when I published a photo of the public laundry washbasins in Ciudad Vieja and Heidi asked how do they wash their clothes? As an answer I did a follow up photo of public laundry washbasins at work (about two months later, heck this was fast), but this lavaderos, the Spanish term for washbasins, lack the beauty found at Tanque de la Unión public washbasins. While taking a photo of those washbasins in La Antigua I stumbled upon one of my favorite photos: Arches reflected on Tanque de la Unión and its more abstract sibling Upside down arches; just posted a few days ago. It is only now, almost a year later (boy, I am fast!), that I can show Heidi how are the washbasins used for laundry.
If you have click all the links above, you can see that the public laundry washbasins consist of one shared water tank with basins all around it, sort like stations, where women take their clothes to wash them by hand. In the photo you can see only a fraction of washbasins stations around this huge public lavadero in San Pedro Las Huertas. In one of the captions for the photos linked above I said that “public laundry washbasins (sometimes rivers or lake shores) serve as the gathering place for news, gossip and community building through the interactions that take place. Public washbasins could be considered the first news broadcasting sites; batteries not required.”
Countdown side note: 6 more days to May 1st. Thank you all for all your support, comments and feedback through this 360 days. I also want to THANK all the people who have donated towards the hosting bills through the donation buttons right below the search box. About 50% of the hosting bill was paid through donations made by people like you. THANK YOU!
Yesterday I showed you a public laundry washbasin in Ciudad Vieja. Today I bring to you the Tanque de la Unión public laundry washbasin (->more info in Spanish). In colonial times these public water tanks and washbasins served as the places for doing your laundry and for water distribution. In many places in Guatemala this stills holds true. Furthermore, public laundry washbasins (sometimes rivers or lake shores) serve as the gathering place for news, gossip and community building through the interactions that take place. Public washbasins could be considered the first news broadcasting sites; batteries not required.
On May 13th I posted a photo a public laundry washbasin in Ciudad Vieja and Heidi asked how do people wash their clothes in such facilities. Here I have a follow-up photo taken at the same time and day. People, usually from low income areas, take their dirty clothes to the public laundry washbasin which is nothing more than a large water tank with many sinks where women can wash them by hand using only soap and a small plastic vessel. The mystery is now resolved, but the magic has been taken away.
Thank you for your beautiful photos and all the information that comes with it! My daughter is in Antigua for almost two weeks now working as a volunteer. Your website is bringing me closer to her. I could see the buses she’s riding and places she might be walking… I wish I could be there too… especially now. I’m a frequent visitor on your site now, checking out your newest and old photos. They are amazing! Thanks again. —Aleksandra Kuchta
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