When Things Go Horribly Wrong

I remember when I was first talking about making this move and and getting ready to leave. So many times people would ask me about my plans and lots of "what if" questions. I would laugh sometimes because I had no real plans. Nothing was set in stone. Up until about three weeks before I arrived I had no clue where I was going to live. Some were even a little nervous for me saying "you can't move to Belize without a plan!" (Thank you Rob Woods). But my feeling was always, it will all work out, and what is the worst that can happen?

I truly tried to think of, what if I didn't find somewhere to live that I liked and could afford? I knew I could probably find a place I could afford for a month or so, even if that was just a resort here. My only plan was then to just get here and see what happened and see what I could find. The worst then that could happen was I'd have a month-long vacation in Belize and if I had to return to the US, I'd figure it out, when and if that happened.

Then I suddenly found online a house for rent in Placencia. Small but exactly what I needed and well within my budget. See, I told you it would all work out. But then the house wouldn't be available til mid-March and just as suddenly I found the cabana I'm currently living in, also small but just what I needed for the intervening month between my arrival and getting into the rental house.

It just convinced me that flying by the seat of my pants is actually when I do best. I didn't need a lot of plans it will work out just as it is supposed to. I'm just putting my faith in the Universe.

So since I've been here I've kept that attitude, nothing is that big of a problem. And if you compare my life to the things that some people in the world are facing every day, I have it pretty damn good. I will admit not being somewhere that I get to dive easily and regularly has been a disappointment. I can hear some of you saying, "but if you had done more research you would have known that before going", and that is true, but I am just as happy for the experience of just going and hoping for the best. Placencia is a lovely place just to be.

As many already know, as important to me as diving is and as much as I love it, I also have my other passion, writing and have a couple of works in progress. And for that passion, this has been the ideal place for me. I have the time and the solitude necessary for uninterrupted writing time and I have become so relaxed it has allowed my creative juices to flow.

I've got ideas and things in the works for more adventures in the very near future but for today, I'm happy just being where I am. That is something I've rarely been able to say, that I'm just happy exactly where I am at that moment.

So what could go wrong?

Ummm,  at about 10 a.m. I'm taking my shower, "mindin' my own business" as they say, when I hear the sound of sizzle, snap, crackle, pop then pow and the pipe leading from the wall to the shower head directly over me bursts into flames. Really? A pipe for the shower head -- flames??? Yep. Then it continues to crackle and pop.

Okay so first thing is I'm dumbfounded. It sounds like an electrical problem, but an electrical problem in the plumbing? There finally is a little of my own snap crackle and pop as the synapses start to fire and I realize, Ah Ha, that is how they give me hot water only in the shower, there is some type of heating mechanism in the pipe leading to the shower head (think having an "Insta-Hot" on your kitchen sink).

But now there is flames and sparks and smoke, and the thought is "oh, this can't be good". So I shut off the water (thank goodness I was already rinsed and not just covered in soap), but I need water to put the flames out, so I have to turn the water back on and use my washcloth to douse the flames. The fire has also now shorted out all the electricity in my little cabana. And just to make the neighbors happy, the internet for the entire group of cabanas is in my little place, I house the  modem and the router, so now no one has internet.

I get dressed, open the door to try and get the smoke out, there are little bits of ash floating around in the air in my little room. And I know you want to know what it looked like. Although my first concern was putting the fire out, as a dedicated blogger of my experience I did snap a quick photo of the burned pipe before I evacuated.

Not a very good picture but I was hoping it wouldn't suddenly burst into flames again, even though it had already shorted out all the electricity. but you get the idea.

Now mind you, I don't have a local phone yet (remember I'm kind of a seat of my pants kind of gal), I now don't have internet so I go out and see if any of my neighbors are around so I can borrow a local phone, but the place is deserted. So I walk into town go to the leasing office and tell them of my terrible, no good, very bad morning. A phone call is made to an electrician who is heading over immediately to get it fixed and I"m assured they will have it fixed today or have another unit I can stay in if its not.

I hang out in town until late in the afternoon, I check with the leasing company, they call and are told they are just finishing up and cleaning up so I head home. Well they weren't quite that far along but they had replaced the pipe and they had at least some electricity going into the cabana as the lights were working.

Lucky for me I met nice neighbors who invited me over for a seat and a beer while I waited. The electrician, (who about four people now have told me is just a great guy, a great electrician but can also take care of most other household emergencies including plumbing etc., note for future reference) comes over and tells me that whoever installed these shower heads and heater things used the wrong kind of wire (and he actually told me what was used and what was needed but I don't remember facts like that) which caused it to short out and catch fire. He said he had found the same thing in another unit when theirs had also caught fire so he will tell the leasing company to let him fix them in any unit they installed them in.

So the moral of the story? Actually while scary at the moment to find yourself in a the shower with sparks coming down around you, it really was not that big of a deal. I'm all good, it is fixed and life goes on. It is still gorgeous here and I'm living the good life. Mid 80's, sunny with summer on the way.