El Ojo de Agua.

When I was growing up I moved with my aunt for a couple of months during the summer. She lived in El rancho, with cows, chickens, pigs and dogs. I had lived with my grandmother before, but her land was much bigger and the animals were farther from the room, in my aunt's house the animals were closer by and it scared me a little. The biggest change that I had to adapt to in my Tia Licha's house was the lack for water. The water pipes had been installed for years, but the project hadn't started yet. Everyday we had to go and get water to the Oasis, also called el Ojo de Agua. T

odos los dias we would get up, go to el molino to get the masa for the tortillas, we would make tortillas, feed the chickens, make lunch and take lunch to Tio Benja. We would walk to el ojo de agua, my aunt holding her 15 gallon bucket, and I had my 1 gallong bucket. The trip was not far, but walking up the small hump of mountain took a lot of energy. We would make 2 trips each day. Tio Benja would take his truck and bring 100 Gallons containers, that water was used to feed the animals, do the dishes and water the plants, he would make his trip once a week.

El rancho had unwritten rules of the schedule for getting water at el ojo de agua, everybody knew when the men were taking showers and everybody knew when it was the kid's turns. Everybody knew that after 5 and all day sundays was the man's turn to use the ojo de agua. Water brought from the Ojo de agua (well) was not to be used to laundry, only during emergencies.

The laundry was to be done at the ojo de agua. No, people did not feed from the dirty water of clothes and baths, it was separated. In one big roofless room there would be the big ojo de agua, or Oasis, then from one side out came the water used to wash clothes. There was a man made filter at this opening to prevent soapy water to go in the Oasis, and there was also a door to prevent animals from going in and using it as a public restroom.

Taking a shower, or bath, because of the lack of a shower head, was fun. You got to go to the Ojo de agua, and shower in public. Unlike the big ojo de agua the little one didn't have walls, but because of the unwritten rules of el rancho, no man or boy was to go anywhere near the ojo de agua at certain times. The water was cold most of the time, the ojo de agua happened to be near threes that blocked the men or boys around, but also blocked the direct sunlight.

I never learned to swim, or to deal with water; but when you are 8 nothing will make you understand that. One day with my sister I jumped from a high rock into the water, thinking that if I fell in the water I would immediately know what to do.... reality hit and I ripped my knee open in a rock. The water was not very high, 3 foot at the most. I cried and learned that swimming is not a natural instinct and that jumping to a 3 foot body of water was not very smart.

Years later, I'm sad to remember the thought of never having had taken pictures of the beatiful place. When the summer was over I left Tia Licha and Tio Benja, we all cried.