the amazing pila of guatemala

This is a large pila for a big household, typically found in the old colonial houses. There are 3 stations to wash and 2 separate basins for holding the clean water for use.

This pila was in the Don Quixote Hotel we stayed in. I alwasy woke up to the sound of the the basins being filled.

This is the typical pila you see in homes. Actually they are outside of the home. So a typical Guatemala kitchen does not have a sink in it. It's rather amazing at the ingenuity of this country and its people. Things are functional, purposeful and extremely practical. I was impressed, awed and just smitten!

Another classic example of the outdoor pila. The are most often seen in shades of blue and aquamarine. You'll see the occasional yellow or red one. These pilas are set up to hold water in the middle section with two side sections for different purposes. The left section generally has grooves cut into the floor of it for washing clothes and the right section is used more for washing/drying dishes.

Once again, an outdoor pila. This is the most handsome colour if you ask me, the red ones (though I didn't get a picture of one) are rather dapper too! I aspire to one day have a pila of my own. I think they are just the most functional thing ever, super economical and they just make sense to me! Seeing Guatemala households and how the function really get me thnking differently.

I had the pleasure of traveling to Guatemala in December 2009. What an amazing trip. I've always been fascinated with seeing how other cultures live. I was just pleased and amazed with how genius Guatemalans truly are. They use everything around them. Every where you look you see something created out of nothing that is most functional! Seeing inside the households and how they are run interested me to no end. I fell completely in love with their 'pila' that I've featured in this post. I am playing with the idea of putting together a book on the pila!!