at the car wash, yeah.

the roads close by school are not paved. when it rains, it's like one giant mudslide ride to get to work in the morning - with my fingers crossed that i don't get stuck. 

my husband likes for me to get the car washed every week, but i don't have time for that. because, see, the car wash is not an easy deal here - it's not a "put your car in neutral and don't brake" kind of country. it's a "get out, go get a beer, sleep with a hooker and maybe we'll be finished when you're done" kind of country.

for $150 pesos, less than five US dollars, i can get my car washed and detailed. 

this is usually okay and i go once or twice a month and get the car washed. i always run out of patience, but i always get a nice, clean car for cheap.

except, it's been raining something fierce here lately, and my tires the other day were caked in mud. even i was embarrassed. unfortunately, i didn't have time to really go to the carwash, so someone sent me to the "automatic place by the high school." 

i was so excited. i thought i was going to slide right in and get on with my day.
ha.

i pulled in and these guys - dressed in basketball uniforms of all things - told me to get out so they could vacuum the car. and... while i'm grateful they did that, it wasn't in my plan. it also wasn't my plan to have to get out of my car. i wanted to pull up to a window, pay, and then put my car in neutral. no thinking. no moving. 

not happening. i got out for the boys to vacuum, and of course, i had to pay. 

it is already christmas in the dr. it's been christmas since the end of september.
i paid. a whopping $150 pesos, the same i would have paid for the intense cleaning somewhere else, but this is automatic, right? it should be fast.

once i got back in the car, i watched as some other guys in basketball uniforms scrubbed down the truck in front of me. so far, i'm thinking that this is the same service as the regular service, and i'm getting antsy. now, i can't even get out to get a beer. or a hooker. because this is the automatic carwash 

finally, while the guys scrub down my car, i notice the rails on the floor as that frontier puts his car in neutral and doesn't brake! yes! finally something i understand! unfortunately, when i get my car on to the rails, the electricity goes out and i have to wait for them to kick up the generators. welcome to the dr

finally, at the very end, i get out of my car again as new gentlemen in basketball duds shammy-cloth my car dry and dust the dashboard.

i won't complain too much, i was in and out in about 30 minutes - which is way shorter than the usual wash and detail. i wasn't late for any meetings. and i only had to pay $150 pesos.