Cleaning out the cave
Yesterday we went to clean out a basement in a sandwich shop at a business down the street.
My conversation with one of the other volunteers went like this:
E- Is that the basement!?
M- I think so...
E- Oh my gosh I can't breathe...
M- There's no handrails...slide in on your bottom.
E- I can't see anything...where's the power switch?
E- I'm really suffocating..what's down here?
M- Rotting bodies?
E- Probably.
E- Ew...the mud is up over our ankles...
M- K...we need to start cleaning this.
E- Please find the power switch- something is touching me.
Business owner pops head down basement stairwell*
Business owner- We had the utilities cut off when we closed the business. There's no electricity or water.
E- We have to clean a foot of mud out of here with no light and no water? You have got to be kidding me....seriously....
M- Let's climb out of here... maybe we can run an extension cord?
E- We can haul buckets of water from the cafe.
E- What a mess.
This was probably one of the grossest experiences of my life. I ended the day covered head to toe in mud (sewage)...it's hard to believe that I'm living this in an urban community right outside of Pittsburgh. Who needs to go to Mexico?
