Donde Esta El Bano?

I only remember one phrase after taking two years of Spanish. Donde esta el bano? Which means, "where is the restroom?" For some reason, when the teacher went over this phrase and it's definition, my survival instincts told me, "this is a phrase that could come in handy some day."



Once, on a mission trip to Mexico our drive time was continually extended by extra stops along the way. Every time we we needed gas people would get get out of the van to buy something to drink, which would then require additional stops later on down the road.

After 15 minutes of driving from one particular stop, a kid in the back row, named Dan, yelled up, "I have to go to the bathroom."

Everyone groaned. "Are you kidding?"

He wasn't. Apparently, Dan started chugging his 32 oz. drink as soon as he got back into the vehicle, instead of wisely rationing his liquid intake.

We didn't stop. Even if we had wanted to, we didn't have time. All I remember is Dan frantically shouting "quick, get me another bottle!"

As the smell of urine wafted forward, others violently fought for a position near the few windows that actually opened. Needless to say we took the next exit to dispose of our trash.

As we drove into the Mexican village where we were staying, a small child waved to us with one hand, and held his pants down with the other. A stream of yellow liquid arched away from his body towards a puddle on the side of the road.

This young local quickly revealed something to me that I am still quite upset about. The phrase I had been so careful to memorized, would be of little use to me here in Mexico.