156 



THE LEVEL AND COST OF LIVING 



a table. In the southeast corner stands a locked chest, 

 and under the bed a smaller one, where the money is 

 supposedly kept. Other chests near the foot of the bed 

 contain clothing and valuables. In the room also are a 

 coflee-pulper, riding saddle, new tools, and hanging from 

 the rafters inside and out are stems of ripening bananas to 

 feed the caged pigeons outside, and ropes, bags, bridles, 

 and the life. 



Covering the 7-foot 6 by 9 adobe sweat bath (F) is a 

 thatched roof supported by corner pillars of adobe. Near 

 the lire (always in a corner next to the door), are the 

 vessels used in bathing, and along the walls are wooden 

 benches for the bathers. 



Pitchpine torches are used for lighting the houses in the 

 evening. 



No. 5. Yard 30 by 45 feet. All three houses have 

 carpenter-made doors. A and C, made at the same time, 

 are each 20 by 18 feet, with 9-foot walls and the roof 

 ridge 20 feet high. 



C is the kitchen. Firewood is stacked on the porch 

 in the rainy season. The fireplace in the northeast corner 

 has very large stones and many large pots around it, for 

 many hired hands join a large family to be fed. There 

 are two large grinding stones besides the smaller ones for 

 coffee, etc. In the center is suspended a large shelf for 

 foodstuffs; to the north, a smaller one for tortillas. On 

 the walls are more shelves; but the dishes are in two large 

 baskets on the floor near the fire. Strung on a line are 

 many cross-sapodilla seeds, drying for later sale. In the 

 southeast and northeast corners are beds of boards on 

 implanted posts, shielded from the door and the fire by 

 large mats. On the walls above clothing hangs on lines; 

 at the head of each bed is a wooden chest, and under each, 

 garlic is stacked, waiting to be braided. In the first sleep 

 2, 3, and 8; in the second, 6, 7, 9, and 10. 



A is the Saint's house, where in the center of the north 

 wall are three sanios on a small table on a platform of 

 canes supported by implanted posts. The whole is 

 adorned with flowers, and before the tableau stands a 

 small table with ilowers and candles. On the floor of the 

 house four and five make their bed. In the corners of the 

 house are agricultural tools, and on the floor the huge 

 pots used years ago to cook ritual foods. On a wall hang 

 several large mats used to dry coffee. Along two walls 

 are benches. On the porch is a cane-walled enclosure in 

 which ears of corn are stacked. 



D is an old house, 18 by 15 feet, with 7- or 8-foot walls 

 and a roof ridge 18 feet high, which is used both as kitchen 

 and bedroom by the elderly woman, 1. On the floor near 

 the fire, in the southeast corner, are her old grinding stone 

 and a few old pots. The bed, in the northwest corner, 

 is of cornstalks supported by implanted posts. Clothing 

 is hung on a line overhead. 



The sweat bath (F) is 7 to 8 feet long and 6 feet wide 

 and high, with a 3 foot opening. Near the fireplace are 

 large pots, and in the center a large bowl used to mix 

 hot and cold water and bathe the children. Boards set on 

 stones along the sides serve as benches. 



E is the granary, 9 by 4 feet, with a door of canes, in 

 which are stacked ears of corn. The chicken house (B) 

 has a board for a door, and canes which serve as perches. 



No. 15. Yard 30 by 30 feet. C is a kitchen (18 by 30 

 feet, 7- or 8-foot wall.s, and roof 18 feet high) with firewood 

 stacked on the porch to one side of a home-made door of 

 wood. A larger fireplace is in the northwest corner (for 

 large vessels of corn, etc.); a smaller one is nearby (for 

 coffee, beans, etc.). Cooking pots are on the f.oor near 

 the west wall. A set of three cornstalk shelves fastened 

 to four embedded posts near the door holds (top shelf) new 

 pots, sweets to be kept from the children, and dishes; and 

 (bottom shelf) foodstuffs used daily. There is at the south 

 wall a small table, and in the wall embedded wooden pegs 

 on which old cooking pots are hung. On the floor sleeps 

 the servant (9). 



E is a bedroom and reception room, 20 by 15 feet with 

 9-foot walls and the roof 18 feet high, with a large bought 

 door and a ceiling, formed by canes tied to the rafters, 

 which extends to the porch, and on which (outside) corn 

 is stored. Unlike other houses which have simple tamped- 

 down earth floors, this one has a base of stones covered 

 with leveled-off clay which, dried, gives a hard smooth 

 surface. Bought bods are in the corners, northeast (for 

 2 and 6), northwest (for 3, 7, and 8), and southeast (for 

 4 and 5) ; mats are suspended over them to form canopies. 

 Across the center of the house, north to south, is a ham- 

 mock for daytime rest. Between the beds on the north 

 wall is a large chest containing clothing, which is also 

 strung on lines across corners. On the west wall is a 

 locked cupboard with valuables. There are several chairs 



F is a new house (technically an annex), the outside 

 walls smoothed oS' as if plastered, 18 by 13 feet with 7- or 

 8-foot walls, and a roof 16 feet high. There is a home- 

 made door of wood, and a wood-shuttered window-opening 

 \}i feet square. The floor is like that of E. Not yet in 

 use, this house will be a storeroom for tools, produce, etc. 



D is made of lumber left over when E was finished. 

 This annex is 9 by 6 feet, and 9 feet high, with a crude 

 wood door, and has the bed of the deaf-mute half-brother 

 (1) along the north wall, a bed of boards resting on wooden 

 "horses." He hangs his clothing on a line acro.ss the room 

 and keeps valuables in a chest under his bed. He uses 

 no light at night, though kerosene is burned in the other 

 rooms. 



The chicken house (B) is 6 by 4 feet, and 6 feet high, 

 with a l^^-foot door and cane perches. The sweat bath is 

 new, 9 by 7 feet and a little over 5 feet at its greatest 

 height, covered with a raised thatched roof, and with 

 benches along all the walls. 



No. 19. Yard 42 by 36 plus a flower garden 30 by 6 

 feet. A and B are two rooms of a single house, 40 by 18 

 feet with 7- or 8-foot walls and the roof almost 18 feet high. 

 The pillars of the porch are on bases of cut stone and on it 

 are flowers in tins. The adobe partition completely divides 

 the house, and each room has only its outside (bought) 

 door. The house was begun in 1930; in 1936 it was not 

 considered finished because a tepanco (boards or canes 

 over the rafters) was planned. 



A is the kitchen, with fireplace in the northeast corner, 

 a second fire nearby, and all pots and dishes on the floor 

 against the surrounding walls. There are beds of boards 

 on planted posts, one in the northwest corner for 2, 3, 

 and 5; the other (southwest corner) for 1 and 4. At the 



