The first time I turned the pump back on to propel the well water into the tanks on the roof, I was so alarmed by the stench that I was nearly sick on the spot. Once, one of the builders told me in his heavy accent that I was lucky, even though the water smelled slightly of sulphur and urine; that in his neighbourhood the water company almost never resupplies when it’s supposed to, that people rely on pails and water jugs, if they can find any, because there’s a shortage of jugs all over the island. And when are the tourists left without water? Never, never, the man said, waving a dismissive hand in the air. I still have some white marks on the skin of my arms from bathing with well water during those weeks. At school, it was kids from other areas, poor ones, who had those blotches. The underground aquifer was fine back then; no one had to deal with this sort of thing in the governors’ neighbourhood. Now, though, it’s rotted with overuse, and the contents of the septic tank must have flooded it at some point. We’re highly intelligent, we’re future-minded, we’re Caribbean.

I’ve barely gone out. I went once to the beach, and I’ve shopped at supermarkets, which always seem half-stocked. Ah, and I went to the centre to see about an internet installation at home. A lost cause, like many others. There’s so much demand from posadas that they can’t equip any more household networks. The only solution was to buy a 10 MB wireless modem from a cell phone company. An arm and a leg for something that doesn’t really work. So I’m properly isolated, and in this sense my life is much as it was in the twentieth century. Now that I’ve figured out the basics of working remotely with Mexico, though, the idea doesn’t bother me much. It feels so picturesque, this world, and everyone’s always complaining about it, so there’s a hint of decadence that perfectly suits my emotional state. I haven’t thought about anything, really. Barely even Roberto. Even when I’ve felt like crying, I’ve simply been too tired to bother. I’ve been more or less stable for the past two weeks. I check the monitor again. Perfect.