Kaputt, is okay.

That’s what the man said.

Erm… Who is  the man and why did he say that?

Well… You see, we were on this thing, what-do-you-call-it?

The Dominican Republic?

Yes! I mean no. Yes, we were there too. No, not what I meant.

An island?

No. I mean yes. Argh.

Honeymoon?

Yes, that’s it. And we were in this nice hotel. Food not too bad. Gorgeous beach. Lizards all around. Glorious sunsets. Dripping bathroom ceilings. Happy…

Wait. Surely one of these doesn’t belong in that list.

Drippy bathroom ceiling?

Yep, that’s the one. So, what’s up with that?

Well. The hotel was nice, as I said. Only the bathroom had one tiny little problem. The ceiling was dripping. At first only a little, and then it got worse with each passing minute. Only it’s kinda above the shower, so that wasn’t a problem really, after all the idea is that water is coming down from above in a shower.

Dude, that’s gross. You don’t know where that water’s been.

Good point.

So?

So we complained. And they fixed it. Pretty promptly. Although the repair man didn’t take off his shoes and we had muddy footprints all over the bathroom ceiling after that.

Don’t you mean floor?

Pardon?

Well, I don’t think the ceiling repair man walked on the ceiling. Wouldn’t that be counter-productive, like?

Oh, yes. Muddy footprints all over the floor then.

And he said that thing about kaputt and okay? Right?

No, no he didn’t. That came much later.

Go on.

Okay. Honeymoon continues. Breakfast. Beach. Humidity. Lunch. Feeding turtles. More beach. Dinner. Evening walk. Sunset. Breakfast. Beach. Humidity… I’ll just fast forward a bit here…  Beach. Humidity. Lunch. Feeding Turtles. Rainstorm of Biblical proportions.

Oh…

Well, they get them there around that time of the year. That’s why they call it the rainy season.

Aha…

Anyway. After the storm the ceiling is dripping again. Only worse. And we got a daytrip on the next day. Oversleep, barely make the trip and forget to tell anyone about the ceiling. After we get back from the trip the ceiling is stil dripping and we almost have to wade through the bathroom.

Ouch!

Oh, yes, ouch indeed. And as a bonus the drippiness has extended to the hallway and the wardrobe. So we kind of go to the lobby first thing next morning and complain. Politely.

Good for you!

Yes. No need to be a jerk, I guess. And after a few hours, we’re sitting in our room and enjoying the comforts of air conditioning at this point, a guy comes by to look at the ceiling. Jonas opens the door.  Says hola. Points at ceiling. That’s all our Spanish is good for. Guy looks up. Smiles like a loon.

“Is kaputt,” he says.

“Yeah, funny, but we kind of figured that one out ourselves,” we think.

“Is okay,” he says. Smiles some more and goes away.

We are left staring at the empty hallway.

So, what happened then?

Well. The ceiling did stop dripping after that. And the hotel staff took to checking if our fridge and/or TV-set was still okay every single day from then on. Just to be safe, I guess. Can’t be too careful with people who keep complaining about kaputt ceilings.