A Late-Night time Toilet Trek Made Her TikTok Well-known — Right here’s Why (Unique)

In the dark, the one factor separating Wendy del Actual from the toilet is a centuries-old courtyard, the place the silence could be as unnerving because the howls of distant coyotes. 

That’s the truth that captivated almost 4 million TikTok viewers, who watched Wendy doc her midnight trek throughout her household’s 500-year-old hacienda — a sprawling property in rural Zacatecas, Mexico that’s equal components historical past, legend and residential.

“I by no means thought that going to the toilet would generate nearly 4 million views, in order that’s cool,” Wendy tells PEOPLE, nonetheless amused at how her late-night routine turned an web sensation. 

The TikTok clip that launched her into viral fame opens with the textual content overlay, “it’s 2am. you’re dwelling alone in a 500 12 months previous hacienda and you need to go to the toilet,” exhibiting Wendy braving the darkness, crossing the open courtyard to succeed in a country bathroom.

Every morning, Wendy wakes to rooms so darkish and thick-walled that daylight barely penetrates, making it arduous to rise with out an alarm. “It’s actually arduous to get up as a result of the rooms are so darkish. Like even when there’s full daylight out, the rooms are so darkish,” she explains.

Her days start with easy, grounding rituals: “I simply stand up, brush my tooth, go feed my horse,” Wendy says, including that her caretaker Anita, a beloved ranch lady, is normally up earlier than her, nudging her to begin the day.

Life on the hacienda is a mix of solitude and group. Wendy’s neighbors — many retired, some lately arrived from Los Angeles — type a tight-knit circle in a city of simply eleven residents.

“There’s solely 10 [others], I’m the eleventh particular person dwelling there,” she shares. “I like simply visiting the neighbors. I’ll go round, and normally within the mornings, I’m going over to my neighbor Rocio’s home. She milks cows.” That every day go to earns Wendy recent milk and cheese, whereas Anita’s chickens sometimes present eggs — tiny, however treasured.

But, the country allure comes with quirks that might check even essentially the most adventurous. “The morning lavatory journeys are the worst, truly, as a result of in a single day, frogs come by means of the drain,” Wendy laughs. 

“Within the morning, they’re all the time simply hanging on the market, so I’ve to love scoot them out within the morning to make use of the restroom.” The hazards don’t finish with frogs — scorpions, bats and spiders are common guests, and Wendy has realized to shake out her boots every morning to keep away from surprises.

The nights are their very own journey. “After I’m crossing the courtyard, bats will fly into my residence. One time I used to be combating this bat and Anita got here working out from her home,” Wendy remembers, portray a vivid image of the unpredictable nocturnal life. “…she grabs like a department, rips a department off the tree, and he or she’s like smacking the bat… and I’m over right here screaming and he or she’s identical to smacking the bat with this.”

Regardless of the critters and the darkness, Wendy finds magnificence within the quiet. “Stargazing at evening is a should. Each single evening, I wish to go on a stroll and take a look at the celebrities,” she says, describing the courtyard as each eerie and enchanting. “The courtyard, though it may be spooky for most individuals, you reside there, and also you get used to it.”

Residing in a home constructed within the late 1500s comes with fixed challenges. “It’s fixed fixing of roofs, there’s leaks. And it’s very costly to repair as a result of we may do patchwork on it, however we all the time wish to maintain issues unique to the home,” Wendy explains. 

The household insists on preserving the adobe partitions and wood beams, resisting trendy shortcuts to keep up authenticity. “Typically I’m strolling into my eating room and like a bit of rock will simply come down. So proper now there’s a pair components of the home which might be a bit of bit harmful.”

The hacienda’s historical past is as layered as its structure. “Some historical past data have it being in-built 1580, others in 1597. So it’s an previous construction, I imply, the principle components of the home,” Wendy says. 

Over the centuries, it has served as a city corridor, a livestock affiliation headquarters, and a house to a whole bunch of households. “This home was at one level a city corridor,” she shares. “After which it was bought to the Aldana household… They saved it for a very very long time till it was bought within the Fifties to my grandpa.”

Her grandfather, Alejandro, was a municipal president recognized for honest wages and using complete indigenous households — a legacy Wendy is proud to proceed. 

“Each single particular person that you simply discuss to on the town has an excellent reminiscence of the hacienda as a result of good issues occurred there,” she says. “Lots of people keep in mind my grandpa’s time in La Hacienda as being like a very good time. Lots of people benefited from this.”

The property can be shrouded in legend. In 1916, in the course of the Mexican Revolution, a big battle passed off on the grounds, abandoning tales of hidden trenches and attainable buried treasure. 

“There was a very, actually vital battle that occurred in the home… They dug trenches underneath the home that we discovered,” Wendy reveals. “There’s supposedly trenches all all through the ranch that lead out to totally different areas of the ranch to flee, to cover.” 

Whereas her mother and father reburied the tunnels for security, Wendy goals of reopening them to share the historical past with guests — safely. after all.

Tales of treasure hunters abound, together with one a few roofer who allegedly discovered a small cauldron and vanished, leaving his instruments behind. “There’s numerous cool little tales like that,” Wendy says, however for her, the actual treasure is the home itself. 

“For me, I’m like the home is the treasure. Like take a look at this place… Take a look at the views that it’s producing simply from me being there, and to me, that’s extra vital.”

Residing in such isolation has taught Wendy about self-reliance, but in addition concerning the distinctive heat of the agricultural Mexican group. 

“The sense of group is totally different as a result of despite the fact that I’m technically alone in the home, I’m not as a result of… all people is aware of all people,” she says. “It’s a special kind of solitude as a result of though my every day routine is technically all on my own… I don’t really feel on my own as a result of all people within the retailer is aware of me and everybody says hello to me.”

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Privateness is a uncommon commodity in a city the place everybody is aware of everybody’s enterprise. “There’s this saying… ’Pueblo Chico Infierno Grande.’ As a result of it is a small place, however everybody is aware of every part,” Wendy laughs. “My non-public moments are inside my home with my doorways closed as a result of everybody is aware of what’s happening.”

But, Wendy wouldn’t commerce it for something. “In the event you’re attempting to have a celeb non-public life or one thing, don’t go to a small city, everybody will know every part, however it’s… so good,” she says. “When it comes all the way down to it, we’ll defend our folks.”

Raised in America however formed by years spent transferring between international locations and cultures, Wendy sees her life on the hacienda as each a tribute to her household’s legacy and an opportunity to carve out her personal path. “I want to proceed the legacy… It’s vital for me to maintain a really constructive gentle on this home due to its historical past.”

“So for me, it’s about educating not simply myself, however people who find themselves like me,” she continues. “The individuals who stay right here however are from there. The individuals who don’t learn about one of these historical past.”