Water, Water, Everywhere... Sort of

One thing that I really wasn't too sure about before coming here was how my drinking water situation would be.  I knew we had running water and a toilet but, besides that, I didn't really know too much.  It turns out we’re pretty spoiled as far as that goes.  We have running water, I can brush my teeth with water that comes from the tap, AND we have a shower.

Of course each of those positives has their caveats:

(1)  We have running water.  Except when we don’t.  Which happens for a couple of hours 4-5 times a week for various reasons.  One common one (particularly when it’s cloudy) is that the power goes out at some point during the night.  No power means the pumps don’t bring water up from the big cistern at the bottom of the hill which, in turn, means I frequently bumble around my room trying to find my giant bottle of hand sanitizer in the dark after using the bathroom in the middle of the night.  The power can also be a problem when it comes back on—a few particularly sunny days last weekend the power turning back on in the morning shorted out something in the control panel on the pumps and, again, no water.  Thankfully, my colleague Daniel is pretty awesome and, in addition to being knowledgeable about organic farming, he’s handy with electronics (and getting nests of baby owls out of roofs, and building shelves for our storage room, and basically everything we need…).

Our well-loved "mama" and "baby" kettles.

(2) I can brush my teeth without getting sick from it.  This was a huge positive that I am pretty darn excited about.  Anybody who has traveled to a country where you have to use a water bottle to brush your teeth every night knows what I am talking about.  But, we do have to boil all of our drinking water.  We have the set-up to have a UV light treat all of our water but, unfortunately, the light burnt out a couple of weeks before I arrived.  Despite efforts, the contractor who installed the system is being incredibly slow about sending a new bulb and he won’t tell us another place where we could buy a suitable replacement.  So, for now, we boil water before going to bed, let it cool overnight, put it into 1.5 liter plastic water bottles, and stick those in the fridge.  Not the most energy efficient system (we have a gas stove that isn't the best and it sometimes takes a long time to get a rolling boil going), but it works. 

Filling up the wash bucket for a shower.

(3) We have a shower.  But no hot water.  So, again, our two giant kettles come in handy here.   We fill a wash tub half way up with cold water, pour in the boiling water, and there you have some warm water to wash your hair with.   It’s actually not a bad system.   We have a pitcher to take the water from the tub and pour over our head, and I think I’ll actually enjoy the cold water once we get into the warmer season.  It’s “winter” right now and while the nights and mornings can be a little chilly, the afternoons are pretty hot. 

Our "emergency" backup water.

Although some of this may seem a bit absurd, it really hasn't been too tough of an adjustment.  It pretty easily becomes a part of your routine and you figure out how to deal.  We have two big buckets we keep filled with water for washing up when the water goes out.  I take fewer showers and generally take them in the afternoon after classes are done.  If we know we have water dirty dishes don’t sit in the sink for long, we don’t leave the water running long, and we’re sure to fill up both our kettles.  It’s not inconvenient, honestly.  It’s just something you’re more conscious of.  And that’s part of the point in being here—challenging assumptions and changing the way I think.  Even in small, daily ways.

And speaking of water, next Wednesday Dana and I are taking 30 of the perform girls (think 6^th or 7^th grade-ish) to the pool in town to learn how to swim.  I will talk more about the preform girls in another post, as they are the students I will be teaching in art and environmental studies for the next 2 ½ months and I am going to get to know them quite well.  It’s only been a few weeks and I can already tell they are quite the cast of characters.

Putting on another pot to boil while I make my art lesson plan for Monday,

Carolyn