Water One…

Jam merzit (I am annoyed, merzit also means bored so you have to know from context whether I am bored or annoyed but this is not about the language). I’m calling this Water One because I have a feeling that this is only the first of many water themed entries.

Let’s start off by saying that I really enjoy showers in the morning. Not only are they a good way to maintain certain levels of hygiene but a shower has the power to bring me back to life and helps start the day off right. Being in the Peace Corps, I knew I would have to make some adjustments. My showering is less frequent and I am more inclined to take a shower in the evenings when it’s convenient.

Last night when the water came back on around 9 p.m. and after finishing dinner at 9:45, I was too tired to take a shower. You see a shower isn’t a simple act of turning on the water. I have to first turn on the water heater and wait for about 20 minutes to ensure an adequate supply of hot water. Then the whole shower process can begin. Not feeling up to it, I decided to take my shower in the morning.

Sorry I have to leave my office because someone is smoking and the particular type of cigarette burns my nostrils. BRB. I’m back but now the other guy is smoking. I give up. Sorry nose and lungs.

A morning shower didn’t used to be much of a problem. However, lately the water has been turned off before 7:30 a.m. instead of the 8:00 or 8:15 which is a totally workable time for getting ready for work. Aware of my new water “schedule” I was prepared to wake up early to shower. I set my alarm for 6:00. I woke-up at 3:00 a.m. to go to the bathroom and the water was off. No worries. It’s normal to be turned off during the night. I return to bed and quickly fall back to sleep. It’s a gift I have. Give me five minutes and I’ll be sleeping like a baby. I wake at 6:00, find that I still don’t have water but that’s ok. I turn on the water heater to warm the water that is still in the tank and set my alarm for 6:30. Soon enough my alarm is ringing and I am up anxiously turning on the faucet. Nothing. Ok, back to bed with the alarm now set for 6:45. Again the alarm sounds and I wake up hopeful. Again I am disappointed. Nothing. All right, I’ll try for 7:00. I wake up to the now extremely nerve-wracking sound of my alarm. I am a little nervous. If the water is on, will it then be shortly turned off again, keeping with our frustrating 7:30 cut-off? Plus at this time of morning, everyone is up and fighting for the water, reducing the water pressure to barely adequate to flow through my shower head. Turns out none of this matters since the water is still OFF. ARGH!

I did manage to shower in a way. I do have a reservoir that holds at least a day’s water. The only problem is that the reservoir does not have enough pressure to force through the shower head. Solution? I have to hold the shower knob up to force a small stream of water through. Honestly I would be happy, ok happy isn’t right, satisfied with this if only I didn’t have to hold the knob with one hand the whole time thus making an enjoyable shower of both the right and left sides of my body impossible!

I guess this is the “roughing” it part of the Peace Corps. If the water worked liked it should and all the other random things, I guess I wouldn’t be here. It’s just frustrating, especially when it doesn’t have to be like that. The resources they have could be managed so much more efficiently. I know, I know, that’s why I’m here. Perhaps another time I will tell you about those problems but I’ve complained enough for now.

I swear I was going to keep this short but it got away from me.
Thanks for listening :)