First of all I do apologize for my leave of absence, but I was working on self development courses and trying to figure our what I want to do with my life. 33 is the new 18 after all right?
Something I have yet to fully share with my privileged First World readers is our water situation. If you've never travelled to a less than first world country, you've probably not seen how the rest of the earth drinks water. It's quite sad actually when you think about a blue planet that is predominantly made up of water and yet millions of people are drinking disease/bacteria infested water.
This website said it best - Over 70% of our Earth's surface is covered by water ( we should really call our planet "Ocean" instead of "Earth"). It's not just a poor country thing - it's a new versus old country thing. I still remember noting while traveling in Europe the lack of drinking fountains. I will also never forget the look of terror on a barista's face in Berlin when I asked for tap water for my camel back bladder. In fact, even the East Coast of the U.S. seems to have slim pickings for tap water people trust. But, all of these locations had an abundance of options for affordable bottled water.
You will never realize how much water you use on a daily basis until it is restricted and segregated by type.
To give a frame of reference, here are the water categories:
Our water choices and consumption begin as soon as we start our day. Due to the limited water on hand, showers are limited to 5 minutes. Time your next shower and you'll realize you probably spend 10-15 minutes letting the hot spray wake you up and get you ready for the day. 5 minutes is just enough time to remember what you're missing from home. That and the water pressure is similar to a soaker hose and you spend most of your time in a vertical fetal position out of fear that touching any surface of the true "water closet" with your skin will result in contracting some disease that will one day bear your name. I have aspirations in life - having a disease named after me is not one of them.
I've touched on it before, but brushing teeth is a choice. Use the non-potable water out of the sink, or remember to bring a water bottle in with you. I've taken my chances on this so far and haven't gotten sick, but I don't swallow my toothpaste phlegm so I think I'm doing alright there.
Shaving can be a challenge as well. Depending on the day and time of day, the water pressure and temperature can be good or very bad. For those who know me, you know I grow facial hair like, well, the Teen Wolf. This means a daily task that *is* required can be arduous and at times a bit bloody. I've found it's worth "shopping" around for the best pressure/temperature combo option before settling down for my daily shave.
Another taken-for-granted daily use of water is doing dishes. They feed us "food" here, but several of us like to cook from time to time to spice up our food. We have an electric wok, rice cooker and electric hot place - not to mention a very large selection of spices and seasonings. This may help us create better meals, but with those meals come dishes. What we do seems like a weird combination between camping and post-apocalyptic dish washing technique. We heat the water from several water bottles in an electric water heater (which can't be used at the same time as the microwave or we blow the incredibly sensitive circuit breaker). Next, we use the wok or large bowl as a sink with soap and hot water. We then go outside near our bunker and proceed to lather up all the dishes and rinse them with more bottles of water. It's a far-cry from the GE dish washers hooked up to the wall back home.
This will probably be my last blog until I get home and have time to reflect on this adventure. I hope this hasn't come off as too complainy but more sarcastic and my way of sharing our day-to-day lives and that it has been a way for people back home to peer into our world over here.
Something I have yet to fully share with my privileged First World readers is our water situation. If you've never travelled to a less than first world country, you've probably not seen how the rest of the earth drinks water. It's quite sad actually when you think about a blue planet that is predominantly made up of water and yet millions of people are drinking disease/bacteria infested water.This website said it best - Over 70% of our Earth's surface is covered by water ( we should really call our planet "Ocean" instead of "Earth"). It's not just a poor country thing - it's a new versus old country thing. I still remember noting while traveling in Europe the lack of drinking fountains. I will also never forget the look of terror on a barista's face in Berlin when I asked for tap water for my camel back bladder. In fact, even the East Coast of the U.S. seems to have slim pickings for tap water people trust. But, all of these locations had an abundance of options for affordable bottled water.You will never realize how much water you use on a daily basis until it is restricted and segregated by type.
To give a frame of reference, here are the water categories:
- Potable water - safe to consume. Most of ours comes in the form of a water bottle.
- Non-Potable water - safe to shave or shower with but not to drink.
- Black water - what comes out of the toilets. I'm guessing you saw that definition coming.
Our water choices and consumption begin as soon as we start our day. Due to the limited water on hand, showers are limited to 5 minutes. Time your next shower and you'll realize you probably spend 10-15 minutes letting the hot spray wake you up and get you ready for the day. 5 minutes is just enough time to remember what you're missing from home. That and the water pressure is similar to a soaker hose and you spend most of your time in a vertical fetal position out of fear that touching any surface of the true "water closet" with your skin will result in contracting some disease that will one day bear your name. I have aspirations in life - having a disease named after me is not one of them.I've touched on it before, but brushing teeth is a choice. Use the non-potable water out of the sink, or remember to bring a water bottle in with you. I've taken my chances on this so far and haven't gotten sick, but I don't swallow my toothpaste phlegm so I think I'm doing alright there.
Shaving can be a challenge as well. Depending on the day and time of day, the water pressure and temperature can be good or very bad. For those who know me, you know I grow facial hair like, well, the Teen Wolf. This means a daily task that *is* required can be arduous and at times a bit bloody. I've found it's worth "shopping" around for the best pressure/temperature combo option before settling down for my daily shave.
Another taken-for-granted daily use of water is doing dishes. They feed us "food" here, but several of us like to cook from time to time to spice up our food. We have an electric wok, rice cooker and electric hot place - not to mention a very large selection of spices and seasonings. This may help us create better meals, but with those meals come dishes. What we do seems like a weird combination between camping and post-apocalyptic dish washing technique. We heat the water from several water bottles in an electric water heater (which can't be used at the same time as the microwave or we blow the incredibly sensitive circuit breaker). Next, we use the wok or large bowl as a sink with soap and hot water. We then go outside near our bunker and proceed to lather up all the dishes and rinse them with more bottles of water. It's a far-cry from the GE dish washers hooked up to the wall back home.
This will probably be my last blog until I get home and have time to reflect on this adventure. I hope this hasn't come off as too complainy but more sarcastic and my way of sharing our day-to-day lives and that it has been a way for people back home to peer into our world over here.
I now leave you with this brilliant video on making drinkable water from stymie filth.
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