Once again, with the passage of time, things get easier. Good for me, sad for my memoirs.
First, I really have started to get used to life without a refrigerator. Eating habits have been altered, desire for cold water chipped away at, portions downsized to ensure there are no leftovers, and tablespoon after tablespoon of green drink powder consumed in lieu of proper vegetables. I've even come up with all kinds of new ways to eat my box of care-package Crispix without milk. They've been mosaic-ed onto the top of bread with Nutella (or rather, one of the many off-brand Nutella-imitators I've been trying out after my care-packaged real Nutella reminded me how utterly awesome it is), and used as breadcrumbs in veggie patties. After a month like this, the fact of not having a fridge seems entirely less dramatic and awful than I thought it would be looking forward.
Which is not to say I'm merrily forsaking the fridge, embracing this new way of life and considering swearing off chilled/sanitary food altogether. No way. I still have fridge envy. It's just that now I'm spending less time curled up in a ball in my living room, rocking back and forth and thinking about butter, cucumbers, or anything with a "refrigerate after opening" label. People adapt, I'm adapting, and it's all not that dramatic after all.
Then there's water, a similar story.
I can easily tell you the date and location of every shower I've had in the the last year. Which is amusing, even to me, but mostly just amusing because I know it is. If that makes any sense. The bucket shower, or "taking a bucket" as I like to say, hardly seems like a newsworthy challenge the way it did a year ago when I was writing home and saying "Oh my gawd guys! I like totally have to dump cold water on myself to take a shower! And it doesn't even come out of the wall over your head, you just fill up a bucket like you were going to water the plants, but that's your shower! Can you believe it! This Peace Corps thing is like, so hardcore!"
Well, that got normal pretty fast.
Then there was that whole issue in Lila were every time it rained my water turned rusty brown, and I had to fill up the bucket, then wait for hours for some of the sediment to settle to the bottom before gingerly scooping the slightly less dirty water off the top and bathing with that. That also lost all of its third world charm pretty quickly, and was reassigned to the realm of the ordinary.
First, I really have started to get used to life without a refrigerator. Eating habits have been altered, desire for cold water chipped away at, portions downsized to ensure there are no leftovers, and tablespoon after tablespoon of green drink powder consumed in lieu of proper vegetables. I've even come up with all kinds of new ways to eat my box of care-package Crispix without milk. They've been mosaic-ed onto the top of bread with Nutella (or rather, one of the many off-brand Nutella-imitators I've been trying out after my care-packaged real Nutella reminded me how utterly awesome it is), and used as breadcrumbs in veggie patties. After a month like this, the fact of not having a fridge seems entirely less dramatic and awful than I thought it would be looking forward.
Which is not to say I'm merrily forsaking the fridge, embracing this new way of life and considering swearing off chilled/sanitary food altogether. No way. I still have fridge envy. It's just that now I'm spending less time curled up in a ball in my living room, rocking back and forth and thinking about butter, cucumbers, or anything with a "refrigerate after opening" label. People adapt, I'm adapting, and it's all not that dramatic after all.
Then there's water, a similar story.
I can easily tell you the date and location of every shower I've had in the the last year. Which is amusing, even to me, but mostly just amusing because I know it is. If that makes any sense. The bucket shower, or "taking a bucket" as I like to say, hardly seems like a newsworthy challenge the way it did a year ago when I was writing home and saying "Oh my gawd guys! I like totally have to dump cold water on myself to take a shower! And it doesn't even come out of the wall over your head, you just fill up a bucket like you were going to water the plants, but that's your shower! Can you believe it! This Peace Corps thing is like, so hardcore!"
Well, that got normal pretty fast.
Then there was that whole issue in Lila were every time it rained my water turned rusty brown, and I had to fill up the bucket, then wait for hours for some of the sediment to settle to the bottom before gingerly scooping the slightly less dirty water off the top and bathing with that. That also lost all of its third world charm pretty quickly, and was reassigned to the realm of the ordinary.
Here in Clarin it's a different story altogether. The water never turns brown when it rains. In fact, the water doesn't usually turn on if it's not raining. And when there is running water, it stays on just long enough for you to think that whole dry spell was just a phase we are now out of for good. Then it stops, right when your bucket is empty and you've got dishes to do and a body to wash.
So this is my conundrum today. It rained for a while last night and I managed to fill up one glorious bucket. But now I don't know what to do with it. I really need to wash my dishes. It's too hot in the Philippines to keep dirty dishes lying around, and that's just not good form no matter where you are. I also really need to shower/bucket. The same reasons you don't want to leave dirty dishes out apply to your person as well. Oh, and flushing the toilet is another nice thing you use water for.
So for now, the bucket just sits. I am completely undecided. How do you choose between hygiene and sanitation? Eventually, this too won't seem like a big deal. I'll get used to the scarcity and find ways to deal with it. And anyway, my situation is temporary and self-inflicted. Ultimately I am just 14 months and one plane ride away from ten minute hot showers, over-watered lawns, and enormous refrigerators. The 3 billion people I am emulating right now in my little water crisis are not so fortunate.
But I guess it's that very fact that takes the sting out of all the challenges we write home about as Peace Corps Volunteers isn't it? Sure, we do live this. We do see and experience these challenges first hand and our minds, bodies and routines are affected by them. But ultimately, we're just visitors here, exalting in our own hardships until we eventually realize that there's very little that is abnormal about this after all.
And now, if you're so inclined, some fun and informative water-related infografics from GOOD:
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