No, this is not the name of a new movie parody spoofing the famous Ang Lee movie, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon.
Let me explain the title of this blog entry. You see, we moved into our rental house on August 20 and this Saturday will be our one-month anniversary in the new place! I cannot believe how time flies.
While the house is very comfortable for the most part, we have had this lingering issue where there is no running water during the day and over the weekends. This means that we can only take a shower late at night or sometimes in the mornings (or some days, not at all) when the water decides to work. Even when there is water, there has not been enough water pressure to bring the water up and through the shower, which has meant that we have had to “crouch” under the hand shower which we can only hold about 3 feet above the ground. Lifting the handshower any higher than 3 feet brings the water flow to a complete standstill. Hence the Crouching Shower.
On the weekends, the situation is even worse, with absolutely no running water at all, meaning no flushing the toilets, no washing dishes, no cooking, no showers, nothing. So, some weekends, we have been lucky to take a shower on Friday and then again on Monday. Let me just say that deodorant can only do so much. Hence, the title Hidden Water.
But it appears that there is light at the end of the tunnel. Our wonderful landlord Terefe is installing a reserve water tank (something that is quite common and something we should have asked about when looking at places) which holds about 100 litres of water in a tank above a pedestal near the house so that when the main water supply is dry, the reserve tank will kick in. Until now, when there was no water, we had to use the garden hose (the only tap with continuous water) to wash our dishes and do some laundry. In fact, on Sunday, I washed my hair on the driveway outside of the house using the garden hose (shampoo, conditioner…the works). I cannot wait for the reserve tank, which at present is sitting on the front lawn serving as a playhouse to the youngest of Terefe’s children, Baumlik.
Let me just say that while it has been interesting living with minimal water, I am by no means complaining. My colleague, Elise, who has been in Jamaica was without running water for a week after the hurricane. I do not know how she managed! She is a trooper! Furthermore, people here every day struggle with limited or no water source/supply which makes me so grateful for the limited water we receive every day….which brings me to the next entry (on the creative and multi-purpose usage of water sources in Addis).
