Living in the 3rd World

Growing up in America there are certain expectations that you assume will always be available.....ample food, water, shelter, and safety.  This is not always the fact but I still hold the expectation....and this is true, I believe, of many other areas in the world.  Living here in Soyo has caused me to re evaluate the entitled expectations that I have held....and over the past 10 days, the water has been off more than it has been on, I think.  We have had one or two days when it was on the full day....but just when you think the problem has been repaired...whatever the problem is.....then you go to turn on the faucet and no water flows out.  Now I am not complaining.....just informing......  How can I complain when many times when I am in the car going through town I see the following picture.

There are many men pulling and pushing carts through the sandy soil with containers of water to sell to the local people who do not have running water in their homes.  I heard that this costs approximately $1.50/can of water but think of how much water we use daily and how we would need to change the usage if we are buying it by the plastic container.  Living in Danville, California, before we moved to Angola, we had water rationing....and this was a change in pricing if you didn't cut your usage....but I didn't know of anyone without water during that time.

So we have adapted in our home.  We keep a bucket of water by the toilet and a dish pan of water in the kitchen for washing hands and rinsing dishes until the water comes back on.

Yesterday morning Bryan had a meeting at the office and half way through his shower, the water shut off.....but he was able to get the soap off by using the bucket in the bathroom......  I must say that it is an adventure each time you shower to wonder if the water will stay on?  Will it be hot water?  Will it be clear or brown???  

We all continue to hold hope that the water issues will be resolved soon.....because the changes in water pressure has caused significant water leaks in several of the homes here....they are repaired and then reoccur when the water comes back on with high pressure then next time.  Thankfully we have not had these issues in our home.......

Friday evening was the Happy Hour at our home.  It was really a lot of fun.  Everyone brought food to share and then we had hamburgers and sausages on the grill.  About 24 people in all....and at the end our neighbor, Isabel, came by too.  We had this outside on the patio slab that Bryan had put in....and it was so nice.  One of the ladies even put on a sweater......not that cool to me but was to her.  We started with the wives at around 4:30 and people went home after 9pm.....  Next time it will be at Anne's house.

 

 The rains have started at night.  It is cool most days still.....but some days are quite hot already.  It is funny to have fall decorations in the house and we are heading into hot season here.  I do so enjoy living in Soyo.