Lather, Rinse, Repeat?

No running water here means that you acquire a couple of new skills pretty fast. The bathroom set-up goes something like this: there is a large barrel of water in one corner that a woman comes to fill for us twice a week. There is also a medium-sized bucket and a large plastic bowl. Hand-washing consists of using the bowl and lathering one-handedly while the other pours the water, and then switching. For "showers" (bucket baths), you get about half a bucket full of piping hot water, add cold water until you have a full bucket of perfect temperature, stand or squat in the tub, and use the bowl to pour water over yourself. Then you lather up, and pour some more. Repeat as necessary. It is pretty time-consuming to wash my long hair this way, so I only do it every two or three days, and forget about conditioner. The first time I tried this bucket method, I splashed water all over the bathroom, but I'm getting better.

Val, another volunteer here, recommends this trick for getting feet cleaner: use two buckets, put a few inches of water in one, and stand with one foot soaking while you go about your business; about halfway through, switch sides. Dr. Chris told me a funny story tonight about a visitor he had from the US. The guy came and stayed with Dr. Chris and his family. After about four days, he still hadn't bathed, even though the Isicheis had provided him with a bucket every night. Eventually, he came out of the bathroom and admitted he had no idea what to use it for and had to ask someone to show him how to do it. The family thought this was hilarious and gladly taught him how to shower Nigerian-style.

Flushing the toilet goes like this: once it's necessary, use the bowl to fill the bucket a little over halfway from the big barrel; pour the water from the bucket straight into the bowl until everything goes down.

Electricity here is spotty at best: it is generally only on for a few hours every afternoon or evening, although we have apparently had an unprecedented amount since we've been here- it even came on in the morning one day! The Nigerian national power company is called NEPA: Nigeria Electric Production Authority- but Nigerians say it stands for Never Expect Power Always. When the power isn't on, we use huge generators here at the guest flat and at the clinic, as well. At the clinic, when the lights flicker off, someone sprints outside to get the generator running as fast as possible. The medical student I was working with in the lab when we lost power just commented, "Welcome to Nigeria."

The generator at our flat sounds like a riding lawn mower parked right outside the dining room window, and emits about the same amount of gas (which comes right into the window). It's definitely a toss-up, but we usually go for a few more hours of light and tv at night. Once power is out and generator is off, it's all about the headlamps- definitely one of the best items I packed.


A note about pictures: I am trying to take lots but don't have a way to get them off my camera until I get home. I know that blogs without pictures are boring, so I'm trying to put up some generic ones to keep it a little more interesting. Once I'm home, I may go back and add my own pictures into old posts, or I may just put a lot of pictures on some new posts- stay tuned.