Friends, a quick post about my shower.
I'd been holding off on posting about my shower, because I didn't want to seem ungrateful for everything I've received here. Last night however, pretty much sums up the relationship I have with mine.
It's basically a 4'x4' porcelain basin sunk 6 inches into the floor. There's a nice mat, a drain, and a hand-held shower head that sits on top of the faucet at about 4 feet off the floor. It makes for interesting showers, in part because there is no place to affix the handset, and also because my first week here, the hot water hasn't been working...or so I thought.
I tried the red knob first, and it was just cold water. So I'd been showering that way, thinking that maybe at some point the heat would kick in, and I'd be greetedwith warmth.
Last night, out of desperation, and because the pressure was failing, I turned on the cold knob. I thought to myself: well, this can't get any colder, so screw it, right?
Right.
I was immediately scalded with incredibly hot water, that my heater had been waiting a whole week to dispense.
Apparently the 'catch' with my shower was that THE HOT AND COLD KNOBS ARE REVERSED.
I was having the shower of my life for the next 8 or 10 minutes, at which point the electricity cut out and I was left in the thickest of darkness. If you've been camping in a remote area, then you know how dark night can get. I'd bet East Africa wins.
I fumbled with the shower, (scalding myself again) and proceeded to do a Crocodile Mile, soapily sliding across the cement floor trying to find my towel. I grabbed my flashlight and dried off, sliding into bed safe and sound.
Today we filmed english and computer classes at Immaculate Conception. The students are all there to learn, and I've never seen ALL the students in a high school age classroom pay such close attention to their teachers. The nation-wide development plan entitled Vision 2020 calls for English to be taught in all schools, and adopted as the official language of the country next year. This switch is the focus of Christine's film. There are three widely-used languages in Rwanda: the native tongue Kinyarwanda, French (introduced by the Belgian colonizers) , and English. It's really interesting to see a culture abandon a former language in place of a new one. Some would call it an infringement on culture, but it seems to me that the people are just trading one colonial tongue for another. In the name of globalization and economic growth, this makes sense, but it's still a complicated and powerful decision. The children continue to study French along with Kinyarwanda and English, but I'm not sure if this is just to phase out French. The culture at Immaculate Conception is very hopeful. Can't wait to see more.
I hope you all have positive experiences with your showers at home, and stay well.