Water Problems
Usually when I wake up on Sundays (NOTE: The word "usually" has taken on new meaning here, as anything that happens twice is considered ritual to me.), I wash my clothes. But today, I was asked what was most important to wash.
There are still plenty of mysteries of living here because many of the day-to-day events are only communicated in dialect. I noticed that we had very little water this morning, which was unusual. I started washing my bed sheets, then offered to help get water after it was apparent that that needed to happen.
Most of the bigger families here have wheelbarrows and 25kg water bottles. The wheelbarrows are all marked with "UNICEF" and the water bottles are all the same brand, in either yellow, green or black.
So I started carting the wheelbarrow of empty bottles (4 of them). Please take note that it's VERY strange for a white person to be carting water, even if it is empty. I got a ton of laughs and greetings of "Carting water, eh?" in Portuguese. I responded by saying it was my first time.
About 4 other trainees saw me along the way, as it was a long walk. We finally got to a house, escorted by my brother Antonio (who was acting drum major in our 2-man parade). We waited for my host dad to catch up, and then he determined that they didn't have any water. The house we had stopped at recommended we go to the Mosque.
So we went to one of the nicest buildings in town, a living, breathing Mosque. The man we spoke with was in traditional garb, and seemed to be giving my dad the runaround. We were offering to pay for water (you have to pay for it anyway, unless you go to the river) but he just disappeared after a while. I think my host dad just lost patience. And we weren't alone. There were at least a dozen women waiting.
So Antonio took the water back as we "passear"ed to Zach's place. My dad always asks about him because he "never visits" - which is considered rude, to have a friend who doesn't visit. I tried to explain that he's got a lot of work, etc., but it didn't seem to help.
So, at 8:30AM we stopped by - and Zach was still asleep. His brother woke him up (as company necessitates) and so I immediately told him to go back to sleep, as I explained to my host dad that he was tired. First, my host dad asked Zach why he hasn't come to visit, but we managed to get out of there without much of an issue :)
Carolyn and Sawyer both stop by a lot and end up talking Sr. Bernardo for a while if I'm not there. It's funny to hear them talk about it, because it's a double-edged sword. They love the conversation, but they don't always have the time for it. Kinda the same way I feel sometimes.
Peace
John
(THIS IS MOM-- I'm pooped and will continue this tomorrow...)
