Paa-nee

We never know the worth of water till the well is dry.  ~Thomas Fuller

Paa-nee. Water. In so many ways, life revolves around it. I know for one, that after a long day in Delhi, a shower or bath makes me feel like new again. Or during that hot day in the city, being able to have a cold, filtered glass of water makes all the difference. Just being able to quench your thirst.

This past Sunday evening, I went to take a bucket bath and realized that the water pressure was slowly dying down. So I figured I would just take a bath on Monday instead. But I woke up on Monday to find that there was no water at all. The same was true for when I woke up in Tuesday. And after a few days with no water, my thoughts went to my life back in Opuwo, Namibia when I would have jugs and bottles filled to the brim with water just in case anything like this would happen. But I wasn't prepared for such a thing here. I took my water-filled life for granted. It's funny, I feel like everywhere I go, I always have at least one blog post about water. In the U.S., it's so easy to take it for granted. Bottled water, sparkling water, 20 minute hot showers, long relaxing baths, ice cubes in your summer drink.....After living abroad for a while now though , I've come to dial my life down to the basics. It's been so refreshing being able to focus on the things that truly matter in life. Because after a while, who really needs sparkling water anyway?

By Monday though I needed to figure something out. Luckily I had some baby wipes with me and used that as a temporary solution to a bath. Then tried to wash my hair with the one liter bottle of water that I had. Man, I milked that water for all its worth! I'm just glad it's not December or January yet, because washing your hair with cold water in the winter is no fun at all!

Both Monday and Tuesday after coming back from work, I would try to motion to the young woman that's living with me that the water in the rest of the flat was working but not in my bathroom. I think she understood but the language barrier makes it difficult. Finally today on Wednesday after coming back from work, I was desperately ready for a good bucket bath. I was able to talk with the young woman's husband who speaks some English about my troubles with my water. He understood right away. I found out that with the water shut off earlier in the week, it had made air bubbles in the water tank on the roof. He let the water run for half an hour and what do you know but not only did I now have hot water flowing, but my shower head was working too!

When I first moved into the apartment here, I thought I wouldn't have hot water and of course not a hot shower. But six weeks after being here in Delhi, I had my first hot shower in the apartment. And it was the best one I've had in a while.

"Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas any more."

Two things happened today that reminds me I am no longer in Kansas, or anywhere in the US for that matter:
1. All the rickshaw & taxi drivers in Mumbai went on strike today
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601091&sid=aBe7OMRlEq9Y

Thousands of people rely on rickshaws to get to work and from one place to another, so this'll be interesting to see how people manage. When I was walking to the market this afternoon, I couldn't believe how quiet it was on the streets. There was still the mild honking of cars and the crazy Mumbai drivers out on the roads, but there was almost this calm in the air. Usually, wherever there is a space on the road, a rickshaw will take it up. But since rickshaws and taxis weren't out on the roads today, there was so much space. It made the narrow roads that I usually walk on so wide today.

2. I went to the doctor's today because of the cold that I've been having, and she thinks I could possibly have dengue fever or leptospirosis....two things that you would never hear being diagnosed in the US. I'm going back tomorrow for 2000 rupees ($50 US dollars) worth of tests. So we'll see then what the diagnosis is. While I was in the waiting room to see the doctor today, I was just looking around the room and noticed a sign of all the prices for health care plans. What?! I couldn't believe my eyes! You would never have seen how much a cancer detection is (only $50!) or how much a healthy woman check-up plan is ($20). And get this, no fine print. I was just waiting to see some sort of asterisk or fine print at the very bottom saying that this is what the prices start at or something, but I never did. Out of all the countries, I would never have thought India to be one to list the prices and give them to you upfront. The US should learn from India.

On the other hand though, there are some things India can learn from the US as well....like waiting your turn. When I got to the waiting room, the nurse told me that I would go in to see the doctor after 2 patients. Okay, I thought, not bad. But you never knew when the next patient was called in because there were always people creeping into the doctor's office and sneaking ahead of everyone else in line. Then a nurse started calling numbers (where I was constantly reminded of the waiting lines at the DMV) and I then realized that I was never given a number. Apparently one of the nurses never gave the doctor my chart so I was never placed on the list of patients and in the line. Grrr. So fast forward another half hour and I finally made it into the doctor's office.

Not being in "Kansas" has opened my eyes to so many things. I was always the person to plan everything out. And I'm still that person, but now another part of me is one that accepts a change in that plan. I know that if I wouldn't be able to accept a change in my day or plan that I would never make it through this semester. So even though some moments have caused me to lose my patience or grind my teeth, I have become a better person because of it. Mumbai, thank you for that.