It's Only Just Begun

Hey people,

Internet cafe #2 since I arrived over a week ago. I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to access the internet this week, but last minute things worked out alright. Basically, if you stand on the side of the road long enough, you can get a ride to anywhere.

So I'm going to share with you some of what I've learned so far. Yes, I've learend a lot about the Peace Corps and what I might be doing, but I'll share with you the important things.

How to flush the toilet
First, there are 3 sizes of buckets. The tank (I think this is the tanco), the balde (bucket), and the paila (scooper thing). So flushing the toilet does not really work with the paila (it holds about half a gallon). Trust me, I learned this one from experience. Maybe when I'm more experienced I'll go with the low-flow method, but for now, let's work on flushing it. Get about half the bucket (the size of those hardware store ones) and aim well right into the bottom of the toilet, make sure you get a good stream going and move that water fast! Then if you're lucky, you'll have some water left to refill the bowl.

How to take a bucket bath
This one has an incredibly fast learning curve. Especially if the water is cold, as it was the first few days I did it. However, I made mention that some of the other volunteers were not taking baths because they didn't like cold water. Fortunately, my sister then asked me if I prefer cold water or "warm" water. Warm water is about the temperature of a swimming pool. But let me assure you, it is much warmer than plain cold water. The first day I was fortunate enough to catch the recently-boiled water before they mixed it and I put it at a nice steaming temperature, but since then I don't complain.

I asked one of the staff at school if he had any advice on taking this bucket bath, since he was probably more experience than I. Here are the steps:
1. Exercise. Do 20 pushups or something to get warmed up first.
2. Do NOT think about it! Don't underestimate the importance of this step.
3. Just do it! Nike's words ring ever true in this occasion.
4. Dump it once from up high, and then splash those other dirty areas.
5. Soap up.
6. Yes, do it again. And don't forget the necessary splashing.
7. Rinse and repeat daily.

Next time I'll try to prepare my posts on a flash drive along with pictures so I can get some more length. But my sister is currently waiting on me to go to church tonight, so I'll keep it breif. Thanks again for all the prayers and thoughts. So far, I've kept a runny nose, but that's it. I can hardly complain. Otherwise, eveything else is cheque (it's all good).