I miss hot showers.
There. I've said it.
I'm living in a country where only 20% of the population (give or take) have access to toilets, or running water, a country where the life expectancy hovers around age 50, a country where the prospects for a reasonable, livable, decent life (I didn't say happy) are slim and far between. (And what a weird phrase that is. Not even sure what it means. Sorry about that.) I shouldn't be thinking of my own personal comfort needs.
Still.
I miss hot showers.
In my apartment, there's only cold showers available. Often, that's enough. After a run, or on a particularly hot day (which means every day), a cold shower can feel damn good. Soothing. Rejuvenating, even.
Still.
I haven't been entirely without a hot shower in my almost two (gulp) years of living here. I've had them at the hotels I've stayed at, the guest houses I've stayed at.
So, let's see -- less than five hot showers in two years?
It's not that I think about them that often, to be honest. But every now and then, the memory of a hot shower, potent and fierce, appears in my mind, like a picture you can only feel, not see.
And then I think of most Cambodians, who have never experienced and will never experience the simple goodness of a hot shower. I swallow my pity and get on with my day.
Still.
I admit it.
I miss hot showers.
4 comments:
I joined the gym shortly after I realised it had hot showers. I then bought great soap and conditioner and said I could only use them in the hot shower at the gym, which i was only allowed to use if I worked out really fricken hard. This got me going to the gym regularly for the first two years when motivation could have waned. After I was secure with that, I got a hot shower here at my home. What I crave is a bath tub. Mind you I live on the ocean and sometimes the water is as hot as a lukewarm bath, I miss the sides huging me. Perhaps I just miss being hugged. the end
Ask someone you know back in Canada to visit an REI (that's Recreational Equipment Incorporated) and buy a Solar Shower Bag for you. You fill it with water, set it out on the porch in the sun and bring it in when it's time to get dressed for dinner. My wife and I used them when we lived in Tonga a few years ago. It holds enough water for about a five minute hot shower.
Ask someone you know back in Canada to visit an REI (that's Recreational Equipment Incorporated) and buy a Solar Shower Bag for you. You fill it with water, set it out on the porch in the sun and bring it in when it's time to get dressed for dinner. My wife and I used them when we lived in Tonga a few years ago. It holds enough water for about a five minute hot shower.
Twenty years ago I lived in a remote village in the Philippines. No electricity. No running water. Insects the size of your dreams. I tolerated it all without much of whimper, but cried for spot of hot water. Salivated over the thought. I still have not forgotten...
ambrozia
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