Water!

I don't think I've ever been more thankful for running water in all my life.  After 6 days of no water in our apartment, the sound of a gurgle and then a trickle coming from the faucet yesterday was absolutely heaven.  It all started Monday when I was washing dishes...  The water pressure decreased down to a dribble and then nothing.  At first I thought it was just our faulty faucet--it has developed several problems since we moved in.  But as I began checking other faucets and the showers and toilets, I realized our water was off.  So then I thought perhaps we missed the notification to pay our water bill (sometimes figuring out how / when / where to pay your bills in a new place can be confusing!).  But after talking to some neighbors and realizing they didn't have water either, I realized that we may be headed for an adventure. 
Since we've moved here, the same thing has happened with our power--probably four or five times they've shut the power off in our complex and beyond.  But it's always come back on after a few hours.  So I figured the same would be true of the water.  Not so, my friend!  The evening of the second day without water (Tuesday evening) we found out that we would be without it until Saturday! 
Let me tell you, it didn't take long to begin really missing being able to wash our hands, flush the toilet, wash dishes, take showers, wipe down the kitchen table / counters, etc. But what do you do when you don't have what you're used to?  You complain.  Er, I mean, you adjust, of course!  You keep the bathroom doors closed at all times, and hold your breath when you have to go in.  You use alot more wet wipes and Germ X for faces and hands.  You just let the dirty dishes pile up until they threaten to overtake your kitchen and you have no more clean ones left, and then you start eating out.  You use bottled water for drinking and washing.  Etc.  All these tactics got us to day three, when a family in the complex who did have water let us bring a big bucket over and fill it up--woohoo!  I washed dishes--took me 2 and a half hours!--using the water very sparingly so I could leave some for kids baths and our showers.  It was good for me to think of how to be most conservative with the water, using the old rinse water to be the new wash water, using the old wash water to flush the toilets, etc.  And you'd be amazed at how little water is really required for bathing.  I guess I realized for the first time what a waste of water showers are!  It's funny, though, that you don't think of taking a shower as "wasting water" until water is a limited resource in a very immediate way.  Again, I think of my grandmother and even my dad in his early years, and the generations upon generations of people who had to work alot harder than just turning on a faucet to have water available to them.
So anyway, in the end it was a beneficial experience to be without running water for a while.  I had a lesson in being frugal and in developing a greater appreciation for fundamental blessings, as well as opportunities to connect with our neighbors under unique circumstances and shared experiences. 

Just some Hotwheels...

During the first week we were here, we had some unexpected but welcome company--3 boys from the fellowship --come and play with our kids. The main attraction was Caleb's Hotwheels cars and cartrack, which ended up providing entertainment for several children for over 4 hours. Who knew you could get that many "miles" out of Hotwheels cars?!

It was so much fun to see Caleb connect with the kids, using his limited language to relate and make some new friends.  In the end we were also able to meet the boys' parents and some of our neighbors too. Who knows what will come out of the relationships that all started because of some toys!
We recently learned from a friend here, though, that teachers generally discourage parents from buying toys because having too many toys at home could distract the child from studying and doing homework.  We've found that it's a real treat for kids to come to our house and play.  We always invite kids to come when we return home from playing outside, and since "Hotwheels Sunday", we've had several little ones come in and explore and see what's inside the foreigners' house.  =)

This little guy has come a few times.  We see him out in the neighborhood alot, but have never seen him with parents or grandparents (though we know he lives with his family).  He's really taken to Dave, especially enjoying throwing frisbee and playing ping pong. 
Anyway, it's been fun to get to know these precious kids a bit, and fun for our kids to have little friends around to play with.  We don't mind if our friends only like us because of our toys.  =)