Melanie vs. The Shower

I want each and every one of you to be grateful for your warm optimally pressured showers today.  You see while it is summer in America and likely hovering around 70 to 90 degrees, we are in Peru in the middle of winter.  It is really really cold.  Let me give you a mental image to work with on how cold it is.

Last night I went to bed with hiking socks on pulled up to my knees, long pants, a long shirt, a sweat shirt, a hat and a scarf wrapped around my head and neck.  I looked ridiculous (Scott confirmed this) and I was STILL cold.  (To the grandparents of Lucas and Sydney...relax.  For some reason, the kids are not as cold as we are.  They just don´t seem to feel it as much as we do. They rarely complain.  Don´t worry. They are bundled up.)

When you wake up from a cold sleep and it is your day to shower (we only shower every other day), you would look forward to a shower in the morning, right?  Wrong!  My showers are miserable.

They warned us.  Maximo Nivel told us the water pressure and heat are variable in the homes and I thought, "I am tough. I can handle it."  The truth is, I am not handling it.  I´ve lost my mind on shower day.  I started to talk to the shower like it is alive and we need to negociate terms.  I bargain with it saying, "We are in this thing together and we should cooperate with one another.  If you keep a good temperature and reasonable pressure, I will be quick so you can relax for a while." The damn thing never listens. Today my shower started off too hot for about 10 seconds then quickly turned freezing.  I couldn´t stand it.  I was out in 60 seconds and shivering.

I am not being snobby. I promise.  There is a guy here we volunteer with who has been around the world (He happens to be a student at Ohio State University--GO BUCKS!)  He was in Africa and said the African bucket showers are much (MUCH!) better than the shower experiences he has in Peru. Here is how his African showers worked.

1. You lather yourself up
2. Pour a bucket over your head.  
3. That´s all!  You´re clean.  

And he says they were also quite refreshing because it is hot outside.  He says his showers here have been absolutely miserable and he is looking forward to ending this part of his Peruvian trip soon with his exit out of the country.

So please...be grateful today and every day for the means by which we get ourselves clean in the United States.  I love the people and our experiences here, but I will not miss the Peruvian shower situation at all. Burrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.....