January 25, 2010
The town I live does not get snow often. According to my host sister, it only snowed 3 days last year. So, when it snows it is a big thing. I am not crazy about the snow or the winter here simply because it gets very cold. This week, snow finally arrived and my room was like an icebox.
Last night my host mother went into the chicken shed and found something to keep my room warm. Here it is! This thing probably is a thousand year old and is ugly, but it works. It keeps my room warm and dry. My town is next to the Caspian Sea, so in winter, not only it is cold but it is also very damp. Even on a sunny day, my laundries never got completely dried, so this “ancient thing” is really a good thing to have in my room.
I wish my host mother would put one in our toilet and one in the shower room. In Azerbaijan, toilet and shower rooms are built outside of the main house. (that is why they are called them the “outhouse”) I am lucky that my host family’s toilet is quite modern. It has a western toilet bowl, not the squat type, but no toilet seat (I never understood that!) The Azeri likes to keep their window open, even in the winter. So going to the toilet every night reminds me my camping trip in the Himalayas, cold, cold and cold! To avoid going out there at night in the dark with the freezing cold, I stop drinking tea around 9:00pm. As for the shower room, I have to let the hot water runs at least five minutes before getting any precious hot water. Often, in winter, there are “peak period” when every household is using the gas, so the hot water never got really hot. I made a mistake once to get up too late in the morning and ended up taking a cold shower. So, if I want to have a really hot shower in the winter, I have to get up before everyone.
These are just a few minor adjustments we, as Peace Corps Volunteers have to deal with. No big deal, summer is just around the corner, and I heard, it is extremely hot and humid!
The town I live does not get snow often. According to my host sister, it only snowed 3 days last year. So, when it snows it is a big thing. I am not crazy about the snow or the winter here simply because it gets very cold. This week, snow finally arrived and my room was like an icebox.
Last night my host mother went into the chicken shed and found something to keep my room warm. Here it is! This thing probably is a thousand year old and is ugly, but it works. It keeps my room warm and dry. My town is next to the Caspian Sea, so in winter, not only it is cold but it is also very damp. Even on a sunny day, my laundries never got completely dried, so this “ancient thing” is really a good thing to have in my room.
I wish my host mother would put one in our toilet and one in the shower room. In Azerbaijan, toilet and shower rooms are built outside of the main house. (that is why they are called them the “outhouse”) I am lucky that my host family’s toilet is quite modern. It has a western toilet bowl, not the squat type, but no toilet seat (I never understood that!) The Azeri likes to keep their window open, even in the winter. So going to the toilet every night reminds me my camping trip in the Himalayas, cold, cold and cold! To avoid going out there at night in the dark with the freezing cold, I stop drinking tea around 9:00pm. As for the shower room, I have to let the hot water runs at least five minutes before getting any precious hot water. Often, in winter, there are “peak period” when every household is using the gas, so the hot water never got really hot. I made a mistake once to get up too late in the morning and ended up taking a cold shower. So, if I want to have a really hot shower in the winter, I have to get up before everyone.
These are just a few minor adjustments we, as Peace Corps Volunteers have to deal with. No big deal, summer is just around the corner, and I heard, it is extremely hot and humid!
2 comments:
Hi, Chi: I'm glad you are feeling better now. Cold weather depress people a lot. Try to remember the happy movement in your life. you sure have many friends' blessings to support your badtime. Take Care and Live Well. grace tsai
Thanks Grace.
Sometime I wish you were around to advise me about my health.
Keep reading my blog, that is the best comfort I can get here.
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