I came back from my bike ride yesterday to find that I had no water to wash or do anything in the flat. I mentioned this to my helper extraordinary Mudhab and he promptly went to turn the pump on! Well that is that problem fixed..... or so I thought, by morning I still had no water. It had been a hot night and not being able to shower properly made me very tasty to the mosquitoes who seem to have had a banquet at my expence! Well what is a young lady supposed to do when faced with such a situation - patience, wait and call Mudhab...... so its Sunday morning and a holiday here so I don't want to bother him too early - I'll wait until 8am. I decide to just relax and put the last of my drinking water on to boil - coffee always makes things right first thing in the morning.... then added the milk which to may horror curdled as I poored it in!!!!! What is a young lady supposed to do when faced with no water and no coffee at 7.30am? Head for a hotel of course!!!! Blow the expence I just needed some normality so hopped in an autorickshaw and asked for a good hotel:- Hotel Rockbay was very obliging and after relieving me of my passport and RS1,300/- showed me to my room and breakfast - the best coffee and the best (most expensive) shower ever! The Hotel was only 50ms from the beach so I had to go and say hello to lifeguard 22 - when he heard about the lack of water he said I should stay with him his wife and 6 children - no cost - lots of water for shower - tempting !?
Suitably refreshed from my brief stay at the hotel and resting on the beach, I got a rickshaw back to my flat and phoned the man of the moment. He looked perplexed at the problem but after a while announced that the pump had broken because it hadn't been turned on since Emma left and a mechanic had to be called. I thought this would take ages but within the hour it was sorted and I had to leave the pump on for 1 hour then turn it off or it will overflow. OK, understood, and I now felt guilty for my lack of patience and expensive indulgence.
My next task was to try to get my phone set unlocked so I can use my India sim card. So I wondered the streets to see firstly if I could find where I will be working tomorrow. I found it quite easily and was surprised to see that nearly everyone was there - working not only on a Sunday but a holiday! There were no children but the staff were busy doing paper work I think. Basanta the boss was there and we had a brief chat about what my work would entail and the first things we will be doing - action plans etc.... now looking forward to having something constructive to do.
I took my leave after about half an hour and headed to the phone unlocking shop: 20minutes later I was told they couldn't unlock it from India had to be done in UK! AAARRGGGHHH how come I get the complicated phone where all the other volunteers managed OK!
Anyway, deep breath, and a walk along the shops/stalls to get something for dinner and some milk... then back to hotel to check out.
I have now had boiled potatoes and a onion, pepper and tomatoe omlette - very tasty too!
Its hot again so time for another shower......will let you know how tomorrow goes :)
Suitably refreshed from my brief stay at the hotel and resting on the beach, I got a rickshaw back to my flat and phoned the man of the moment. He looked perplexed at the problem but after a while announced that the pump had broken because it hadn't been turned on since Emma left and a mechanic had to be called. I thought this would take ages but within the hour it was sorted and I had to leave the pump on for 1 hour then turn it off or it will overflow. OK, understood, and I now felt guilty for my lack of patience and expensive indulgence.
My next task was to try to get my phone set unlocked so I can use my India sim card. So I wondered the streets to see firstly if I could find where I will be working tomorrow. I found it quite easily and was surprised to see that nearly everyone was there - working not only on a Sunday but a holiday! There were no children but the staff were busy doing paper work I think. Basanta the boss was there and we had a brief chat about what my work would entail and the first things we will be doing - action plans etc.... now looking forward to having something constructive to do.
I took my leave after about half an hour and headed to the phone unlocking shop: 20minutes later I was told they couldn't unlock it from India had to be done in UK! AAARRGGGHHH how come I get the complicated phone where all the other volunteers managed OK!
Anyway, deep breath, and a walk along the shops/stalls to get something for dinner and some milk... then back to hotel to check out.
I have now had boiled potatoes and a onion, pepper and tomatoe omlette - very tasty too!
Its hot again so time for another shower......will let you know how tomorrow goes :)
Aha!
ReplyDeleteThat's really the MOST. EXPENSIVE. SHOWER. EVER! Hahaha. :D Glad you enjoyed it and the coffee though! :)
Gera