Sarah: Almost Homeless

Francis and I lived in a hotel for one week. We got a pretty fair weekly rate, but at the end of the week we knew we wouldn't be able to afford another week in the hotel and a security deposit/rent (if we ever got to that point). That Sunday we attended the "ladle meal" at a local church for the homeless. We thought it was like a potluck type thing because the bulletin called it a community meal. It was really interesting to be one the other side of a homeless ministry and the way they ran the ministry was really strange to me...but that's another post for another day. Anyways, while we were eating with our homies, we were researching. We asked them if they know of cheap accommodation, job opportunities, and most importantly; where they shower. On check out day, with this information in hand, we were fully prepared to move into our cars. We were going to put our clothes, personal items, etc in my car and sleep in the back of Francis' car. And we planned on taking advantage of the free showers at the beaches.

But then...

An apartment that we applied for 5 days before (that we hadn't heard anything from) called us and told us that we got the apartment. We moved in that day.

We really like the apartment. It's really small. All our neighbors are from Somalia. Our neighborhood is very culturally diverse (it reminds me of the refugee community in Wheaton). One huge negative is that there are tons of cockroaches. BUT the positive side of it is that our landlord has agreed to take rent off our bill until the problem is taken care of. How awesome is that? We're still moving all out stuff in and getting situated, but we're so grateful for the roof over our heads. Even if it's also the roof over the cockroach's heads.

How-to Friday: How to bucket bathe

When I first came to uganda we were taught certain things in order to be able to survive in our host homes. We had to learn to cook, to clean (mopping here is very different), to wash our clothes, to pee in a squatty (I will never forget Margaret demonstrating this for our class!) and how to bathe ourselves. I am pretty sure it was my teacher Gwyn who got up in front of our class and demonstrated how to bathe without running water, a luxury that few people have here. So I grabbed a couple of my sisters and had them demonstrate how to take a proper bucket bath.

Our tap

Gladys getting water

The bucket is an essential ingredient of a bucket bath. If you are lucky you will have a tap nearby (like we do!) otherwise you have to carry your water from a well, which is kind of a bummer. There are some days in America when I seriously can not get up the motivation to walk into the shower and turn the knob. I guess here it helps that there is serious cultural expectation to bathe frequently. Does that exist in America and I just choose to ignore it?

Getting good and dirty before the bath

Normally swimsuits are not worn for this.
She thought I was totally crazy for making her
wear one.

Dorkus and Gladys bathe in pairs. Bathing with friends is always more fun!

Step One: Splash water on your friend. Or if bathing alone splash water on yourself.

Step two: Soap up.

Scrubby scrub

I am pretty sure she was shivering by this point. I am not sure why
this activity happens outdoors. 

Scrub the toes. I always forget this part!

Step three: Add more water and keep scrubbing.

Step four: Rinse and if needed repeat. Having someone pour water on you is basically the same thing as a shower. I am pretty sure I would be fine with not having running water for years.

Reliable electricity is another thing though... That story still to come.