I am in the shower this morning at the Days Inn Airport, in Vancouver, and realize that we take water for granted here in Canada. Traveling to countries like Tanzania and Botswana remind me of how lucky we are to have an abundance of clean water.
I usually drink some of my water intake while in the shower. I let the water run into my mouth, even take a drink. It was very hard for me to keep my mouth closed while showering in Africa. If I thought I got water in my mouth, I would spit it out so not as to swallow it. The water cleanliness in these countries is not what our bodies are used to.
We brushed our teeth using bottled water and only used the barest amount of water to conserve the precious resource. Here we use water straight from the tap and let the water run more than is truly necessary.
While on our mobile tented safari, we showered under a metal bucket with a shower head attached to the bottom. We turned the water lever on, wet our bodies, turned the lever off, washed hair, soaped bodies down, turned lever on, quickly rinsed off and turned the lever off again. I always went first, so I was super quick to not use all the water so Murray would have water left for his shower.
In the shower at the Days Inn, I turn on the shower and let the water pour over my body the whole time. It felt so good to be able to do this. We are so lucky to have lots of available water.
I love the concept of hot water.While traveling in under developed countries, we often had cold showers. If I was hot and sweaty, it felt quite nice, but if it was cool, a cold shower is not fun. Hot water is a luxury that we assume will be there.
Water, we take it for granted – the abundance, the cleanliness, the availability and the warmth. Whenever I return home I am thankful for what we have.