|
|
I arrived last night in Almaty, and this morning I finally took a nice, lukewarm shower. I would have preferred hot, but I'll take what I can get. For the past three months, I have lived without hot water. First, in St. Petersburg, it was shut off from June until the beginning of July, when I left for Kazakhstan. Then, when I got to Aktau I had hot water for about two days, and it too went away.
Since September 1st, the weather has gotten considerably colder. Yesterday morning, I was literally shivering while washing myself in very cold water. The other inconvenient thing about Aktau's water is that there is no water pressure other than that which gravity provides - I could wash myself better in the rain. Also, the water smells very strongly of sulfer, and if any gets in your mouth while showering, it has a strange salty taste. For the two days that we had hot water, it was brown. Not see-through brown, but dark, opaque brown.
Months of cold, dribbling, sulfer water will take its toll on you. Especially when it's so cold that your body shakes while holding the soap. I hope to be working in Almaty from now on, and for the moment, they have hot water.
Posted by Owen at September 20, 2006 04:18 PM | TrackBack