Water, Water, Everywhere...But Not a Drop to Drink....

Normally, I don't like to post an adventure until it's over....but I'm not sure how long this new one will last. So this is more of an update and not a reflection on the experience....

On Wednesday, the entire village ran out of water. There was a leak somewhere in the pipes. School was cancelled (no water = no fire sprinklers) so I went home and relaxed.

They brought us some water from the river for toilets. I had gotten a warning before the water ran out, so we stocked up on drinking water.

As of last night, my friends had water again...but not me. And I really needed to wash my hair! I used the river water (in an 18 gallon tote) that I heated up on the stove to bathe with. It wasn't horrible.

Actually, except for being inconvenient, so far it's not one of life's great tragedies.

Did you know that pipes freeze when there's no water in them too? I didn't. But that's what happened to my house. The pipes are frozen. And I still have to wash my hair.

Thankfully, I have friends who've offered to let me use their shower. Even my principal offered to help me out. We can shower at the school too...so I am quite confident that my hair will be washed before the night is out. Even if it's me with heated river water standing over a bucket....

On a positive note, my bush order has already arrived! Last time it took over a month and this time....just a week. In August, all the bush teacher descend upon Anchorage and bush shop. I thought maybe they did it during the winter breaks but nope, only August. Hey, works for me.

The funny thing is that just when I think life out here has calmed down and is really no big deal, something happens. I need to remember that.

So as it is, I am living in a Yup'ik Eskimo village in the middle of the Alaskan tundra, in a house with no running water using river water to bathe with....and I'm still loving it out here!!!