WaterStories

On Shower Curtains

// June 25th, 2009 // No Comments » // Travel Planning

It was an offhand line in an otherwise lovely email: “Bring a shawl or a sari as a shower curtain for bathing outdoors.”

I’m sorry, what?

It’s not that bathing outdoors is a problem. It’s not that I’m skittish about that. I’ve bathed outdoors before…well, no, I haven’t, actually. But I’m not AFRAID of THAT. It’s just that if a shower curtain sari is something I need to BRING, it means it wasn’t there in the first place. Which means I could have potentially been splashing around butt-naked in public.

See, these are the moments when The Fear gets in. Those moments when you realize you can’t take ANYTHING for granted.

Here, a bathroom includes a toilet, sink and shower/bath. Anywhere else in the world, this is not necessarily the case. There may not even be a room for bathing whatsoever. It might be BYOSC (Bring Your Own Shower Curtain) to the freaking village pump for all I know!

Preparing for this trip has been an exercise in examining my own assumptions.

Here, I can drink the water that comes out of a tap. Here, it’s entirely appropriate for women to wear tank tops and shorts (and if the teenagers at the mall are any indication, pants of any kind are now optional). Here, I can go out at night. I can go running by myself. The longest line I ever have to stand in is maybe ten minutes. If I want something, I go get it. If a mosquito bites me, it itches but it won’t give me fever, chills and explosive diarrhea.

In about ten minutes, I’m going camping. It’s an intentional little exercise, part to field-test some of my equipment, part to remove the flushable-toilet-coloured-glasses I appear to be wearing.

Wine for Water WHOOOO!

// June 14th, 2009 // No Comments » // Uncategorized

Still adding up the numbers from Friday night, but it looks like we took in over $7,000!

I’m reeling!

Sounds like everyone had a fabulous time. But, come on, you know it’s a good party when your mom gets into a bidding war with a rock star.

Photos are coming in the next day or two…stay tuned!

This Is Really Happening

// June 5th, 2009 // No Comments » // The Project, Travel Planning

I picked Cate up downtown this morning – seeing the woman I’ll be spending my entire summer with for the very first time. We got to CAWST and she, Alison and I did a squealing, shrieking Happy Dance in the middle of the lobby.

This is really happening.

The past couple of months have been surreal for me. Every morning, I wake up and pad bleary-eyed to my computer, half-expecting a HA-HA-JUST-KIDDING email from Alison, Cate…or God. A message saying, ‘No, actually, you DID make this whole thing up and it WAS all a dream. Sorry.’

Turns out, the other girls have had the same kind of experience. Only theirs has been a longer journey than mine. They’ve been living this dream for two and a half years.

Two and a half years of excitement and inspiration, disappointment and frustration, losing hope and keeping the faith, applying for six thousand grants and dealing with 5,999 rejections.

And today, it all got real.

The three of us in that lobby, squealing and jumping up and down. Hearing about how Cate hasn’t heard a THING from our in-country partners about, oh I dunno, WHERE WE WILL SLEEP AT NIGHT. Discussing clothing options (I’m not the only one with Packing Panic).

Sitting down with The Calgary Herald and getting interviewed for the first time. Having our photos taken by the insanely jealous staff photog. Saying hi to the Editor of the ENTIRE FREAKING NEWSPAPER and hearing how thrilled he is we’re blogging on their site. Accidentally-on-purpose eating tripe at dum sum after the meeting.

All that happened. For real.

One Day Of Water: The Epilogue

// May 28th, 2009 // 1 Comment » // First World Water, Water 101

Brought to you by the letters P, M and S.

One Day Of Water: The Shower Scene

// May 27th, 2009 // 2 Comments » // First World Water, Water 101

Indian Visas

// May 23rd, 2009 // 2 Comments » // Travel Planning

Applying for my Indian visa was a two-day affair. (So far anyway.) On Day One, I got as far as finding three different web sites for the Indian Consulate, each one telling me something different.

On one site, I learned that there are no less than 15 KINDS of visas, each with distinct hoops to jump through and unique fees, ranging anywhere from $31 to $416.

Around the same point, one of my Facebook friends contributed this bit of wisdom: “EVERYTHING in India is a struggle. Getting lunch is a struggle. Getting the laundry done is a struggle. Getting on a train? Don’t plan on doing anything else that day.”

Oh. (more…)

Half-Naked At The Cesspool

// May 20th, 2009 // No Comments » // First World Water, WaterStories

I love to swim. But, being completely void of upper body strength, swimming doesn’t love me.

Even though I spend most of the time flailing and gasping for breath, I find it meditative. There isn’t a lot of heavy thinking going on when I swim. Besides trying to determine what flavour that pale blue blob of chewed gum at the bottom might be.

Wintermint? Or a more antioxidant variety, like Pomegranate Berry? (more…)

This? Is a Biosand Filter

// May 20th, 2009 // No Comments » // Water 101

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