Last night I took a shower. I get to take 2 showers a week because water is VERY limited and can sometimes be expensive. In my house there is hot water but you have to let the water heat up for an hour before its comfortable enough to shower in. So finally the water was warm and it was my turn to shower!
The room the shower is in is very small and a bit tough to negotiate. There is a hose connected to a bidet and this is where the shower water comes from. So I start up the shower and everything is comfortable for a little while and then the water starts getting hotter…and hotter…and HOTTER! I’m frantically turning on the cold water and there is no cold water. Then I hear my host dad yelling “Hot, Katie hot?” and in my best Arabic I say yes the water is hot, too hot and I need cold water and of course he doesn’t hear me. I do my best to wash my hair and body without the water actually touching me because it burns. And then the room starts to get steamy, really steamy- to the point that I can’t see my feet. In my attempt to put just my head in the water I step into the huge hole in the floor that serves as a drain and my foot gets stuck. While all of this is happening, the call to prayer is playing outside.
Now looking back I can laugh but in the moment I was traumatized….I’ve never experienced a shower that was too hot. Maybe my next shower (4 days from now) will be a bit better.
The Call to Prayer
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I would be interested to know in the Muslim faith tradition what takes precedent, the call to hospitality (save you from the burning shower) or the call to prayer (your host father on his knees in prayer)? Maybe all your host father could do was pray because he could hardly burst into the bathroom and offer assistance. Or maybe it was your host father's prayers that saved you from breaking your ankle when you got your foot caught in the drain hole. An interesting theological conversation. XO Mom
ReplyDelete