Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Water, water everywhere...

Water, water everywhere, and not a drop to.... brush my teeth. The last few days have been pretty uneventful, but today I woke up and attempted to brush my teeth. But when I turned on the faucet, nothing came out. The story was the same with the shower and the kitchen. I have never turned on the water to be greeted with nothing unless the water main was shut off, but then again, I have never lived in a place where hot water did not come standard in a dwelling. I asked my neighbor and he said he didn't have water either. He spoke with our landlady and she said that the entire area of the island was without water because of a broken pipe somewhere. But just as I began thinking about brushing my teeth with a water bottle, it came back on! Thank goodness. I was only without water for about 30 minutes, but that made it so that I couldn't brush my teeth, I couldn't shower, I couldn't wash a dish, and I couldn't fill my glass with water to drink! Apparently during times of drought and during hurricanes, it is common to go without running water, so there are reserve water tanks for every building to be used in case of emergency. I have kind of assumed it was like the earthquake food we used to have to bring in elementary school that the teacher put in a Sterilte container and at the end of the year we all got to eat our fruit roll ups and canned peaches. Apparently that isn't so. So I will be buying some bottled water from the grocery store to keep in my apartment just in case we really do run out of water. At least I will be the one with clean teeth.

I have been having muscle spasms in my back and they are very painful. I wanted some comfort food because I wasn't feeling well and my two favorite foods are chocolate chip cookies and mashed potatoes; although not together of course. The only ingredient I had for cookies was flour and I don't own a cookie sheet, so right away baking was ruled out. I had a couple of potatoes so I peeled them and boiled them. But then I realized I don't own a potato masher, so I used a fork. But THEN I realized I don't own milk (due to circumstances mentioned in previous posts), so I pondered how to make my potatoes creamier. I looked through my fridge and found the next best thing: Fat Free Ranch Dressing. It's basically milk; it's nearly as watery and it's white. So I gave my potatoes a couple squirts, mixed them up, tasted, threw in a dash of soy sauce for flavor and I was ready to roll. I wouldn't call them the best potatoes I've ever had, but in a pinch, they will do the trick. I definitely can't wait to have good ones at home. Speaking of which, I am coming home May 9th at 6:40PM. I booked my ticket last week.

Another thing I miss from home are the avocados. They have avocados here that are the size of small cantaloupes so I got one to try. I made a chicken burrito tonight for dinner and I was so excited to slice up my avocado. The pit was about the size of the ones I'm used to seeing at home! I sliced out a little piece, took a bite and was disappointed. Very bland. So I don't think I will be buying them again. I also have yet to find a red tomato. There are tomatoes here, but they are all green and hard as rocks. They even serve burgers with those kinds of tomatoes on them! The poor Grenadians have been lied to all of their lives. If only they could have vine ripened, perfectly ripe tomatoes. I will say that the mangoes here are better than any I've ever had in the states and the eggplant is in abundance and is delicious!

Well, it's off to bed for me. I have class all day tomorrow. Hopefully when I wake up there will be water coming out of my faucet. But never know. TIG.

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