This Is the Way We Wash Our Feet

Whenever we come in from outside, our feet must be washed because it is DIRT-y in the yard!  This kamar mandi (bath room) is right by our back door which is convenient!  You can see that even Miss V2 is an expert at washing her feet.  You can also see Mr. W4 is doing something he shouldn't be!  Yikes!  Climbing on a stool in a wet room with a tile floor... not a good idea.  Normally, we don't keep that stool there.  

This room (kamar) is literally the bath (mandi) room!  The wall Miss O9 has her hand on is the side of a basin we partially fill with water each morning.  The basin does not go all the way down to the floor.  It is about 1 1/2 tiles deep.  With the water there, we are ready to "wash off" anytime we need to.  We just use the blue dipper to get water to rinse off the soap.  This is also the room in which we shower.  The shower head is mounted in the corner where Mr. D8 is standing.  There is no curtain... no tub... you just shut the door we are looking through at the kids.  So everyone takes a shower these days (not at the same time), but there are no more baths!  

I think the "normal" thing around here is NOT to shower or bathe the American way.  Instead everyone just takes baths the way we wash our feet.  They suds up... then rinse off with the dipper using water from their basin.  I am pretty sure that most everyone does not have hot water either.    

Thankfully, we do have hot water (most the time)!  We do not have what an American would call a "normal" hot water heater.  Instead we have a hot water heater that hangs on the wall above the water faucet.  The water is heated by gas just as you turn on the hot water.  It is not electric at all unless you consider the spark that lights the flame electric... but it comes from 2 D size batteries.  

our hot water heater and showerhead

And we are fancy around here.  The previous tenant (also American) rigged it up or had the landlord design it so that this hot water heater in our bathroom also supplies hot water to the kitchen sink... a rare thing around here!  People just wash dishes in cold water!  Thankfully, we have hot water to at least rinse the dishes!  

Well, just thought I would share an everyday occurrence (or several) in our life around here that is a lot different from what we WERE used to... and perhaps you, too!