Living Waters

There is every amenity here that one could think of. If you really want something, you can get it, and usually cheaper than you can in the US. If you're really craving American cuisine, you can find anything from Applebees to Hardeez. I personally prefer the local foods like filafil and hummus (AWESOME), but it's there if you want it. We even have the internet here in our apartment (shocking). Something a little less obvious but a little more important: Water. Thats right, You can get a quarter pounder with cheese, but if you can't flush the toilet, that kind of just makes things worse, doesn't it? We ran out of water the same night our Iraqi landlady left for baghdad for a month. We began wondering if she ever really owned our apartment and thats why she asked for the whole three months rent up front. All such fears aside, the big water containers on the roof were empty, and we had no idea when they would again be full.

Not having water makes you think about the future. What will I smell like in 3 days? Are there alternatives to water? I know that there are certain species of desert hamster that use sand to bathe in and exfoliate; Is this possible for larger creatures? And what is that smell coming from the bathroom? The thing is, that when a creature is backed into a corner, it's mind will begin to play games with it, such as: "Maybe there the toilet will flush this time..." not so. With 7 guys in an apartment, and an intense need to use the bathroom, it doesn't take long for some of them to begin believing these lies in hope that somehow there will be enough water to flush everything down. Pie in the sky. Once we realised that this was just going to create a very nasty smelling apartment, we had to begin the work of containment immediatley. We permanantly shut the bathroom door, and declared everything outside of that area to be "the Green Zone".

Fortunately, we were able to purchase an entire tanker full of water for 20 dinars, which is pretty close to 30 dollars. After this we victoriously flushed the insurgency, retook the red zone, and pushed the foul stench of terror beyond our borders. Peace and democracy again prevails in our apartment. I was so excited to have water again that I took a picture of the Jordanian flag waving majestically above a water tanker which saved our lives and our hygene. I love water.