As to be expected, my first few weeks in Peru have been full of firsts, which I thought deserved its own post. As you’ll soon find out, they mostly have to do with water.

First, cold showers. The first day I arrived in my host home and said I was headed to shower, my host mom (Isabel) made a “brrr” motion, rubbing the sides of her arms and said something along the lines of “Mucho frio”. On the outside, I was calm, cool and collected, saying “No problemo!” while on the inside I cried just a little bit. Sure enough, the water in my house is COLD. Not lukewarm, not room temp, straight from the fridge c-o-l-d. There are plenty of health nuts out there that preach about the positive side effects of cold plunges, so I guess this is good for my health …. that’s what I tell myself at least. I will say, cold water is a great water conservation strategy. I wash my hair once a week now, so showers usually consist of a 30 second rinse, at which point I turn off the water and lather down, then another 1.5 minute rinse. I come out clean, and certainly refreshed. I can’t say I’ll ever not gasp a little when I get in, but it’s at least growing on me a bit.

Second, washing clothes. Basically, my laundry machine consists of a plastic tub, big cutting board, and a strong brush. I put the whites in first, lather them up with detergent and water, then place each piece on the board one at a time for a good scrubbing. Once each article is scrubbed and squeezed, it goes in another bucket for future rinsing. After I do the same with the darks, the sink gets filled with fresh water, where Isabel and I rinse and squeeze all the sudsyness out. Next, I bring the rinsed clothes to the roof, where they dry in no time flat thanks to Lima’s dry climate.

It’s interesting how you rethink water once it becomes more of a finite resource. The houses in Huascata, my neighborhood, get water in waves. For example, the west side of Huascata gets it early morning, middle of Huascata gets it later on in the day, etc. (or something like that). Each morning, Isabel gets up at 5am to take advantage of our water window. She fills up buckets around the house, and boils water on the stove for drinking. I usually wake up to the sound of water running, as the big sink sits right outside my room. At times, I turn on the faucet and nothing comes out, which is when the buckets come in handy … bucket showers are another first!

Side note: I wanted to share one of my favorite comfort meals here – arroz a la cubana. It’s one of the more simple dishes, but it is so dang good right before bed. Rice, egg, and fried platano <3