Watering Hole

As of right now there is no running water at my house but I’m better off than most because its coming… like in 10 years… but this means I carry my own water from the bore hole down the hill from my house. Its not too far but by the time I get back to the house I’m usually pretty wet. Fetching water is fun and frustrating at the same time. I still do not understand nor speak much Krobo so the when the kids go wild because im down there its hard to know what’s going on, actually it’s the teenagers that worry me the most. Kids usually just want to get some sort of reaction out of me but teenagers will talk about you to each other. The fact that I am white, new, a girl, does have its advantages because I usually do not have to wait long until my bucket is filled. One of the kids pumping calls for my bucket right away even though I just arrived and there are lots of kids ahead of me. Because of this I can make three trips in 30 min when it takes them at least 30 minutes just for one trip. There are times when me being priority does not fly with some of the kids but I don’t have any control of the situation so they just make a fit for a minute or two then fill my bucket and I get out of there! 

Going to fetch water is an extremely social activity. After a long day or a day of doing nothing its nice to get a bucket or two because I get a chance to observe the kids in the neighborhood interacting. Usually they run around chasing each other or get in little fights but it ends up in laughter most the time. Just by going down there I’m a source of entertainment, now that they know my name all of them say it for the sake of saying my name. I also get a chance to talk to some of the 20 some year old people down there which usually means I try to explain where I’m living that Ill be here for 2 years and then they ask me for something, the guys like to ask for my watch, oh and I had a lady ask for my hair the other day. She told me “I like you hair, you give it to me” I tried to explain that it grows out of my head and is not a weave but either she didn’t get it or wanted me to cut it off and give it to her. In those situations im happy that my bucket gets filled quickly so I don’t have to stand there awkwardly for too long.

After two or three trips back and forth I’m usually a little tired and my water bucket is nearly full. I am socially satisfied for the day with weird confrontations and I feel just a little more apart of the community knowing that they know I have to fetch water just like them.  I still need to practice not spilling so much when I walk home because my clothes get wet but also I think they make fun of me a little but mostly they are just amazed that I fetch water.  Covered in dirt from my splashes and trying not to trip on goats, goat poo, and rocks I take a bucket bath with my new water and call it a day.