Rustic Living at its Finest

I miss the luxury of running hot water.

To have only running cold water is wonderful, if I was in a very hot place. But it’s still cold in Northern Pakistan, where washing hands has become a dreaded chore. Either freeze your hands, or take 10 minutes to heat up water on an open flame and then wash them. (btw, you’d be surprised at how little water you actually need when you don’t use water from a running tap)

I’m relying on the 4 fards of wudu (Hanafi style) to save myself from freezing while doing wudu – wash face once, wash hands till elbows, once each, run wet hands on head, wash feet, once each. Fiqh class paid off.

After performing wudu, to warm up, either I run to the little gas heater that we have, or outside provided it’s not raining. But even the gas heater cannot be left on indefinitely. When on, it must be closely supervised. Gas leaks, especially from heaters, are notorious for causing injuries and even death. This means that you can’t sleep with the heater on. As winter is rolling out, it’s slowly warming up but I am still sleeping with a sweater and two blankets. Sometimes, even mitts. When I first got here, I boiled water for a hot water bottle and tossed it into bed. In this way, I prepared a very toasty bed for myself before climbing in to sleep.

Central heating is another luxury that I miss.

My cousins in Lahore know how to rub things in. They called and said that it is so hot in Lahore that they are no longer wearing sweaters and actually have their fans running daily.

I’m going to go a little higher into the mountains today – to see other houses that were damaged by the Oct 8 Earthquake. There have been so many subsequent earthquakes and aftershocks that I feel the need to precursor “earthquake” with “Oct 8″, or capitalize the “E” in “earthquake”, when referring to the big one. Did I mention that we had an earthquake last Wed too? This terrain is really not stable. There are many places where you can clearly see the sunken ground. My house is a prime example.

Life’s wonderful, though. Despite the hardships, there are many moments of joys that make things easier. Being able to laugh at yourself (and make others laugh) helps to maintain sanity. So, yes, I am having fun

Having luxuries like running hot water and central heating is great. I definitely miss them, but can live without them when and if necessary. There are so many other little things that make life worthwhile. Like the sun rays – they warm my face before yours – I’m ahead of most of you by time zone..so, ha ha ha, i get to see the sun first.. i.e. y’all are basking in my leftovers.

~ by nayya on 9 March, 2006.