Last week I finally got hot water in my apartment. I have always had a geyser, as they call the miniature, ceiling suspended hot water heaters here, but up until last week Friday mine for some mysterious reason did not function. It did not really matter when it was still summer and merely stepping outside reduced you to a sweating mess. My primary use for hot water is showers, and when it is a hundred degrees out a cold shower feels amazing. However, we have officially started in towards the Lesotho winter, and I found myself making excuses to avoid taking showers when I got up because it was cold. But no more! After an amiable chat with my landlord (a rambling story prone 90-year old man who, as the father of the current Minister of Health, is someone I have a vested interest in keeping happy with me), two men showed up in short order to take a look at the problem. Loose wires turned out to be the culprit, and while that diagnosis is somewhat alarming considering my house has the fire safety of a wicker gas can, it is fabulous to have hot running water. I (and no doubt my co-workers) thank the powers at be for this event. Now if only the water wasn’t infected with typhoid (not joking) . . .
Speaking of the typhoid contamination, which is evidently not that big an issue as long as you boil any tap water you will be using, I went to my gym the other day and was surprised to see that the water dispensers located throughout the gym were empty. These are your standard office cooler type dispensers, with a large bottle on top that drains through a cooling/heating unit to the spigot placed below. I have always enjoyed having them there because you have to be pretty careful about tap water and it was nice to have such an abundant supply of bottled water in the context where I drank the most. When I asked one of the staff why all of the dispensers were empty, she mentioned the typhoid issue. I was initially confused because bottled water should not be subject to typhoid contamination stemming from the general supply, right? Turns out confusion was warranted, just not for the reasons I had assumed. Rather than actually buying new bottles of water to stock the coolers, my gym evidently simply has two sets of bottles that they alternately refill with tap water and swap out to keep the coolers stocked. When I noted, somewhat vigorously, to the staff member that this was in line with false advertising, she calmly told me that the tap water in the city is very good. Except of course when it is infected with typhoid.
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