Good-bye, Suicide Shower

At first I was just anxious about the suicide shower.  Now I've abandoned it altogether.  The idea of an electric water heater with visible wires (one that is held up from the ceiling by nylon fishing leader) never set well with me, especially when I heard other missionaries talk about electrical "zaps" if they forgot and touched it while showering.  

Ours broke, so we bought a new one and had it installed.  Mid shower it likes to surprise you with intensely cold water, which isn't fun-especially when it takes turning it off and waiting for a full minute to re-start, hoping for better results.  After the last round of cold showers I sent myself back to the creepy bathroom for good.  That shower is heated by a plumbed-in unit from the kitchen that feeds the laundry as well.  

The creepy bathroom has tile that is laid so that it traps water in the back of the shower; so, the post shower routine includes a squeegie, that dries the shower out sufficiently so that it won't mold.  The drain plug is designed to keep critters out, but you have to remove it with a screwdriver to shower in the creepy shower.  My memories of cockroaches in Venezuela come to mind when I shower, but amazingly, we have an insect-free apartment.  It helps that it's a new building, and that we're on the third floor, and that I pray about being spared from spiders on a daily basis.  I'm a big believer in gratitude.  You can't just pray that spiders, which are HUGE here, won't be in your apartment, you have to give thankfulness equal time in your prayers.  I would probably have a coronary occlusion if I reached in my closet for a sweater to find a Guatemalan spider napping there.  I had convinced myself that spiders don't like the third floor, but I found them in Choqui at the top of the mountain.  Maybe just city spiders don't like the third floor.

I feel guilty even writing about this, knowing full well that most of our missionaries take cold showers for their entire missions.  It's just part of life here.  Mike  is still using the suicide shower; he has a better sense of touch for exactly how to set it so it doesn't act up as much for him.