Dance, But Don't Shower

On April 2, the girls attended their first day of ballet (it also happened to be the same day our furniture was delivered).

They were put in the adult class because the girls in the class for up to 12 year olds was for beginners.   One caveat...they can't be in the recital unless they have a solo or duet, because the adults aren't in the recital.

No problem!

There were three other ladies in their class (there are 5 now).  One from Japan, one from Italy, and one from the Middle East.

The teacher is a Russian, French-trained ballet dancer.

She's tough, but the girls didn't mind.  They came out sweating and said it was a good push for them.

I think the only thing they have to get used to is her accent.  

When the teacher was counting, at one point, she said, "Free, four."  Kylie thought maybe she wanted them to do a "free" movement on the fourth count, but she quickly figured out that she meant, "Three, four."

When we arrived home, we ate lunch, and then the girls were ready to shower.

Kylie hopped in first.  

Doug had already left to walk downtown, and Caleb had left to play with some boys.  When I heard a knock on the gate, and knew it was a man, I was conflicted about opening the gate.

So I didn't go.

He knocked again.  I waited.  And then he knocked again.

I figured it had to be important, so I went.

It was the men at the chicken butchery.  I didn't understand them except the words for "water" and "stop."

They pointed to the water draining along the curb in front of their chicken shop.  It was soapy. 

They needed the water to stop.

It finally clicked.  

OUR shower water drains in the street in front of their shop.  

If you look at this picture, you can see a door in front of the truck.  That is a gate we never use, but that is the one they were knocking on.  You can see a small pipe at the bottom left of the picture where our shower water drains.

First of all, "YUCK!"

Second of all, I saw that they had poured new cement that morning on the curb, and they needed it to dry.

I ran inside and told Kylie to quickly get the soap out of her hair and then stop her shower as quickly as possible.

Karis would just have to wait.

...Until TEN P.M. !!!

We found out the time when Doug got home.  He went to talk to the men, and they asked us if we could not use any water on that side of the house (washing hands, washing clothes, showering) until 10 p.m!

Thankfully, I could still use the sink in the kitchen, but there were a lot of people in my family that needed showers that day.  

Everyone (except the 3-year old) waited up until 10, but by that time, I was too exhausted to wait through the line.  I'm the only one who decided to wait until the next morning.

So just in case you weren't sure, our life here is just like yours...an adventure every day!