Hot and waterless

It´s hot in Cantarranas. I´m not talking mildly warm kind of hot, or slightly uncomfortable hot, and definitely not Paris Hilton hot. It´s an in-your-face sweat-pouring kind of hot. I´m lucky and unlucky in that I live in Barrio Las Lomas (the hills): unlucky because it´s the farthest neighborhood from the colegio where we have class, making it a heat-stroke-inducing venture to cover what seems like a vertical mile; lucky because we are guaranteed to receive tap water at least an hour a day, which we save in our water tanks and cement pila. Most neighborhoods only get water (brought over from a nearby town, distribution being spotty at best) once or twice a week. I at least can take a bucket bath (or two!) every day guaranteed, AND flush the toilet whenever I want, AND wash my clothes every week. It´s a very creepy thing to be completely out of water. People look for it wherever they can: some people who have the cash buy bottled water in big plastic drums; others walk to community spickets with water coming straight from the river; others go to the community pool and take water from there. I took for granted my 15-minute hot showers, water treatment plants and resorvoirs in the States, to the point that I never knew or really cared to know where the water came from or where it went. Be glad for water, folks. Be glad for the hot DC summers replete with AC in every building and potable tap water at every turn. I´ll take the lead-ridden DC water over no water any day.