That morning.

In the morning, Sinayzo, the granddaughter of Tobekah woke me up. A few minutes after this, she would bring in a pot full of hot water and she poured it into the bathtub. When I went into the bathroom the first morning, I could not even see the water in the bathtub because it was so shallow. I thought that maybe she had just poured the water down the drain. I wasn't sure what to do to wash myself. I figured out that there was indeed water in the bathtub. I leaned over the tub and got my hair wet. I didn't have much time, so I just left it at that. For the rest of the week, I tried to do similar things, but I never got as clean as I wanted to. The water seemed to be less and less everyday. Later in the week, I wanted a shower so bad. I can't imagine what it must be like to not have running hot water. On the other hand, they probably do not crave a shower like I did, because they don't know what a shower would be like.

Most of the mornings Tobekah already left for work by the time I woke up. Most of the people in the township have a long commute to work, most taking many forms a transportation. Tobekah always told me what there was for breakfast and mentioned many times that I needed to eat breakfast. One morning, she had taken off of work. She took off of work so that she could go to the factory to get a winter jacket. She said that the factory had clothes that were cheaper than the store. I think it is similar to what we call an outlet store. She said she couldn't go during the weekend because she is busy. I asked her what she is busy with and she said funerals. This was heartbreaking. She probably cannot really afford to take a day off of work. But she needs a winter jacket. She has to take off work during the week, to buy a cheaper jacket because there are too many funerals on the weekends? It seems like a vicious cycle. These vicious cycles seem to be common in the townships.

The picture is of my host mom, Tobekah, Sinayzo, and Liso (the little one). I will post more about them later :)