Home Alone

For the past few days I have been home alone.

Since arriving home on Sunday host mom has been in Chisinau. This has led to an entire slew of fun new experiences for me. To be honest, I enjoy living by myself. Independence is something I highly value, however, this sort of living alone comes with its special characteristics.

I like to think of these past few days as my: I-once-was-a-girl-scout-let's-see-what-I-remember test. It's surprising how similar being alone in this house is to being at girl scout camp in a cabin. The biggest similarities include; the lack of running water and heat. The biggest difference include; the ability to access the internet and the absence of 11 other awkward nerdy girls stuffing their sports bras. I can't say I mind those differences. This sort of living alone however does come with a few extra challenges that we little girl scouts didn't go over in our tie-dying, trail mix making, camp fire singing, scavenger hunting lessons.

October in Moldova is pretty nippy and without host mom home I don't know how to work the two different heating sources in the house. Well, to be fair, with host mom I don't know how to work them either. This has lead me to become pretty dependent on my bed. I spend most of my time under the big thick blankets so that I stay warm. Looks like my winter, while at home, will consist mostly of reading books, sipping tea, and watching movies. I'm now taking any and all suggestions for good books, feel free to drop a comment with your list of favorites.

The water in our house was shut off. I'm assuming host mom shut it off before she left for Chisinau so that the pipes didn't freeze, smart lady, but waterless Brittany. At first I was able to get by with the water I had left myself in my filter and some that I had stored in bottles. This lasted about a day and half. I decided it was time I take my maiden voyage to the well. It's right outside my house...I probably should have done this earlier, but like the market, I have weird fears.

I got the well pail. I walked outside my gate and set my pail on the bench. Unhooked the well bucket, and helped the chain slowly fall down the shaft into the water below. I did that crank move to make sure the bucket had been submerged in water and was full. I was totally handling this like a pro, what up! I cranked that bucket up with one arm...because let's face it I would have looked like an amateur if I had to use both my arms. By the time the bucket finally got to the top my right arm was feeling a little fatigued, but I didn't care I had successfully gotten my water. I pulled the bucket out and began to pour the water into my pail. And then the chain began to quickly fall back down into the well. Crap, what will happen if the chain goes taught and I'm holding the empty bucket? I reached up to stop the crank but I didn't realize how strong the pressure would be. Instead of stopping the crank I ended up getting a nice beating on my forearm. Finally the chain stopped moving and I pulled it back up, re-hooked the bucket and covered the well. I may have almost broken the well, and got a huge black and blue on my arm, but hey, at least I got some water?

By the fourth day I knew it was time to bathe. I had been dreading it and putting it off, but I knew someone at the office would probably say something if I showed up yet another day with my hair in a greasy french braid. So, I took the pail of water with me to the bathroom with a dunk mug. Warmed up all the water I could in the electric kettle, and poured it in with the cold water in the pail. Than I did the dunk and wash, scoop and rinse. I still stand by the fact that you can only get 'so' clean with the bucket bath.

So, this is my life, kind of like camping... kind of not. Either way, it keeps me on my toes, good or bad.

Peace