Splish Splash, bucket bathing

In my community there was a really "guapo" (hard working) volunteer about 4 years ago that helped bring running water to the community. I have been blessed to have cold showers and sometimes use a toilet to do my business. Well, a couple of weeks ago the community water tower broke, and it took a whole week to resolve the several problems associated with it. This meant that bathing was no longer showering with running water.

How to bucket bathe in Paraguay
Step one: aqcuire water from the well.
So the day that the water went out our really well made bucket from the well broke. It had bones tied to the sides to weigh it down and help it submerge in the water. This means that I had to swing the rope back and forth until the bucket would tip over and fill up with water. Then I had to hoist this larger bucket back up the 21meters. Uffduh! It´s a workout.

Step two(optional): Heat up water over the fire
If you want a warm bath, which is actually a luxury from the cold showers, this is a good option, also, the week that the water went out was cloudy and the well water didn´t heat up like it had been doing.

Step three: guard your bucket of water from the neighbors and host siblings while you wait for the bathing area to be vacant.

Step four: Bathe
I had to ask for instructions from my host mom for this part. There are two buckets, one has the well water in it, and the other is an empty "tub" like bucket that you pour some of the water into. Squat outside the tub and splash the water onto you to moisten your body, then suds up. Splash more water onto you to remove the soap. If you run out of water pour more water into the tub. Washing my hair was a challenge and I never seemed to get the suds removed from my back. I ended up lifting up the buckets of water and pouring them over my head (not Paraguayan style). Near the end of the week my host mom told me that when the other Peace Corps volunteer lived with them he had a pitcher that he used to bathe. I wish I had known that sooner because then I would have felt comfortable bringing a cup into the bathing area with me. Now I know better for next time.

Step five: Dry off. You´re clean!