it is over.

(I wrote this post months ago, but it's no less true now. It may be even more true, since it's dry season and the water has been off for 2 weeks now. Back to water rationing...)

It is over. That's what Ugandans say when you run out of something. Oh, the 1000 ul pipette tips are over. Oh, the chicken is over. Or like yesterday when I'm talking to Agnes and mid-conversation she's like "oops, it's over" and I was like....our conversation is? But she was talking about the gas for the stove. It was over. And so was the water, and so was the power. It was one of those days.

When I say out of water, I mean out of water. Tororo city turns off the water sometimes, but it usually comes back fairly quickly. But if a water pipe bursts for some reason...then you begin to rely on the water in your tank. And if you have a guest at your house, and 6 people not even counting the guest...the water tank is over very quickly.

This actually happened within the first few days when I got here and I remember thinking "oh no, is it always going to be like this?" Apparently it's going to be like this about once every month and a half. Sigh.

When I say no water, I really mean no water. So we called the firefighters, like we did last time. They go to Mbale (or Kenya, if Mbale is out), get water, and come back to Tororo to fill anyone's tank who can pay for it. (I don't know what happens if there's an actual fire.)

Hooray the clinic is getting water. Imagine a hospital without water. GROSS

What was different from last time is that this time we got to ride in the fire truck from the hospital to our house, since they were filling the tank at the hospital first. The looks on people's face was we passed them in the front seat of the fire truck were to die for. Especially Feena's face as we pulled up to the house, which I wish I had captured on film.

IN A FIRETRUCK

The firehose had lots of holes, so it was leaking everywhere. A perfect substitute for a sprinkler! The kids (and us) enjoyed, especially after having zero water for half a day. Although, of course, not ideal when you should be in water conservation mode.

From the truck to our tank! 

Aaaand then we both took a picture with Nelson, our fire department/police contact, who was upset with us that we never call him except when we need water. Lolz.

So - back to the present - it's dry season now, and everything's super dusty. I'm not sure how long it will be until we have to call Nelson again, but I'm betting it will be sooner rather than later =(.