Chore Day

So far it has been a pretty eventful year.  It started out slow and just keeps building.  Highlights include "Yeni Il" (New Year) which I celebrated with my family but I was tired and headed home at ten. Then lost water for four weeks; a combination of utility work and a snow storm, followed by freezing temps. Very little in insulated so water lines froze in homes. My organization was visited by the authorities and has been closed to patients for the last four weeks.  We hope to get is sorted out shortly. I have things I can work on so I'm keeping busy. It was a little disheartening but was tempered by a one week vacation to Budapest, where I connected with Jessie and Dan on their way home from a five week vacation in East Africa, culminating with them successfully climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro.  By the way, Budapest is lovely. Back to Azerbaijan and a leaky hot water heater.  Something burst during the freeze that didn't present until the water came back on the day I returned. Almost caught up from my travels.

Jessie and Dan Budapest City Park

Last weekend I took my sheets and towels over to my host family's house and used their washer. Sheets hadn't been washed since 2013.  Nice to have those clean again. The nice thing about sheets is that they dry quickly.  I have drying rack that I place in front of my pec and turn on my fan to distribute the heat.  Can have them dry in a couple of hours. 

Drying System

Today us the first day since I've gotten back that I haven't gone anywhere - so more chores. I'm in the process of heating my third large teapot of water.  So far, I have washed dishes, one load of hand washing complete with another in process and made my bed nicely.  Still on the list; vacuum, sweep, wash the kitchen floor, make banana sour cream muffins, wash my hair in the kitchen sink (another pot of hot water) and take a bucket shower (another pot of hot water) and call it a day.

My landlord has removed the hot water heater for repairs and I hope that it will return shortly.  Having insta-hot water sure shortens the time my chores take.  However, even with that step shortened, it still takes time. 

I also need to get back to daily exercising.  I still walk every day but stopped my exercises because of the cold.  The house was getting down into the low forties and it takes about an hour to get it up 10 degrees.  Can't leave the pec on when I'm not home or when I'm sleeping. I've discovered Pinterest and have marked a beginning Zumba video and belly dancing.  We'll see how that goes.

My quest for this week - get my hair trimmed