People ask me frequently what is the most important lesson I learned during my jungle years. One thing, for sure (although admittedly not the most important) is that a human being doesn’t need much. Or at least we don’t need as much as we think we do.
An example: During the almost ten years I spent in the jungle, I washed myself in the (sometimes ice-cold) river, with a pan. When I was living in the transition zone (where weapons were decommissioned by the United Nations), there was no warm water and it could get cold there. For some reason, I started to feel the need for warm water and bought an electric shower from the first subsidy I got from the government.
I tried to install it, but the electricity network was not prepared for such a luxury: it heated up so little you barely noticed. But the idea was born in my brain and wouldn’t get out anymore. We moved to Cali, a city with an average temperature of 27.3 degrees, and I installed my electric shower under the judgmental looks of my family members.
We even had an argument about it. Why the hell would we need warm water in Cali? But then I would kindly remind Boris that there wasn’t any need for a television, which would leave him without arguments. You have your TV, and I have my electric shower.
We would have lived happily ever after if my mom hadn’t arrived from the Netherlands. Eyebrows raised: “You wash your dishes with cold water?” False smile: “And you manage to get them totally clean? That is impressive! Oh, the same thing for your clothes? You wash them with cold water? But the sheets, how do you clean the white bedding?”
The idea is taking root in my mind. Now I am secretly looking for solutions to have warm water all over the house.
