Power and Showers

In my first few days here at RVA I was standing in the shower on a chilly morning relishing in the luxury of a hot shower.  One of my new friends in Africa is the instant hot water heater showerhead in our shower.

All of a sudden it goes dark in the bathroom and I thought, “Oh, the power went out.”  My immediate next thought was, “OH, THE POWER WENT OUT!!!”  as I came to a deeper understanding of how “instant hot water” means instant on . . . and instant off.

I jumped out of the shower and fumbled around in the dark to get the cold water to stop.  Now a shivering soapy mess, I stood there for a few seconds wondering what to do next.

The home of Mr. Generator

Then I heard it.  The distant rumble of my new best friend – a ginormous diesel generator that automatically starts its engine about 30 seconds after the power goes out.  Once it fires up, it takes about a minute for it to go live and restore power to campus.

So after another minute of shivering, the lights came back on and I was able to have a hot shower after all.  How wonderful it is to live in a place with good friends.