Yesterday, the bizareness of life in Africa hit again:
I am currently without water. Now this is not an unusual occurance. It happens from time to time throughout the city for varying amounts of time - a few hours, an all-day-event - but this time, it was just me, not my neighbourhood . . .
While I was away from my house in the morning, I received the news that the water company had come and taken away my water meter - meaning that I no longer had water at my house!!
The initial information was that I had not paid my water bills (yes, plural). Odd, I have only been here three months, and the most recent bill only just arrived on Friday afternoon. So I went running over to the office to pull out the bills (stamped 'PAID') for the last few years.
After contacting the office, we were told that my landlord, many years ago, had owed a bill of 700,00 francs (~ $ 1,500 cdn) and so he had them put in a new meter start anew. Now - there are not two meters at my house. And that just sounds bizarre that they would put in a second meter, unless he arranged to make payments on the old meter while the new tenants continued with the new. When my guard Aklinine spoke with the office, he was told that I had missed 89 bill payments! (approximately 7.5 years).
So that is the most bizarre part - it makes absolutely no sense they would wait 7 years and then suddenly decide "ah, today seems like a good day to recuperate this money". But, that is what they did - and hence, no water meter!
I started thinking of a long-term contingency plan, including possibly staying that the guest house for a few days until the error could be straightened out. Hoping the amount the landlord supposedly owed was not true, as I doubt he has that kind of money - would I have to move?!!
When I returned home, I took stock and decided I had enough filtered water to last me 1-2 days. Though, I would need some for flushing the toilets and having a 'shower'. My teammates were all very generous in offering to bring over water until this was fixed. I took the first offer and the Marineau family brought me some water while I was out, which Aklinine promptly used to water my plants! So, when I returned home, my night guard headed out with the container to get me some more water for the house (I am assuming he received some from a neighbour).
My morning routine felt a bit like 'pioneer days'. I rationed out a bit of water for a bath and then used that to water the new plants that I just planted yesterday morning. Though the other plants in the yard can likely survive a day or two, I knew the newbies needed some water.
Later this morning I received a call. The water guys are coming back today to reinstall my water meter. YAY! It appears they took out the wrong meter - wrong house and wrong landlord!! (Though the first name is the same, the last name is different!)
Life in Africa. And I now have another funny story to laugh at for few days!!
Tuesday, 27 May 2008
The Life Bizarre in Africa
Yesterday, the bizareness of life in Africa hit again:
I am currently without water. Now this is not an unusual occurance. It happens from time to time throughout the city for varying amounts of time - a few hours, an all-day-event - but this time, it was just me, not my neighbourhood . . .
While I was away from my house in the morning, I received the news that the water company had come and taken away my water meter - meaning that I no longer had water at my house!!
The initial information was that I had not paid my water bills (yes, plural). Odd, I have only been here three months, and the most recent bill only just arrived on Friday afternoon. So I went running over to the office to pull out the bills (stamped 'PAID') for the last few years.
After contacting the office, we were told that my landlord, many years ago, had owed a bill of 700,00 francs (~ $ 1,500 cdn) and so he had them put in a new meter start anew. Now - there are not two meters at my house. And that just sounds bizarre that they would put in a second meter, unless he arranged to make payments on the old meter while the new tenants continued with the new. When my guard Aklinine spoke with the office, he was told that I had missed 89 bill payments! (approximately 7.5 years).
So that is the most bizarre part - it makes absolutely no sense they would wait 7 years and then suddenly decide "ah, today seems like a good day to recuperate this money". But, that is what they did - and hence, no water meter!
I started thinking of a long-term contingency plan, including possibly staying that the guest house for a few days until the error could be straightened out. Hoping the amount the landlord supposedly owed was not true, as I doubt he has that kind of money - would I have to move?!!
When I returned home, I took stock and decided I had enough filtered water to last me 1-2 days. Though, I would need some for flushing the toilets and having a 'shower'. My teammates were all very generous in offering to bring over water until this was fixed. I took the first offer and the Marineau family brought me some water while I was out, which Aklinine promptly used to water my plants! So, when I returned home, my night guard headed out with the container to get me some more water for the house (I am assuming he received some from a neighbour).
My morning routine felt a bit like 'pioneer days'. I rationed out a bit of water for a bath and then used that to water the new plants that I just planted yesterday morning. Though the other plants in the yard can likely survive a day or two, I knew the newbies needed some water.
Later this morning I received a call. The water guys are coming back today to reinstall my water meter. YAY! It appears they took out the wrong meter - wrong house and wrong landlord!! (Though the first name is the same, the last name is different!)
Life in Africa. And I now have another funny story to laugh at for few days!!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment