Back in Time

This past week I journeyed home with some of my students. The first home I visited was like starring in an episode of Little House on the Prairie (although there were too many mountains around to be considered a prairie). Her home had no modern conveniences. It is interesting what you do without electricity. We cooked and ate by candle light and then spent the rest of the evening sitting around a coal fire to keep our legs and hands warm. One of my favorite parts about the house was the pig pin. Everytime I walked to the squatty or the kitchen I had to talk to the piglets who were squealing away in their bed of hay. The countryside is in a time of drought (though it was drizzling the entire time we were there) so they have to ration their water. They had it rigged up so that all of the rain filtered into a large storage jar. My student had hoped to take a bath upon arriving home, but there just wasn't enough water. One thing they also have enough water for though is washing feet in hot water before going to bed. They found it very odd that I put my socks back on after I washed my feet (but I couldn't let them freeze).