Went down to the river... washed in the water!

March 21, 2010
Going out to the river is an all afternoon experience. We bring buckets full of collected dirty clothes (and grudgingly agree to do the laundry of those not joining us ;)!) and clothes soap and shampoo and body soap and water to drink and usually some snacks. Then, we walk about 15 minutes through our community, before reaching the hill leading down to the river. The hike down is on the verge of dangerous as we juggle buckets, large wash bowls and trashcans full of essential items for an afternoon in the sun. Unfortunately, that hike back up AFTER washing everything is killer- I never knew my lungs and calves could burn so much!

I’ve been enough now that I have a “spot” where I go every time! Now before you go thinking this is the Mississippi river or the Guadalupe, let me tell you it’s not, at least not now. At the widest spots it’s no more than 12 feet wide, and only a foot or two deep. But I figure as the snow melts on the mountains (which it is now!!!), the level will continue to rise. Anyway, there’s this spot with this rocky “island” and several large rocks which Arun so kindly relocated for me to use. I proceed to put all of our junk on the island, and then divide the clothes up to wash and begin the process.

I half fill one of the buckets with clean water flowing over a rocky dam Arun built for me, and then add powdered soap. I squish squash the clothes for a good 3 minutes watching with wonder as the water turns a deep chocolate brown. Then, I lodge the bucket between three rocks that make a tripod for me and squat in the middle of the river, using two of the largest stones as my table. Their tops are about the size of a large flat rate USPS box (guess you can tell what’s lying around my room!) and I use one for finished clothes and one for the clothes I’m soaping. I then take each garment individually soaping it, scrubbing it with the brush, and then throwing it on the finished rock. After each load is finished, I proceed to fill the bucket halfway, rinsing each piece individually over and over again. This keeps me from stirring up dirt as I work, keeping the clothes a little cleaner!

Finally, I lay the clothes on the dry grass adorning the banks of the river or on sheets that are laying out in the sun. Then it’s on to another load! While us girls wash and wash and wash some more, though, the boys move here and there, looking for a good swimming hole. Unfortunately for them, we’re not the only ones at the river, and other people will scold them for stirring up dirt into the water, so they have to search pretty well. When they do find a decent hole (of about 2 feet deep, maybe 2.5 if you’re really lucky), they begin to float nicely like all boys do in the pool. Except not. Last time, I had to warn Prabin that if he baptized anyone I would make him stay out of the water for the rest of the day. Really. He was baptizing Raju, Darshan, and attempting to baptize Arun, but unfortunately for him, Arun’s bigger than him! But his baptisms were long and prolonged, and ended with the boys screaming bloody murder. So, I had to end his fun. But most of the time they’re just splashing and playing with one another, and finally bathing nicely.

The past two times that we’ve gone, though, we’ve had an unwelcome guest. There’s this man who lives down by the river (I hope he does anyway, otherwise he just lurks there all the time), and he’ll casually pick a spot about 30-50 yards away from us and just sit and watch. It’s creepy. If I knew Nepali and was braver, I might tell him off, but, I don’t and I’m not, so I just hurry the girls through the washing, and pack us up and head home. This past time we actually moved up the river after washing all our clothes so us girls could wash our hair out of his sight, but a few minutes after we found a good spot, he came sauntering by, walking by slowly, then turning and walking back by. I’ve never been so glad to have 4 teenage boys constantly checking up on the girls and I! The boys will make great dads one day! Maybe it's growing up with 15 other kids hanging around ;)...