Accomplished: The Bucket Bath

This morning I accomplished what I believe to be my greatest feat on my trip thus far: the bucket bath. Water and electricity shortages have led Indians to favor bathing with buckets rather than a shower, which is more wasteful and expensive. Although the bathroom in my room has a shower, there is no curtain, which led to disastrous flooding yesterday when I attempted to shower American-style. My adviser shamelessly told me to shower with buckets, thus leading to the adventures of my morning.

7am: me and the buckets. Two of them, and a small pail for dousing my body with water. Thirty minutes before I had flipped the switch on my electric water heater so I would have warm water (one of the many blessings I am thankful for). There are several faucets on the shower, but for some reason only the shower head provided warm water, so I held each bucket above my head until it was half full of water. Then, squatting flat footed on the cement shower floor, I alternated water-soap, lathering myself with soap or shampoo and then pouring warm water over my body.


It took me 30 minutes, but by the end of my bucket bath I began to agree with the Indians: bucket baths aren't so bad. The sensations of the warm water running down my skin reminded me of being bathed as a child. Very comforting. I recommend you try it.