Bucket Bathing 101

Coming to Botwana comes with its fair share of new daily routines that can take some getting used to. From using the khombi's, to eating different food (like lots and lots of fatcakes), to living without wifi, electricity, or running water in Kanye. Whether you chose to do a host family or dorm life, you will spend one week in the village of Kanye with a host family, regardless. One of the most challenging things for students during this week is getting used to what you call a "bucket bath". In most homes in Kanye, there is no running water, so in order to bath, you have to first boil water. Often your host family will do this for you and have the hot water in a seperate bucket. Make sure you remember to add *at least* half a bucket of cold water to the half bucket of hot water, otherwise you'll burn your skin off. You'll then take your bucket of bath water and stand/sit in the bathtub or bucket provided. For me, I found it easiest to start with my hair and then do my body. I usually dipped my head into the bucket and got my hair nice and wet, then shampooed. Then, I would use the little 'cup' in the bathroom to rinse it all out. Then I would condition, and rinse the same way. I then dumped water on my body and did kind of a sponge bath. With the rest of the water in the bucket, I would dunk my head again to get all of the shampoo and conditioner out and then rinse the rest of my body. While it can be a challenge and takes some getting used to, it really isn't too bad and certainly isn't the end of the world! You've got this!