Water, water everywhere but not a drop to drink!

Living on the wrong side of the mountain has many perks, but easy access to water is not one of them! The pavillion and the house itself have two cisterns underneath them that collect rainwater. The water is fine to use for the dishes, etc but not to drink. We get our drinking water in town. STENAPA actually imports the fresh water. And contrary to what I originally thought, I actually have had plenty of freshwater showers. It's the rainy season right now and there is plenty of rainwater to take showers with. It may not be warm, but hey, you get hot just from stepping out of the shower!

Our water pipes were broken yesterday and we were out of cistern water at the house. Fortunately though, there was still a ton of water underneath the pavillion, we just couldn't pump it into the house. So, we just filled up jugs of water and carried it to the house and all was well for the night. And thankfully we fixed the problem this morning.

Driving on Statia:
Statia is a very small island with very narrow roads. Most of the roads are one way streets. I almost have my way around figured out, but sometimes you know exactly where you want to go but just can't get there because of all the one-ways. Statia isn't exactly set up like New York City. The planning makes no sense!

The best part about driving here is the use of the STENAPA truck, which is awesome! When I drive it I feel like a tiny person that is driving a huge truck. In reality, it is the size of a regular pickup truck, but the truck usually has a ton of people in it. The trucks seem like a necessity here because the road to the botanical gardens is mostly dirt and rocks and very steep at times. The trucks have all taken a beating just from so much use especially on this really horrible road that we drive up and down about 8 times a day! When I got here, one of the trucks was out of service because someone had hit a huge rock with and dented the front fender and then later in the week someone else had an accident and took the door off. The truck is undergoing some repairs and will be operational on Monday. I am in the process of sanding the back benches and railing in order to help get it all ready to go.