Don't Drink the Water

When we lived in Puerto Rico many years ago, it was a foregone conclusion that everyone who lived there for any length of time would get sick from whatever nasty stuff is in the water. However, after you have been sick once or twice, your body develops an immunity and you're pretty much OK thereafter. At least that's what I remember.

Many years later, for a while I was traveling to Mexico City fairly often and I suppose I got a little careless. I think it was a milkshake. The results came on the next morning while I was on my way to visit someone. It was all very painfully unpleasant for several hours, but it calmed down enough for me to get home later and was all gone in a day or so. 

I don't know what happens if you drink the water here. Nobody has told us what will happen. They just tell us not to do it. Don't rinse your food with tap water. Don't wash your dishes with tap water. You can shower, but don't let the water get in your mouth.

So, in case the worst happens, I'll fess up now. After brushing, I rinse out my mouth with bottled water, but I rinse my tooth brush in the tap water. We shall see what happens. 


We have bought some produce, like bananas, apples, tomatoes, eggs and whatever else Sherrie has picked up. The rule is to wash them before using. The procedure involves the following steps:  

1.  Wash them in the nasty tap water with soap. Rinse off the soap.

2. Fill a pan with maybe a quart or two of clean water mixed with a couple tablespoons of Clorox.

3. Put the produce in the Clorox water and let it sit for about "a while". 

4. After a while, take them out and let them dry on a clean paper towel. 

And there you have it. Pretty simple. I wonder how long it will be before we get a little more casual. In any case, that's how we've done it so far.

The clean bottled water comes in these big plastic jugs. I'm not sure what we're going to do when we empty these. We've been told all we have to do is call Super Bodega Raymond and ask for Richard. Apparently they deliver. Can you imagine a guy on a little motorcycle carrying four or five 5-gallon bottles of water? I'm curious to know how this is going to work. And what happens if we run out of water before Super Bodega Raymond delivers our new supply? I don't know.


So here is how we use the big bottles. You put it on the counter next to the sink and put this blue pump thing in it. When you need a shot of drinking water, you just put your glass under the spout and pump the blue top up and down a dozen or so times. I think we could probably figure out a better way, but this is the Dominican way and it will do for now. Besides, it's all part of the adventure. 

If we get sick, we'll detail that in another post. I'm hoping we don't have to write that one, but I'm sure everyone else is really curious . . .