Bathing

This year, the weather has been really hot even in the "-ber" months. You could usually count on the weather becoming cooler when September rolled around, but not this year. Even during November when my officemates and I went out for our lunch break, the weather was beach weather, meaning it was hot. Hot, sunny, and a perfect time to go to the beach to get a nice dark tan.


Now that it's January, things have changed. Mornings have become cooler and evenings as well. It's the hot-water-bath season again. Used to be I could take a bath without having water heated, but now it is more of a need than a luxury.


Sure I can still take a cold bath, but it takes a lot of effort to not shout because of the icy cold water hitting my skin. And nothing beats a nice, hot bath on a cold morning and on a cold evening.


For those of you not in the know, most Filipinos don't shower. They take a bath. They fill a pail of water and use that to bathe, using a tabo, or a dipper, to splash water on their bodies to wet themselves and to rinse off the soap and shampoo suds.


I grew up taking this kind of bath, and it is something I dearly miss when I am not in the Philippines. Why do I like it so much? Well for starters, it saves a lot of water. It does the same good job as a shower. The temperature of the water is easier to fix than dialing the knobs of the shower and praying you got the right mix, something that always happens to me in hotels.


Another thing most Filipinos do is bathe twice a day. Once before leaving for work, and again when they get back home from work, or before going to bed at night. Some people bathe more than two times during the summer, if they have the chance. I know I used to do that when I was in college, I'd bathe before every class just because it was so hot and humid.


Out.