Not everyone has the luxury of hot water in the Dominican Republic. Several other American teachers at my school don’t have hot water in their apartments. In fact, Mariano has never had hot water before. If he wanted warm water, he had to boil some himself.
When I moved into my apartment five months ago, I didn’t have any either, but I didn’t mind. On the tiled wall of the bathroom there was an extra light switch, but nothing happened when I flipped it on and off. I assumed it connected to a broken light or fan and forgot all about it. Both sides of the faucet produced water, but neither one was heated. However, it was summer, and I enjoyed taking ice cold showers.
Until the temperature dropped to about 80 degrees Fahrenheit and taking a cold shower turned into torture. One morning my entire body started shaking as I tried to wash my hair as fast as I could without letting the icy water splash onto my back. But it also became my motivation for exercising every morning, so I tried not to complain.
Then one day after Mariano and I got married, I heard a shout echo from the bathroom. He nearly burned his entire body when he turned the left handle in the shower and scalding hot water came rushing out. Yet, when I washed clothes later that same day, the water was chilly again. We thought maybe it had to do with the time of day, but we weren’t sure. Sometimes the hot water would work, other times it wouldn’t, and we couldn’t figure out why.
One afternoon before Christmas break, I was telling another teacher at my school about how the hot water in my apartment worked randomly. She looked at me and said, “You know you have a hot water switch, right?” It took exactly five seconds for my brain to make the connection. Of course! The light switch in the bathroom that didn’t do anything.
As soon as Mariano got home, I told him the amazing news through uncontrollable laughter. “So that’s what the light switch is for! I always just played with it when I walked by…” He replied.
Between the both of us, we never would have figured it out on our own. So, if you have a light switch in your bathroom and you don’t know what it’s for, suppose it turns the hot water on and off.
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