You, me and the kitchen sink

Today's photos show a very different kind of kitchen.  It's Caitlin's kitchen and she is living in China. 

Caitlin writes:

"So here is a photo of my kitchen sink.  I am currently a Peace Corps volunteer teaching English in a small town in the north west of China.  The name of my city is Qingyang and it is in Gansu Province.  I am about a 3 hour drive from Xi'an and the Terricotta soldiers.  I have lived here for about 18 months now and feel like I am at home and a very large part of me never wants to leave. 

So, the sink.  Well, it is just this small box of a sink that doesnt fit much, nor does it drain well.  It is also about 3 feet high and I am almost 6 feet tall, so back pains come with doing the dishes, which I avoid doing daily.  There is no hot water in my apartment here, so when it is cold my hands freeze while doing the dishes.  I would boil some water to do the dishes with, but my gas stove has proven dangerous and I try to use it as little as possible.  I do have a small electric hot plate that I cook with, but it only works with the wok that it came with and takes a life time to boil an entire wok of water.  The only hot water that I have access to comes from my shower heater which takes two hours to heat up and provides about 5 minutes worth of hot water.  However, I try not to plug it in too often because the electric wiring in my bathroom has started smoking recently.  The socket even exploded on me the other day with a loud POP and sparks flying everywhere.  I had a man come and fix it, but now I am terrified of it and wear gloves and wrap my hand in numerous towels when plugging it in for my twice-a-week shower. 

My kitchen has, as most kitchens in China, just a cement floor.  I am on the sixth floor and top floor of my apartment building and when it rains all the water comes in through the windows, onto my counter and then flood the floor--which I then mop with.  As well as the windows leaking, so does my ceiling, which is now cracking and falling down around me. 

Yay for China and their building codes.

But even with all of the obstacles, I have managed to keep up with cooking, a hobbie I love.  Some friends and I even produced an incredible Thanksgiving meal last month (minus the turkey--as there are no turkeys in China, nor ovens large enough to cook them).

I still love it here, though.  It has only made me more flexible and now I know that I can live just about anywhere and repair or simply live with just about anything.

 

谢谢和再见

(thank you and goodbye)"

Please don't forget to comment.  A comment is like payment for the time taken to post, and in this case in sending in the photos.  Many of us were enthusiastic about this series, so make sure all the photos get a good number of comments.  I don't want any of the ladies sending in photos to regret joining in.  Thank you friends.   

Tomorrow's kitchen is in France.

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