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Interlude, with Hair Dryer

Not only did Ylva, Annica, and Elin leave over the course of a week, but another important element to our physical and spiritual comfort abandoned us that week. Specifically, the hostel boiler broke down. For over two weeks, the hostel was bereft of heat. The showers, connected as they were to an electric heater, worked fine, but there was no hot water to clean our dishes, and more fundamentally, there was no heat for our poor bodies. Just closing the window didn't work either, since eight people living together, showering daily at the very best simply need to be aired out frequently (in room such as H the smell became even more unbearable).

Honestly, I was finally comfortable. For the most part buildings heated in the winter are too warm in that prickly dry mechanical way that I find unbearable. With the temperature finally down to that low point where it makes no difference whether it's reported in Celsius or Fahrenheit (okay, I exaggerate. It was NOT forty degrees below zero), I could finally live comfortably. And in general the hostel adapted and thrived. A giant cauldron was set up in the kitchen full of simmering water so we could have hot water to do our dishes, and other than people taking a little bit extra time in the shower, there was minimal grumbling.

Except in Room K. Perhaps the shock of losing Swedes and heat in one stroke was too much, but Jeremy and Alissa finally had to take their comfort into their own hands. I walked in one January evening to find Jeremy and Alissa passing Annica's abandoned hair dryer back and forth, running it full blast over their body to heat themselves up. They reacted the same way: their eyes rolled back and their faces assumed the just-barely-keeping-control-of-my-sphincter look common to serious drug users and religious exctasy.

I didn't know whether to stay and make fun of them or quickly run away, so I compromised by making fun of them and backing away slowly. But we all knew that this was simply a sign that they missed Annica. And missed being able to feel their fingers and toes.

The boiler was repaired after two solid weeks of cold. It worked for another couple of days, and then broke down again. After three weeks of cold, a new boiler was purchased, and Jeremy and Alissa abandoned the dryer, and I went back to uncomfortable prickly heat.

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