Thursday, November 12, 2009

Utilities--Gas

So the utilities in the Middle East are done a little differently than in the U.S. The only natural gas in our house is the stove/oven (which is actually a gas/electric combo). I was excited to finally have a gas stove/oven again after years in college housing with only electric. Well, last night, the gas ran out in the middle of cooking dinner. Slightly inconvenient. Luckily, it wasn't anything too fancy, and we were able to finish cooking our chicken burgers in the toaster oven. You may ask, "How did the gas run out?" Well, because nothing else runs on gas, this is where the gas comes from.


Yes, that is on the other side of the kitchen wall. Travis moved the "protective" cardboard boxes for the picture. I guess to shield it from getting overheated?!? Travis has to take the tank to the "gas truck" and get a new canister today. Of course, being Qatar, which has one of the world's largest natural gas fields, it only cost 15 QR (about $4) for a refill, and this is the first time we have refilled it since arriving 2 1/2 months ago. Not bad. I think we'll be purchasing a spare canister, however, in case we ever run out again while cooking.

3 comments:

  1. What a unique life you are living! I'm so glad I get to be some sort of fly on the wall via this blog. :)

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  2. In Bolivia, the truck with gas canisters drove by every few days and would honk their horn to indicate that they were in the area. You had to be ready to go out and meet them with your empty canister to trade for the full one. Each social service truck had it's unique sounding horn that you learned to recognize: garbage truck (couldn't take out the garbage early or all the street dogs would scatter it everywhere), knife sharpener guy, water, etc. Interesting! Love, Emolyn

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  3. Oh my goodness, I can't even imagine what that must be like! I love reading all your stories so that I get an idea of what you guys are experiencing!

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