I Heart My Machine

We discussed our plan of attack for the creepy crawlies over a hearty breakfast at our hotel. It was decided that the first thing that needed to be done was to wash the first house's bed linens and bag all of the stuffed animals that were so nicely placed on each bed.

It sounded like a good plan in theory but when you consider that the "washing machine" looks like this:

The chore suddenly became more daunting. Knowing that only really hot water can kill the lice and nits (and there was NO hot water to be found in our neck of the woods......believe me, I know. I was reminded of that each night when I shivered my way through a 3 minute shower.) we had to create our own hot water. 2 big pots, some water from a hose, and a fire were the perfect (and most primitive) way to get started. 
Bobby was our resident hot water dumper.
And I was one of the designated washers.
I used a specially crafted washing tool made of a particular blend of tough fibers that created the perfect blend of friction to capture and kill the lice and their eggs........or I just grabbed a dirty stick from a pile of wood and started stabbing the sheets. Whatever.
After all the sheets and several piles of clothes were doused in the hot water they had to be hung out to dry. We quickly realized that this plan of attack was going to take more days than we had to work with. So, one house got properly sanitized and all the other houses got fresh sheets and their old ones will get washed the normal way when sheet washing day rolls around.
I couldn't help putting this picture in here. This is the bathroom, shared by 25 girls, in the first house that we cleaned. No soap. No toilet paper. No toilet seat. I guess we can be thankful that they had a flushing commode but man, how grateful am I that my cabinet currently holds roughly 8 rolls of toilet paper, I always have soap to properly wash my hands, and my toilet seat is comfortable enough to sit on and peruse an entire Reader's Digest? I mean, not that I do, it's just that IF I wanted to, I could. You know. If I was ever in there that long or something. If.
The actual de-licing is up next. You don't want to miss the motherload head of hair that housed an entire colony of the creeps.