The art of water syphoning (from the neighbours)

After a Christmas sojourn outside the country we returned home to the news that whilst away the drain on the roof of our building had blocked. In search of alternative routes, a river of water, had taken the liberty to meander through my bedroom, into the hallway, down the stairs and out the front door. My bed fell victim to the flash flood.

At about the same time the water pressure went. Then the washing machine. Then we narrowly escaped an electrical fire when things in the fuse box went a wee bit awry. Then the water supply went completely ( — we later found out that the landlord had apparently not paid the bill in four years).

At this point, keeping up appearances was becoming increasingly difficult. Bodies and dishes could not be washed, laundry could not be done, and toilets could not be flushed...

Kari Cool: "Be COOL."

[In order to perform such menial tasks gallons of water had to be bought from the local dekaneh and hauled home. A silver lining during this ordeal was the discovery of a brand of water, “Kari Cool”, which offers consumers the opportunity to become cool by drinking the product. It kinda works but the side effects can be a bitch.]

...in search of a solution we sought out one of the few figures on the block who you can rely on to get shit done.

Gilbert.

Gilbert calmly assured us that our problem was very simple and within minutes we were heading home accompanied by a neighbourhood jack-of-all-trades holding two metre-length sections of hose. We headed to the roof and were given a quick demonstration of how to syphon water from the neighbour’s tank.

Our first attempts were fairly pitiful sometimes involving over 20 minutes of exertion, some wet patches, and a few gulps of Beirut’s pristine tap water before the water started flowing. But after a while we got the technique down, Greco-Roman Wrestler in particular demonstrating quite remarkable aptitude. Frank Rijkaard talks a good talk, but as of yet, no one has seen his walk.

Shower time: Greco-Roman Wrestler en route to the task at hand.

A decent-sized length of hose is a pre-requisite.

Getting the technique down is by no means straightforward.

Job done.