So... Our Water Boiler Just Exploded

After a long day of Arabic, grocery shopping, and going to get my student public transportation card I returned back to my apartment to rest up for a bit before my Zumba class this evening. I sat down on my computer about to update my blog when I heard a subtle hiss, a bang, and then a very loud and continuous hiss. Wondering what went on outside I looked out of my apartment to see that it was actually our boiler that exploded! At which point I realized I couldn't find my phone and my Hebrew speaking roommates were gone. 

After running around our floor and figuring out if any neighbors were in and if they knew what to do we realized no one could find their phone or the emergency number. So, I sprinted for the security gate of our apartment complex, praying that whoever was on duty spoke enough English to understand our current trauma.

You can see the resulting clouds from our water boiler exploding from outside the apartment.

Water was absolutely pouring everywhere. Essentially, we managed to unleash a monsoon in the desert. Thankfully one of the guards understood my English and proceeded to put in some sort of call to a walkie talkie. During my sprint our neighbor Lorenzo had managed to find our circut breaker and figured out that there was a water switch. 

Kati and Lorenzo freaking out at me that I would take pictures during an "emergency".

So with an apartment full of water but with none available through any of our sinks, we waiting for maintence to show up. And waited. And waited. Funnily enough, it took over an hour of calling the emergency phone line before they ever picked up. And in Israel, even emergencies are handled at the time of their convienence. So, three and a half hours later, we've still yet to have anyone show up at our apartment and our water is shut off. One can hope we may be able to use our bathroom before everything shuts down for Shabbat (in 2 days). Insha'allah.