Shower Disaster

Showers in Bolivia are heated electrically. I'm not sure exactly how but I know that a wire comes out of the wall and goes into the shower head where water also goes. I was never too worried about it, even with testimonies from friends about being shocked by turning on the water, shocked by touching the metal bar, shocked in general. A couple nights ago I was turning on the water and there was a loud pop and a little blue flame in the middle of the rod, where the tape is blown out above. That was concerning so I walked out of the bathroom and everyone was asking me what the sound was. When Rick heard that it was the shower we came back upstairs and used a wooden broomstick to shut off the circuit breaker that lives next to the shower. We talked about what happened a bit and he said "So, do you want to try it again?" Yeah, it sounded just as stupid at the time but my logic defenses were down. So I took the stick and turned the circuit breaker back on and well...I've never set off fireworks in the house but I'm pretty sure that is what it would have been like. Rick had already darted halfway down the stairs when the explosions started. I waited it out (again the logic defenses), standing directly under the shower in a big puddle of water, and then flipped the circuit breaker off again. We told the landlord and she called an electrician. We have a new shower head and wires for about 125 Bs ($16) including labor!
I have been pretty gunshy of the whole shower experience since but it seems to work better than the other one. Just another exciting day in Bolivia.