Potty Talk

** Warning: If you are uncomfortable with reading about poop and how I use a toilet in Nepal, then maybe you should skip this post...

When I lived at my host family’s house in Turkey they had what I like to call a squatty-toilet. This means there was a ceramic basin in the floor with a small hole in it, where I squatted over and did my toilet business. Before arriving in Turkey and using that toilet, I had not been given a proper orientation for how to use it. Although there was toilet paper on my first day, when it ran out I started to provide my own. I had no idea how to flush the toilet so everything stayed put inside the hole when I was done. Then when I moved into the dorm in Turkey I had the luxury of a western toilet (i.e. what you find in homes and public restrooms in the US and Europe).

My home in Nepal has the same type of toilet, and in fact most of the private and public toilets are squatty-toilets. This means that my thighs are becoming extra strong! On the first day of the program I was given an orientation of how to use toilets here. Here are the basic steps. (1) enter the charpi (toilet room) and if it is in a house put on the bathroom slippers provided (2) pull your pants down and hover over the basin (3) aim and (4) fire. In the charpi there is usually a small bucket of water, and plastic mug, and a spicket in case you go number two. If there is no water in the bucket then you use your right hand to turn on the spicket. This water is your toilet paper, and if there is no water then you are out of luck and either get creative or hold it. Toilet paper is highly not recommended because it can clog the toilets here. After going to the bathroom you use your right hand to poor water from the mug into your left hand and wipe with your left hand. You pour, wipe, pour, wipe, and repeat until you are all clean. To get dry, I like to either do a little dance or use my hand as a squeegee. To flush you fill a mug or as many mugs are needed and pour water into the basin, until you cannot see your excrement anymore. After everything is all done and your pants are back on, you leave the charpi by using your right hand to open the door. Then wash your hands at a sink by turning the faucet on with your right hand, using your right hand to get soapy, and then taking your soapy hand to wash your left hand, so that you do not make the soap impure. It sounds more complicated then it is.

I am pretty lucky to have two charpi's in my house, so I do not have to leave at night to go to the bathroom. A lot of other girls on the program have bedpans that they must empty in the morning and have to walk outside to go to the bathroom. The reason why they have bedpans is that there are wild dogs that run around at night, so this allows them to stay safe at home. I stayed with a family for three nights in a remote mountain village named Tangting. In Tangting my toilet was outside my dung-made home, so I would have to walk outside at night, but there where never any dogs. Tangting does not have load-shedding because they have their own hydro-power plant, which means that there is constent electricity. So there were also lights on the 10-foot path to the toilet, so I could check for animals before I went.

On another note, I leave on April 28th for a two-week village stay in Simigaau. Simigau is a remote village nestled in the foothills of the Himalaya's so I will not have any email or phone access. I am very excited to go and learn about Sherpa and Tamang culture. I will also have my last two weeks of language classes and final exams there. When I get back I will be starting my month-long research project on the political parties of Nepal.

Hope you are all doing well!

Happy Nepali New Years!