Come Take a Squat or Sit.
10/20/2019
First off, I’m sorry. Your legs and bum must have been hurting because it has been so long since I last posted. Second off, this blog was written October 20th, 2019 but I never got around to post it. I have a lot more unpublished blogs written so more content will come to you soon. I will be putting a timestamp for the blogs to come in the corner to indicate when I meant to post them.
WARNING: Some may say this is TMI, but I have been thinking about this blog a lot recently and I wanted to write about it anyway because of what I’ve learned.
Without further ado, let’s get down to business:
When I was back home a lot of people asked how my bathroom situation would look like in Senegal. I told most people that since my family has a European toilet nothing will be different, but I was wrong. So, here is some things I have learned and discovered:
a. At my house, we have an European toilet and a Squat toilet. If you asked me two days ago, I would have said, “The European toilet is only for number ones while the squat is for anything at all.” There is a whole story behind why I thought that was the case, but it’s complicated…ish. After a month and a half of living in my house, I found out the European toilet is for number one's through three's too. What’s a number three you may ask, it’s when you have numbers one and two at the same time. Some may call it diarrhea.
b. If someone has the option of a Squat toilet v.s. a European toilet, I would say 82% (you like my estimate?) would want an European toilet. The other 18% of people would say “I would like both or the squat is just fine with me”. I am in the 18% category leaning more towards the squat toilet. Here is why. First, the squat toilet is awesome, you do your business so fast. Second, it takes less water than the European toilets because when you are done doing your business you just need to use one cup full of water to wash everything down vs going pee in the European toilet takes four full cups, maybe even more. It depends on how much water you drink :) Third, it’s an ab and leg workout and you get to work on your balance. Fourth, you don’t need to buy a squatty potty for your European toilet. Finally, it’s also just fun to use. On the other hand, when you are sick and you’re throwing up and having number threes, then the squat toilet is not your friend. I’m telling you it makes you want to throw up even more because your head is by the pooping hole. As of right now, that’s the only negative thing I can think about for the squat toilet.
c. I felt like a genius when I discovered how to go pee in a squat toilet ( squad toilets around the world vary in sizes, the ones we had in Senegal happened to lean towards the smaller size). If you don’t know what a squat toilet looks like, it has a hole in the floor right below where your butt is facing and then it gradually goes up from there to where the feet area is. When going pee the normal way it will usually splash because it’s so shallow and it can get on your feet. Which is kind of gross if you don’t wash your feet and shoes. Well, what I have discovered is that if you turn around the opposite way with your feet still where they are supposed to go, you will go pee right into the hole and vuala! There is no splashing. But if you ever try this, make sure you do not look down because sometimes you can smell things that you don’t want to smell since you’re facing the wrong way. Yah, I know that can sound like too much information, but hey, maybe you’ll visit a country which uses squad toilets (it’s not just Senegal!) and you’ll need to know some of these things.
d. In the evening, I always wondered why I had mosquito bites on my legs and bum. Later, I realized that before I use the squat toilet I should wave my foot over the hole to scare away the flies and mosquitoes from the water. This way, they all don’t come out of the hole and start biting me when I’m going to the bathroom
e. *If you have a queasy stomach already, do not read the next part.* Oh, I told some people that I will be able to use toilet paper like in the US, but actually I can’t. This is because it will clog the delicate drainage system. Yep, as you can guess I use the watering method. In my last blog, I mentioned that the left hand is known as being dirty and this is why (I think). When using the watering method, you hold the kettle or tub/bucket in your right hand and pour the water into your left hand to wipe. If you take a number two I found it best to just dump water over your bum before putting the water in your hand because then you don't get anything on your hands. Don’t worry I wash my hands well after, but once I saw someone come out of the bathroom and they just poured water on their hands and walked away. THEY DID NOT USE SOAP! I think it is because they had a strong immune system and soap can be expensive for some households. As far as I know this is one reason why it’s a dirty hand, but I’m still learning about it. This may gross you out, but if you think about it, it’s more sustainable to use this method.
f. Lastly, the only con of using the watering method is when you use the bathroom you are always wet after. I have not figured out a solution for this part yet.
Ok! That’s all with the potty talk :) Signing out!
Aida (Ayda)
