Published on the CU Independent: http://cuindependent.com/2009/11/09/life-in-a-new-culture-bali-part-7/
(Thanks, Rebecca, for letting me use the picture)
Opinion: It's the things you wouldn't think about that annoy the most
By Stephanie Davis on November 9, 2009
We are one bowel movement away from being banned from the bathrooms in Bali. In the last week, our group of 13 students has managed to break the toilet in our favorite restaurant, twice.
The Balinese greet each other and ask to be polite, “Sudah mandi?” or in English, “Have you showered yet?” This is because it’s so hot, a shower is a good way to cool off and feel healthy. Our group of students has changed that a bit, and instead asks each other, “How’s your poop?”
We congratulate each other if someone finally passes a poop after five days of going without. After one of these said victories, when one girl couldn’t get the toilet to flush, the girl waiting behind her was so desperate, she begged her to leave her poop in the toilet and said, “It’s okay—I have to go so bad, I’ll just go on top.” Needless to say, this is one of the incidents that broke the toilet.
There is no room to be poop-shy.
These conversations might seem strange to the outsider, but it’s amazing how important the dialogue about our bowel movements has become. The topic comes up more often than sex. This is not because we have way too much time to think of toilet humor, but because this is how we gauge our health in Bali.
In many of the bathrooms, it can be hard to find soap to wash our hands, so we’ve all become addicted to hand sanitizer. Even with the hand sanitizer, we still don’t feel clean.
Our diet here is completely different than what we’re used to in America. The food our home-stay families serve us tends to be very spicy, and three times a day we are served a large mound of rice. The spicy food tends to make things move through our bodies rather quickly, while the rice slows things down. You would think the combination would balance the consistency out, but no. It seems like we are constantly clogged, or far too runny.
Adding to the food problems, we have to be careful about what we eat. There is no water treatment, and one slip-up can leave us feeling runny for a week. Even brushing our teeth takes some thought. One careless morning of sticking the toothbrush under the faucet instead of using bottled water, or eating an apple our home-stay mothers wash with local water can do the trick.
To avoid dehydration when we’re going through these tough times, we’ve taken to drinking a beverage called “Pocari Sweat,” the equivalent of Gatorade and Powerade. Sadly, it doesn’t help as much as we would like.
Most of us arrived with a few doses of antibiotics in hand for traveler’s diarrhea, but we’re told we should only take these pills when we have “three loose bowel movements a day for three days.” That’s a lot of time to wait before we start on these pills that could bring relief, but even the relief doesn’t come for a few days after starting the medicine.
I would have thought that after two months, my body would be adjusted to the new diet and be a little bit more immune to the water after accidental ingestions, but I’m continually disappointed. I’m hoping my body doesn’t need this much adjustment time when I go home.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to make an emergency appointment with the toilet.
