:)

My lovely tiolet!



March 23, 2010
Sangalkam, Senegal

For Those Concerned About My Toilet Situation (or lack there of):

I woke up in the middle of the night dying to go to the bathroom. I fumbled around my room for my headlamp so I could make the 20 – yard trek without tripping over sand or the mangy, flee-ridden, rabies- stricken dog that likes to hang outside our gate. The sand is treacherously uneven and in the wee hours (no pun intended) in my larium – comatose state I tend not to have proper directional sense. Fortunately, I made it to the douche hut without any mishaps and couldn’t wait to sit down and enjoy a good mid-night pee – until I remembered there is no place to sit! No matter. At least I can relieve myself and enjoy that post – pee elation and go back to bed without further interruption. I flung open the tin door, took my “pee squat stance” (which is different for my other stance – you gotta aim ladies, remember?) and was just about to let it go when I noticed something moving on the walls next to me. Instinctively, I turned, to which my headlamp followed, and to my surprise I found I was accompanied by 8 cockroaches, a giant lizard and a kitten. How I missed them when I entered is beyond me. My heart almost stopped when I fully digested the scenery. And I have to say that it is a pretty weird feeling having lizards, cockroaches and a kitten staring at you with your pants around your ankles. You feel incredibly exposed. I figured I had two options: pee with cockroaches crawling at my feet, a lizard chasing after the cockroaches for a tasty snack, and a kitten meowing out of frightful confusion or get the hell out! Being the hardcore Peace Corps trainee that I am…I bolted! In fact I moved out of there so fast that I almost took out the door of the douche hut. Lesson learned: I don’t pee at night anymore.