Simple tasks in Bali
I’m in the middle of my third week of six weeks in Bali. I’ve posted about my visa. I’ve posted about the turtles. I haven’t posted anything about what it’s like to LIVE here. I’ve started a blog post about my week in Ubud where I attended my orientation. I figured I would write that blog post first and then a second post about life on Nusa Penida the island where we care for the turtles. But stop the presses! I’m not going any further. I’m just going to type about...our toilet.
Actually I’ll give you a bit of background information before diving into the toilet. On Nusa Penida we live in a hostel style building that houses turtle conservation volunteers. In my building we are 4 to a room on 2 bunk beds. I am staying in one of the “choice” rooms. It’s choice because we’re on the second floor and we have a balcony. The balcony provides extra storage- we can keep luggage out there so it doesn’t fill the tiny room (we have no shelves or dressers) and we keep the room doors to the balcony open 24/7 because it’s so hot here. The heat here is oppressive. We are positioned 10 degrees south of the equator. The temps themselves aren’t too bad-it’s around 88. Utah summers have many days at 88. But here in our accommodations there is no air conditioning. Also the humidity hovers around 90%. The combination of the 2 makes me sweat like I’m living in a steam room. At least I think it does- I’ve never actually lived in a steam room.
So the subject at hand- the toilet. We are lucky enough to have a toilet in our shares room- or are we? When I was in Ubud we had 3 bunk beds in our room and the toilet was downstairs. Discovering there is a toilet in my new smaller room with the open air balcony seemed like a treat! Don’t get too excited...
Our toilet is actually a bathroom. “Even better!” you’re thinking? Read on... Our toilet is a tiny room with no ventilation. The toilet is actually standing on a cement block. When I sit on the toilet (TMI I know) my feet cannot touch the ground. That’s just weird. The toilet tissue here? Well let’s just say Charmin has not reached these islands. The toilet tissue (as well as any sanitary products) cannot go down the toilet because the plumbing can’t handle the bulk and the plumbing will get clogged. I’m familiar with that challenge. I’ve stayed in places in Mexico with the same plumbing issues. But there we had ventilation- air conditioning, a window. Something to move the smell of anything malodorous sitting in the garbage can out of the room. In addition, the door of the toilet automatically swings closed. So if you want to keep the door open you must move the garbage can to be a door stop. Most of us try to position this door stop with our foot. That works okay until the can tips over 😮 When we go to sleep at night the toilet door is kept closed. This act is done to keep odors in the toilet box while we sleep. Wanna get a wake up call? Be that first person to enter the toilet in the morning.
In addition to our toilet being a toilet it is also a shower. The shower is not in a separate compartment. There are no walls around the shower. Essentially, you shower over the toilet. Now the toilet is not DIRECTLY under the shower but the toilet and shower are definitely sharing space. When we first moved into the room I asked the existing roommate if we would have to move the toilet paper every time we showered. She assured me no, that would not be an issue. She was right.
The first time I took a shower in my toilet I discovered a few things. First, the water pressure is miserable. The shower spits water at you. So the toilet paper isn’t going to get wet because spit can’t travel that far. Then there’s the issue of water temperature. Yes there is hot water. It’s scalding! That’s not what we need here in sweat land. Turn on just the hot water and it comes out as about half a spit. So I turn on the cold so that I can get a little more water pressure and i don’t burn yourself. So then the hot water seems to vanish and I have a cold shower. But that’s okay! Because it’s killer hot in this tiny closed box of a toilet so I don’t mind that much. Additionally, there are hooks for your towel and clothing at the very top of the door. Remember how I said I can’t put my feet on the floor below the toilet? Well you should see me try to reach the hooks at the top of the door! Luckily when I stand on tippy toes I make it. I have a few friends who are 4’ 10”. I can’t imagine their challenges here. Lastly, when I turn off the shower the cool air of the cool water immediately dissipates. I’m left with a sauna box that is humid AF. Toweling myself off is a joke and putting on my underwear is like trying to squeeze meat into sausage casing. And no my underwear is not too small!
I do my best to make light of the situation. My roommate and I laugh about it. I think of my dad, when he was in WW II and how treacherous his conditions were. I think of the caravan of immigrants looking for better lives in the USA. I figure I’m lucky to have a toilet at all. But oh I will be SO GRATEFUL when the weekend comes and I have time off from turtle care. I get to stay in a hotel with air conditioning and a nice toilet.