Butare Bathroom Etiquette

The Bathroom. A place to relieve oneself. A place to rest. A place to get work done. A place to get clean. All of these ideas fall into the category of what I do in the bathroom at home, as well as in other countries. Prior to my trip to Rwanda, I believed that I had encountered every type of curve ball one could expect while "bathrooming" abroad. And up until Butare, this was true.

Enter convent/hotel. Apparently, nuns do not take normal showers here in Rwanda. Normal would refer to things like "water pressure," and "hot water," or "actual indoor plumbing." In my four days here, I have had different combinations of the above. The following details my past four days using the convent bathroom:

Day One: No water. Had to walk outside with a bucket and pull water from a tap while trying to speak my best Kinyarwanda to other hotel patrons (this went well--people laugh when you do things correctly, right?) I head back to my room and take a "bucket bath" with freezing cold water. It is ok, because I am 30% clean.

Day 2: I have water, but it is freezing cold. Water does not come from the shower head, but does come out of the faucet. So I do what any person would do: I squat, soap up, and rinse as fast as I can. I am somewhat pleased with myself for my great moves in the shower/faucet washing. I am 70% clean.

Day 3: Getting better. I have hot water, but still nothing coming out of the shower head. A repeat of Day 2, only better and with less screaming. Can I get a Hell Yeah!! I am 100% clean.

Day 4: This has not yet happened, but if the current trends points to anything, I may have a full shower tomorrow and a repeat of 100% cleanliness. Or I could land back at a Day one senario. Neat, Huh? Cleanliness unknown.

Also, my toilet, although Western in style, has no seat (from my inquires, this seems to be a common theme here). So its use has been amusing. Thank goodness for the Ludvigson spread (word up mom and dad).

All in all, I believe this will go down as one of my most memorable Bathrooming experiences. And remember kids, jumping in only hurts for a little while. Here's to a lack of amenities!!

Peace.