Check this out:
WHERE would you reach to flush this toilet? Well, it's that big silver rectangle on the wall. You depress a foot of gleaming stainless steel to make the toilet cycle.
The next little surprise for the ignorant American: the bidet nozzle. Instead of a separate fixture, this room has a wall mounted bidet. If you want to use it, you grab the nozzle off the hook and shoot it down into the toilet you're using.
Imagine you're a tired guy, who stumbles into the bathroom in the wee hours of the morning. If you put your hands down to brace yourself, you might hit that top handle... and if you do, water shoots up from the tiny nozzle and rains down all over the area. That's right, pressing DOWN on that lever turns on the water flow. Not pulling up.
If you look closely in my picture, you can see the discoloration on the floor where other patrons have experienced the exciting midnight rain shower. Such a foreign experience!
Another issue beyond the bathroom fixtures is the water supply. In the US, water is a freebie offered by restaurants. Here on the North African coast, you pay for every drop of water you drink. There is no such thing as 'free refills' for any libation.
I'm getting very thirsty. All the cups are dainty. There's no such thing as a 'big gulp'. None of the restaurant size drinks are satisfying to me. That's not a surprise to anyone who knows me. I drink a lot even by US standards.
We have to boil all our drinking water. We're going to wear this kettle out. I keep refilling a plastic, liter sized water bottle and schlepping it around with me. And don't get me started on the lack of ice. I'm beginning to think that ice is what distinguishes a first world country from a third world country.
--Sandee Wagner
3 comments:
Did you see that?? He called you a whiner!! OMG
So did you get that midnight shower, or was that just your excellent imagination??
Emm,
If you really think about it, you'll know WHO has gotten showered by that fixture... give it a little time. Got it? It's happened twice so far. Very startling. spw
Oh poop talk! I have to butt in! (yes this lame pun is definitely intended ;-)
The Dutch have very special toilets: Dutch toilets have a shelf. A shit-shelf. For those not intimately acquainted with this phenomenon, a YouTube demo: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3FgluxgTyA
In most American toilets, once you do your business, your entire dropping immediately sinks below the waves, tending to defuse any danger from the fumes. This should give you sufficient time before the oxygen gives out in order to clean up any mess upon your person that might have occurred in the passing of your personal weapon of mass destruction. Toilet paper is provided for this purpose.
But imagine the scene in your typical Dutch Water Closet (European for bathroom). You make a quick bombing run and instead of going immediately sub-aqueous, your log is deposited on "the shelf" where it remains horrifyingly sub-aerial. The genius of this invention cannot be overstated; after pressing a particularly good turd, you'll be left with ample opportunity to examine your product in all it's glorious technicolor detail.
Even when (or especially when) said product could be labeled inferior, this process can be most enlightening. For health reasons, so say the Dutch. Or because it is fun to look at, so say the 4 year old Dutch boys.
But the major plus to me is that, very importantly, there is no 'refreshing' water splash against my derriere that the American volcano style toilet might so unpleasantly surprise me with.
Flushing is an other problem the out-landers have. The Dutch have cleverly disguised the flushing mechanisms to a point where I had to teach the Beer the many obscure hiding places the WC's hold.
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