The Bathroom...To Go or Not To Go?

In this blog I try to talk about what I see and what I experience. I try not to only talk about good or only bad, rather I just try to describe how I see things. Sometimes it's hard as I want to write about things I normally wouldn't really talk about... this blog is one of those. I've deleted and rewritten parts of this blog so many times unsure of just what to do, but in the end I just write about what I see and what I experience. Spending 2 days on a bus, I experienced many different bathrooms, or lack of bathrooms... if this makes you uncomfortable then maybe just skim this blog. 

As the bus pulls out, I want to pinch myself. Part of me is in disbelief that I’m heading back to Pemba. I will arrive exactly 1 year later than my first arrival… that makes me smile. My excitement is quickly shut down, when we drive for 10 minutes then stop for 30 minutes to get gas. Back on the road and we stop again 10 minutes later and I’m not even sure why. I think we stop 3 times total before really going. I watch as we pass Iris Ministries in Zimpeto, where Nunu grew up.

I lean forward on the seat in front of me, pull my curtain enough that the sun isn’t beating down on my arm and I fall asleep. I’m a light sleeper, but get me in a moving vehicle and I can sleep. Growing up my extended family lived about 10 hours away. I learned at a young age if you sleep when traveling two things happen… 1. the trip feels shorter 2. you go to the bathroom less!

My view inside the bus.

We make a few stops and within 6 hours our bus is completely full. The roads are nice and we stop a reasonable amount of times to use the bathroom. Each time we stop a parade of people approach the bus with boxes of bread, bananas, nuts, water, pop and even toilet paper. They all fight to make a sale and pass the merchandise through the window.

What I always imagine a hut would look like.

I pass up the first bathroom stop as we just pull up along the side of the road. I don’t need to go and I want to see how things work. Do the men go one way and the women go the other. Do people go right next to the road or work their way back in a bit. It’s hard to see much. I only can see if the people cross the road and I only see the men cross the road. They keep their backs to the bus, but I try not to look long… just quick glances to try to get a better idea of what is normal.

A nice stretch of road along the ocean.

The ocean.

We stop in a town and I decide it’s probably a good place to go. I don’t see any bushes or grass, so I’m hoping there is a bathroom. I grab my toilet paper and hand-sanitizer and ask Nunu to help me find a bathroom. We find a kid selling Coke who is eager to lead us. Once again this bathroom offers privacy so I’m thankful. The floor is covered in water. I hike my dress up and tuck it in along the top so it doesn’t drag.  There is no seat cover… but I can’t tell you how great it is to have 4 walls and a door… with a lock!

I wash my hands but still use my sanitizer. As I exit I find Nunu paying for the use of the bathroom… it’s about $0.18 each. I guess that is the going rate for 4 walls. On our way back to the bus we buy 2 cokes from the kid who showed us the bathroom.

Back on the bus, Nunu and I make peanut butter sandwiches and eat them along with some of the other snacks I packed. The ride isn’t bad. There are 2 drivers who switch on and off. I notice they both drive the same… with one foot on the gas and one hand on the horn. If a person or animal comes within 10 feet of the road they both lay on the horn. As they pass they honk the horn. They honk to say hello to people they know.

Another “she-she” (I think it means urinate) stop in the grass. I still don’t think I’m ready for this, I can wait another 3 hours. When Nunu comes back, he tells me that he saw a snake. Not only did he see it, he picked it up and threw it. Yeah… I’m thinking my eyes will be yellow before I “she-she” outside!

A few hours pass and it starts raining. I keep my window cracked… it’s probably the only window open on the bus. My tolerence for heat is much lower than anyone else on this bus. Some even start putting on long sleeves or covering up their children.

There are at least 6 woman who have babies on their laps. The lady in front of me has an 8 year old boy and a 5 year old girl. They have 2 seats between the three of them. The little girl lays across her mom, brother and woman next to them. Did I mention that woman next to them also has a baby. You don’t have to be in Africa long to get the whole “It takes a village” concept.

Two rows in front of me is a mom with 4 kids! A 13 year old boy, 8 year old boy, 4 year old girl and a 1.5 year old. The 5 of them share 3 seats. Seeing families share seats puts me in my place, I dare not even think a bad thought about my seat.

By the time we stop for dinner, it’s pouring rain. The place we stop has showers, rooms for sleeping, a place to buy chicken with rice, a counter to buy drink and some bathroom. We are stopping for 30 minutes. Finding the bathrooms is confusing, by the time I make it to one I’m soaked. The first door I open is in use… good thing it’s raining so hard. My glasses are covered in raindrops and all I see is the outline of a person. The second door is locked. I cram myself into the doorjamb in an effort to not get any wetter. The door opens, a man comes out and I rush in.

Hum? This is interesting. The “toilet” is like a huge cement block. It sits over 3’ high (a standard toilet is between 15” & 18” high) and is about 4’ wide with a depth greater than 2’. I’m suddenly really happy I walked in on the person in the other bathroom. Had I not seen them squatting over this massive block, I probably would have laid out a roll of toilet paper in an effort to sit.

Back on the bus, I make a peanut butter sandwhich and fall back to sleep. The quality of the road has diminished and I’m awakened by repeated side to side motions of the bus. It feels more like we are on a boat in rough waters… my body is pushed from side to side. I try looking out and it’s pitch black with the exception of the bus headlights. I try watching the road, but it’s hard from the back of the bus. It’s downright scary. I keep telling myself the bus drivers make the trip up to Pemba 3 times a week, they know these roads and they know what the bus can handle. I put my head back down, I can’t watch anymore.

I’m in a foggy haze from about 8m – 1am… falling in and out of sleep. Even though the roads are bad, it’s only for 30 minute stretches at a time. We are at our “overnight” stop. It’s 1am. The streets are lines with clusters of people. They are sitting on porches, listening to music and drinking. Some are dancing. Nunu reaches past me and pulls my curtain… he tells me it’s not safe.

Some people get off the bus and so we are able to stretch out a bit. With my feet on the floor, I lay my head down on the seat next to me. I wake up because some body part is asleep… but I’m to tired to even know which part it is. At 3:00 the bus captain is back on telling us we will leave in 10 minutes.

We stop at 6am for “she-she.” I stay put, even though we aren’t stopping again until Nampula and I don’t know how far that is.

I can tell we are getting close to Nampula, because the woman are fixing their hair. I haven’t used the bathroom in over 15 hours… I’ve only had to go for the last hour or so… my sleeping technique works wonders! With a deep breath and a pocket full of toilet paper and hand-sanitizer… I venture off the bus.

It’s then I realize that the women and children set up shop at the back of the bus. I follow. When you don’t have 4 walls, a long dress suddenly becomes a source of privacy. This is so strange to me, but it’s so normal to every other person on this bus. I make my best effort to not look freaked out… my guess is I failed, I probably had a deer in headlights look on my face.

Thirty minutes later we make the stop in Nampula. I spot a bathroom… well 4 walls and a hole in the ground. So funny that this makes me happy and I figure it’s here, I better use it.

Home for 2 days =)

My back row window seat.

My swollen feet & ankles!

The bus is delayed for 1 hour because some ones bag is missing. A report is filed and police show up. I’m instantly nervous =) One of the police asks me how my day is and where I’m going. I answer short and simple.  He tells me how beautiful Pemba is and that I will like it. He is just making small talk, but I’d rather this conversation be over so I just smile and say I’m excited to go.

We also have to wait at the bus station (big area with a dirt covered ground) for one hour to see if anyone is waiting to go to Pemba. We are back on the road around 4:00. The bus only has about 15 or 20 people on it. So we get to stretch out. I sleep.

I wake up just before 10 and ask Nunu where we are and he says that we are about 10 minutes away. Sometimes 10 minutes means 50 minutes, so I’m not sure what to think, but then I look out the window and I see the airport in Pemba! We live just down the road, we really are 10 minutes away. I can’t even believe it!

We get all my bags and get a taxi and head to the Center!!!

It’s almost 10:30 when we arrive. Some of the older boys are still awake… I’m greated with big hugs from Latino, Joao, Izack and a few of the leaders. It’s all so surreal.

I’m so excited, I forget how tired I am. After about 45 minutes my thoughts no longer make any sense. I figure it’s time to go to bed. I go to my room and discover that the bathroom door knob is broken and it has some sharp edges which make it hard to grasp. I’m off in search of duct tape. I ask Sumate if he knows where any is and he says he doesn’t know what it is. So I start explaining it’s grey, strong and I show with my fingers that it looks like mesh. He doesn’t know. I say do you have any kind of tape… even the kind you wrap presents with. Sumate says… aaaah tape, when you said presents I knew what you meant. 

Here I was trying to explain the duct part and he didn’t even know what I meant by tape! Welcome back to Pemba… it’s so good to be here.