Not a Cultural Misunderstanding, But My Own Misunderstanding...

I had mentally prepared myself for bathroom facilities in South Africa that were less comfortable than my usual facilities. Friends had shared with me how they washed with cold water from a basin while in Africa and, even though I knew not all bathrooms in Africa were the same, I had tried to prepare myself for facilities least like my own.

Upon arriving at my new home for a year, greeting the family members and sitting in their fancy living room for a bit, I asked the location of the bathroom. In South Africa, the toilet is in a separate room from the sink and shower. One of my new sisters pointed to the toilet and I paused for a moment as I noticed that their was no lid or seat on the overall modern looking toilet. After closing the door behind me, I could find no toilet paper. I took a deep breath and gave myself a pep talk: “You’ve been a camp counselor, and we, female counselors, pride ourselves when we may urinate without toilet paper while on off-sites. You can do it.” As I shook myself off, to the best of my undeveloped ability, I realized this set-up for using the toilet would take some getting used to.

Later that night, with my two eldest host sisters, who I call Zoo and Blue, I inquired if they used toilet paper. They looked at me strangely and said, “Yes.” I giggled, and shared my first experience with the toilet. Just like in the US, sometimes someone forgets or neglects to replace an empty toilet paper roll, especially with young children in the home. Slightly reassured by the last inquiry, I asked about the toilet seat. Zoo and Blue laughed and explained that their two younger sisters, Amalhe (7) and Pepiswa (9), broke the toilet seat and their dad had yet to replace it. I shared in their laughter, mostly laughing not at the cultural misunderstanding, but my own. Since then, I thankfully have taken advantage of toilet paper.