We remain human...
“I sweep, therefore I am” Socrates
My former homeowner- reflexes come out and I end up sweeping and eventually water the plants. This is the private walkway to our place in Chiang Mai. We are here for 2 months so, why not? Immediately our attitudes are focused on living and not vacationing. We do day to day things. Naps, laundry, grocery shopping, general nesting including rearranging and cleaning. We blog and post pictures. We both do our morning language lessons while having peanut butter toast and instant coffee. I could re-word that to be “Vietnamese Arabica bean expresso with a splash of fresh milk,” but I don’t.
Let’s talk a little Thai plumbing. I’m not sure why, and I’m not judging but many non-modern homes in Thailand the plumbers have forgotten to add what we call a P-trap also known as an S-Trap in their shower drains. Its function is to put water between the sewer and your nose. I had forgotten about this phenomenon until we smelled what we thought could be a dead animal. We even went to far to lift the mattress in the bedroom. (Yes, we did have the discussion about if we find human remains clutching a bag of money. Diane suggested we just take the money and run). But with better memory I smelled the drains and sure enough.. that is our culprit. I went online and ordered some plastic thingys to cover the drains (when not in use) but in the mean time covered it with the floor matter (rubber on the bottom) and were good to go.
Let’s talk about this placard next the toilet. I first assumed it was telling me not to throw blue fairy crystals in the toilet. I am going to assume that this is not what they are saying, but something more sinister. The are about 8 billion people on the planet and let’s say a few have two toilets, some just one. So, as a round number there are 10 billion toilets on the planet. Billions of toilets have trouble with toilet paper. Why? Go look it up on Google. There are endless discussions, arguments and thoughts on the internet with this subject. It seems its an issue with the design of pipes or the toilet paper in parts of the world do not break down. I don’t really know.
Most countries do not want you to flush toilet paper down the toilet, rather they want you to place it in the bin next to you.
For most westerners, and me at first, they cannot comprehend these words. You want me to do what?!?! In much of South America, and Mexico, China and many places in Southeast Asia, India, parts of Europe this is true.
Most westerners have the ‘nope, ain’t gonna do it’. Others are still working on their bum-gun skills. I have written a dissertation on the proper usage of the bum-gun, but this is not the venue for it. Locals think ‘how rude of foreigners’. I was like that on my first trip on Mexico, and ignorant on future trips around the world.
Me, personally, I’ve not used toilet paper in years when at home or while traveling. I either have a bum gun or a bidet.
I’ll leave it at that.
I’ll let you guess why I’m pouring hot water from a kettle into the toilet…