Sunday, July 4, 2010

What about those latrines?!

This post is might be a little T.M.I. but I have to post about the latrines!

It seems that anytime a group of trainees gets together, shit is the topic we bond over. Some people have stage-fright when it comes to using the latrines, but most people have come to embrace the freedom and functionality of the latrine. If you don't know what a latrine is, it is a hole in the ground that functions as a toilet.


At first, most of us were totally against the idea of using a hole in the ground as our toilets, but once we got used to it--because use of the toilet-toilets were band at the training site--we started to love it. Nothing is better than your nightly latrine visit under the stars. In fact, our nightly latrine visit is one of the most missed things about being with our host family at our training site. (We are now in a new location due to some unforeseen circumstances.)

I think the other thing we miss the most about our training cites are our daily bucket baths. Here, it is the custom to shower as soon as you wake up, as well as right before you eat dinner--once we get our own homes, it is also rather normal to shower at lunch. I've also come to appreciate and prefer the bucket bath over a normal shower. Who would have known that less than 3 gallons of water is needed to clean oneself? The mornings here are very brisk, so it feels AMAZING at 5:30am.

I really can't wait to be back in a smaller city, where it is possible to bike everywhere, and where we'll have host families and all that good stuff.

Well, I need to find my camera, but I do have some AMAZING pictures of Burkina that I will put up tonight--assuming I find my camera that is.

Take care y'all,

Happy Bloggin'!

Ebb

Sources: I used Bing Pictures to find the photo of the latrine. I was unable to photograph the latrines at the training site, and at my host families house--or the night sky above the latrine for that matter.