Dear Diary,

I've been pretty short on blog material lately. So today I'm giving you a peek into my diary. Since I wrote this, there's been 2 more tikas (rats) retrieved from the attic, making it an even 20.

April 14, 2012

Dear Diary,

Today is Saturday. The day began with the boys retrieving another rat (#18) from above my bathroom. At least this one was in a cage so he was still alive and not stinking yet.

Then Ferry took us to run errands. We are trying to figure out how to get the majority of our luggage back home without having to carry it to Lombok with us. We went to a couple of transport places. Ferry did a good job of translating for us and we think we have a plan. We are going to Lombok a few days before the pre-departure conference so Ronnie can hike Mt. Rinjani and plant his Texas flag is a worthy place – something he’s waited our entire stay in Indonesia to do.

Our next stop was the Padajaran track to exercise. Before getting on the track, I had to do something I try my best to never have to do here – use a public toilet. Ronnie took me to one at the track that he had already discovered as “the best.”

Let me tell you a little about what it’s like to use a public toilet in Indonesia. First of all, it's going to be bad – that goes without saying. Secondly, don’t expect any toilet paper unless you are in the theater restroom at the mall. Thirdly, they are always WET – the floors, the walls - everything. Why is everything wet, you might be wondering? Because Muslims have many rules and regulations they must follow, one of which is washing with their left hand after going to the bathroom (this is why you NEVER offer your left hand to an Indonesian – it is very offensive to them). So after that little chore is done, there is water all over the place. After going, you look for the handle to flush but there isn't one. That's because YOU are the flushing mechanism. You will see a bucket or a tiled compartment filled with water and a smaller plastic bucket with handle. You must use the smaller bucket to scoop water from the larger receptacle and pour it into the bowl. This creates the flush.

But I get ahead of myself. Oftentimes, the toilet is on the floor, but not flat on the floor. It is actually built up maybe 3-4 inches above floor level and set into a small tiled area. Being a woman, the goal is to step up backwards onto the tiny tiled ledge that surrounds the bowl, but which is smaller than your feet. You must do this with your pants down, while at the same time holding both pants legs up so they don’t fall down onto the wet floor. Try your best not to touch anything. Then take a second step back and up from the tiny tiled rim onto the ribbed edges of the bowl itself. This requires no small amount of coordination.

Today as I was about to "get in position" I realized that the tie on my exercise pants was in a hard knot. Think about making this discovery as you're beginning the described maneuver, needing to go to the bathroom badly, trying to open the toilet paper you brought from home with your other hand, all without touching anything else. You're holding your sunglasses in your teeth and trying to prevent their fall onto the floor or worse yet into the bowl. Oh, and usually there's a camera and/or purse hanging around your neck. I managed to get them down without untying the knot and get through the entire procedure above, then finally got the door unlocked (removed nail from hole), only to step out and have Ronnie ask what took me so long! (I didn't answer him.)

We finally got on the track and were there for maybe 30 minutes when it began raining as hard as I’ve ever seen it rain. We took cover under the bleacher area, along with several food vendors and their carts. Lightning hit the top of the building across the track – whoa, that was close!! We sat and watched a vendor cooking on his cart for at least a half hour waiting for the rain to slow. Every one of my worst suspicions were confirmed as I watched the process. It’s interesting that they can’t shake hands with the left hand but it's permissible to use it for making tapioca balls! Eeuuww...

The truth of the matter is that there’s just a whole different standard of hygiene here. There are no signs telling food vendors they must wash his hands before handling food. We watched him wipe up using a majorly filthy rag and pick up utensils that have fallen on the ground, then start forming tapioca balls between the palms of his hands. Literally nothing gets washed and literally everything gets fried. All I can say is, I hope the grease is killing all those germs!!

We’ve noticed other contradictions here. Like why is it that Indonesians bathe twice a day, yet have no concern about using dirty water? And why do they give no thought to throwing trash on the ground but rush out and sweep up leaves that blow into the street?? Oh well…I’m sure some of the things we do are probably equally puzzling to them.

After our errands and exercise, we came back to the apartment for showers, a late lunch, naps and computer time.

All in all, Diary, it was a good day.