Fish Bowl or Toilet Bowl?

This week we talked a lot about how we react when we come in contact with other cultures. Many times we find the norms in other cultures funny or weird because its not something we are not used to. Sal shared a story with us about discovering the Japanese style toilet, which he first thought was weird, but then realized there was a lot of practicality in it. I, too, have a toilet story. Last summer I went on vacation to Tanzania, Africa. As you can imagine, there are many things that are different about Tanzanian culture, but for me, it was their bathrooms. They were western-style at the airports and hotels, so at first I thought I was safe. But I was wrong. On our first safari trip, we made a bathroom stop in an African National Park. I opened the door to the stall and saw nothing. I couldn't figure out what they had done with the toilet until I looked down. In the middle of the awful-smelling room there was a hole in the ground surrounded by 2 spaces to put your feet. You had to go to the bathroom standing up! I certainly had never done that before and I was not too pleased about the idea. During my ten days there, I encountered several of these and I got somewhat used to them except I didn't particulary like the lack of toilet paper. But when I thought about it, I realized this was not gross, uncomfortable or weird to the Africans. They come from a culture where they don't have a lot and something so basic as a toilet is a big deal to them, even if its not designed like ours.