BATHROOMS! BATHROOMS! BATHROOMS!

Shoot, it 's like wanting to ask the Dalai Lama about not having sex. WHAT ARE THE BATHROOMS IN INDIA LIKE? I wanted to know before I went but now I'm here and that was then this is now was a really crappy song by the Monkees. My host/friend (American) lives in a large apt complex with about 25 buildings of 9 stories each. looks very much like something you'd see on the outskirts of NYC but more colorful. The buildings are painted yellow and orange -HEY DEB YOU WOULDN'T NEED TO DESCRIBE THIS IF YOU KNEW HOW TO UPLOAD A PHOTO- there,s a security gate at the front and palm trees all around. Laundry hangs from almost every balcony which looks amazing in the wind beacuse the sari wraps are about 2 stories long. HEY DEB YOU PROMISED TO TALK ABOUT THE TOILETS! ok, ok. In the apt there are 3 bathrooms, 2 each inside of bedrooms and the third in the hallway very much like a 'powder room' (this one is also a bit smaller than the 2 private ones). Each is tiled (rough tile so not slippery) with a toilet at one end, a sink in the middle and a shower coming high off the far wall with spigot and water dials (cannot think of the word faucet right now) at hand level. There's a slatted window far up on the wall and a drain by the shower cuz, you know the old saying "Every shower got to have a drain!" At first it seemed very locker room and my first thought was "Where's all the stuff?" A few things were essplained (Oh, Ricky!) . The whole bathroom is safe to get wet. Since Indians don't use toilet paper (haven't gotten there yet myself) and there's no carpeting like in some wacko American bathrooms I know, everything can get wet and the wet goes down the drain. You go into the bathroom to do bathroom stuff, wash up then leave. You don't sit there for 25 minutes reading the new Get Fuzzy cartoon book and trying a 9x9 Kenken, organizing your sock dresser that's in there, and arranging your lip gloss chronologically. Maybe in other bathrooms but not in Block 15 Apt 701! Oh, no medicine cabinet. That wierded me out. Just a tiny mirror hung on wall. No built in mirrors. My toiletries are in a hanging rollaway travel bag on the back of the door. It seems natural to want to wash your clothes out while you're in the shower then hang them to dry on the balcony. This cuts down on laundry time and there's no stinky clothes waiting around for next Wednesday or whenever the magic quarters fairy shows up. Being in the bathroom still feels a little like being in a janitor's closet but once I'm in there it makes sense for why I'm in there. OK, the powder room has a floor toilet which is a porcelin lined hole a little larger than a bedpan. There are grooves in the sides in case your aim is bad. Each bathroom has a spigot low on the wall next to the toilet. I understand that this is to wash yourself with, but how does one stay dry? No tp. I don't quite get that part yet. I haven't used a bathroom yet outside of the apt or airport so I need to go out and learn some things! Apparently today I'm going to go to a Western style grocery store and pharmacy today. Good times. I have to go figure out how to put butter and jam on bread so I have something to do in the bathroom later on today. Cheerios!