Being a missionary in a third world country presents many interesting and terribly awkward situations that require some serious creativity. Over the past year, I've come across quite a number of these situations (including the case of no toilet paper). Here is my top four list of situations that I've encountered over the past year:
4. When I moved into the house where Kjirstin and I are now living, I found that while it was nice to have the curtains closed during the night time to give privacy. However, during the day, I like to have the curtains opened so that the light can come in. Unfortunately, the curtains are literally cut pieces of cloth which are hanging from nails at the top of the window. Thus, there's not exactly an easy way to pull back the curtains. So I searched through all of my things. After trying some ribbons I found and a few other items, I eventually came across my stock of hair-ties. I realized I didn't need quite as many hair-ties as I had, so I now am using them to pull the curtains to the middle of the window and let some light and air in.
3. While I was living at Pastor's house, I developed quite an ant problem in my bathroom. For some reason the ants really liked my shampoo and conditioner. Every time I opened the bottles, ants would come crawling out. Now, I don't know about you, but I'm not too terribly fond of washing my hair with a mixture of dead and living ants, so I decided I needed to do something about it. Unfortunately, there are no "ant houses" for purchase here and simply spraying them with bug killer did not prevent the flow of tiny invaders from entering my room. So, I took stock of everything that I had in my room (including all of the things the previous missionary left behind). Thus, I found a bottle of 98% DEET spray and I decided it was certainly worth a try. I knew that bugs didn't like DEET, but I still wasn't sure what I was going to do with my new weapon choice. I sprayed it on the wall in the middle of the "ant line" and the ants scattered like crazy. I kept spraying different sections of their line and watched the ants go crazy. But, eventually, they made a new line that by-passed my new obstacle. So, I went in search of the place where the ants were penetrating my room. I found the hole quickly enough at the place where the wall met the ceiling in the bathrom, so grabbed a chair and sprayed away. Within a very short period of time, my ant problem was completely solved and I didn't have any new problems arise after that!!
2. I had a rather unfortunate accident while I was playing ultimate frisbee with the other missionaries. I ran into another player and fell on my knee. And although I didn't fall very hard, the way I did fall left my knee very badly scratched up and covered in dirt. I did my very best to clean it up and I kept putting band-aids on it. However, the wound was so big that even the big band-aids that I had were barely covering the whole thing. The other problem I had was that my stock of extra large band-aids at my disposal was very limited and I no where to buy more. Thus, when my scratch was still oozing after a few days, I found that I was going to have to get VERY creative. I completely emptied out the small first aid kit that I had brought with me and took stock of everything that I had. After a while, I finally decided that the best solution available to myself was to use gauze and duct tape. It worked like a charm, even if it wasn't the most comfortable. No worries now. The wound did not become infected (thanks to a friend who took me to a clinic to get it cleaned up really well, as well as the hydrogen peroxide I was able to buy to keep it clean) and has completely healed since. Also, I have a new stock of band-aids thanks to my Aunt Kristen! :D
*WARNING* This may section may be considered having TMI (too much information)
1. One day, not too long after my arrival in Tanzania, I experienced a quite natural call of nature. So, I asked another teacher where the toilet was and made my way over there. Little did I know what was in store for me. Basically toilets here are a hole in the ground with a bucket of water and a pitcher next to it and NO TOILET PAPER. Basically, I was completely at a loss as to what to do. No toilet paper?? At the time I was living at Pastor's house and it's far enough away that I was not comfortable just leaving the school to walk back and use the toilet. So, I made the most of what was available to me. And let me tell you, I learned my lesson. I began carrying a ziplock baggie with toilet paper and a mini bottle of Purell (because there wasn't any soap either, which if you ask me is a bit unsettling). Of course, this has not stopped me from getting caught in town a couple of times and having to use the toilet at the "supermarket" much to the same end as at school (except that there was soap!!). Thus, I now find that my toilet baggie and I are quite frequent companions (especially if I am traveling anywhere).
But, then the question is, what do you do if you run out of toilet paper at your house and aren't able to get to town for a few days to get more? Well, my friends, in that case, you use whatever you can scrounge up around the house: some small purse-sized packets of kleenex given to you by a friend, some napkins left over from a dinner party, or well, you "Tanzania-it" with the bucket of water.
Well, I hope this has given you some laughs, and maybe I've managed to disgust you just a bit. The truth is, this is a rather short, and really not overly terrible, list of experiences. You never know what's going to come up here and what's not going to be available when you need/want it. The honest truth of the matter is that most of the time, I just go without whatever it is and accept that it's part of life here. And, although it may not be considered ideal, it's not nearly as terrible as it may sound. There are so many things that we deem "essential" in America, but really life can be quite fine and enjoyable without them. So many people who have said to me "I could never do what you're doing!!" But, after having all these experiences, I'm pretty convinced that they could. The thing is, my life is full of uncertainties here: will the electricity be on, will the water be on, will I wake up tomorrow sick with Malaria, can I really force myself to eat rice and beans AGAIN, etc? But you learn that there are ways for dealing with and preparing for those situations. You fill up the water buckets while the water is on. You make sure everything gets charged up while the electricity is on. You learn to accept the fact that you actually have food. And you get really creative or just go without. I hope that you'll take a few moments to think about what you "can't live without" and ask yourself if those things really are essential to you life, or if you could live without them after all.
May the Lord Bless You and Keep You,
~Christine
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