Toilet Trials

Before I came to Timor-leste, I read a post about Asian toilets on Allie’s blog (Allie is a friend of mine who worked here last year). She said something about a bunch of buttons on the toilet and not knowing how to flush it. After reading her post, I thought I was prepared.

The first time I stepped into the bathroom, I noticed that the toilet was different. It didn’t have millions of buttons like the one Allie encountered, but I still wasn’t sure how to flush it. Later, when it came time to use this complicated device, I was relieved to find a little lever that looked just like what we American’s use to flush the toilet. Proud of my investigation skills and thankful for the wisdom Allie had shared with me on the art of flushing an Asian toilet, I confidently pressed down the lever, deciding to leave all those silly buttons alone. Immediately two little sticks shot out of the back of the toilet and started spraying water at me. First one would squirt a jet of cold water, then the other, then the first one, back and forth and back and forth, right at me. Quickly, I shielded myself from the offending spray with one hand while I pushed the lever with the other. Thankfully, the two water guns retreated. I had won my first fight with an Asian toilet, although my pride was severely dampened.

So, a rather wet Miss Teacher had to go ask her student how to flush the toilet, and the answer was those sneaky old buttons after all.