A Long Journey
The van ride to Bulgaria seemed to be long. We were gone most of the day. On the way to our destination, we stopped for lunch in Varna. After eating, my stomach was rumbling. I wasn’t going to make it to our hosts home if I didn’t find a bathroom fast. Thankfully, the restaurant had a bathroom… but in what type of condition? This would be my first toilet experience in Bulgaria and could very well spell out the rest of the month. Praise God, it was actually quite decent. Clean and private. This place seemed promising!
We made it to our host in Silistra. He and his son welcomed us, bringing us to our living arrangements for the month. I was blown away when they told us we’d be staying in their families’ apartment; the whole place to ourselves! What a blessing, and what a sacrifice for them to do that for us. The apartment was small for 7 people, but big for the town we were in. 3 bedrooms and one bathroom. The bathroom was small, but very homey. With 7 people staying in this place, I wasn’t sure how long the quality of the bathroom would hold up. Surprisingly , it held up well, except for the fact that the bathroom floor was also the shower, and when some teammates finished showering, you’d think a tidal wave just crashed and rocked the place.
On the bus to Sophia, there was no toilet so we had to make a stop at a rest area. Just when I thought I had left the land of squatty potties long behind me, there was yet one more to greet me. I STILL couldn’t avoid them, even in Eastern Europe, and my fear was that this might be a sign of things to come in Africa.
Africa… WOW
Let me just hit you with a rapid fire rundown of some places I’ve been lucky and/or not so lucky to use.
This toilet had to be flushed by pulling up on the knob held on BY A STRING!!! If you flushed this delicate flower more than once at a time, you’d end up waiting about an hour for the tank to refill with water so you could flush again.
This bathroom was actually pretty great considering all things, but the sink in front of the toilet leaked, so most of the time you’d end up sitting on the toilet and wading in the water at the same time. Thank God I brought shower sandals!
This toilet is in the house of a pastor we met that allowed us to stay in his three story dream home for our last week in Ethiopia. I got to stay in the master’s bedroom with its own bathroom- BUT, the toilet has a problem flushing and can drain all 3 tanks of water for the entire house if not done properly. What a responsibility to undertake for a guy who uses the toilet like 3 times a day!!!
This bathroom in Rwanda used to be a squatty potty, but by the time we got there, it had been upgraded to a western toilet! God is good. But within a week, we ran out of running water and had to flush with buckets that we filled from the outdoor tank – not too big of a deal though.
In Uganda, the toilets at the schools we visited were unreal. The smell alone was enough to gag a maggot. To avoid this, I liked to use the bathroom attached to our bedroom at the guest house where we stayed. It’s always nice to have your own bathroom. Throughout the whole guest house, we have the only western toilet. It doesn’t have a toilet seat or cover, and also needs to be flushed by buckets of water, along with a bucket for showers that share the same spot, but it’s heaven compared to the toilets at the schools.
Africa has been a wild ride that I can’t say I’m sad to get off of. Our last and final episode will be from my time in the country of Romania. I was there during the month of April. Sadly, for our faithful fans, this will be the series finale, and I promise that it shall not disappoint!!!
