Oaxaca is a haven in many rights … beautiful valleys, delicious food, exciting tours, ancient Zapotec ruins, colorful traditions, and warm and friendly people … but eventually you will have to go to the bathroom!
Now if you are in places that cater to international tourism, there is no culture shock involved when you are 1 and 2. You go to the bathroom as you would anywhere else in the states, the only difference is the small numbers that are generally used. To distinguish between the men’s bathroom and the women’s bathroom are a hat and a traditional dress, (not always in that order). However, if you are in Oaxaca, chances are you are looking to experience the true Mexico. If not, you would go to a place like Cancun or Acapulco where everyone speaks English and you can pay in dollars. But if you are going to be here in Oaxaca, you must accept the “obstacles“, (the obstacles), here. Let me tell you a little story:
A few years ago I was sitting at the ADO bus station in Oaxaca on my way to the Mexico City airport, where I needed to catch a flight to Miami to visit my dad. (Flying out of Mexico City instead of from Oaxaca is a good idea if you are on a budget and want to save money.) Anyway … I was sitting in the terminal eating a Twix bar, when I saw a tall, slim, blond-haired woman hurrying past me towards the restrooms, obviously in a hurry to get there. Blowing out the woman sitting behind a desk in front of the restrooms, she hurried into the women’s restroom. Caught off guard, the short, plump, dark-skinned woman behind the desk stood up and yelled at the stranger, “Miss! Miss! MORRRIIITTTAAA !!!!”
Half scared, the blonde-haired woman poked her head out of the bathroom door, but before she could say anything, the attendant said firmly: “5 pesos please!” Coming completely out of the bathroom now, the foreign woman approached the desk where the assistant sat and pointed to a sign on her right shoulder that read, in English, “YOU MUST PAY 5 PESOS TO USE THESE FACILITIES.” Upon reading that sign, obviously unseen by the urgency of the situation, the foreign woman got angry, said something not very complimentary to the restroom attendant, and returned to her seat in the terminal. I watched as she flung herself into her chair and began to mutter, tight-lipped, to a gentleman next to her who might have been her brother because he seemed like the male version of her.
I sat watching the show because I had forgotten to bring a book or buy a magazine and was terribly bored. After about 20 grueling minutes in which I could watch the foreign lady’s face turn redder and red, she got to her feet, reluctantly, and went to the bathroom. Upon reaching the assistant’s desk where the assistant, obviously aware of the situation the foreign woman was in, gave a triumphant half smile as she threw the 5 pesos on the desk and went into the bathroom without even receiving the paper. toilet that the assistant gave him. at the door.
I just shook my head and acknowledged the difficulties that many foreigners face when they come and participate in Mexican culture for a time. I know it’s not always easy, but you CAN’T come here and be inflexible in situations like this. Patience, understanding and then more patience is needed if you want to enjoy Oaxaca or Mexico in general. You must accept these cultural differences if you want to enjoy the culture and believe me, the pros outweigh the cons 100 to 1. Now let me inform you of other “inconsistencies” when you go to the bathroom in Oaxaca just to save you. trauma:
Aside from the fact that you may have to pay 2-5 pesos to enter a “public” restroom, you may also be given a moderate amount of toilet paper upon entering because there are no toilet paper rolls in the stalls. In most cases. Let me tell you they do this to save money, so sometimes they give you a very, very small amount of toilet paper which is not much help if Montezuma is visiting you. So please learn from my not-so-pleasant experiences … Always carry extra toilet paper wherever you go. You may notice that many bus and taxi drivers in Oaxaca have toilet paper between the dash and the windshield. Well … that’s why!
Now, as you enter a bathroom and close the door behind you (which may or may not have a lock), you may notice that there is no toilet seat. That’s right! You will have to sit directly on the porcelain if you want to sit. If you do, you need to hurry because the rim of the toilet is going to cut off your circulation pretty quickly, making it hard to walk when you’re done, trust me. Ohhhh … and when you finish and try to rinse the bowl, there may be no water. In these cases, bathroom attendants leave buckets outside the cubicles and provide a place for you to submerge the bucket and draw water to pour into the toilet.
When you’re done using what you need and go to wash your hands and … oooopppssss …. forgot … no water! That’s when you get the “jicara“, (plastic container), and go back to where you got the water to flush it down the toilet. Fill your jicara And go back to the sink and wash your hands old-fashioned
Now I don’t want to scare you. If you’re only coming to Oaxaca for sightseeing for a week or two, you won’t come across much of this. But if you’re going to be down for more than a month or are going to live, like I did, you’re definitely going to have to deal with this at one point or another. After a while, believe it or not, everything becomes quite natural. So natural indeed that when I return to the States, I am sure I will be sitting on the china, leaving 5 pesos outside the bathroom door, washing my hands with a bowl of water and filling my bucket in the shower 🙂
Hope you enjoyed this article. Be on the lookout for more that are sure to come.
Until the next writing!