Saturday, Aug. 14, 2004 - 6:32 p.m.

Shower tile from my hotel in Kenting.

This post is NOT for the squeemish.

Privacy on many levels here is so completely different than in the West. Being in public ANYWHERE makes you fair game for conversation, critical comments, and mocking. Anywhere. Your business is everyones business also. Remember that this is a group society, and individual comfort is not a main prority.

Now lets go into the bathroom and take this to a shitty level. The sewer system here is not great. To say the least. Even in the newer toilets throwing anything, especially toilet paper, in is just asking for a toilet backup.I know, I had many of them the first few months that I lived here.

Its simple enough to not throw toilet paper into the bowl, really, it is. BUT, then you have trash bags filled with your bowel movements lingering around the bathroom until you dispose of them. I dont know about you, but I dont throw my trash away every day, and didnt intend on doing so. Think of the bags that go to waste (interesting choice of words perhaps)with just a few items in them.

But after way too many backed up moments and days of working my new plunger, I gave in and stopped doing this.

I have found a few ways around the stench of having your bowel wipe stench taking over your bathroom, but here is one thing I havent figured out.

Seriously, it hit me this morning as I was trying to figure out if that color in my clear pink bag was chocolate from my fudge bar the other night or.....EEEEEEEEEEEWWWWWWWWWW

Why the hell am I telling you this? Cause to me it doesnt make sense. Yes, I have established that this culture is NOT squeemish about bodily functions. BUT, does that mean that they have to be visible? When I carry this brown content trash bag down to the community bin will I have to consciously hold it so that the dark colored area is NOT visible to anyone. I know they wont care, but I really dont want anyone else seeing my shit.

Prudish American? Maybe. But is it really too much to ask to have bowel privacy?