I’ve always had a thing for bathrooms. I LOVE nice bathrooms and if at all possible try to avoid not-so-nice ones. I remember once when I was in sixth grade my mom took me on a trip with her (she’s a flight attendant) and we spent a few days in Germany. We visited some castles and to this day, one of the things that sticks out most was a white marble bathroom with gold fixtures. I still remember excitedly telling my mom, “Mommy! Take a picture of me next to this toilet!”
Fast forward a few years. During undergrad, I was in Egypt in the Sinai Desert and there were no bathrooms. Being the lover of bathrooms that I was, I just didn’t go to the bathroom - for over 12 hours... (ha – my insides hurt for another 12 hours after I finally did get to a toilet. Lesson learned there. That’s another story.) It took a couple years though, when I was in the mountains of Colorado, before I gave in to the fact that you can go to the bathroom without a toilet.
The bathroom situation in Liberia is an interesting one. Running water is a luxury here and not all places have toilets. And, even if they do, there’s a good chance that they don’t have running water. Many places (restaurants, offices, government buildings, hotels/guesthouses outside of Monrovia, the capital city) have a large trash can full of water and a small bucket so you are able to “manually” flush the toilet yourself by pouring water into the toilet. I remember when I first was preparing to fly out of Liberia’s airport when I was going to Senegal, I went online to find out about their check-in procedures (and to see if they mentioned anything about bathrooms so I would know how much water to drink that day). On one of the airport’s information pages they proudly proclaimed “We have toilets!” and I was like, “YES!!! Thank you, God!”
About a month ago when I was going to America for leave, I flew from Monrovia to Accra, Accra to Atlanta, Atlanta to Philadelphia. I had two hours in Atlanta – a really tight connection, especially since you have to pick up your checked bags, clear customs, recheck your bags and go through security again. After I cleared security, I wasn’t sure what time it was, but I was worried it was close. After I went through the metal detector, I just grabbed my bags, laptop and toiletries, threw on my flip-flops and speed walked to the gate. (I’m sure I looked awesome, especially after spending 15+ hours on a plane coming over the Atlantic.) When I got to the gate I asked the agent if the flight had started boarding yet. It hadn’t - I had 15 minutes! Whew! Thank God! I had time to go to the bathroom! Coffee and water on the flight + no chance to use the restroom since I got off the plane = my bladder feeling like it was going to explode.
This is the moment I wanted to tell you about. Now I realize, some of you won’t be touched at all, but this was one of the best moments of my journey to America. So I walked to the bathroom, and as soon as I turned the corner I let out an involuntary “Oh my gosh!” Some people looked at me questioningly, and I motioned that I was fine. I was just struck by the beauty of the bathroom! There were full length mirrors, nice lighting, at least 6 sinks and at least 12 stalls. And it just got better inside the stall!
Once I wrestled my suitcase and over-the-shoulder bag inside and locked the door I was happy to see a relatively clean toilet, toilet paper AND toilet seat guards. Not only that, but the toilet had water and flushed. Not only that, but it was an environmentally friendly, automatic flushing toilet! And, there were no bugs in there! At the sink, both soap and water flowed automatically when I put my hands close to their respective sensors! The paper towels were automatically dispensed too! I almost took a picture, but I knew people would judge me. That was the moment when I said to myself, "Welcome back to America."
