Paper Work (Toilet Paper)

For those of you who like pictures, you won´t find them today for obvious reasons.

Every culture has a thing or two that surprises the visitor. Suprises may come from any direction. Although we knew about the toilet paper issue from previous visits, we didn´t realize how pervasive it was until we lived here for a few weeks.

To set the record straight, there is no public toilet paper. One must carry or purchase single use toilet paper where ever one goes. If you take a bus trip of any length of time, take a roll. If you go to school, take a roll. The list of school supplies for each child included two rolls of toilet paper which can be stored in ones school locker. When a child askes to be excused to go to the restroom, they take the anticipated amount of toilet paper with them and hope they guessed correctly. In short, there are restrooms everywhere but one will not find a single roll of toilet paper. In a culture where there is a lack of emphasis on planning, this small detail is always planned for.

In discussing this with one of the teachers, (I´m getting to know them better) I discover that this is all a part of personal responsibility. If you trip and fall over a break in the sidewalk or a short pipe cut off two inches above the sidewalk, it is YOUR responsibility, not that of the city. The bottom line (no pun intended) is take responsibiñlity for all things personal including toilet paper. One should not do the paper work at public expense!