This is the second of two blogs about our 5 days spent living with a national family. You should go read the first one.
WARNING: THIS BLOG CONTAINS A LONG STORY ABOUT POOP. Yup, that's right, poop. I'm sorry, but I live in South Asia, where we discuss our bodily functions as if we were discussing the weather. This was bound to happen eventually. You have been warned.
But first some other things. The Barois have a nice house just a short distance from the town center of Shavar. It was quiet and peaceful, and we had our own rooms for the first time in almost 2 months. In addition to the wedding, we went to church with them, participated in their family devotions, met some of their friends, watched soap operas in Bangla, as well as the weddings of their two oldest sons on DVD, and enjoyed pleasant strolls through the village. On one such walk, we overheard the following conversation between two little boys, who had probably never seen a westerner in their lives:
Boy 1 (in Bangla): What is that?
Boy 2 (gasps): Bideshi! (Foreigner!)
We also shared every meal with them. Mr. and Mrs. Baroi kept insisting that we eat more and more and nothing we did or said could convince them that was absolutely impossible. As a result, we probably each consumed enough rice for two people at every meal. Melinda finally asked Mr. Baroi how to say that we were full, but unfortunately, not before we clogged the toilet.
The house was a new construction, only 4 or 5 months old, and we don't think the toilets were installed correctly, because they were having water pressures issues from the beginning. We hoped that maybe if we just kept flushing, the poop would go down, but eventually we realized it was not going to happen. Then we set out to inquire if there was a plunger in the house. Mr. Baroi speaks good English, but he had never heard of a plunger. He thought it was a part of the toilet itself. Melinda drew a picture, a picture of a plunger. It was epic. It didn't help at all. When Melinda tried to explain that the toilet wasn't broken, it just wouldn't flush, Mrs. Baroi thought we just didn't know how to flush it. She offered to demonstrate. I called our language coordinator, who had set up the home-stay to see if she could help. She didn't answer the phone, so I had to call her husband, at 10 o'clock at night, and explain the situation. He says it's one of the best questions he's ever been asked. Great. Finally, we had to just show our "parents" the toilet, at which point they called a plumber, who was supposed to come the next morning. Mrs. Baroi poured water down the toilet until all the poop was gone, and I guess it worked as good as had before. They showed us another bathroom we could use until the plumber came. (It didn't work all that well either.) All this occurred on the same night as the wedding, after the sari wearing experience, and at the end of it all we all laughed harder than I have ever laughed before for probably 45 minutes. That's one way to bond.
The next day, Mrs. Baroi asked us if the toilet was fixed. Since the plumber had never come, we had been using another toilet, and so, Melinda told her we didn't know. Surprised pause. Mrs. Baroi cracked up laughing. Suddenly, I realized Mrs. Baroi assumed we hadn't used the restroom for a day and a half. (or maybe we'd gone somewhere else?) Melinda ran off to get Mr. Baroi to explain the situation once again, which was followed by more hysterical laughter.
Anyway, we had a great time, and I think the Barois enjoyed it too. We really would love to visit again some weekend. Here are some of the best quotes from the week:
Mr. Baroi: You cannot get the taste of the rice without eating with your hand.
Melinda (discussing the fact that was no hot water in the house): You like cold showers more than I do.
Me: Not when it's cold outside, and by that I mean... warm.
Melinda: If I can pee [while wearing] a sari, is there anything I cannot do?
Me (later that night): Apparently, the answer is: flush a toilet.
Mrs Baroi: (admiring Melinda's bright clothes): ... holud paki, holud paki.
Melinda (not understanding): Oh ok..
Me: She says you look like a yellow bird.
Melinda: Oh good, yesterday she said I looked like a red flower... unless she said fruit.
Me: Flowers and birds are nice.
And finally, Melinda's summary of our home-stay:
We eat every meal with them, with our hands, we watch Bangla tv, we drink tea until it comes out of our ears, and we pray for water.
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