An All Time Low

Public restrooms in Uganda are abysmal. Dirty, cold running water, no soap, no toilet paper, no paper towels. They are all this way. The restroom in the lawyer's building is a prime example. He is a well to do, successful lawyer with an office in a "nice" building. The bathroom has 2 sinks, only one which works, dispensing cold water only. The other one has a skanky, stinky towel on the ground under it, catching leaks I guess. Two stalls, neither of which lock. No toilet paper, and to flush you must reach in the tank and lift the ball by hand (the tank lid is conveniently removed for this purpose). Unbelievably, they keep this restroom locked at all time and you must request a key to use it. What on earth are they protecting it from?

The restroom in the courthouse is similar, except the toilet seat is cracked in half as an added bonus. THis is the highest court in the land.

The most exciting part of yesterday was that during our lengthy wait at the US Embassy, we got to use their restroom several times. The building was air conditioned (first a/c I've encountered here) and the restroom was clean, had toilet paper, hot water, soap, and paper towels (first paper towels I've seen here).

We have taken to carrying toilet paper wherever we go.

Today, however, caught off guard by Jessica, who has diarrhea (several of us are suffering from gastrointestinal issues including me), we were out of TP in our bag while out to lunch. This restroom was a pit in the ground--an all time low for us. So I held her over it for a lengthy time. When she was done, I found an old receipt in my purse to wipe her with--a true all time low for this trip.