Peeing in Benin: An Expirence

Per request of my Aunt Monique, here is your post.
Yes that's right, peeing can get interesting around Benin, although my aunt still claims that no one has experienced peeing until they've tried to do it 9 months pregnant on a moving train in Turkey. Of course if you're a guy it's not really a huge deal, you can pretty much pee anywhere, on a wall, in the grass, 1.5 feet off the road, on a goat.... the list goes on. I am not a guy, and girls need to be a bit more choosy about where they pee. On the side of the road off in the grass is perfectly acceptable. To help explain the truth of the matter I've broken it down into scenarios.

Place: side of road on pee break (taxi/bus trip)
Difficulty: There is little cover for a lady to hide her bare ass while peeing.
Solution: Always travel in a skirt.
I was walking out of my host families house on a long trip and my host mother sees me in pants and says 'Melissa, you need a wear a skirt.' She wouldn't explain any further other than 'Never travel in pants.' I trust my host mother so I change and wear a skirt I meant to bring and replaced them with the pants I was going to wear. I then got in a taxi ride. Anytime generally I get in a taxi it's going to be a long trip, and this trip was no exception. (5+ hours in a crapped bush taxi) and of course I had to pee, other ladies in my group were having problems finding adequate places to pee due to the lack of skirt. But I was able to pop a squat pretty easily without worrying about mooning my taxi driver. I have since made the mistake of traveling in pants (last time I did this) and ended up peeing against a wall with another volunteer. I got into position, about ready to let loose and I hear a woman's voice say in french 'What are you doing?' I turn around and all I see is an eyeball looking at my through a crack in the wall. I also decided random walls where not the place to pee.

Place: Bar
Difficultly: No place to pee.
Solution: Follow your nose.
There is a bar in Natintingou which all the Peace Corps volunteers like to frequent. And we all know that after a few beers (beers are sold as liters in Benin not the little kiddie bottles like in the states) its time to pee. At this particular bar, and many others like it, there is not public latrine. Many of those who frequent the bar are also men, so they find any random wall to pee on and it's ok. I was about 1.5 beers in and it was time so I lean over to my friend and ask "So where can I pee?" Normally in Benin if you ask to go to the bathroom you get asked if you need to pee or poop so if you just say right off I need to pee you get a more direct answer. My friend looks at me and says "Go around the corner and continue until it smells like pee, more so than the rest of Benin" So I go and I find the place everyone is talking about there's no mistaking it, the aroma was quite pungent. I have used this technique in other bar situations.

Place: Someones house
Difficultly: Finding the place to pee
Solution: Roll with the punches.
I've seen many levels of peeing facilities at different peoples houses. Some have full bathrooms with running water (my host family) others have latrines (my house) some have holes in the ground and others have their own character. I will say this my first experience in a latrine was when I had an intestinal parasite and had to puke down it. That was entirely unpleasant, and I will avoid doing it again at all costs. Peeing in a latrine is an art as there are different shaped holes and aim is at first a problem, I am now proud to say I have pretty damn good aim and can pee in a hole 2 inches in diameter without missing, this is an acquired skill. While on my post visit during training I was staying at someones house and I asked where the bathroom was and they said 'oh it's the last latrine on the right' So I go to walk out to the line of latrines and they said 'hey wait, you forgot the door' and then they hand me the door to the latrine, all 5 latrines shared the same door. Another time I was in a really small village and asked where the bathroom was and they bring me to a small hut (which I thought they were for grain storage for the longest time. The doors only go 2.5 feet off the ground and the thatch roof is only maximum 5 feet tall. So I go in and it's just a bunch of wet stones and smelled strongly of pee. At another persons house the latrine was a hole in the ground with planks over it and a space between the planks where you go.

The moral of the story is that peeing can be interesting, I've had to drastically lower my standards on where is and where is not an ok place to pee.