Saturday, September 25, 2010

My Throne

So, this is my bathroom. My favorite part is the Skye Bank air freshener hung on the left wall, which is one of dozens scattered around the house, including the very formal living spaces.



Not a lot to see, but let's take a closer look anyway.

Pretty standard stuff, including the backup buckets. Even when we do have water in the pipes, the pressure is often not enough to wash shampoo out, so I am learning to love the bucket bath. I might even prefer it with the room temperature water we use, since there's no widow maker installed in here yet to heat up the water (though, as Susan has pointed out to me, the water doesn't come out near freezing either).


These buckets are also used to flush the toilet when there is not water in the pipes, which you do by pouring half a bucket of water directly into the bowl. If aimed correctly, this somehow opens the latch and flushes everything down. Unfortunately, this I am still developing these skills, but I'll just leave that at that.

I also wanted to share this little sample of Nigerian construction strategies, which include just grinding out holes in the wall for access to pipes and faucets that were made to fit spaces not originally suited for them.


One thing you won't see in this room is any kind of light fixture, which means that even when we do have electricity, I make my way around by flashlight, which is slightly treacherous given that the floors are perpetually wet and rather slippery. So most of the time the bathroom looks like this.

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Mi palacio (cohort scavenger hunt, assignment #1)

They named a (hot pink) toilet paper after me...not a good sign of the gastrointestinal year ahead?


Nicer bathrooms -- like mine -- are generally covered in tile, with a brick barrier that helps keep shower water on one side of the room. Note that because the Bolivian septic system can't handle toilet paper, we all have little trash cans for such purposes. One of the hardest things for me each time I return from Bolivia is remembering that American toilets can handle toilet paper. Ahem.




The WIDOW MAKER. Most Bolivian showers are heated electrically (note the electrical cord connected to the shower). You have to be careful or you can get a nasty shock.

But lucky me -- my compadres have also installed a gas alternative for heating shower water, using the electric shower only when we run out of gas. These garrafas even allow me to have warmish water for my bathroom sink! Fancy fancy!

El inodoro colonial

I love colonial houses and their colonial toilets:Oh, did you miss the carved stone toiletbowl? A closer look:
It's sort of a leafy motif? Unclear.

P.S. This toilet's just for show, y'all.

Located here.

Monday, September 20, 2010

LOLtourism


I just wanted to sneak this one in before the scavenger hunting started. Next time, toilets and only toilets, I promise.

Sunday, September 19, 2010

Launching: Photo Scavenger Hunt!

Inspired by Sohini's LOLnotes, I'd like to formally submit to the blog a parallel photocentric game for our amusement: a weekly(ish) photo scavenger hunt.

Susan and I have put together a working list for future assignments, and the plan is to announce one each Monday. Then we all would have a week to find that photo, in our own archives or around town. All are meant to show mundane stuff so hopefully this is doable and fun. And by focusing each week on want topic while spreading them out over the months, we should have some automatic blog content without much creativity required!

Organized by category, this list so far includes:

Household
bathrooms/toilet
kitchen/stovetop
room decor
laundry

Food
breakfast
streetfood
dinner
"American" food
local fast food
American fast food chain
bars/clubs/nightlife
desserts

Transport
cabs
buses
motorbikes
other

Fashion
hair styles
footware

Scenery
local animals
neighborhood shop
mall

Pop Culture & Advertisements
celebrity endorsements
white for brown ads
education campaigns
romance
pirated dvds
other imitations (I'm thinking of the fake apple store, fake best buy, etc )

******

Groundrules
In my mind at least, this is in no way supposed to be a performance of fieldwork suffering, nor even should these photos necessarily be representative of our respective fieldsites, whatever that would look like. Rather, I think they should be just the opposite. That is, since this evolving into a nice little intimate space for us (and our loyal reader Andrea -- anyone else out there I don't know about?) I would like to see just what your lives are like, including the indulgences and privileges we all share in different ways, thereby dispelling those images of huts and loneliness once and for all. Of course, if anyone wants to elaborate on these subtleties and differences in a longer discussion or disclaimer with their photo, that would be welcome as well.

*****

First up (and the sick inspiration for this whole thing): TOILET-SCAPES!!!!


*****

Sidenote for Colin
This task might seem especially ill-fitting for your own fieldwork, but I would like to disagree in advance, particularly if you can recruit the participation of one special somebody to populate your photos : )

Thursday, September 16, 2010

Typical

I iz on the couch, waiting for mies contacts.

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

c.f. LOLFieldnotes: i can haz fieldwork?


i iz in ur bisness, gettin alls ur gud quotes

LAUNCHING: LOL Fieldnotes



Here's to sharing our experiences--joys, aggravations, minor and major victories--through the medium of LOL (c.f. Urban Dictionary 2010; LOLCats 2010).