Communal Bathrooms

Yesterday was a busy day, comprised of lots of learning and cultural activities before we dive into our placements. I’ll talk a bit about each thing then explain why I titled my post as I did. 

History & Culture: One of the staff members presented the history of Sri Lanka to us in a PowerPoint. I knew Sri Lanka had ties to India, and it turns out their first king was a prince exiled from India to Sri Lanka. And then he started his own dynasty here.

Spice Garden - Sri Lanka is known for its spices, tea and sapphires. Today we focused on the spices and medicinal properties plants. We were taken on a tour through large garden, drawing items like king, coconut, bananas, cinnamon, ginger, rubber trees, sandalwood, etc. Then we were given an opportunity to try some of the oils derived from these plants in the form of cream or direct oil application. Reluctantly, I allowed the staff to massage my face with a cream. I declined the back massage though. I am a bit more finicky about hygiene in these situations than others I suppose. 

Tea factory - We visited a tea factory that has its roots hundreds of years ago as it was built by the British once colonized to Sri Lanka we got to see the process for creating the various types of tea. Both black and white. There is a lot of heavy machinery involved for sifting the varieties of tea leaf and sorting them accordingly. It’s pretty interesting technology especially since a lot of it existed in the mid 1900s and before.

Silk Shop - We visited a silk shop; this seems like a popular type of store in this part of the world. I have visited silk shops now in India, Bangladesh, and now, Sri Lanka. I know the staff was disappointed. I didn’t buy anything and really tried to sell me on a cashmere scarf, which was quite pretty. I didn’t want any silk because I had already bought pure silk in Varanasi. I also tried on another sari as did my roommate. It looked nice, but definitely wasn’t getting it. 

Language lessons - When we got back to the hostel, our guide wanted to catch us up after having some delays in the morning so that we could do the language lessons. Basically a consisted of a few key Sinhalese words that we could speak to staff members at our placements, tomorrow and to other locals we may run into. Ayubowan is the primary greeting here which we have been using all day!

KCC (for shopping) - We never made it here but I suspect this is more of a shopping mall where we can find contemporary items, not necessarily touristy, but shop for jewelry or other nice things Sri Lanka is known for all in one place.

Why the title?

Yesterday I was exhausted, didn’t sleep much at all and had a sore throat. I maybe got 1.5 hours. I was sharing a room with another woman who arrived today. And I’ve come to the conclusion that sharing a bathroom attached to the room and to a lesser extent a bedroom with a person I don’t know isn’t worth it. I’d actually prefer a bathroom down the hall like college forms for sharing. 

What do you think? If I could insert a poll here I would. Down the hall communal bathroom with strangers OR in-room shared bathroom with a total stranger? 

I’ve concluded that there’s too much intimacy in a situation where the bathroom is in close quarters to the bedroom. I prefer the anonymity and privacy of stalls of the dorm style showers in cases where you’re bunking with someone you have no relation to. Otherwise the proximity to the bedroom is too close.

All that said, it’s a new day and I’ve upgraded my stay at the hostel to a single room, with no roommate. I’ve slept better already though only for 4-5 hours. I think tomorrow night will also be better now that I’m more settled in. Will take pics of the room tomorrow when there is more light and post.