¿Dónde está el baño? That is arguably the most important question to know in Spanish. Most who arrive in South America, regardless of previous Spanish education, will know how to ask for the bathroom. This knowledge is both crucial and painful. Many of the public restrooms haven’t been cleaned since Pachacutec.
Most of the time public bathrooms charge a nominal fee, something like 20 centimos for men and 30 centimos for women. Some aspects of life are easy to budget; others are a little more difficult. Eating only rice and beans is a viable option to save money; “holding it” is not. At times finding a public bathroom is not worth the Spanish practice. A dear friend of mine who visited left the bathroom holding her breath, exclaiming, “They should have paid me to use it.” Hyperbole aside, sometimes it would be nice to have a diaper.
Standard bathroom
Cusco has certain streets that are respectfully known as “Piss-Alleys.” This is where people go to pee when they do not feel like paying. The city was party central for the eve of Inti Raymi. No one went to work and everyone began partying in the morning, kind of like at Cornell when the weather gets nice. By 8:00 p.m, everyone was a little borracho. The government here in Cusco had installed what should have been enough port-o-potties. Towards the end of the night, everyone had given up on using the port-o-potties and instead urinated on them. Walking home reminded me of being a little kid and balancing to avoid the burning lava. Instead, this lava was urine and it was real.
Lessons learned: Everyone likes potty humor, men have it much easier than woman, stone walls and stone streets are acceptable venues to urinate on and there is a certain ineffable beauty to just peeing on a tree.
Jonah Brill is currently volunteering as a Field Researcher with Arariwa in Cusco, Peru.
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You gave great points here. I did some research on the subject and have found nearly all people agree with your blog.
Sent from my Android phone
Clearly, learning to pee at the pee tree in our yard has made a lasting impression on you. Just so you know, the tree is still standing. Happy Birthday.