Pictures

(1) This is the toilet: a nice hole in the ground about 5 inches in diameter and 2 bricks on either side to put your feet. Everyone squats at these things, even men!
(2)This is the "shower" See the little pot with a handle and spout? That's the makaresh that holds about 1 liter (or less) of water. That's what I bathe with.













(3) This is eating! We only have 6 people at this plate, usually there are about 12 for a plate this size. See the toes on the right? That's because we're all sitting cross-legged on the floor!






(4) Same plate just a few minutes later. My hand at the bottom is giving a sample food ball: rice, veggies, chicken all mixed in and squeezed tight to fit in my mouth.







(5) Same plate again, with Tanya on the left, Sara Cate (my CBT site mate, Gorgol region mate, and close friend), and me eating on the floor.







(6)This is my neighbor's suudu, a typical room made of twigs (say it: Sue-do). Right here the grandma, cousin, and daughter are making/eating breakfast. This is where they eat breakfast every day.







(7) This is Hawa (Say it: how-uh), my friend's host aunt. She's in the village's boutique, which is owned/ran/operated by her part of the family. That's pretty much all of the boutique.









(8)Inside a suudu is my great friend Daya (Say it: Dye-uh) and her youngest child. Notice we're all sitting on the floor. Every household has a suudu or two, and every woman is in charge of making her own. It's really cool though because once it's at a certain stage in the making, all of the village women will come to help finish it.








(9) Lastly is the place I go every day: the bathroom! On the left is the shower, on the right is the "toilet". This is a really typical layout for the bathroom here. Washing hands afterwards is using the rest of the water in the makaresh and some soap (if it's available) pretty much anywhere you feel like washing: by a tree, in the middle of the yard, etc.