Dear Squat Toilet,
I had dreaded meeting you. Months before the trip, I tried to think up ways to avoid you completely, or at least make our introduction as brief and impersonal as possible. I actually pooped in the woods before I even tried to get to know you. That didn’t go well. But on a dark, sweaty night, after 5 hours of hiking, vomiting, and more vomiting, I stumbled into my first squat toilet in Chaksibote, trembling and desperate, where I was forced to get to know you much better than I would have liked. Dehydrated and terribly ill, I squatted over your shallow depths and prepared for the worst. It was definitely the worst.
Over the next few days, I would visit you quite consistently as my stomach sickness continued to arrange our constant and unpleasant meetings. It was during this period of frequent visitation that I began to reflect on the nature of my disdain for you. Crouched in the dark, I would try to find the reason for my extreme discomfort as I splashed cold water on my bum. This was a daily way of life for so many people; surely they did not find it as repulsive and awkward as I did. I reasoned—as I washed the crap off my hand—that my revulsion must be a construct of my complete unfamiliarity with your culture, as well as a direct byproduct of my dependency and comfort in my own culture.
Reflecting on our time spent together, I can now even begin to appreciate the nature of our encounters as a sort of parallel to the culture shock I experienced during my time here in Nepal. Squatting over you brought about a discomfort similar to what I experienced dodging bikes and taxis in Kathmandu or consuming Dal Bhat for breakfast lunch and dinner in Chaksibote. However, much like the traffic and the Dal, our meeting was an important piece of my travels here in Nepal, something I can now value as an eye-opening cultural experience. While I still hope I never have to squat over you again, I do understand that said squatting was a valuable addition to my global perspective, however crappy it may have been.
Sincerely,
Zach