MENA women question for you.

[amysaid 9]

I don't know how many of you have looked into WHY your husbands don't like to use toilet paper, but if you haven't, I guess an fyi: in Islam, you are supposed to wash yourself with running water following any toileting. That's for #1 or #2. If you don't clean yourself immediately after #2, then the next time you have to pray, you have to take a whole shower (ghusl) in order to purify yourself for prayer, instead of just the shortened wudu. That being said, I used to live with a Muslim Egyptian man who had been in the US for a couple years and had somewhat acclimated to not having easy access to water following toileting: he would use the sink to rinse off after urinating, and if he went #2, he would just get directly into the shower. But somehow, even with these practices, the floor was always wet I am curious to see how it'll go with my husband when he gets here, since the bathrooms in the home he grew up in and in the home we have there are just the typical wet-rooms. I suspect there will be a learning curve.

[Aymsgirl 0]

Thanks goodness, my hubby has used toilet paper ever since he got here. He used it some while in Morocco also. Otherwise, yuck...too many skid marks...lol

Seriously, if you do it the right way there are absolutely no skid marks. It is like getting out of the shower, you are fresh and clean and

Also, for those who rent. The water hose thing that we used can be put on and easily removed.

[Nagishkaw 510]

I try to get hubby to acclimate to the western world but some habits just die hard.

He hasn't suggested installing anything but I have heard of something...others here may know better.

It is rather messy but he resorts to his mena ways in that department. I mean in Maroc their floors are tile and always wet and slippery and dirty and all that. Mother right there cleaning it all up. Well water from shower, I can understand from time to time but the splashing of water due to toileting and putting on hair gel just makes me grossed out.

Nothing like sitting on a wet toilet

It kinda makes me laugh but I really think for him, using toilet paper is alien. He just doesn't know how to do it right.

Nagi....we need to talk

Im here.

I did notice my husband uses TP after #1, but he can't bring himself to just throwing the one square in the bowl and flushing it. He just throws it in the little waste can next to the sink.

Edited June 1, 2009 by Nagishkaw

[KHPerfectMatch 1]

I try to get hubby to acclimate to the western world but some habits just die hard.

He hasn't suggested installing anything but I have heard of something...others here may know better.

It is rather messy but he resorts to his mena ways in that department. I mean in Maroc their floors are tile and always wet and slippery and dirty and all that. Mother right there cleaning it all up. Well water from shower, I can understand from time to time but the splashing of water due to toileting and putting on hair gel just makes me grossed out.

Nothing like sitting on a wet toilet

It kinda makes me laugh but I really think for him, using toilet paper is alien. He just doesn't know how to do it right.

Nagi....we need to talk

Im here.

I did notice my husband uses TP after #1, but he can't bring himself to just throwing the one square in the bowl and flushing it. He just throws it in the little waste can next to the sink.

In Egypt most people don't put toilet paper in the toilet (if they use it)... they don't want to clog up the toilet or the pipes... There water pressure is so low and I'm guessing pretty lousy plumbing too... so they always put it in the wastebasket. Just like the rules we always had in the motorhome... (don't fill the holding tank with toilet paper!!!)

Oh, and if you don't see toilet paper in the bathroom, be careful which towel you dry your hands on.... , typically you do NOT want to dry your hands on ANY towel in the bathroom.. that isn't YOUR TOWEL IN YOUR BATHROOM... chances are it's the communal bootie drying towel...

My Mom finally put a stack of wash clothes in her bathroom and a special wastebasket for my ex to throw them in because she wanted to MAKE SURE he wasn't drying his bootie on her hand towels! Wise woman that mother of mine....

[Nagishkaw 510]

0hhhhh, that explains it!! The bootie towel. My husband told me some months ago not to use his towel ( not that I ever did ) , and I said 0k, thinking why would he say something like that? Now I think I figured out why.

Thanks for the heads ( or rather, tails ) up!

[Aymsgirl 0]

I try to get hubby to acclimate to the western world but some habits just die hard.

He hasn't suggested installing anything but I have heard of something...others here may know better.

It is rather messy but he resorts to his mena ways in that department. I mean in Maroc their floors are tile and always wet and slippery and dirty and all that. Mother right there cleaning it all up. Well water from shower, I can understand from time to time but the splashing of water due to toileting and putting on hair gel just makes me grossed out.

Nothing like sitting on a wet toilet

It kinda makes me laugh but I really think for him, using toilet paper is alien. He just doesn't know how to do it right.

Nagi....we need to talk

Im here.

I did notice my husband uses TP after #1, but he can't bring himself to just throwing the one square in the bowl and flushing it. He just throws it in the little waste can next to the sink.

In Egypt most people don't put toilet paper in the toilet (if they use it)... they don't want to clog up the toilet or the pipes... There water pressure is so low and I'm guessing pretty lousy plumbing too... so they always put it in the wastebasket. Just like the rules we always had in the motorhome... (don't fill the holding tank with toilet paper!!!)

Oh, and if you don't see toilet paper in the bathroom, be careful which towel you dry your hands on.... , typically you do NOT want to dry your hands on ANY towel in the bathroom.. that isn't YOUR TOWEL IN YOUR BATHROOM... chances are it's the communal bootie drying towel...

My Mom finally put a stack of wash clothes in her bathroom and a special wastebasket for my ex to throw them in because she wanted to MAKE SURE he wasn't drying his bootie on her hand towels! Wise woman that mother of mine....

OMG I neer thought about this!!

[KHPerfectMatch 1]

Just think of all those "hinnie towels" that you THOUGHT were HAND TOWELS...

Oh I forgot, they use their hand to wash their hinnie (SOOOO Much cleaner than good old TP!!!! ... so it's a TWOFER!!!!

Hope you didn't have toothpaste on your mouth or something...........

[amysaid 9]

Just think of all those "hinnie towels" that you THOUGHT were HAND TOWELS...

Oh I forgot, they use their hand to wash their hinnie (SOOOO Much cleaner than good old TP!!!! ... so it's a TWOFER!!!!

Hope you didn't have toothpaste on your mouth or something...........

that's why you always eat with your right hand... because you use the left for the heiner

[KHPerfectMatch 1]

Just think of all those "hinnie towels" that you THOUGHT were HAND TOWELS...

Oh I forgot, they use their hand to wash their hinnie (SOOOO Much cleaner than good old TP!!!! ... so it's a TWOFER!!!!

Hope you didn't have toothpaste on your mouth or something...........

that's why you always eat with your right hand... because you use the left for the heiner

The eating part isn't the problem, since it's done with your OWN hand...... it's the cooking part! That is done with 2 hands, and most of the time they are someone else's... over which you have no control..... One can only hope for lots of soap and hot water!!!

EWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW I just don't understand their aversion to TP!!!!

[sassysis 0]

oh my, you ladies have me laughing! But not worried! I am going to be in Egypt, (1st trip), what will I do with my toilet paper? Put it in the trash can? Even after #2? ewwwww. Really?

[KHPerfectMatch 1]

oh my, you ladies have me laughing! But not worried! I am going to be in Egypt, (1st trip), what will I do with my toilet paper? Put it in the trash can? Even after #2? ewwwww. Really?

Now it's only ewwwwwwwww if you are following American bathroom habits... Egyptians technically should not have any difference in the "condition" of their TP after #1 OR #2.... I think maybe this isn't coming through in this thread...

After using the toilet Muslims (including Egyptians) must WASH their private parts not just wipe them. You can't pray if you have a drop of "negasa" (impurity) on you, or your clothing, including your undies... (I swear that is one of the BEST things about being married to a pious, practicing Muslim husband!!!!

So when an Egyptian uses TP it's to dry, or blow their nose... at the John it's not the first line of defense, it's the last... They start by spraying themselves with the water jet (typically inside the toilet, or on a spraying device like we have in our kitchen sinks that hangs on the wall next to the toilet)... then they clean with their hands... some use soap, some just water, to clean their behinds... and then comes the (often communal) "toilet towel" or if they have enough income (or an American wife who forces them to buy TP) they might use the TP to dry... then toss it in the trash, not the toilet... Any way you look at it, the TP in the trash won't be that dirty... compared to the American's used TP...

By the way, I don't recommend using the water jets that are inside the toilet, especially the ones that are shaped like a J with curved end pointing up in the bottom of the pot.... It's perfectly positioned to catch things GOING DOWN from ABOVE... talk about ewwwwwwwwwwwwwww and since most of them are rusty, you can't tell what has hit it GOING DOWN and is either stuck to it, or down IN IT before you let it loose and it acts like a volcano shooting whatever is there BACK UP towards YOUR Heinie!!!!! Double Dutch ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

How anyone can think this (especially in a public toilet!) can be "cleaner" than Toilet Paper, I haven't a clue... Remember Hepatitis C is at seriously high proportions in Egypt... Even the toilets that have a blast of water from the back of the bowel (that typically is aimed poorly and shoots out between the seat and the rim and hits me in the bend of my knees and gets my clothes wet... is gross... and I believe the cause of many an infection in the hoohoo.... (blasts from the back to the front!) And by the way, that problem is specially troublesome for those of us silly Americans who believe a toilet seat is to SIT ON... many Egyptians don't even have one... as MANY sit directly on the rim... so keep the water from doing what I described above... and increase their chances of having it hit their tushie instead of the bend of their knees or the wall in front of them.....

Since many Muslim men wouldn't DREAM of standing up to pee the problem with the rim being nasty SUPPOSEDLY isn't there. Somehow it just never will be NORMAL to me to sit on a rim... (dang cold in winter too!)

I'm so glad this subject came up... it reminds me of how thankful I am to my husband that he came here to live... I can count on one hand the number of bathrooms in Egypt I'd call even CLOSE to normal.... And I've been there more times than I can count...

Here's hoping that:

1) You have your own flat with control of your own bathroom

2) You take some gloves with you and insist on a bottle of bleach as soon as you get there... so you can "TAKE CHARGE" of your situation...

3) Your husband is "fascinated" by your western ways... (and calls them cute and charming) or is a clean freak himself... (and therefore considered "damaged" by those around him...) and wants it just like you do....

4) You get used to it... in 20 years I never have...

And when you are out and about... carry your own Lysol wipes (you can get them in packets like "wet ones".... ) to use on the seat or rim if your not that lucky.... and carry your own flushable wipes (they come in soft packs with a pop up dispenser that will easily fit in your purse) they are great for booties and hands, and anything else that gets dirty and buy packets of tissue from every poor woman on the street corner that you see... it's how they survive... so over pay... and call it charity....

You'll have a great appreciation for your bathroom when you come home!

[Ihavequestions 419]

buy packets of tissue from every poor woman on the street corner that you see... it's how they survive... so over pay... and call it charity....

[mumbling]Can't figure out why tissues and gas pedal covers are sold in traffic but brake pads (and, with this traffic, those must wear through in a week) aren't. Hmmmmm. Maybe that's a "good business" idea?[/mumbling]

[sassysis 0]

KHPerfectMatch, thank you for that advise! I will for sure be getting those wipes!

[Jennie-Ammar 0]

oh my, you ladies have me laughing! But not worried! I am going to be in Egypt, (1st trip), what will I do with my toilet paper? Put it in the trash can? Even after #2? ewwwww. Really?

Now it's only ewwwwwwwww if you are following American bathroom habits... Egyptians technically should not have any difference in the "condition" of their TP after #1 OR #2.... I think maybe this isn't coming through in this thread...

After using the toilet Muslims (including Egyptians) must WASH their private parts not just wipe them. You can't pray if you have a drop of "negasa" (impurity) on you, or your clothing, including your undies... (I swear that is one of the BEST things about being married to a pious, practicing Muslim husband!!!!

So when an Egyptian uses TP it's to dry, or blow their nose... at the John it's not the first line of defense, it's the last... They start by spraying themselves with the water jet (typically inside the toilet, or on a spraying device like we have in our kitchen sinks that hangs on the wall next to the toilet)... then they clean with their hands... some use soap, some just water, to clean their behinds... and then comes the (often communal) "toilet towel" or if they have enough income (or an American wife who forces them to buy TP) they might use the TP to dry... then toss it in the trash, not the toilet... Any way you look at it, the TP in the trash won't be that dirty... compared to the American's used TP...

By the way, I don't recommend using the water jets that are inside the toilet, especially the ones that are shaped like a J with curved end pointing up in the bottom of the pot.... It's perfectly positioned to catch things GOING DOWN from ABOVE... talk about ewwwwwwwwwwwwwww and since most of them are rusty, you can't tell what has hit it GOING DOWN and is either stuck to it, or down IN IT before you let it loose and it acts like a volcano shooting whatever is there BACK UP towards YOUR Heinie!!!!! Double Dutch ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

How anyone can think this (especially in a public toilet!) can be "cleaner" than Toilet Paper, I haven't a clue... Remember Hepatitis C is at seriously high proportions in Egypt... Even the toilets that have a blast of water from the back of the bowel (that typically is aimed poorly and shoots out between the seat and the rim and hits me in the bend of my knees and gets my clothes wet... is gross... and I believe the cause of many an infection in the hoohoo.... (blasts from the back to the front!) And by the way, that problem is specially troublesome for those of us silly Americans who believe a toilet seat is to SIT ON... many Egyptians don't even have one... as MANY sit directly on the rim... so keep the water from doing what I described above... and increase their chances of having it hit their tushie instead of the bend of their knees or the wall in front of them.....

Since many Muslim men wouldn't DREAM of standing up to pee the problem with the rim being nasty SUPPOSEDLY isn't there. Somehow it just never will be NORMAL to me to sit on a rim... (dang cold in winter too!)

I'm so glad this subject came up... it reminds me of how thankful I am to my husband that he came here to live... I can count on one hand the number of bathrooms in Egypt I'd call even CLOSE to normal.... And I've been there more times than I can count...

Here's hoping that:

1) You have your own flat with control of your own bathroom

2) You take some gloves with you and insist on a bottle of bleach as soon as you get there... so you can "TAKE CHARGE" of your situation...

3) Your husband is "fascinated" by your western ways... (and calls them cute and charming) or is a clean freak himself... (and therefore considered "damaged" by those around him...) and wants it just like you do....

4) You get used to it... in 20 years I never have...

And when you are out and about... carry your own Lysol wipes (you can get them in packets like "wet ones".... ) to use on the seat or rim if your not that lucky.... and carry your own flushable wipes (they come in soft packs with a pop up dispenser that will easily fit in your purse) they are great for booties and hands, and anything else that gets dirty and buy packets of tissue from every poor woman on the street corner that you see... it's how they survive... so over pay... and call it charity....

You'll have a great appreciation for your bathroom when you come home!

Great info... learn something new everyday!

[dimanuni 1]

This is my favorite thread ever!!

GREAT question! Lots of great information.

I can't wait to get one of these sprayer things. There's nothing cleaner than washing with water. And great advice on the 'hand' towels in the bathroom. I never thought.....