Ablutions

I’ve heard a few people make comments about how disgusting the public bathrooms are around here.  I was out at IKEA when I first came here, I had mentioned that previously but this event wasn’t noteworthy at the time.  We arrived there slightly before asr, or afternoon prayer.  (The names of the prayer are ‘fair’ near dawn, ‘dhuhr’ close to midday, ‘asr’ in the afternoon, ‘maghrib’ just after sunset, and ‘isha’ around nightfall).  During special times of the year there is an additional prayer at the end of the day combined with isha making it exceptional long, and planning to go out before 10pm would be pointless.  Anyway, Sergeant Falcon left to use the bathroom before we sat down to eat, but came back saying it was crowded and dirty. The men were washing to head, hands, and feet or performing their ablutions before saying their prayers.  Can you imagine what any public bathroom would look like if you had people washing their dusty feet in the sinks?  Not sanitary, and very filthy.  I hadn’t experienced that, because the women aren’t required to pray like the men.  (As if women don’t have a relationship with God or something, not sure why it is obligatory for men but not women).

 Recently at work I went to use the public bathroom quickly for a bit more privacy (our employee bathroom also happens to be our locker room and a bit cramped which gives little or no privacy if you really have to do your business).  When I walked in the bathroom the floor was glistening from the reflection of light on the water all over the floor.  At first I thought someone had flooded the toilet but they were all working. Then it finally dawned on me, there was a women’s mosque in the hospital near to this bathroom.  Yep, I had become a victim to the ablutions mess finally.  I tip-toed across the wet floor to use the toilet.  Not only was the floor all wet but the room was exceptional humid.  Things like bathrooms, elevators, stairwells don’t get circulation or air conditioning like the rest of the buildings.  I found that to be accurate in the numerous stores, buildings in which I have used their facilities.  This can be a bit uncomfortable considering the temperature at which they can rise. I think maybe it would be in the best interest of Saudi, as it is claiming not to be 3^rd World, to designate a specific basin near to the floor, and maybe it own cubicle where people can perform their ablutions instead of making a mess of all the bathrooms.  I am just saying.

Although the pictures below you can not see the wet floor, I have a photo-less blog at this point so I just added the pictures I took from Spencer's iphone.  I wish I could have captures it better