Cultural Clash in Public Restrooms – Oaxaca, Mexico

Oaxaca is a paradise in many ways…beautiful valleys, delicious food, exciting tours, ancient Zapotec ruins, colorful traditions, and warm, friendly people…but in the end you will have to go to the bathroom!

Now if you’re in places that cater to international tourism, there’s no culture shock involved when you 1 and 2. You go to the bathroom like you would anywhere else in the United States, the only difference is the little figures that usually used to distinguish between the men’s and women’s restrooms are a traditional hat and dress (not always in that order). However, if you are in Oaxaca, chances are you are looking to experience the real Mexico. If not, you would go to a place like Cancun or Acapulco where everyone speaks English and you can pay in dollars. But if you are going to be here in Oaxaca, you have to accept the “obstacles“, (the obstacles), here. Let me tell you a little story:

A few years ago I was sitting at the ADO bus station in Oaxaca on my way to the Mexico City airport where I needed to catch a flight to Miami to visit my dad. (Flying out of Mexico City instead of flying out of Oaxaca is a good idea if you’re on a budget and want to save money.) Anyway… I was sitting in the terminal eating a Twix bar, when I saw a tall, thin, blond-haired woman rush past me to the restrooms, obviously in a hurry to get there. Completely dismissing the woman who was sitting behind a desk in front of the restrooms, she hurried to the women’s restroom. Caught off guard, the short, chubby, dark-complexioned woman behind the desk stood up and yelled at the foreigner, “Miss! Miss! SIROORRIIITTTTAAA!”

Half startled, the blond-haired woman poked her head around the bathroom door, but before she could say anything, the attendant said firmly, “5 pesos please!” Coming out of the bathroom now, the foreign woman walked over to the desk where the attendant sat and pointed to a sign over her right shoulder that read, in English, “YOU MUST PAY 5 PESOS TO USE THESE FACILITIES.” Reading that sign, obviously unseen due to the urgency of the situation, the foreigner got angry, said something less than complimentary to the bathroom attendant, and returned to her seat in the terminal. I watched her as she flopped into her chair and began to mutter, tight-lipped, to a gentleman next to her who could have been hers hers her brother because he looked like the version masculine of her

I just sat there watching the show because I had forgotten to bring a book or buy a magazine and I was terribly bored. After about 20 exhausting minutes in which I could see the foreign woman’s face getting redder and redder, she reluctantly stood up and headed to the bathroom. Arriving at the assistant’s desk where the assistant, obviously aware of the foreign woman’s situation, flashed a triumphant half-smile as she tossed the 5 pesos on the desk and stormed into the bathroom without even receiving the toilet paper she received. The assistant hands him. out at the door

I simply shook my head and acknowledged the difficulties that many foreigners encounter when they come and participate in Mexican culture for a while. I know it’s not always easy, but you CANNOT come here and be inflexible in situations like this. Patience, understanding and then more patience is needed if you want to enjoy Oaxaca or Mexico in general. You must accept these cultural differences if you want to enjoy the culture and believe me the pros outweigh the cons 100 to 1. Now let me fill you in on some other “inconsistencies” when you go to the bathroom in Oaxaca just to save yourself. trauma:

Aside from the fact that you may have to pay 2-5 pesos to enter a “public” restroom, you may also be given a moderate amount of toilet paper upon entering because there are no toilet paper rolls in the cubicles. In most cases. Now let me tell you that they do this to save money so sometimes they give you a very, very small amount of toilet paper which is not much help if Montezuma is visiting you. So please learn from my not-so-pleasant experiences… Always carry extra toilet paper with you wherever you go. You may notice that many bus and taxi drivers in Oaxaca have toilet paper between the dashboard and the windshield. Well… that’s why!

Now, as you walk into a bathroom stall and close the door behind you (which may or may not have a lock), you may notice that there is not a seat in the bathroom. That’s how it is! You’re going to have to sit directly on the porcelain if you’re going to sit. If you do, you have to hurry because the rim of the toilet is going to cut off your circulation pretty quickly, making it hard to walk when you’re done, trust me. Ohhhh…and when you’re done and try to flush, there might not be any water. In these cases, the restroom attendants leave buckets outside the stalls and provide a place for you to dip your bucket and get water to flush down the toilet.

When you finish using the essentials and go to wash your hands and… oooopppssss…. I forgot… no water! That’s when you get the “gourd“, (plastic container), and go back to where you drew the water to flush it down the toilet. Fill your gourd and go back to the sink and wash your hands the old-fashioned way.

Now I don’t want to scare you. If you’re only coming to Oaxaca to sightsee for a week or two, you won’t find much of this. But if you’re going down for more than a month or for a living, like I did, you’re definitely going to have to deal with this at one point or another. After a while, believe it or not, it all becomes quite natural. So natural in fact that when I return to the States, I’m sure I’ll be sitting on the china, leaving 5 pesos outside the bathroom door, washing my hands with a bowl of water, and filling my bucket in the shower 🙂

I hope you have enjoyed this article. Stay tuned for more that are sure to come.

Until next time, write us!