Toilet Trials... ;)

I've arrived back in Kampala and I'm so very glad to be home! I was introduced to many awesome ministries in Kenya and I'm very excited to share about them with you. Just not tonight. Tonight I thought I'd share something that has affected me greatly. It's tough for me to even think about right now, but there's value is sharing in each other's trials. So here you go...

The drive from Kenya is a long one. We had already traveled about 7 or 8 hours, crossed the border back into Uganda, and were only about two hours from Kampala when I realized how full my bladder was. We stopped at a gas station in Jinja to grab some snacks, use the potty, and fuel up before the last leg of our journey. I try my best to not drink much if anything while on the road here because the toilets are what I like to call squatty potties. Basically a hole in the ground of the stall. The smell itself is enough to keep me away, but I knew that if I waited two more hours it would not be a pleasant trip. (Roads around Kampala are full of giant, car-eating potholes, it's enough to make the strongest bladder shiver in fear.)

Naturally I carry a roll of toilet paper because there's about a 1% chance that a toilet is equipped with some. So with my TP in hand I ventured off behind the gas station to the "toilets". I opened the first stall that I came to, as they're unisex, and stepped up onto the tile. The first thing I noticed, besides the pungent odor was that the floor was all wet. I'm not talking just right around the hole, the entire stall was wet. I don't know if there were many people before me who completely missed or what, but it was gross. By this time I had to go so bad that it didn't matter. I was already in the stall, I might as well follow through. So I assumed the position, relieved my bladder, and went to head out.

It's at this point in story that I feel compelled to tell you that I was wearing flip flops. Not new ones, three year old flip flops. It's good to be comfy when you travel, right?

So with wet flip flops I put my right foot out to step down onto the cement and be on my merry way back into clean air. Well... the first step is a "doozy" as they say. As soon as my foot touched the glossy, smooth cement it went sliding away from me. What happened next happened so quickly that I don't even remember how I got back on my feet. Of course I slipped and fell; the upper half of me landed in the hepatitis, pee-filled stall and the lower half landed on the ground outside. I don't know how I got up so quickly, but in what seemed like less time than it took me to fall I was back on my feet. The only thing running through my mind was, "I just landed in pee!!" I didn't even think about the pain until I was upright and limping around to the front of the gas station to buy my Mountain Dew. It was then that I looked down, saw the blood on my foot, and realized that I was hurting.

So before I went into the little shop I did a survey of the damage. My big toe on my right foot was bleeding and I couldn't really bend it. My right ankle was sore, but I rolled it about a month ago so I didn't think too much of that. Then I tried to think how I landed because I was pretty sore all over already, but it all happened so fast and I just wanted to get out of the pee so I hadn't even thought it through yet. My left arm had a scrap and was in a good amount of pain, but I knew nothing was broken. I decided to suck it up and move on as though nothing happened. Luckily there wasn't anyone else back by the toilets; no witnesses was a good thing as I'm sure I looked ridiculous. However as I entered the shop I couldn't help but start giggling about what I had just done. Yes I was in pain and totally horrified to be covered in pee, but in reality if I had seen someone wipe out like I did I would have been cracking up. I explained to the others what had just happened, we bought our snacks, and continued our journey home.

As I got back in the car, after I sanitized my hands I began to think about the fact that I could have been hurt a lot worse. By the way I landed on the step I could have either hit my head and been knocked out or broken my left arm. I was so thankful to Jesus that I walked away with just a sprained toe and sore ankle. My mom broke both of her arms slipping on ice this winter, had to have surgery, and is still in physical therapy because of it.

Anyways, after sitting in Kampala traffic we made it home safely. I walked into my house, dropped my bags, said a quick hello to the new roommates, and went and took a shower. When I woke up the next morning my left arm was covered in huge dark bruises. I don't bruise easily and it still looks like I've been beaten, but all in all I'm ok.

So why did I decide to tell you all this embarrassing story? Mainly because it's funny! If something like this happened to you I would expect you to tell me so that I could get a good laugh too. :) I don't get embarrassed that easy and I'm clumsy... we should all benefit from my silly misfortune, right? I hope you've gotten a good mental picture and have been able to laugh a bit. The next time I road trip it in Africa I'm wearing my Nikes.