It senses fear, part II: the Ice Bucket Challenge

If you asked me before coming to Indonesia if I’d be posting about bathrooms on more than one occasion, I’d have laughed in your face and said “That’s cute, but I have better things to blog about. Good day to you.” But I’ve been here for almost four months and I can’t NOT write about them. My first hour at my homestay in Kediri last October, when my ibu asked if I wanted to mandi, or bathe, I politely said yes and proceeded to the little room. I then timidly asked, “um, how?” After composing herself following what I can only describe as an outburst, she pointed to the gayung, said “that” and walked away. F**k. Enter the bucket bath.

Let’s start the visual right away: there is no hot water in Indonesia, unless of course you find yourself in a hotel, or near some hot springs. The morning mandi is both a bracing and refreshing experience, and is similar to jumping in the ocean or a freezing cold pool, or finding yourself naked, face down in a snowbank. But you adjust to the frigid temps and continue with the process that is bathing yourself. As the rainy season peaks, the water gets colder, and I catch myself holding my breath during the first flinging of water at 6am.

As mentioned, you’ve got your trough, or basin, of clean mandi water, from which you scoop the gayung and proceed to dump it all over yourself. You do not enter the basin, you stand next to it. Indonesians seem to do this kind of ferociously… scoop, dump, scoop, dump, scoop, dump, quickly and loudly. As far as I can hear, and based on conversation, Indonesians hurl the water onto themselves as hard and quickly as possible. It almost sounds violent. Meanwhile, I catch myself bracing for the first splash of freezing cold water and continue the process a lot slower. Rinse, rinse, rinse, face washed, rinse, teeth brushed, rinse, shampoo, rinse, soap, rinse. Easy! Done. All clean.

“Sudah mandi?” When would an American ever in their right mind ask a friend, or stranger, “have you bathed?” However, this question is thrown around pretty often. See, Indonesians bathe at least twice a day, if not three. This happens regardless of temperature or whether its the rainy or dry season. This is something that took some getting used to, especially as I got more questions about my bathing habits. But I’m the odd one out here, and if you bathe only once in a twelve hour period, everyone will know about it. Bathing once a day in New York during January gets the green light. You don’t sweat. Showering a lot here makes logical sense. It’s hot and humid. I sweat when I eat, I sweat when I get dressed, I sweat when I’m on the phone and I sweat when I go to bed. Did I mentioned how hot it is here? It does't take much exertion, in fact sometimes it doesn’t take an exertion, until your body begins to regulate its temperature.

Similar to the idea that you’ll get sick if you’re outside in the rain, most Indonesians think you will get “evil-wind” and fall ill if you mandi at night time. The first week in Kediri, I didn’t take this advice seriously, I mandi’d at night, and I had a fever for two days. It couldn’t be more poetic.

I would also describe the mandi as a very, very wet environment. The little room is designed that way. I never thought about how dry bathrooms are in the US, but here, the drain in on the floor, there’s no sink. Shower curtains? Ha, no, no. It gets slippery, and the floor is rarely dry, since people are frequently dumping water onto the tiled floor throughout the day. Based on this, try to build the visual of me pulling a banana-peel-on-the-floor-style slip on several occasions. But I’m quick, and I catch myself, and I continue on with my day.

However, as homes are updated or newly-built, western-style bathrooms are becoming more popular. So showers and sinks are certainly not the norm, but they’re out there. As a firm hater of the mandi during my first days here, it’s began to grow on me. That morning mandi wakes you up better than a cup of kopi, and there’s still your fair share of shower-based introspection that one would find in the US. Shower thoughts for the win. So, that leaves me to ask, “sudah mandi?”

Glossary

mandi - bath, or to bathe

ibu - mother

gayung (guy-yoong) - small bucket used to dump water on oneself

kopi - coffee