Job Discussion Forums

route67 · Posted: Thu Aug 30, 2007 1:55 pm Post subject: Toilets and stuff

I can't remember - is it OK to flush toilet paper down the loo where you are, or not? I know it isn't in many Central and South American countries, but I'm not sure about all of them.

naturegirl321 · Joined: 04 May 2003 Posts: 9041 Location: home sweet home

No, don't flush it.

MELEE · Posted: Thu Aug 30, 2007 2:17 pm Post subject:

In the south of Mexico. Don't flush it.
In some swanky places I've been in Central and Northern Mexico they actually have signs in the bathrooms advising you TO flush it.
In tourists places in Oaxaca they have signs asking you NOT TO flush it.
(In the Ladies rooms)

jillford64 · Joined: 15 Feb 2006 Posts: 397 Location: Sin City

In Morelia, Mexico it depends on which part of town you are in. Downtown (el centro), no flushing. Some of the newer subdivisions, flushing OK. A small waste basket next to the toilet indicates you shouldn't flush your toilet paper. This is probably a universal clue in Latin America. When I stayed at the swanky new Sheraton (across from the Alameda) in Mexico City, you could flush your toilet paper and purified drinking water was supplied to the tap. Same with Camino Real Aeropuerto at the airport.

MELEE · Posted: Thu Aug 30, 2007 3:51 pm Post subject:

The problem for women is that in Ladies rooms there is ALWAYS a small wastebasket, even in the US. I find that when I'm back in the US I so often forget because their is that wastebasket there.

Guy Courchesne · Joined: 10 Mar 2003 Posts: 9650 Location: Mexico City

logicpocket · Joined: 28 Jun 2007 Posts: 18

I wonder how many times I'm gonna screw that one up before I remember to throw it in the trash.

Guess I better hope it's not at anyone's home or anywhere I can't bolt out of :p

naturegirl321 · Joined: 04 May 2003 Posts: 9041 Location: home sweet home

For me the problem is when I go to visit my parents in the States and pitch the TP in the trash instead of the toilet.

dan_lawrence · Joined: 17 Apr 2006 Posts: 50 Location: FLORIDA USA

Arrived in San Jose CR on Wednesday and just read this posting as I�m sitting (sic) on the throne in my hotel room. To wipe or not to wipe, that is now the question. I�m worried that the toilet police is going to grab me as I leave the hotel if i flush the TP. Or am I going to wake up in the AM and be flooded out. One thing i�m not going to do is throw the paper in the waste basket! Hindus seem to have the answer -- carry a can of water to the toilet and wipe and rinse with your hand. the right hand of course.

MELEE · Posted: Fri Aug 31, 2007 2:16 pm Post subject:

jillford64 · Joined: 15 Feb 2006 Posts: 397 Location: Sin City

One of my Mexican girlfriends recently visited the US and she said she couldn't figure out what to do with her paper. All the public bathroom had those slim all-in-one toilet paper holders/feminine hygiene disposal things in the side wall of the stalls, but no small wastebasket on the ground. She had to ask her boyfriend what was appropriate.

dan_lawrence · Joined: 17 Apr 2006 Posts: 50 Location: FLORIDA USA

MELEE -- dehli belly and trash cans just don�t mix

Dragonlady · Posted: Sun Sep 02, 2007 5:56 pm Post subject:

deleted

unrelated to TESOL

pirateinpanama · Joined: 04 Feb 2003 Posts: 93 Location: Panama City, Panama

YES!
Always use toilet paper and always flush.

John Hall · Posted: Wed Oct 03, 2007 12:29 am Post subject:

In Costa Rica, the unwritten rule is to chuck it in the bin, not the toilet. Modern hotels, though, built to North American standards, usually have wider tubes, and so you can flush it without worry.

Public washrooms, on the other hand, are frequently just out of stock on TP; you will have nothing to chuck in the bin, unless you bring your own.

The thing I have never been able to figure out is why so many public toilets in Costa Rica are missing the seat. Is this a common problem in other parts of Latin America? Is there some such phenomena as "toilet rage" (along the lines of "road rage" and "air rage")? Shocked

Are all Latin American toilet seats designed to break after 1000 uses? Or are toilet seats actually worth stealing? Confused

If anybody can shine some light on this great mystery...