The world is divided and I need to know on which side you stand… Are you for the bidet or against?
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If you weren’t aware, there is a battle taking place between staunch bidet-supporters and toilet-paper-only people. Saudis (and other eastern cultures) don’t understand how the West can live without bidets. They think there’s no way we are getting clean without a bidet, while we think a dry bathroom is more sterile and clean than a sopping wet one.
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A bidet sprayer is located beside all toilets here, in public and in homes. This does the bulk of the clean-up work while toilet paper is used for drying. When we first came to Saudi, we were so frustrated using public bathrooms because everything would be covered in water – the floor, toilet, counters. It’s not pleasant to sit on a wet toilet seat… nor to have my abaya hem soaked. There was rarely toilet paper, so we’d always have to remember to carry a roll or pack of tissues, and get in the habit of throwing all toilet paper in trash cans (their plumbing systems can’t handle TP). 🚽
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Over time I’ve come to understand why people like using the bidet, but I still don’t understand the need to spray the entire stall down with it. And though I understand why they use it, I haven’t been convinced to adopt the practice.
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I find the bidet handy for cleaning Ezra’s little IKEA potty, and it would be great for someone using cloth diapers, but otherwise no thanks. At least we never had to worry about a shortage of toilet paper here throughout the pandemic. 😆
Our Journey through the Land of Midian in Saudi
When I was a child, learning about Moses in Sunday school and watching VeggieTales and The Prince of Egypt, I thought of places like the
