the good times just keep coming...

there are some times where i really feel like an incompetent fool.

take today for example. it's friday today, so naturally i wanted to clean. but cleaning here is so completely different than in the states. they use very different methods and products. i cannot tell you how much i miss clorox wipes! those are my very best friends. yesterday i was in the ceape (the same as our VM) and i decided to arm myself with a toilet brush and toilet cleaner, because in my brief perusal of the cleaning supplies in my bathroom, there didn't appear to be either. i have a ton of plastic water bottles filled with chemicals of some sort thanks to my roommate, but i'm not about to touch those since they are unlabeled. i don't want my toilet to explode with foam or something if i put the wrong thing in there.... but i digress.

i didn't quite know how to start cleaning, so i cleaned off my desk and then decided to give the whole room a good sweeping, walls and lights included (to get rid of the cobwebs). but then i only had one bucket that i could fill up with water and some sort of cleaning solution and i didn't know if i should clean the bathroom first, or the floor in the room first. i opted to clean the toilet first. i donned the big yellow rubber gloves that i found in the bathroom and went to work. i used my new toilet bowl cleaner and brush and felt pretty proud of myself. this is the first toilet i have seriously been afraid of though. but i then found a sponge on my roommates shelf (hopefully she doesn't use it for dishes....) and scrubbed the rest of the toilet with it.

but then i noticed the bidet.

they have those here in argentina. now i have never ever used one of those. and i don't think i ever will. but i figured that since i was cleaning the toilet, i might as well scrub that out too. so i unceremoniously squirted my toilet bowl cleaner in it and gave it a timid scrub with the brush. but then i realized that i needed to rinse it out. i studied the thing for a little bit. i knew what knobs i needed to turn to get water, but i had to figure out where the water actually came out of. i spotted where eventually. now even though i haven't ever used one of these things, i get the basic concept. i reached over and cautiously turned the knob just a smidgen. a minute trickle of water came out. well that won't get the job done. so i cautiously turned the knob a little more.....WHOOSH! a fountain of water burst forth, shooting high above my head almost to the ceiling. i stood there, shocked, with toilet water raining down on me. eventually i started giggling. and pretty soon the giggling turned to outright laughter. i stood there for a little while laughing, while water was spraying everywhere in my bathroom. on me, on the wall, on the floor. i eventually came to my senses and somehow managed to turn the water off. i couldn't believe my rookie mistake. apparently i don't have as good of a "basic concept" as i thought, so as to avoid something like that. oy.

i clean the rest of the bathroom and then the floors, but i'm still not sure if i used the right kind of cleaner or not. my room smelled kind of funny after that. and when i pulled the gloves off, my hands were covered in white powder. great.

i am not totally satisfied with my cleaning experience today, and i really miss american cleaning products. and i doubt i will ever touch a bidet again. but i do have a good story now. :)