Minding My Pee - A Field Guide to Being Accommodated
Officer's lady toilet. Mahila shauchalay. Ladies’ urinal. Kept under lock and key, hidden behind curtains and doors, approached through dense thickets, or a tedious hike to the far end of the campus. And when none of these existed, the men's loo. Because pee and periods don't come with much notice. As a 35 plus woman on field work in an armed forces campus, nobody prepared me to ask six people to find a toilet. That conditioning came in the last decade, along with a few other useful things navigating sweat, brasso and bureaucracy. The first time I drank too much water on a field visit, I discovered that relieving myself required a coordinating JCO, one officer, a buddy with a set of keys, and a two-block walk to a toilet kept under lock and key. The three-day training meant I had to do this elaborate dance each morning, afternoon and evening - go to the officer, wait for the buddy and the key, walk two blocks making small talk with him, unlock the door, pray there'...
