Mi lota argentina
May 22nd, 2007, 12:51 pm
After reading HijabMan’s intriguing post about a coffee pot lota and watching Ummah Film’s recent video about cleanliness in Islam, I felt compelled to tell the world about my special Argentine lota.
It’s nothing more than a water bottle.
“Che, slow down. What’s a lota?”
I’m glad you asked. Using HijabMan’s definition, it’s a vessel used to carry and pour water. But when you hear South Asian American Muslims use the term, it almost always refers to the watering thing used to wash your behind after you do number two. I say bodna when I’m around Bengalis because that’s our term for this magical vessel. Sadly, the term is falling into disuse amongst the Bengali American youth due to the Urdu/Hindi domination of Indian and Pakistani Muslims.
Back to the topic. I figured that since I buy bottled water nearly every week, I might as well make use of the empty containers to, for the lack of a better phrase, lavar mi trasero (to wash my behind). Besides, it’s such a great way to recycle.
I keep my lotas on the floor by the wastebasket in my room. And I say lotas because either the maid that comes by my host family’s home thrice a week throws them away when she cleans my room or I replace them about every week or two since I just have to make use of every bottle I have. Sometimes I keep them in my closet so the she can’t get a hold of them.
“Wait, why do you keep your lota in your room? Shouldn’t it be next to the toilet?”
Well, I just don’t feel comfortable enough with my host family to tell them not to throw any water bottles they find in the baño because I use them to wash my butt. Although I’m sure they would understand the concept of cleaning your behind with water since most Argentine households have bidets (including theirs), I would feel a bit awkward explaining that to my host mom, host brother, and maid. What am I supposed to do? Call all three of them to the living room for a “talk”? No gracias. Whenever I need my lota, I keep it hidden with my towel when I walk to the bathroom. Yeah, maybe I am a bit paranoid but whatever.
For those of you that just use toilet paper to clean yourself, I recommend complementing your cleaning procedure with water. You may think it’s crazy that most Muslims do this, but just take a look at the inside of your underwear and tell me what you see. I rest my case.
