Family Spanish Lesson: Using a European toilet

I was fortunate enough to have my family visit over the holidays. This was my Mom´s first time in Europe and only my sister´s second time, so it was funny to hear all the lessons they were learning about life in Spain. It also reminded me of a few problems I encountered when I first arrived...

One of the biggest problems my family had was with the bathrooms. Every time someone came back from one there would be another story. So here are a few lessons to help you survive without getting caught with your pants down:

Lesson 1: Know where the light switches are when you go in.

Often you will enter a restroom with the lights on, but they seldom remain that way. Europe is great at conserving electricity so many lights turn off by themselves every 30 seconds or so, or when you stop moving. If you don´t know where the switch is when you go in, it can lead to some uncomfortable situations, like wandering about the bathroom blindly with your pants around your ankles.

Lesson 2: Be familiar with the different flushing manners of toilets.

Honestly, flushing a toilet can seem  like a special-ops mission (especially if the lights have gone out). It took me five minutes to figure out how to flush the toilet in my apartment.

The most common toilets are the ones with buttons on the top of the tank, in the middle. You simply just push this button. However, this can be made confusing if the button is divided into two parts. I still don´t know what each button does, so I push both of them.

You might also find a similar set up, but instead of pushing the button you have to pull it up. Then of course there is the more familiar style, with the handle on the side of the the toilet tank. Also, there is still the rare possibility that you will find one like the one in my apartment where the tank (or cistern) with the fresh water is located above the toilet bowl, near the ceiling. With these you must find an attached string and pull it to flush. A nice rule to follow, if you can´t find the flusher, look up.

And that´s the most necessary information you need to know when tackling your first European bathroom. Don´t forget to wash your hands... if you can figure out how to turn on the faucet.