Housework...

Housework takes a lot longer here. First, there's laundry. Sheets are easy: throw them in the washer, throw them on the line. The rest of my clothes take a bit longer. They still go in the washer, which I am VERY happy to have, but it takes longer to hang them on the clothesline. While hanging them, I turn all of my clothes inside out on the line. This helps keep them from fading under the intense sunshine. When they're dry, I take them off the line, shake out any dust that has accumulated, turn them rightside out, and then bring them inside to fold and put away.

Next up is dusting. You have to (or at least should) dust every day. That means dining table and kitchen counters, too. The windows are open all the time and since we have a dirt road outside... Well, I'm sure you get the picture.

Finally, there's washing the floor. Yes, that should also be done daily, but I often go 3 or 4 days between moppings. All of my floors are tile. There is a small area rug in each bathroom, but that's it. So, before you mop the floor, you must first sweep. By the time I'm done sweeping, I'm usually sweating so much I'm ready for a shower. The mop is kept outside by the pila, the outdoor utility sink. First you grab a bowl of water from the already filled pila and pour it over the mop. I usually apply soap into the mop and scrub it out a little. Then, more water and hand wringing. Once I bring the mop inside, I pour a bit of bleach on the mophead, then head to my bedroom and bathroom. After they're done, it's back out to the pila to rinse out the mop and start the process over again. It can take 5 or 6 trips to the pila for me to get the floor done. After it's done, I spend more time at the pila washing out the mop, then more hand wringing and, finally, leaving it leaning against the wall.

I'm thankful for the washing machine, otherwise, I'd have to wash my clothes, by hand, in the pila. Believe me, that's not fun. It might be cultural, but it's not fun!!

Tomorrow, I have to empty the pila, clean it, then fill it up again. Because there's a tamarindo tree right outside the door, the leaves drop into the pila. I tried to do it today, but need to borrow a pair of pliers so that I can remove the plug from the bottom of the pila.