To help the economy or not to help the economy.

Today I learned how to hand wash my clothes. Once when I was in Europe and DESPERATE for clean clothes Taraleigh and I hand washed some clothes in the sink in a hotel in Paris. It didn't work very well. I paid just under $10. Canadian for a week and a half's worth of clothes. I thought that was way too much! It was in a laundry mat and they did it for me and folded and everything but if I am going to be a hard core missionary I can wash my own clothes!!!!! My teacher offered to show me how. 

So today she came over. She kept saying "see, very easy". And it did look easy. I would like to repeat the work LOOKED. After she showed me a couple of times she let me try. It was terrible!! My back was hurting after the first shirt! And my arms too. And I had 2 weeks worth of shirts! If I wash my own I may wear them more than one day in a row. So I took sooo long that when I went to hang up my 2nd shirt she got in there and whipped the rest of them off for me. I just had to hang them up. And by the time I had hung it up and come back she was almost done the next one! Crazy. She finished them off but left my undies to me. I am off to buy her a box of chocolate covered cocoa beans as a thank you present. 

So, do I wash my own clothes by hand or support the lady down the road that runs the lavenderia. Well, the one I went to. There are a ton. But she needs to make money too and where would she be if we all decided to wash our own clothes??!! Or maybe I will just offer to buy Sandra a box of chocolates each week if she does my laundry for me. :) She is a single mom of a 2 year old. 

I gave it a try folks. If I become more hard core and live in a small town with no laundry services I will try again. Wait, if I do that I will still support the economy by hiring a lady to do it for me. :) There are always people who need the work. 

So that is all I will write today.

Except that yesterday on my way home from Higher Grounds I saw Sandra in the street. We started walking together. We stopped at a corner to wait for the buses to pass. Then she pointed out the local pila's to me. They are big sinks, with a water part in the middle and on the left they have the bumpy bits to rub your clothes on to get them clean. When people don't have water in their homes they go there to do laundry. And more. One lady was washing herself. With her shirt off. Would it be a fun game for me to keep track of the body parts I see while here. In a non-medical capacity of course. Today I saw another man peeing. But that was my 5th time. Once you see it once you've seen it a hundred times. So I don't think that counts. 

Goodnight all.