I've Got It Made; I've Got A Maid

So I’ve been basically permanently down about our living conditions this summer. It stinks – literally. However, there are some perks. And for those of you who care and actually read through all my never-ending far-too-long and almost always pointless bloggery, I’m going to enlighten you with one of the few perks. I have a maid. Margo is her name, and she is basically my only summer friend. I love my maid. Twice a week she changes my sheets, makes our beds snuggly and tight, takes out my trash, mops my floor, and even cleans my bathroom. It doesn’t get much better than that. (Parentheses needed, however, for those of you who know me – it does get a little better… there are some ways she cleans that I would definitely want done differently – I’m abstaining from using the word “better” – and after 7 weeks I’m still waiting to have my place dusted or even vacuumed for that matter… close parentheses.) The best thing about my maid, though is that she comes during quiet time and so I get to visit and usually help her while we do. We’ve gotten so close, in fact, that she told me that her mother (who also works here) cried when we moved to the first floor – thinking we’d left for good without saying goodbye!

Margo is a 20 yr old college student from Peru. One of our first conversations consisted of her explaining to me how ours was the first family she had seen in real life that was all white, and blonde! Again, she’s from Peru and we’re in multicultural center of Toronto here! She thought it was just from the movies and completely unreal – since most people marry inter-racially – and she was just in awe of us. Next came her impression of the United States. She’s only been to Miami and so she was sure it was all like that: city life, gunshots everywhere… the works. I have to admit this was probably my first time to defend or speak up for the country in which I am an “alien”. But I’m learning a lot about her culture and country too. On our last visit we discussed marriage. My marrying so young, her impending marriage and just the increasing decline of marriage… yada yada yada. We’ve compared country and city living and discussed education as well as sibling rivalry. We’ve dwelled on child abuse and the world cup alike. Mostly we just “talk” – you girls know what I mean – and I love it. I don’t know if she knows what a highlight this is in my week. Today I’m anxiously awaiting her visit. My floor is sticky, my kitchen sink could use a scrub and there are dirty diapers that need to leave! But mostly I’m waiting to see her smile, hear her talk effortlessly while she does my dirty business, and ultimately make my day. Ladies and gentlemen, this place stinks; but at least I have a friend.