Cleaning the house is not my forte. There’s just something I loathe about sticking my hands in freezing water to scrape food off of dirty dishes, inhaling bleach fumes as I clean a shower, and breaking my back as I push a vacuum around the house. There’s not enough personal gratification in those tasks to outweigh the displeasure of doing them.
Laundry, on the other hand, is a completely satisfying activity. I love doing laundry. Clean clothing makes me happy, and one of my favorite things in the world is sliding into a bed made with freshly cleaned sheets. Especially when they’re dried in the sun.
In many aspects, I didn’t know what I was getting into when I moved to Costa Rica. There are so many details in life that have changed, even though I tried to anticipate them. One of them is my washer and dryer.
I have a lavadora semi-automatica (semi-automatic washing machine), which is very different than what I was used to in the United States. There are several steps involved with this machine:
- Manually turn on water valve, add detergent, and put on spin cycle to dissolve soap while tub is filling.
- When tub is full of water, turn cyclone spin on for 15 minutes to wash clothes.
- When spin cycle is over, empty tub fully.
- Fill tub again with clean water (no soap) and put on spin cycle for 8 minutes to rinse clothes.
- Empty tub, transfer clothes to spin tub.
- Spin clothing “dry” for 5 minutes, hang on clothesline until fully dry.
The first time I approached my washer, Spanish-language instruction booklet in hand, I thought my hands were going to seize up and my heart was going to have an attack. I had been here for about three weeks and had worn every, single item in my closet. My drawers were empty. I had to do it. My neighbors weren’t home to walk me through the process, so I was on my own. And scared.
But I followed instructions and made my clothes clean, and I was so proud of myself. Successfully having jumped my first major tico hurdle, without assistance, I felt fantastic. But when I took the my clothes and sheets down off the line, I felt even better because I had discovered something else: things smell better when the sun dries them in its warmth.
Slowing down and doing things differently can be difficult at times. Frustrating. Even if I want to clean a pair of pants to wear Right Now, I know I can’t. A small example, for sure, but living here does take some adjustment. Costa Rica not what we’ve grown up with, but that doesn’t make it inherently worse, just different. And different can be good. Especially when it smells like the sun.
Yes gringuitica, las cosas no son peores… son solo un poco diferentes!
I love washing, don’t love folding. Or putting away. I’m still semi-living out of my suitcase from our trip to Uvita two weeks ago… sad. The first thing I ask my prospective housekeepers is “will you fold my laundry?” I think they are a little leery of the gleam in my eye, of the neediness in my voice. Of course, they all answer yes like, that’s all she wants?!
My laundry problem is getting it from the airing cupboard (small flat no garden british weather = no real chance to dry things naturally) into my wardrobe and draws. I just can’t seem to do it, so I end up with piles of fresh laundry all over my room.
I totally share your love of fresh sun-dried sheets though. Every now and then I sneak back to my Mum’s house and put all my sheets through the wash there and let them dry in the garden, just so when I get back to mine I have sun-dried sheets
Laundry…it’s one of those things that I dread. It’s not that I don’t like doing it, because I do, I just fear that when I open the washer door, my clothes will be pink, green, blue, etc, when they really should be white or gray. Or worse yet, those mysterious bleach stains that seem to show up only on my clothes, even though I’ve never used bleach to clean my clothes in my entire life.
Folding clothes drives me nuts. This is one circumstance where you can tell I have OCD. If it’s not folded just so, I freak out and keep trying. I once spent an hour folding a t-shirt until I made myself one of those cardboard templates that stores use to fold their t-shirts.
In any case, if there were that many steps to just washing my clothes, I’d freak out. Forget washing myself, I’d take it all to someone who’d do it for me, or better yet, go shopping again.
@Fabi: Jeje, bueno, para mí, es un poco mEjor!
@Saratica: I’m not the biggest fan of folding the laundry, either… I must ask my housecleaner whether or not that’s a task she’s willing to do!
@Cas: Is an airing cupboard a dryer? Like a big machine that uses hot air to dry clothing?
@Josh: There are laundromats here that do laundry for ridiculously inexpensive prices: 10 kilos (22 pounds) washed, dried, and folded for $4. Beat that!
An airing cupboard is simply a cupboard that is warmer than the rest of the house by virtue of the fact it also houses the hot-water boiler - enterprising people (i.e., my dad at home and my landlord in my flat) put shelves in the cupboard so you can put clothes on them to finish off.
Going to bed on tuesday night is the best, because Aleida changes the sheets and everything feels so clean. It’s like being reborn but at as painful hahaha
@Cas: That’s awesome, actually. Or should I say brilliant?
@Shrish: Aleida doesn’t change my sheets! But that’s ok, it’s because she doesn’t wash them.
I have a maid who comes on Fridays. She rocks my world! Cute little Nicaraguan, lovely girl, she used to work for my friends until she had a baby a few months back.
It’s very cheap to get someone (Nicaraguan) to clean… I pay my girl 10,000 colones for a few hours work and that’s several times the going rate, but I figure hipsters and tight little t-shirts are worth a small bonus heh.
Anyway, it makes life so much easier and they’re so ridiculously thorough. As a lazy bum my idea of cleaning involves washing up and wiping the bench. She cleans the windows, mirrors, floors, dusts, sweeps, does all my washing and stuff, I don’t even know how she finds that much to clean lol.
It might be worth checking out, some of your tica friends will know domesticos.
I have a domestica that comes, as well (the above-mentioned Aleida). She only comes once a week for 3 hours, so she only has time to do the worst tasks, like dishes, mopping, and disinfecting. I’m thinking about asking her to come an additional day, though, so that she can do some other stuff and the house can be really clean.
Erin is the best.
I love my Mummy.
And FYI, there’s nothing virtuous about the presence of shelves in the airing cupboard. Its intended purpose is to dry newly-washed clothes. The shelves are (or should be, traditionally at least) part of the design.
I have enough trouble not taking up an entire day for a 3 hour task, if I included all of those steps then I’d be perpetually washing laundry. Love the smell of sun-dried sheets myself but once again my forgetfulness causes issues when I forget to get my sheets from outside before they somehow get ruined. Perhaps after I graduate I’ll either hire a maid or find a wife. That’s what wives are for, right? =D
Cuando tengas una secadora, todo serà mas facil… I can Bet it
@Lisa: So do you, chica! Now get yer ass back here.
@Richard: Good to see you’ve finally given in and written your name properly. And I think it’s cute that you have shelves in something with cupboard in its name. So British. Like you.
@Chris: Heh, well, I work from home. If I didn’t take breaks now and then, I’d literally go bonkers. So doing my laundry in stages is great! And with regards to your bride: you’d better mail-order her from the mid-twentieth century… what high expectations you have!
@Fabi: Tenés razón, pero con secadora, no olerán al sol!