A Random Day

When I was scrubbing the soap soaked fabric in a grayish soapy solution this morning, taking up the most of my Sunday morning, my thoughts flew to pre service days when I was preparing myself for the possibility of being in a country where this was the only option to wash clothes. I saw most challenges through rose-tinted glasses, a romantic notion quite different from going through the process day in and day out!
Today I have a week’s worth of clothes, one pair of pants, two pajama bottoms, one t-shirt and underwear! I skipped washing the dress, two shirts and 3 pairs of socks and it still took half a day because the bucket I use holds only one pair of pants at a time. After rubbing the fabric together, I rinse it out in another bucket 2 to 3 times before wringing and hanging it to dry. Serendipitously, there was no rain and the wet clothes on the line just dripped down into the garden below! Takes longer to dry but oh so much easier than wringing it all winter when drying took place indoors next to or on my heater!

Macedonian families have and use washing machines. Though my place had an old washing machine, it couldn’t be fixed even after a couple of trips by the handyman. I still have mixed feelings about not having a machine because most of the time it doesn’t bother me as I wash a couple of items every other day. However, when I add the towel and kitchen cloths and even my easy to wash polartec jackets or when I return from a training session, I dream of my laundry room back home.
With my focus on washing and reviewing the week’s language lesson plans, I forgot that I had emptied my fridge not only of all perishables – but also the meats. This is what was in my fridge - a bottle of Sano fruit juice, half a box of 0.9% milk, which surprisingly was still good; a hunk of cheese, a small bottle of spaghetti sauce and a jar of pickled hot peppers. The freezer had only ice cream. So last night I had pasta with spaghetti sauce and one banana (one of the two I purchased at the green bazaar in Skopje before my return home). This morning my usual bowl of cereal with the second banana and a lunch with lentils and homemade flat bread.