September 8, 2007

Late Night Visit
I spent the night at my friend Caitlin's. As I was leaving her room to visit the pit latrine before bed, she mentioned that there would be cockroaches hanging about. I bravely stated that I didn't mind the cockroaches. It's all part of "the experience". The first cockroach didn't faze me. The second cockroach didn't faze me, either. The third one annoyed me. But as I went to close the door, I found about six cockroaches just hanging out, having a good time. I screamed like a girl and bemoaned my situation. Cockroaches are GROSS. Their little antennas were moving, but they didn't seem to want to leave the latrine. No matter how much I tried to cajole them into going down the hole that is the pit latrine, the more adamant they were to stay put. The sight of their antennas moving is what did me in. I just stood there, with my headlamp aimed at the party of roaches, watching them. They couldn't care less about my presence. It. was. GROSS. I HATE COCKROACHES!!! And I hate the latrine!


September 9, 2007

Today was a good day. I ran for 30 minutes this morning, without wanting to die, and I did my own laundry.

Washers and Dryers
I was in college when my parents bought a new washer/dryer set. My sister called me and told me that on the day they were installed, they sat in front of the machines, watching the clothes spin round, discussing/arguing about the speed at which it spun and how quiet the machines were. They were very happy with their new purchase.

When I go back to the states, I will spend days on end watching the wonder that is the modern-day washer/dryer. I love electricity and running water. Love it. I hate doing laundry by hand. It was "relaxing" in the beginning. But after about the 4th article of clothing, my arms were ready for a break. I don't mind the scrubbing and soaking. Hell, the soaking part's easy! But wringing out the damn clothes…forget it. It's a pain. Literally. Unfortunately, it's the second most important part in washing clothes by hand. If you don't do a good job of wringing out the water, your clothes won't be dry for at least two days. Considering how little underwear I brought with me, that's not an option. I was ready for a nap at the end. But there were still my flips and Chacos to scrub, and my room to sweep and "mop" out. By mopping, I mean getting on my hands and knees and wiping with a rag. That being said, I might devote one day to vacuuming and Swiffering when I get back home. My mother's dream has finally come true…