Author Lisa Harris

Laundry Day

With over a week since we last were able to last do laundry, I was thrilled to be able to catch up while we are here at the guest house. I've been encouraing the kids to wear their clothes a couple days, so was happy that we only had two medium loads of laundy. Washing, should be a snap.

I told the kids I was going to be back as soon as I dumped the first load into the washer and then we would start school.

Or so I thought.

Turns out, the washing machine wasn't exactly what I'd expected. Neither was my morning.

Apparently, just having a washing machine here is a blessing. There doesn't seem to be such a thing here as extra large capasity washers that both wash, spin, and rinse.

Yes, you heard me right.

Here's how the process goes. You take a small load (the key word here is very, very small) and put it into the tub side of the washer for about three minutes. When those clothes are done, you've now got to set the clothes into the spinning side. The tricky part here is that they have to be perfectly laid in a donut pattern around the small cilander so the weight is even and they are not off balance. If they are, the washing machine complains. Loudly.

Spin the clothes for a couple minutes, and now it's time to rinse them. By hand, of course, in a small plastic tub in clean water. Then it's back to the spinner one last time.

Over two hours later, my two small loads had turned into six or seven loads that are still outside drying.

So much for throwing my clothes into the washing machine. So much for school.

But that's not all of the story. There was a blessing watching Jayden and Mariah who thought it was fun to help out. And chatting with the sweet older woman who runs the guest house. She patienly taught me for over an hour the ins and outs of working the delicate machine. And I talked Teresa, a widow who has worked here for eight years and wants to improve her English.

It's one of the things I have had to learn here in Africa. Things move slow, and relationship are key. I think it's a concept that might not be so bad after all.