Amviko

This morning I started writing a blog all about my (slow-going) cultural integration in the village of Kuluva.  But today is special and I’m changing my topic.  Yes, it’s my birthday, but also I have a new friend, Amviko.  Well, ok . . . she’s the woman I hired to help clean my house . . . let me explain.  :)

Within the first two days of arriving at Kuluva, Sister Anne told me I should think about hiring some help for around the house.  I wasn’t really interested – after all, I’ve been living by myself for almost 10 years and I’m a pretty clean person.  Then Dr. Anne told me that there is a woman who has been cleaning my house for years and now that I have moved in, she is out of work.  (Ouch – guilt trip.)  This issue was brought up several times each week by Sister Anne and Dr. Anne, reiterating that I will be working 5 days a week, and therefore will be too tired to clean or cook when I get home.  *I should also mention that having house-help is the way of life here.  When the plumber came to fix my sink, he was shocked that I hadn’t hired anyone yet.  I told Sister Anne and Dr. Anne that I’d try living on my own first and decide later about hiring someone. 

Well it’s four weeks later now and I’m doing ok with the cleaning (or maybe I just don’t care how dirty my floors are).  I’ve accepted my roommates – the spiders and lizards – and hoped we could live peacefully together.  The cooking, however, is my biggest issue.  I have no time to cook and my food is spoiling faster than I can eat it.  During my one-hour lunch break I have to: buy the food from the local market stands, go home, wash it, prep it, cook it, eat it, and clean up.  One hour is not enough time.  I usually just end up eating scrambled eggs with tomato slices and then run back to school.  For dinner, I pick whichever vegetable is not too moldy and cook it . . . somehow.  All of my recipes from home are useless because the ingredients are not available and/or I don’t have an oven, toaster, or microwave.  I am not starving by any means – I consume plenty of apples, tomatoes, eggs, and bread – but I have absolutely NO Ugandan cooking skills.

So, I decided to hire some help.  I met with Amviko on Saturday to talk about what kind of help I needed and what days she should come over.  We decided on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 9:00am-noon just for cleaning and washing, no cooking . . . yet. 

Today she was her first day and I went home at lunch to see the house.  Can I just say, WOW.  I don’t know how she did it but ALL OF THE SPIDERS ARE GONE!!!!!!!  And I do see the difference now in having a clean floor.  And the house just seemed brighter and smelled better.  And my stinky sweatshirt is clean and hanging on the line outside.  Life is good.  :)

Amviko keeps mentioning that she wants to cook for me (she needs the work and the $$$.)  She can cook anything – if I want rice and leafy greens, then she’ll make it.  If I want beans and eggplant, then she’ll make that.  She also said she can bake bread and cakes (from scratch) over a charcoal stove.  (Oh my gosh!)  And she said she could go town and do some of my shopping at the market.  This is especially appealing since I don’t have a bike yet, Paul the school driver isn’t always available, and the Peace Corps doesn’t allow me to ride boda-bodas (motorcycle taxis).  It would be a HUGE help to have someone pick up things at the market for me.

So I will adapt to the Ugandan lifestyle of having help around the house.  And I will contribute to the Ugandan economy by giving Amviko a job.

When I signed up for the Peace Corps, I did not imagine that I’d have a cell phone, internet, electricity, running water, and house-help!

P.S. Thank you to everyone who sent me birthday cards!  It was a nice little birthday celebration.  :)  Thank you.