To answer some questions...
So...a few people have asked about the need for a househelper. There have also been some questions about day-to-day life. I figure if a few people have asked, even more are probably wondering.
Hopefully my good friend Hollie won't mind me listing the questions she asked -- it helps me know what interests people. Since we have lived in Asia before none of this surprises us or seems new to us. But for those who haven't lived overseas, this is all so different.
"Do
you think you can explain the differences between here and there that
make a house helper a necessity there? I know it is common in some
other countries and I am so curious to know more about what it is
like!!!"
Here is how I answered her:
1) It is just expected that as westerners (ie "rich") that we provide
employment ($) for local people. To not do so would be rude and
hurtful.
2) Practicalities -- oh my. Everything takes sooooo much longer here. The washing machines are TINY. There are no dryers (well, there are but the electricity won't support them). In the wet season, nothing dries so EVERYTHING has to be ironed. There is not hot water in the kitchen so you have to boil water for dishes. You have to let dishes drip dry because the water isn't safe. The houses are all tile and it is DUSTY here so they all have to be mopped at least once a day. Most food has to be made from scratch -- not much pre-packaged stuff (or if there is, it costs a fortune). I went grocery shopping for the week today and it took 5 hours -- no way I am dragging kids through that. Etc. etc. etc. With a family, there just really isn't any way to go without a helper. Even middle to upper class Indonesians have them. A full time (40 hours a week) helper costs around $60 a month plus transportation (around $20). How could you NOT get help for that, especially when it means the livelihood for a local person?
And then she wrote back with more questions: But I was curious to know the ins and outs of
what you have to do to keep house there. It certainly is a lot! But
I am curious now--how do you get safe drinking water? Or water for
cooking? Is the water okay to use for a shower? And do you divide
the responsibilities of the house between you and your house helper? Does
she do your cooking? Can you share the types of food you eat there?
How do you get safe drinking water? We have a water cooler/heater stand that holds 19liter water bottles. We just have them delivered.
Water for cooking?
It depends -- if what I am cooking is going to boil, I use tap water.
If the water is not going to boil for at least as few minutes, I use
water from the water cooler. For doing dishes, we boil the tap water
(there is no hot water in the kitchen sink).
Water for the shower?
The water is fine to shower with. We just have to be careful to keep
our mouths closed. For the kids, it is a bit trickier and we have to
watch them carefully that they don't drink the bath water or suck on
washcloths. The master bathroom has a hot water heater -- it is
tankless and runs on gas. As the water goes through the heater it
heats up. We don't have a bathtub (but hoping Santa might bring us one
because we actually have room for one). Currently the kids are bathing
in rubbermaid tubs (three in a row, which they think is the coolest
thing ever!)
Do you divide
the responsibilities of the house between you and your house helper?
This may change a bit as we get to know our househelper better (she
just started yesterday). But basically, when she is here she does lots
of the housework -- dishes, laundry, mopping, etc. She will also help
out with the kids when I am away (especially when I start language
school). However, even though she is here and helping I still clean up
after myself, cook for the kids, make school lunches, and do all the
kid stuff. As she gets to know the kids better she may do more, but
this will be only because she wants to and not because "I don't feel
like it." After the weekend (when she is not here) I will get laundry
started so it is ready to hang when she gets here. She leaves at about
2:30 in the afternoon so after that, I am on my own. At night I will
clean up from dinner and may or may not do the dishes. If I have time
I will do them (remember, this is a long process -- boil water on
stove, wash dishes in a big plastic tub, rinse dishes with more boiled
water, etc). If I don't have time or if we are going out, etc., I will
rinse them in tap water and leave them for her to do in the morning.
Does she do your cooking? Some people have their helpers do all their cooking. I like to cook, so we won't be doing that. Our specific helper is supposed to be a really good cook, though. There may be days when I will have her prepare dinner and leave it for us to heat up when Jason gets home from work. I also hear that she makes a great apple pie -- but so do I so we may just have to have a show down ;)
Can you share the types of food you eat there?
So far, we haven't been too impressed with Indonesian food (which is
really too bad, since we loved the food in India and in Malaysia). It
is VERY oily and nothing has been good enough that I would crave it.
That could change though. At home, we will eat "normal" stuff. When I
was in India I learned to cook a lot of things from scratch and learned
to substitute what we couldn't get. That will come in very handy here
as many things aren't available or if they are, they are super
expensive (8 oz of cheese costs $5 and a box of brownie mix costs about
$4). We haven't had an oven so up until now we have done a lot of
stove-top cooking. We eat a lot of rice and PB&J's have been a
regular occurrence (all my kitchen stuff is in our shipment which we
haven't gotten yet). We can't afford a regular oven right now so we had
our helper find us an Indonesian oven that fits on the stovetop. We
have heard that lots of people use them and like them. I will give it
a try today -- not bad for $18.
For eating out we have lots of
choices. There is local Indonesian food that is very cheap. You can
also find Chinese. Bandung has quite a few fast food options as well
-- KFC, McDonald's, Pizza Hut, A&W, and even a Wendy's. They
aren't all easy to get to, but they are there. We also have Starbucks,
Dunkin Donuts, and my personal favorite (on a recommendation from
Vicky) J CO (btw, Vicky, did you know that KL has one?)
____
Tomorrow
I will give you a little photo tour of the everyday things that won't
seem "everyday" to you. Just little differences of what things look
like, how we do things, etc. I hope you enjoyed learning a little bit
more about life here. If you have other questions, please feel free to
ask!
