Reni. . .

This is Reni. She works for us now and I thought I'd write a little about her. Reni has six daughters and eighteen grandchildren. She's almost 60 years old and she is such a hard worker. Some of you know that it's normal to have a maid in Brazil. In fact, it's one of the first pieces of information that I remember hearing regarding our move here and I thought, Seriously?? A maid?? Oh wow! Well, I have not been disappointed:) Reni comes to our home Monday thru Friday, from 7:30-11:30 a.m. She cleans. She washes our laundry. She hangs our clothes on the line to dry. She cleans some more. She cooks (when I ask her to). She folds our clothes. She irons our clothes. She plays with Emma when I go to class. She speaks only Portuguese to Emma. She sings songs in Portuguese to Emma. She smiles a lot. She's sweet, very sweet. The first week she was here, I entered the laundry room to find her ironing our underwear. Apparently that's normal. I told her it wasn't necessary. She does a fabulous job of ironing though. I mean, it's way better than I've ever done! Kevin looks so sharp when he goes to work! She irons the creases in his pants and shirts just perfectly! Emma loves her! She follows her around the house and tries to give her washcloths or the broom. She can cook some pretty amazing beans and rice! She throws all sorts of spices into the beans and chunks of garlic, too. Mmmm. . .

Now, before you hate me for this post, it's not 100% beautiful. I mean, I do have someone in my home five mornings a week and even though it's normal for her, I still find it a little awkward. I started washing my own laundry when I was in the 3rd grade. I couldn't even reach the knob to get it started! I had to climb up on the counter after dumping my clothes in, pour in the detergent, start the machine and then jump down. I knew how to get the washer started, but I had no idea how to pre-wash anything or use other products. I think I learned to iron when I was in junior high. I've sure come a long way since then. So, for over 20 years, I've been doing everything on my own. While it's a very welcome change, it's also just a little different for me. I'm handing over some of my duties as a homemaker, some of my control. I'm handing over the way I like to do things. I'm realizing how many hours were spent cleaning, picking up, cleaning, ironing, washing, drying, prewashing, etc. Someone commented to me, "Isn't it nice to have a wife?" I thought that was pretty funny Maggie. I love having Reni here. It's been such a blessing. Another ex-pat friend commented that with the difficulties of culture shock, having to learn a new language, and adjusting to a new life in general, it's so nice not to have the added stress of maintaining a home. I agree. While I know I will miss Reni when we leave here, I also think I'll be just a little bit excited to regain some of those responsibilities:) Poor Kevin though, I'm not sure his clothes will ever look as good as they do now, especially since he's informed me that we probably won't be having a maid when we return to the States in a few years. Oops, I mean we definitely won't:)