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Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Doing Laundry

I finally did some laundry today.

I asked Sophia, our landlords' daughter how we get laundry done. She gave me an incredulous look & said, "You do it yourself." It was as if I had asked how you get to the second floor: You use the stairs, silly. Of course.

I've always thought of myself as a worldly person, without need for frivilous luxuries. But I now realize, more than ever, that I have lived a very privilaged life. A basic task that most of the world can accomplish without problems has been lost on me. I'm definitely gaining some perspective here in Vietnam.

So I set to the task of washing my laundry by hand in my bathroom. It took much longer than I had imagined, & once I started it I had to finish the chore. No leaving the rest for later, like I've done so many times in the US. I think I did okay for my first try. I didn't try to wash any of my jeans. That will be an experiment for another day.

5 comments:

michelle said...

good thing you've trimmed down your clothes closet!

Gantry York said...

Maybe it would be easier to simply shower with your clothes on.

Nancy Lewis said...

Yeah, assuming that I *have* a shower.

Unknown said...

You forgot to mention the drying! That can take nearly forever if you're stuck in a humid city! I take it you're in a more spacious place though. It was after the first week in Shanghai that I understood why most of the people on the street are wearing pretty dirty clothing. ;)

Nancy Lewis said...

That's right, Chris, things take forever to dry here. No wash-n-wear in Vietnam!