Understanding Mom | Cleaning.

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So I think I might have begun my journey to understanding my beloved mother Lita. At least in one of her realms – that of which is: cleanliness. My mother was always a very clean lady. She still is a very clean lady. Her house is usually spotless, if not she gets crrrrrranky (all the r’s are her saying the word cranky while she rolls her tongue). Everything always had its own little spot and if it wasn’t there, we’d get in trouble. I hated that a lot growing up; but the older I get, the more I realize that I am very much following suit in her actions. Whoa. Scary. (just kidding mom- it’s not scary – it’s a good thing; although I think Will might beg to differ).

Anyways…

So there’s a rhyme and reason to why everyone in this country; or well this type of climate actually, has their daily routine of ‘clean’.

According to the Peace Corps Medical Officer (PCMO) We’re supposed to sweep down our walls and floors daily – so that we can get the bugs and newly formed spider webs OFF of the walls and floors to prevent them getting into our bedding so that we don’t wake up to bunches of bug bites in the morning. (I mean, who wants scabies or bed bugs anyways?) The sweeping is also good for any mouse poo or gecko poo that may have fallen through the night. We are supposed to mop once a week. None of the windows have screens and the top part of our house is made of wood (with no insulation, drywall or anything of the sort) – so the potential for creatures’ great and small (mostly small) is a many – and dust, pretty much exists always. I’ve found the best time to mop and dust is when it’s raining outside- because the rain settles the dirt for a while outside and everything stays clean for a little longer inside than it would have if it hadn’t rained. Sigh.

I’m used to the little gecko lizards crawling all over the walls and the ceilings (yes, inside the house) – they eat mosquitoes and bugs so they’re on my good side. (Getting Dengue Fever or Malaria is not on my to do list while being here.) Every once in a while we’ll get a rather large spider which I kinda don’t like. (I think I’ve got a new photograph of a decent spider in this next batch of photos I’ll upload.) That particular spider did quite the dance with Will when he was chasing it down with a can of insecticide in his hand. For those that don’t know Will – he doesn’t really believe in insecticide, but he and I both agreed this spider was big AND fast enough for the justification for the use of the can of spray. He was able to trap it down in a corner and fight it (spray it) to its death.

Back to cleaning. Now that we are beginning to get set up to do more cooking on our own; I’ve quickly begun to realize the necessity to keeping a tight ship in the kitchen area. If you leave your fruit and veggie peelings out for too long, soon enough you’ll have a huge swarm of bugs, fruit flies and little ants crawling all over everything. EVERYTHING. You CAN’T leave your dirty dishes out for more than an hour; especially if anything sweet was in them – because it’s amazing how fast they’ll be covered in ants. Lots of them. It’s best to wipe up all spills right away too for the same reasons. It’s also best to put anything food related in a tight container (we lock all our food related stuff inside this big metal trunk at night) because even though I try to pretend I don’t hear the mice and rats in the middle of the night;……..they’re there.

Also about the mice and rats; you don’t want to leave your clothes in a pile on the floor – as they’ll make it their new home or if not that, they’ll at least make it their dinner – and you’ll find holes in your favorite new shirt.

Anyhow, it occurred to me yesterday that all of this cleaning-as-you-go-stuff was probably ingrained into my mother’s head for the first 30 years of her life – and now I know, all in good reason.

It is a lot of work to keep on top of it all. But at the same time there is this sense of great satisfaction at the end of the day when everything is put away. But even more so, when everything is put away and you don’t have a new choir of insects serenading you to sleep for the night.

Mom – sorry for all the complaining growing up. Although – I think you can be a little more lackadaisical in the states since our houses are insulated and I think you guys get the house treated for bugs – so those same worries aren’t nearly as pressing anymore. But at the same time, I know how it makes you feel to have a clean house and am beginning to appreciate it more and more every day.

Love you lots. – Stephanie.