Look what the maid made

Hooray for homonyms (and alliterations)!!

I gave in a couple months ago and got a maid.  I'd fought it.  I was going to be the bule hold out.  I wanted to be one of the few, the proud, the maidless. Everyone in Indonesia has a maid, and a nanny and a driver and. . .  My place is small.  It's a 33 square meter studio.  There's not much open floor space after accounting for the bed, sofa, wall unit and table.  I didn't see the need for a maid.  I can clean it up.  I don't mind cleaning for the most part.  I tend to be pretty organized.  I thought it was silly to get a maid.

Courtesy of marczawel.com.  This isn't my apartment, but about the same size.

Then I got a maid.  Nani is a friend of my friend's maid. Did you get that?  My friend Carla has a maid, Yanti.  My maid, Nani is Yanti's friend.  They arrive and leave together.  They go shopping for food together.  It's convenient and she was looking for work.

I have tried to convince myself I'm providing work and a relatively good salary for someone who might not have it otherwise.  I'm very nice and respectful.  I tidied up this morning knowing she'd be coming.  I left dishes and laundry, but both in their correct places.  I picked up all the stuff that was flung about from my exhaustion in arriving home the last two days.

Nani is great.  She does all the laundry, changes sheets or makes the bed, washes dishes, wipes down the shower/sinks. She goes to the local grocery to pick up food for whatever she's cooking that week.  She cuts up enough fresh fruit to feed a family of four (though I went through it all in about 5 days this week).  It's less than a whole day's work.   I'm not sure how early she comes but she's finished between four and five pm.

This is how my fridge feels on Friday afternoon.

I love that I come home to a clean house with food prepped.  I do still occasionally feel guilty but I'm trying to take advantage since I have never before, and I'm guess I won't after, had a maid. This is how to make Indonesia work.  Splurge on the maid, the weekly massages, the whenever possible trips to Bali to help mitigate the mind numbing frustration, exhaustion and ridiculousness of Jakarta.