i've always wanted to be one of the cool kids who could stay up to the wee hours of the morning and then slept half the day away. thanks to a seven hour time change, i am now that person (well, at least the one who sleeps half the day away). since arriving in kuwait i haven't been able to fall asleep before 3 am or drag myself out of bed before noon. today, i vowed, this would change. school starts wednesday and i probably need to work on practical things, like a syllabus and making sure i can wake up for my 10 am class. today i was out the door a little after 9 am.
my early morning had a few unintended consequences, one being i didn't wash the dirty dishes in the sink. when i returned home this afternoon i entered the kitchen and i was perplexed. where did my dishes go? and what about that massive white cutting board? i checked the cabinets, the drawers. nothing. hmmm. then i looked above the sink, saw the cutting board drying, and realized the housekeeper cleaned my dishes, put them away, and left the board out to dry. WHAT!?! i am semi-okay with someone cleaning my "luxury serviced apartment" and making my bed (although this happens daily which is completely unnecessary), but doing my dishes is just too much.
i tried to do my homework before coming to kuwait. one of the pieces i read said westerners often have difficulty comprehending and receiving the service work of foreign nationals. guess i'm one of those people. you say, how is this any different than in the states? aren't service workers in the states comprised largely of latino immigrants, blacks, and women? yes, you are absolutely correct. i can't seem to find the exact words i'm searching for. it is similar, yet different. birthright and nationality automatically determine social class here. there is little, if any, upward mobility. it's pretty much a caste system.
across from our apartment building there is a rundown building where some foreign nationals live. i pass this building walking to and from school and have a view of the building from my balcony. today, an old bus with no air conditioning was parked outside jammed packed with southeast asian and indian women. are these the same women who clean my apartment and do my dishes?
today my heart is sad. whether it's kuwait, the mountains of the new river valley, or the streets of oakland, poverty and wealth are such close neighbors. i'm not sure what the answer is, but one thing is for sure, i am going to wake up early enough to do my dishes tomorrow morning.
6 comments:
Oh my goodness. Having my dishes washed would freak me out. But yay for waking up earlier. I personally have been sleeping til 10 the past few days and I don't have a 7 hour time change as an excuse. Missing you very much but loving the blog updates and very psyched to hear about how teaching goes :)
the water in my kitchen sink doesn't work so the dishes are overflowing at this point. i pretend sometimes that i will wake up early and get things done, way to get up early and do your dishes. i'm enjoying reading your updates. love ya.
Hey, I'm on that sleep schedule too and I didn't even travel. lol
That would weird me out- someone doing my dishes for me. Even though I often call out to the universe for my dish washing fairy, the service worker industry you're facing is not what I have in mind. An actual fairy would work for me. A person being exploited in the way this has been happening across the globe, would be hard to swallow. I'm with you on washing your dishes tomorrow morning!
i feel i should clarify this whole dishes post. my issue was not that the housekeeper did my dishes, but the false assumption i left the dishes in the sink for her to do, as if she was my servant.
thanks for reading and commenting--it makes me feel like it's not just a one-way conversation. miss you all!
Hey, Meredith. Glad you're there safely! The apartment looks nice. Ellie says "hi"--hasn't used apt. yet, but intends to soon! Let them do your dishes--they need the work, and that's job security! (Deal with your white guilt later!)Take care!
Steve
Is it still exploitation if you leave a good tip?
(...kidding...)
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