Household Drudgery

After washing my clothes in a bucket for over a year, I have decided the one appliance I will always own is a washing machine. However, part of me is strangely grateful for the experience, although I wouldn’t necessarily want to repeat it again. :) Attempting to manage my own household gave me a small taste of what most women in the developing world experience throughout their entire lives – long days of hard, exhausting, physical labor inside their homes in tasks like cooking, washing clothes, washing dishes, hauling water, sweeping and mopping floors, etc. And keeping a household clean in India is more difficult than in the US because of the dust. Usually after we mop the floors, there is a handful of dirt in the bottom of the bucket. I’ve also gotten used to brushing layers of dust off of objects that have been sitting on my shelves.

The one good thing about all this household work is that I am physically stronger and more powerful than I have ever been in my life. This has given me an unexpected sense of confidence. I trust myself to be able to handle most types of work that need to be done. I feel a sense of pride in my strength and I have found that manual labor can be satisfying.

But I still have to confess that one of the top things I'm looking forward to after returning home to the US (besides seeing all of you of course!) is being able to do my washing by simply throwing my clothes in a machine and pushing a button. :)