Help Arrives

We´ve had Lucia for two weeks now and she is terrific. She´s an outstanding cook and housekeeper--hard-working, frugal, patient, cheerful, creative, and kind. She came just in the nick of time, as the merpisa/supermarket where I can shop alone is on the expensive end, especially for packaged items that require less prep time to cook (spaghetti sauce, sandwich bread, cereal...) Also, our laundry pile has been steadily growing. (Madeleine did earnestly try to honor my request to not make a lot of dirty clothes by showing up for the fifth day in a row in the same outfit. I finally noticed, appreciated her attentive efforts, and had her change. Note that days three to five she had been feverish and overall apathetic due to her cold.)

Anyway, Lucia arrives in the morning, tidies up, and sweeps out the rooms, often remaking our beds (I guess they don´t look made to her). Periodically, she rearranges the furniture. We have nice built-in closets and drawers, each section with its own set of doors. She usually shuts all of these, as, afraid of mildew problems, we´ve left them open to air. I´m sure she thinks we´re strangely slovenly, lax about bedding and clothing, but washing our produce with bleach and brushing our teeth with bottled water. She then gets going on lunch which is the main meal of the day. She eats at the table with us and then goes on to more in-depth cleaning or the laundry (hand washing--we have no clothes washer in this apartment, though some do--and ironing).

We´re trying to have the kids help serve and clean up in the kitchen like they did at home and Lucia seems to understand this. Some things she does better (making our beds) or before we get there (setting the table, putting away the ironing). Also, the kids are truly blitzed from waking up early from school, so it would really be difficult for them to help out in the same ways they did at home. I find that I still do a lot when I´m home. I serve breakfast and supper and help wring and hang the laundry (Lucia is too short to reach the line.) I also have to take care of laundry that we need washed and dried on the same day (bedding and uniforms) by hauling it to a neighbors´or a laundromat. Last week she was sick a couple days with bronchitis and we had to insist that she stay at home. She does tons and we´re working on expressing gratitude and consideration, and in Spanish.
So far we´ve had chicken many different ways, all delicious. Peruvian spaghetti and hamburgers, pork, fish, and fried rice have all been on the menu. Most meals have been served with rice or pasta, plus potatoes or yucca. Bread here is not terrific, thankfully, as we´re digesting as many carbs as we can already! There are lots of different variations of ahi (spicy sauce made from local fresh peppers). They are all delicious. Lucia also cooks with lots of limones (a kind of lemony lime) which is very flavorful and refreshing.
Time to pick up the kids--more later!