Laundry

Classes started today. Mondays are going to be the hardest day here. We have two three hour classes. The six hours of class just seem to go against the Cuban way of life, the low key island life where most people just seem to hang around all day. This week we have classes Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday, since our Spanish class is not meeting yet. I think since it is going to be a three day weekend we might try to go somewhere this weekend. Maybe a day trip to the province west of Habana, Piñar del Rio, but nothing has been decided yet. I feel like I have not fully experienced a lot of Habana yet. I think tomorrow we will go to the beach for the day, and Wednesday I might go see some more of Habana Vieja after class. Everyday I feel more and more comfortable with my surrounding and the people here.

It was so strange because last night a few of us were sitting around sharing pictures of our families since we have been hearing about them for the last week. One of the photos was of Ros’ brother in the grocery store just being silly. But the strange part was to see how much food was on the shelves. Each shelf was covered to its entirety with food. Here it is really hit or miss in all stores. One day they may have something and the next they don’t. It really depends here on what is available that week. It is common in my trips to the grocery to see entire aisles almost empty with a few items here or there. We have been trying for the week to get a hotpot or electric kettle in order to boil water for drinking but every store someone suggests we go to is either out of them and have no idea when they will be given more to sell or doesn’t understand what we want. I don’t think any of us ever thought some things would be so hard to find, or when we did find them that they would be so expensive.

Yesterday I did laundry for the first time since I arrived and it was very interesting. I have never had to hand wash all my clothing. Occasionally there is a hand wash only shirt or skirt, but even then I usually just put them in the machine on gentle. Here laundry is 50 cents for small items and a dollar or more for larger items like pants. Most of us have opted to hand wash our clothes ourselves due to the prices. There are no laundry mats and washers and dryers almost don’t exist. I bought laundry soap and used a bucket to hand wash my clothing and hung them on our line. It took me about an hour to wash three pairs of shorts, a few shirts, and underwear, and I am still unsure on how clean I was actually able to get things. The whole experience was interesting. I ended up splashing water all over my bathroom and making quite a mess. I think my arms have gotten one of the best workouts they ever have. It is hard to hand wash clothing. I never thought to wash things at home without a washer and dryer, but here it is really the best option. Although coming here I knew I would not have a washer and dryer but to actually not have one was an adventure. Going home in four months will probably prove to be a serious case of reverse culture shock.

I have been realizing that there are so many things that I take for granted living in a wealthy country, small things like peanut butter, inexpensive cereal, liquid milk versus powdered milk, etc…at home these things are all everyday items that we consume and don’t really think about where they come from or that they might be hard to come by or not exist in other parts of the world. Thinking about all the conveniences I left behind, has made me start to reevaluate how I live. Are these things really important, or do we just think they are because we have never been without them? Like washers and dryers.