Monday, January 26, 2009

Have I told you about not being able to do my own laundry?

Well, unless you have your own washer and dryer, you can´t do you own laundry here. At least, not that I´ve seen. And not that my Argentinian roommate has seen either. Odd. I want to wash and dry my own clothes. I like it. Plus, I´m a tad particular with some things.

Saturday I dropped off my clothes. It´s the first time I´ve done a load of wash since I left the states. Yes, some of my clothes are quite dirty. But I did bring a bottle of Fabreze with me. (Don´t you think it´s funny that I hyperlinked ¨Fabreze¨? I do.) So I´m so-so fresh scenting (a new word... scenting). I mean heck, it´s so hot and humid here, I just sweat anyways. Especially after getting out of the shower in the heat box that is my apartment.

And it´s funny, the lady at the laundry spot, of course, doesn´t speak Spanish. I´m used to that in my barrio. Most folks are natives in my hood. Totally cool. I like it! But it was funny trying to answer her questions. I had no idea what they were, as I often don´t. Like, at one point in time, I thought she was asking me if I wanted to wash my own clothes? Or maybe she was asking if I wanted her to fold them? Or maybe she was asking me if I wanted a job? Or maybe she was asking for my digits? Or maybe she was asking if she could give me ah million dollars? Not sure.

So, I just pointed at the washer and said, ¨aca¨, then pointed at the dryer and, again, said, ¨aca¨. ¨Here and here.¨ Luckily, in these situations, I can just smile, then laugh at myself, outloud, of course, and the local folks usually start laughing with me. And when we´re all done laughing and we actually figure each other out, mas o menos, we look at each other in a sort of, ¨wow, we accomplished something here today and we don´t even speak each other´s language.¨ It´s sorta cute. And sorta fun. (Please note the use of ¨sorta¨ in those last two sentences.)

I picked up my fresh and folded clothes today. No worries. And I´m wearing all clean clothes for the first time in a little while... sniff me.

1 comment:

living in Buenos Aires