Laundry

If there is one chore I hate doing, it's laundry. I absolutely cannot handle letting someone else touch my dirty clothes, so I have to do it, but it's an intense dislike. So much so that today was the first time I've done it since getting back from Africa 3 weeks ago. Yeah. It just takes so much effort:

-Gather up all the dirty clothes, soap, stain spray stuff (cuz I spill on myself frequently), quarters, and dryer sheets

-balance it all in a basket and carry it down three flights of stairs

-spend $1.25 a load (that is $1.25 to wash and then $1.25 to dry... times 14 = $17.50 today.)

-keep an eye on the time so that I can go back down the 3 flights of stairs every time it needs to be changed

-bring everything back to my apt to fold and put away

It just takes a while. And my knees hate me afterward because I have to go up and down 3 flights of stairs (today I did it ten times...), and it's expensive. Especially when you do seven loads in one day. But if I hadn't run out of socks I could have totally gone longer.

Anyway, it reminded me of a funny Africa story. During the second week, the three "Chicago girls" (we flew out of Chicago. I'm sorry, but it's better than the Nebraska girls.) decided to do our laundry. 

Let me tell you, it is a much bigger process in Africa. First you have to fill the sink. Then you squirt soap in and scrub each individual article of clothing, wringing them out as you go. (Why in the world did we decide to wash towels and sweatpants?) This was so hard that I actually wounded myself. Then you have to rinse out the soap and wring them out again. And hang them out to dry. And if you managed to not stretch them out in the process, then you can wear them again. Otherwise, your pants will be a foot longer than they were when you bought them and your t-shirts bulge out in unsuspecting places...

It was seriously the hardest workout I have ever had. I was literally sore for a few days afterward. The people who worked at the place we were staying watched us, tried to help us, and made fun of us the whole time. 

So as much as this post sounded like I was going to complain about having to do laundry...it's not. It's me being thankful for machines.

This picture was toward the end of the hour it took us (at least...) My arms were feeling like jello. But notice the bulging biceps. =)