November 30, 2011 Laundry (gotta share it, big part of life here for me)

Here I am washing. There is a sink with running water to my left. Ate Belin took this picture from the upstairs porch where we hang our clothes to dry. 

Hung up, swaying in the breeze that is almost always gently blowing. That's why my room is as comfortable as can be in this climate. The laundry and I share the same part of the house.

The porch is covered, so we never have to worry about rain except to move the clothes toward the center if the winds are very high.

From this angle you are seeing my bedroom window. The clothes and I share the delicious breeze.That is how Filipinos express it, too: delicious breeze: "masarap ng hangin!"
Since the beginning of our training Peace Corps has been urging us to dress up a little more. Filipinos dress very nicely, often in what PC calls "smart casual". We're apt to see those words on any invitations or instructions from PC.
Teachers wear uniforms, and they are very neat and tailored and made out of polyester. They are also very hot and the climate is a challenge for us anyway. (One of my cluster-mates has a sweating disorder and I admire his good attitude about it all.) I had three outfits made that are cooler but still easy to wash. I am wearing them as uniforms, which keeps cost and care easy. I think they will last for the 2 years.
I bought more clothes, too, to keep up with the Filipinos. These clothes require ironing. As it is absolutely necessary to wash every garment after every single wearing, ironing has reentered my life in a big way. I haven't ironed this much since we were little and ironing the bushel baskets of cotton clothing. Mama always made the setting pleasant for the big ironings- in front of the TV or on the porch.
Here we are really lucky to have a pleasant place too.

The hot iron rests on this bed of leaves which for some reason don't burn, but when hot smell good.

Bad News: After carefully ironing and hanging my clothes for the next day, they absorb the humidity and this is what they look like:

 Good News: Because of the humidity a quick press results in this smart casual, Philippines-ready look!

From what I hear from around the world, we Americans are quite relaxed in our clothing. It is a puzzle to both sides of the issue. Our exchange student from Hong Kong finally felt he had figured out why people in Minneapolis dressed so "sloppy". He said it was because Minneapolis is only a small farm town, unlike Hong Kong, where you wouldn't leave your house looking like that.