Laundry Day

Laundry is a super duper frustrating task sometimes. Not because I’m washing my clothes by hand, but because my whole family and neighbors come out to watch me – becoming a pet peeve. I’ve actually come to really like washing my clothes by hand. I noticed the first week at site my clothes smelt funky. My theory is washing machines don’t do that great of job, especially on work out clothes and towels. Now, my clothes/ towels smell and feel SO clean. They don’t smell funky after a few wears. And yea, I’m 100% positive I’m using way too much soap, but it’s worth it. And I should mention my washing situation is way better than some PCT’s because my family doesn’t have to walk to fetch water, and we hang our clothes to dry away from things like burning wood and livestock. My family has a large black collection tank in front of our house, which you will see in the pictures at the end.

Anywho, back to the super duper frustrating part. The first time I did laundry I was more than willing to let them help me, but they were kind of standoffish, which surprised me.  Needless to say, I struggled hardcore. The second time I washed clothes, I guess I was considered part of the family because my Didi and Aamaa (and various other female villagers) were (all at once) trying to explain the correct way to wash my clothes. First, they told me to soak all my clothes in a bucket of water and soap. They skeptically examined my liquid laundry soap very thoroughly, but eventually approved. Then, I was told to take out each article of clothing one by one and scrub it (which they had a good chuckle at my scrubbing technique). Then twist each article into little balls and place them on a piece of plastic in the sun. Next is rinsing at the tap, which is when they jumped in to help me. I/we literally wasted 10+ gallons of water, but I had lost all control of my clothes at this point. There were four Nepali women laughing and talking a millions miles a minute. Meanwhile, water is flying all over; I felt like I was at a water park. Let me just tell you, rinsing takes forEVER, and they’re not satisfied until the water runs clear. After a few rinses, I guess they felt I could finish the job on my own. So, I completely block out how much water I was wasting, and went crazy on my clothes. Rinsing and rinsing and rinsing until my Didi was satisfied and yelled ‘pugyo!!’ – the crowd of women burst out laughing. ‘Pugyo’ is usually used when you’ve eaten enough, but since I use it at every meal (b/c Nepalis LOVE to feed guests) my Didi gets a kick out of saying it to me as many times a day as possible.

Finally, I wring everything out to dry on the clothesline, cheerfully celebrating the fact that rinsing is over, and I can return to my environmentally conscious self again.  Here are a few pictures of laundry day in action. Unfortunately, my Didi and Aamaa were cutting grass that day, so I don’t look as overwhelmed as usual. Oh and my face looks puckered in some of the photos because I was sucking on a jolly rancher my wonderful boyfriend sent me in the mail. Jolly ranchers make life that much sweeter. :)

The washing station..

Soaking my clothes in soapy water...

Scrubbing...

Rinsing and rinsing and rinsing.....

Nope...not even close to being thoroughly rinsed...

Ahh..finished..