Yoya has a little, old washing machine. She is very worried about it breaking, so we're not allowed to use it for much. Anything bulky or that may leave fuzzies in the machine should not be washed. When washing a load of laundry, there are three settings: wash, rinse, and tumble or something to that effect. I'm not supposed to use the wash cycle because that is hard on the machine, so basically I put my clothes in with some soap, then rinse them and hang to dry. What a system!
Since I was not allowed to wash the rug in the washer, I put it outside in a bucket with soap and water a day or two ago. Then what? I confessed to Yoya that I did not know how to wash the rug by hand and rather irritated she replied, "you're an intelligent girl!" She proceeded to hose it down a bit, barely ring it out, then drape it over something to dry. It's still gross, mind you. I suppose I could have done that myself. She then replied, "Now you'll be a good house wife someday." I told her I didn't think that would make me a good housewife because I could find a machine to wash all my clothes. She replied, "I guess you'll be living in the states, then." Oh my.
Besides teaching me how to wash clothes by hand, Yoya teaches me other household tricks. Apparently salt gets-out red wine stains, which is honestly nice to know. We are to save all our fruit and vegetable scraps when we cut them up. After a few days we compile the scraps and Yoya boils them in water on the stove for awhile. She then lets the water cool and uses it to water the plants. She showed me a plant today, "See, it was droopy and sad just the other day but now it looks so nice!" I agreed with her and she made me promise to share this valuable information with my mom. I refrained from telling her we probably wouldn't go through the hassle of such a practice, considering we can buy good plant food at the store.
Yoya is proud to have taught me so many things. She speaks her mind and somedays I answer more patiently than others. She is hard of hearing and when I first arrived I thought my Spanish just really needed a lot of work. I now realize it's more an issue of her hearing than my speaking. She is very particular and set in her ways, but I will always think about her with a smile of gratitude for the hospitality she's shown me during my stay here in Santiago.
