Ewwww...clean that would you!

Today I spoke with my maid's husband. He told me that she is still having severe back pain as well as dizziness, probably caused by the pain medication she is taking. She won't be coming to work for a while. Last week when she came to tell me she didn't think she could work on her usual day, I saw that she was in a lot of pain. She could barely stand. I ended up driving her around town to run some quick errands and then took her to the Centro de Salud, a government-run medical clinic for Ecuadoreans. I had offered to drive her home that day as well (she lives quite far away on a little farm she and her husband have) but I never heard any more from her. I'm sure she found another ride later that day with her husband, who also comes in to work in Shell every day.

I love our maid. She is the hardest worker I know. I've seen her continue to work when she was obviously very sick. I've seen her lift and carry things I'd never even attempt to pick up. She's about half as tall as I am and yet she is stubborn enough to reach heights I couldn't touch! I have had to tell her so many times not to do something because I'm afraid she'll work herself too hard. It looks like that is what has happened. She mentioned a bad fall a few weeks ago...she really hurt herself but went ahead and worked at another house and continued to work through the pain for several weeks before it became too much for even her to bear. Knowing how tough she is, I can't begin to imagine what kind of pain she must be in now. Please pray for Eulalia.

When we came to Ecuador, I had mostly decided I didn't want a maid. We had one in Costa Rica that we loved as well but I thought maybe I'd try to do the cleaning myself. Keeping a house here is a big job - bigger than what I was used to back in the U.S. - but I figured I'd have more time. Well, we ended up going into another missionary's house as house sitters at first and we were asked to keep on their maid, Eulalia. We did that and I was sooooo glad that we were forced to. I can't imagine having the added stress of trying to keep that large house and yard kept up in addition to just adjusting to life here, learning how to cook from scratch, and having a baby! When the time came for us to move, I asked Eulalia to come over to our place once a week for about four hours just to help me keep on top of things like sweeping and mopping the entire house, cleaning the bathrooms, ironing Sean's work shirts and other odds and ends. Even though she comes for just a few hours, her being here frees me up to do other things. Of course, even if I didn't really need her to work, I'd never be able to let her go knowing how much she needs the work and the money it brings in for her family. Besides, she's just fun to have around. I really appreciate the help she has been to me now that she hasn't worked for a couple of weeks. I have 11 blue work shirts staring me down waiting to be ironed... not to mention the several other areas of the house that have quickly become repulsive and are in dire need of a good scrub.

Ugh.