Spoiled Rotten

For those of you that follow this blog regularly and especially for those of you that have come to visit, you know that Shanti and I are not exactly roughing it here and, in fact, we're living quite comfortably. We are by no means near the top of the economic stratosphere, either Cambodian or expat. We have yet to get a Lexus, do not yet own a mansion, and do not sport the same amount of bling as the typical Cambodian elite. Moreover, we do not have a housing allowance or get home leave, we do most of our own cooking, eating out only occasionally, and we clean our own house. That is, until now.

After a month of strenuous work schedules and several weekends of travel, our apartment was an absolute mess. The floors were dusty, the kitchen and bathrooms were grimy, and things were just generally in disorder. Expecting our busy schedules continue over the next several months and not wanting to live in filth any longer, we caved and hired some cleaning help. Although we felt guilty about getting someone else to do our dirty work for us, we saw it as an opportunity to provide our wonderful tuk-tuk driver - Red, who I've mentioned before - and his family a bit more money.

This past Sunday morning, Red's wife and daughter and one of their neighbors came over. Over a period of about five hours, they did the most thorough cleaning this apartment has probably ever seen. They did everything from the basics - floors and bathrooms - to the minute - taking apart and cleaning our electric fans - to my least favorite task - ironing my pants and shirts. As guilty as I felt about having someone else clean our apartment for us, they got it much cleaner than we ever would have been able. It's also possible to think about it in terms of helping Red's daughter, an exceedingly bright young Cambodian, save some additional money so that she might have the opportunity to go to college. Regardless, I think it's a scenario in which everyone wins. Or at least that's what I'm going to tell myself as we get spoiled rotten.