I am SO thankful that I brought my BIG, hiker’s backpack with me to Oaxaca! I’m using it daily to inconspicuously carry my laptop case, lunch, & purse to and from school. I’m using it to bring groceries home in. And, I’m also using it to transport my clothes to & from the Laundromat.
Last week, I walked to the Laundromat, in the next neighborhood, that was suggested to me by another teacher. The girl who worked there didn’t speak a lick of English. So, after she & I figured out what each other was trying to say, I put my one load of laundry in the washer. She put in a scoop of soap for me & explained to me the temperature settings. When it was time, we discussed what setting I wanted for the dryer & I put the clothes in. Then, I folded them & I paid. It was 68 pesos total (about $5.50 US), for the soap, the wash, & the dry.
Since then, I had decided that the next time I needed to do laundry, I’d try the service they offer where THEY do the laundry for you. But, I needed to know how to ask for what I wanted. So, I went to my friend M.E. for help. She wrote down for me what I should say.
So, today, I came straight home, got my paper of what I needed to say, & walked to the Laundromat with my backpack stuffed. When I asked when to pick them up, & she told me “in the morning” ~ I was really surprised! It hadn’t occurred to me that their service would take longer than an hour or two. In my 2 loads were my kitchen & bath towels & my only bed sheets! I told her, “No, please, I need these tonight, to shower, and to sleep.” Thankfully, she looked at the time & told me I could come back in 2 hours. We weighed it all & it weighed just over 7 kilos (about 15 lbs). So, it would cost 110 pesos (about $9 US). Imagine my surprise when I realized that the cost for THEM to wash, dry, & fold my clothes was actually CHEAPER than me doing all of that myself!
Here are my 2 loads, nicely folded & squeezed into this plastic bag…
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