Today I did the dishes.
There were a ton of dishes today, thanks to a delicious feast of
homemade ‘Chipotle themed’ burritos made yesterday. (Thanks again Jessica, those burritos were incredible!) So as I scrubbed away at a sink full of
dirty dishes on a lazy Sunday afternoon, it brought me back. It brought me back to my time in South
Africa.
One of my chores while living in South Africa was doing the
dishes. We had a nice rotation going in
our house, where the kids and I would alternate on cleaning up. The chore of doing dishes was quickly used
as a diplomatic pawn, where one would leverage a day’s chore with another. But there were plenty of times when all
three of us would do the dishes together.
We’d get some music going on a cell phone, line up and have a washer, a
dryer and a put-awayer. And on Sunday
nights, the dishes grew into a mountainous heap resembling Kilimanjaro. This was because we always had big Sunday
lunches at the house after church.
Usually, there would be company.
So the added dishes left quite the daunting task ahead of us. (And let me remind you, dishwashers are not
commonly found in Southern Africa.) So
I would commonly find myself spending at least an hour every Sunday doing the
dishes.
And despite how daunting the chore of doing the dishes was,
it actually offered some of the best conversations and memories I had in South
Africa. I didn’t only do dishes with my
host brother and sister, but also with friends, guests and other people my own
age. So I really had the spectrum of
people working beside me as I cleaned the kitchen. And the conversations during this chore were some of the most eye
opening and insightful conversations I’ve had.
This is where it was safe to hear about primary school gossip and who
was dating who from my twelve year old host sister. Or to talk about South African politics or culture with friends
my own age. And of course we’d play
around. I’d often hide behind a corner
and try to surprise and scare my host brother and sister. (They quickly learned this trick and did it
back to me quite successfully, often causing me to yelp.)
