Ping Pong

Have you ever seen Blue Hawaii? With Elvis? Well, it's a great movie. Maile and Chad(wick). Ah. Who didn't want to be Maile and "weikiweieki" to the beach with Chad? Chadwick is the son of The Pineapple King, from Atlanta, and married to a character played by a very young Angela Landsbury. The wife, in her very thick southern accent, calls her house boy "Ping Pong." But you have to say it like this - "Peeeeng, Pawwwwng". At any rate, when I first told my sister Minky about "house boys" here, she said, "Only hire him if he'll let you call him Peeeeeeng, Pawwwwwng."

Well, I don't have a full time "house boy", but I do have someone that comes in once a week for four hours. I call him our house cleaner, as I find "house boy" to be degrading. But this is what most people call their hired help. I have heard there are women available, but I've never seen one. Just nannies. I actually really enjoy our house cleaner. This is a LOUSY picture of him. For one, he almost looks chubby, and believe me, he's not. And he is much shorter than I am. He is the smile-i-est, happy go lucky person. I told him to smile, but you know, many nations don't smile in photos. I have so many funny and interesting things to tell you about him, that I don't know where to start. Okay. I will though.

One, he thinks he's fat. He weighed 55 kilos when he came 10 years ago. Now we weighs 82. He's on a diet. When I try to feed him, he says, "No madame. That is fat coming." (will make you fat) Love it.

He is married, and has been for three years. He chose his own bride, and his mother was "vedy, vedy angry! She was too old!" He is 28 years old, and his wife is 27. She was a 24 year old school teacher when they were married. His mother said that she needed to be no more than 15 years old. (don't freak too much - this is normal around here) See, he was home, on leave from his work here, to get married. And he said, "Mummy, I have to live away. I cannot have a little girl as a wife. We want to have babies, and she cannot be alone while I am gone." (please read in your best Bangladesh accent, think Indian if you don't know) Then he tells me, that many women in his country die during child birth, (as we all know) because they are so young.

One day he came to work and told me his brother called that morning. His brother is 30 years old, and his 13 year old wife had a baby that day. At home. I can hardly believe people still live like this. It amazes me. So M. (if I show you his picture, I feel like I can't tell you his name - I wouldn't want someone to put my name and face on the web without asking) So M. married three years ago, and now has an 18 mo. old son. He got to go home to see him when the baby was 6 mos. and stay until he was 10 mos. That's all he's ever seen of his child. He will go home in two years again, and get to see his wife and son. He loves to hold Gideon. And teases Chach all the time. I think he likes to imagine what his own son is doing. I know he misses his family terribly.

Sorry. This may be a depressing post. Don't be depressed though, be SOOOO thankful for what you have! And be more aware of our world around us. I think that's the biggest lesson I'm learning here. If nothing else, life and the people here, make you think.

M. makes so much money here, it's such great money that he feels he has no choice but to be away from them. He feels he is very lucky. Want to know how much money a month he makes? First I'll tell you that he has to pay room and board, and pay a local man 75 dollars a month to sponsor him to be here, he spends about 12.5 cents a day on a big piece of bread (that yummy stuff I just showed you) that he splits in three and eats for his meal everyday. Everything else he sends home. He told me that if he goes home now, both he and his wife will have to work. And a child should be raised by his mother, not other people. That he and his wife want their children to be raised by them. Feeling guilty? I do. That's one of the reasons I live here too. It allows me to stay home with my children. But I get to be with my husband as well. We are so blessed. Want to know what he makes for this enormous sacrifice? Well, he just got a new daily job, so he got a HUGE raise and is now making 800.00 a month. When I got here he was making 260.00 a month. So things are looking up right now.

He is Muslim, and so very nice. I asked him if he was going to take another wife. (they can have 4 at one time) He told me that his wife "would poke my eyeballs out" if I did that. I told him that "I like her already." When I complain of the heat, he tells me his country is very hot and humid (like here), but "here is vedy nice. You have air conditioning. We only have ceiling fan." Again, I know I'm spoiled. It makes me quit complaining to hear things like this.

So here is our "house boy", our Ping Pong. He does a good job helping to keep up the house and I feel comfortable with him around. Although, I try to be gone as much as I can while he is here. He does the basics, but will do pretty much what ever I need to be done. I know a lady who is a Kindergarten teacher at the big camp, she recently told me a very funny story. They were discussing "routines". Like, get up, brush teeth, clothes on, etc. One little child raised their hand and said, "At my house we get up, eat breakfast, my daddy leaves for work, then my mommy kisses the house boy."

I know it's terrible but I couldn't help laughing my guts out. It's SO funny. Don't worry. Nothing like that around here. Ew.