Since I've been back, I feel that all I've been doing is putting out fires. After an eventful 3 weeks in the US, my body and mind were so ready to just enjoy my own personal space in my home in Antipolo. I was not ready for what was to happen. One of the greatest joys of living in a third world country, is being able to afford a housekeeper, a cook and even a chauffeur.
Before I left for the US, I asked a good friend to baby sit my home for me, to make sure all goes well, especially since I left my home to an 18 year old female housekeeper. Mind you, she had been working since she was 15 years old. I had just hired her before I left. From what I could tell by her cleaning and laundry and cooking skills, she was very capable. She was hard working, and had a pleasant manner. What was most important was she took to liking and caring for my dogs. This young working machine said she could run my household by herself. Well, I thought, since I was only one person she had to cook and clean for, and was not a messy person, she should be more than able of doing that. I was a bit concerned about her loneliness. So when she broached me about asking her 15 year old sister to come and stay with us, to keep her company, I immediately said yes.
Every day, they would wake up at 4:30am, and be out the door by 5:00am with the dogs in tow, for the daily hike to the gate of my gated community I live in. There, the 15 year old would take a tricycle to school which was only 5 minutes away. Then my housekeeper would walk the hilly way back home. The dogs were happy cause they got their walk. It was a win win.
From the looks of things, I was quite pleased to have made this arrangement with these young girls. To make sure that all will be well in my home front while I was gone, I asked a good friend to house sit for me. I left for the US feeling very confident that my home will be in good capable hands. I had spoken to my house sitter a few times while I was gone. She had reassured me that everything was fine and I had nothing to worry about.
With much relief, I walked into my house after being gone for 3 weeks. After previous trips, my former housekeepers, would always make sure that, to justified their salaries while I was gone, they presented me with a sparkling clean house. Immediately as I entered my home, I noted the filthy floors, a splash of pink paint by the staircase. There hadn't been any water in my village for the past couple of days. Problems with the pipe. I kept this thought in mind. As I entered my bedroom, I noticed my bed was undone, the floors and the room was dusty and unkept. The bathroom looked like it hadn't been cleaned for 3 weeks. There were hairs on the shower drain and the bathroom sink had mold of 3 weeks. What as going on?
I asked if there was dinner waiting for me. "No" was the reply. There wasn't any food in the house. This was very strange, since I had left sufficient funds to last until I got back. Then I notice the dullness on the other end of my shiny dining table. Then I also noticed that my wooden pig bench had neon pink and luminous green splotches on it with bad attempts to clean it. What was going on here?
I certainly was not pleased with my welcome and relayed my dismay and concern. Immediately, I wanted my home restored to it's usual sparkling clean and shiny status. My housekeeper saw my unhappiness and tried to make up for it. Her excuse was, she didn't want to enter my room unless my house sitter was there cause she didn't want to be blamed for anything that was missing. The next few days, my housekeeper worked furiously to make make my home clean again. I asked many questions regarding what had happened to my furniture. All I heard was, she didn't do it. My house sitter has a 4 year old grand daughter who had stayed with her at my home. Both sides where saying different stories. It was the she said, she said. I was getting so confused.
While I was gone, my housekeeper's mother, who has 8 children ages 18, 16, 5, 13, 12, 10, 4, 6 months, abandoned her children to join her husband, who was working a plane ride away. Her husband was missing her and needed her badly, as he says. She, at least, had the decency to take the 6 month old baby with her, but left the 4 year old, Potpot. My housekeeper, being the eldest, was responsible for the lot. The girls, would take turns missing school to care for the 4 year old Potpot. It got to the point that I had the 15 year old girl, 10 year old girl and 4 month old Potpot boy plus my housekeeper, age 18, living in my home. It was like the Department of Social Welfare. This mother should have been arrested.
Just when I thought, nothing could be worse, I get a call from PLDT, Philippine Long Distance Telephone company informing me that my current bill was P12,000 (USD$268). Was I aware of these charges? I was now. My housekeeper's salary was P5,000 (USD$112) a month. I asked for details and the lady at PLDT informed me that each telephone call cost around USD$22, which is allot of money for 1 phone call by any country's standards. Who was she calling and why so many calls? I confronted my housekeeper. She had the decency to affirm that she had made the calls, then continued to blame the reason she had started to use the phone, on my house sitter. My house sitter had asked her to use my landline to call her in case of an emergency. My house keeper said she had to call her mother in Cebu to let her know what was going on. She hadn't realized that the cost of making a landline call to a cellphone is outrageously expensive in this country.
Here I was, subjected from one shock to another. Then my housekeeper states she needs to leave cause she is unhappy in my home. I think I would be, too after being the center of investigation. You would think it would end there, but it doesn't.
Shortly after I returned, my friends invited me to join them to go Christmas shopping at the wholesaler's market deep in the heart of Manila. I had purchased my Christmas presents for the children in my clan, for the guards in my village, and for the bank tellers that help me. Christmas, in the Philippines, is the time we say thank you to all the "little people" who have helped up all year long. It is so much more reasonable to purchase these items at the wholesaler's market we call Divisoria. I had purchased 20 LED flashlights for the guards, gift boxes with a pen and flashlight set for the tellers, and mini blue tooth speakers for the teenagers in my clan. I put them in one of the other bedrooms, ready to be wrapped and tagged to be put under my Christmas tree.
While I was looking in the kitchen for my knives, that had gone missing, I had stumbled across one of those flashlights I had just purchased. It was wrapped in a brown paper towel. I took it out from the drawer and began to ask my house keeper what this flashlight was doing in the drawer. A whole litany of "the reason I want to leave is because you keep accusing me of taking things" came out of my housekeeper's mouth. Her story was, my puppy had it in his mouth and she had taken it away from him. Mind you, there were no bite marks on the box, nor did it explain why the flashlight box was in the drawer wrapped up in a brown paper towel. I immediately ran upstairs to where my purchases were and found 18 flashlights instead of the 20 I had purchased in a plastic bag that was knotted tied tightly. There was no way the puppy had been there retying the bag shut. I also noticed that there were only 6 mini speakers left, instead of 7 and a gift box was missing.
I looked through my things briefly to see if anything else was missing. I noticed that my junk food cabinet was quite depleted. The box of Hershey chocolates that contained about 36 bars, was reduced to 5. 4 can of chocolate Macadamias were reduced to 3. Every container of junk food was drastically reduced. Again, I brought this to the attention of my housekeeper, and all I received were denials.
My friends in my Viber group, who I had informed, as things were transpiring, adamantly told me to get them out of my house. I wasn't the DSW and I shouldn't have thieves in my home. I immediately called for a tricycle to come to my home and told the girls to pack up cause they were leaving. I couldn't have gotten rid of the lot fast enough. I paid the tricycle driver and told him to take them home. The person that recommended her to me was the gardener of a close friend of mine. These children were not going far. I would see them in their district court.
After they left, I had gone from room to room, drawer and cabinet to cabinet to assess the damages. Besides my trident kitchen knives, lots of things had been systematically taken besides my purchases from Divisoria. She used up my hotel shampoos and soaps from my last trip to Spain. I like to keep these small bottles of shampoo, conditioner and body wash to take with me on short trips. Well, they were all gone. This wasn't a big deal. If they can take small things, they can take big things. Spanish soaps that my good friend had given me for Christmas were also gone. Beside her bedside, I found a bottle of my expensive Shea Butter hand lotion and a lipstick from my collection. My exercise shorts had been reduced tremendously as with my Banana Rep t shirts. Hanging amongst my clothes she had washed was a pair of Speedo trunks of my son, that should have been practically brand new since he had only used them a couple of times. Now they were faded and worn and had a pearl pendant in the pocket. When I arrived, I noted to my housekeeper that the special charm bracelet I kept on my gold spiritual figure was missing. She had systematically gone through all my things and decided which things she wanted to keep. I also noticed a towel wrap that I hadn't used in ages was to be cleaned. This means she had used it.
I was very angry at the time and felt violated. I understand the craving for things one cannot afford to have. There is too much temptation. Yes, I live in a third world country. Yes, I have the comforts of having cooked meals, my clothes laundered and pressed and my house kept clean, but there is a HUGE price to pay. You cannot be attached to your things. Remember, in the end, they are only things. We can't allow it to ruin our lives. It is all part and parcel of the scheme of things in this country. It's sad but true.
Before I left for the US, I asked a good friend to baby sit my home for me, to make sure all goes well, especially since I left my home to an 18 year old female housekeeper. Mind you, she had been working since she was 15 years old. I had just hired her before I left. From what I could tell by her cleaning and laundry and cooking skills, she was very capable. She was hard working, and had a pleasant manner. What was most important was she took to liking and caring for my dogs. This young working machine said she could run my household by herself. Well, I thought, since I was only one person she had to cook and clean for, and was not a messy person, she should be more than able of doing that. I was a bit concerned about her loneliness. So when she broached me about asking her 15 year old sister to come and stay with us, to keep her company, I immediately said yes.
Every day, they would wake up at 4:30am, and be out the door by 5:00am with the dogs in tow, for the daily hike to the gate of my gated community I live in. There, the 15 year old would take a tricycle to school which was only 5 minutes away. Then my housekeeper would walk the hilly way back home. The dogs were happy cause they got their walk. It was a win win.
From the looks of things, I was quite pleased to have made this arrangement with these young girls. To make sure that all will be well in my home front while I was gone, I asked a good friend to house sit for me. I left for the US feeling very confident that my home will be in good capable hands. I had spoken to my house sitter a few times while I was gone. She had reassured me that everything was fine and I had nothing to worry about.
With much relief, I walked into my house after being gone for 3 weeks. After previous trips, my former housekeepers, would always make sure that, to justified their salaries while I was gone, they presented me with a sparkling clean house. Immediately as I entered my home, I noted the filthy floors, a splash of pink paint by the staircase. There hadn't been any water in my village for the past couple of days. Problems with the pipe. I kept this thought in mind. As I entered my bedroom, I noticed my bed was undone, the floors and the room was dusty and unkept. The bathroom looked like it hadn't been cleaned for 3 weeks. There were hairs on the shower drain and the bathroom sink had mold of 3 weeks. What as going on?
I asked if there was dinner waiting for me. "No" was the reply. There wasn't any food in the house. This was very strange, since I had left sufficient funds to last until I got back. Then I notice the dullness on the other end of my shiny dining table. Then I also noticed that my wooden pig bench had neon pink and luminous green splotches on it with bad attempts to clean it. What was going on here?
I certainly was not pleased with my welcome and relayed my dismay and concern. Immediately, I wanted my home restored to it's usual sparkling clean and shiny status. My housekeeper saw my unhappiness and tried to make up for it. Her excuse was, she didn't want to enter my room unless my house sitter was there cause she didn't want to be blamed for anything that was missing. The next few days, my housekeeper worked furiously to make make my home clean again. I asked many questions regarding what had happened to my furniture. All I heard was, she didn't do it. My house sitter has a 4 year old grand daughter who had stayed with her at my home. Both sides where saying different stories. It was the she said, she said. I was getting so confused.
While I was gone, my housekeeper's mother, who has 8 children ages 18, 16, 5, 13, 12, 10, 4, 6 months, abandoned her children to join her husband, who was working a plane ride away. Her husband was missing her and needed her badly, as he says. She, at least, had the decency to take the 6 month old baby with her, but left the 4 year old, Potpot. My housekeeper, being the eldest, was responsible for the lot. The girls, would take turns missing school to care for the 4 year old Potpot. It got to the point that I had the 15 year old girl, 10 year old girl and 4 month old Potpot boy plus my housekeeper, age 18, living in my home. It was like the Department of Social Welfare. This mother should have been arrested.
Just when I thought, nothing could be worse, I get a call from PLDT, Philippine Long Distance Telephone company informing me that my current bill was P12,000 (USD$268). Was I aware of these charges? I was now. My housekeeper's salary was P5,000 (USD$112) a month. I asked for details and the lady at PLDT informed me that each telephone call cost around USD$22, which is allot of money for 1 phone call by any country's standards. Who was she calling and why so many calls? I confronted my housekeeper. She had the decency to affirm that she had made the calls, then continued to blame the reason she had started to use the phone, on my house sitter. My house sitter had asked her to use my landline to call her in case of an emergency. My house keeper said she had to call her mother in Cebu to let her know what was going on. She hadn't realized that the cost of making a landline call to a cellphone is outrageously expensive in this country.
Here I was, subjected from one shock to another. Then my housekeeper states she needs to leave cause she is unhappy in my home. I think I would be, too after being the center of investigation. You would think it would end there, but it doesn't.
Shortly after I returned, my friends invited me to join them to go Christmas shopping at the wholesaler's market deep in the heart of Manila. I had purchased my Christmas presents for the children in my clan, for the guards in my village, and for the bank tellers that help me. Christmas, in the Philippines, is the time we say thank you to all the "little people" who have helped up all year long. It is so much more reasonable to purchase these items at the wholesaler's market we call Divisoria. I had purchased 20 LED flashlights for the guards, gift boxes with a pen and flashlight set for the tellers, and mini blue tooth speakers for the teenagers in my clan. I put them in one of the other bedrooms, ready to be wrapped and tagged to be put under my Christmas tree.
While I was looking in the kitchen for my knives, that had gone missing, I had stumbled across one of those flashlights I had just purchased. It was wrapped in a brown paper towel. I took it out from the drawer and began to ask my house keeper what this flashlight was doing in the drawer. A whole litany of "the reason I want to leave is because you keep accusing me of taking things" came out of my housekeeper's mouth. Her story was, my puppy had it in his mouth and she had taken it away from him. Mind you, there were no bite marks on the box, nor did it explain why the flashlight box was in the drawer wrapped up in a brown paper towel. I immediately ran upstairs to where my purchases were and found 18 flashlights instead of the 20 I had purchased in a plastic bag that was knotted tied tightly. There was no way the puppy had been there retying the bag shut. I also noticed that there were only 6 mini speakers left, instead of 7 and a gift box was missing.
I looked through my things briefly to see if anything else was missing. I noticed that my junk food cabinet was quite depleted. The box of Hershey chocolates that contained about 36 bars, was reduced to 5. 4 can of chocolate Macadamias were reduced to 3. Every container of junk food was drastically reduced. Again, I brought this to the attention of my housekeeper, and all I received were denials.
My friends in my Viber group, who I had informed, as things were transpiring, adamantly told me to get them out of my house. I wasn't the DSW and I shouldn't have thieves in my home. I immediately called for a tricycle to come to my home and told the girls to pack up cause they were leaving. I couldn't have gotten rid of the lot fast enough. I paid the tricycle driver and told him to take them home. The person that recommended her to me was the gardener of a close friend of mine. These children were not going far. I would see them in their district court.
After they left, I had gone from room to room, drawer and cabinet to cabinet to assess the damages. Besides my trident kitchen knives, lots of things had been systematically taken besides my purchases from Divisoria. She used up my hotel shampoos and soaps from my last trip to Spain. I like to keep these small bottles of shampoo, conditioner and body wash to take with me on short trips. Well, they were all gone. This wasn't a big deal. If they can take small things, they can take big things. Spanish soaps that my good friend had given me for Christmas were also gone. Beside her bedside, I found a bottle of my expensive Shea Butter hand lotion and a lipstick from my collection. My exercise shorts had been reduced tremendously as with my Banana Rep t shirts. Hanging amongst my clothes she had washed was a pair of Speedo trunks of my son, that should have been practically brand new since he had only used them a couple of times. Now they were faded and worn and had a pearl pendant in the pocket. When I arrived, I noted to my housekeeper that the special charm bracelet I kept on my gold spiritual figure was missing. She had systematically gone through all my things and decided which things she wanted to keep. I also noticed a towel wrap that I hadn't used in ages was to be cleaned. This means she had used it.
I was very angry at the time and felt violated. I understand the craving for things one cannot afford to have. There is too much temptation. Yes, I live in a third world country. Yes, I have the comforts of having cooked meals, my clothes laundered and pressed and my house kept clean, but there is a HUGE price to pay. You cannot be attached to your things. Remember, in the end, they are only things. We can't allow it to ruin our lives. It is all part and parcel of the scheme of things in this country. It's sad but true.