We have cleaning ladies who come once every great while to clean. There were items in the kitchen which needed to be put away so the counter was cleaned off. I was too tired to do it last night. I told myself I would be up in the morning and do it then. I woke up at 7:30 a.m. It was too early to get out of bed. I rolled over and remained lying in bed. It felt like just a few moments. I looked at the clock and was startled it was 9:33. The cleaning ladies were to come at 10 a.m. I race out of bed. I disconnect my TPN and flush my line. I go to the kitchen. My mom had cleaned off the counter. I am half asleep as I make some tea. I grab my food and put it in my room. The ladies are here.
When the cleaning ladies come, it is sometimes one person and sometimes two. One lady has a good understanding of English. The other ladies do not. I was relieved when I saw two ladies arrive. Good, we will have no language barrier. I assumed the one lady was the lady who spoke English. My mom starts talking. She realizes neither one speaks English. I am summoned.
Once upon a time, I used to know Spanish. I rarely speak it and my memory has faded over time. So, here I am, half asleep, with my hair a mess, and wearing clothes I threw on (It's 90 degrees out, but this girl is wearing a fleece sweatshirt because I did not have time to put on anything which required me to use extra time to get it over my PICC line). Now I need to speak some Spanish.
Thankfully, I have learned if you use basic Spanish words and lots of hand gestures, the message gets across. Also, using words which are the same in both languages helps. Patio is patio. The one woman was so kind. As I was trying to think how to say over there, I used a word which meant "way over there". As I was saying it, the woman gave me the correct word. I appreciated the help.
So far, everything is going well. The one woman has been here before and knows what usually gets cleaned. That was a lot of excitement for the morning. I am ready for a nap!
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