It said in an email that there was a maid included with the accomodation.
'I know it's a bit weird,' the manager said. He then went on to tell me that a 'hippie' American a few years ago had been completely opposed to the idea and gave him some spiel about socialism. A few weeks down the line the American was complaining about the state of his shirts and asking for a new maid. We both had a bit of a laugh.
I admitted to the manager that having a maid came as a bit of a relief to me since I'd always had either a Mum or a girlfriend around. We both had a bit of a chuckle again and I didn't think anything else of it. I've started to think about after my house mate told me that our maid is only 14 years old and gets paid the equivalent of about £10 per month. My housemate also said that he thought about complaining to the school about her age but all it would do would lose the poor girl her job.
Her life is a far stretch from mine when I was 14 and maybe that's why my first reaction was to side with the original attitude of the 'hippie' American. If I had an easy time of it why shouldn't she? But it's a lot to think about and I'm still jet lagged. I don't want to become as big of a hypocrite as that American so for now I'll just accept things as they are.
Remember to tip her generously. That's the only way. Think of your karma.
ReplyDeleteDo you think if I ask nicely she'd pop over here ad do a bit of cleaning for me, in fact a lot of cleaning !!!! I could up her wages as well ?
ReplyDelete£10 a month but how much per hour? ;)
ReplyDeleteHow many hours does the little maid do a week? If she did 6 hours a week, then even with my absolutely non existent maths skills, that's something like 45p an hour. Can't be right??? More news please Jack......
ReplyDeleteWow, got a few responses here. Never expected anyone other than my Mum to read this. I still haven't met the maid yet but she comes twice a week and mops the communal floor and takes away our washing. She then does at her house and seemingly looses random items for months at a time. I assume the mopping and washing doesn't take her more than an hour so it could well be six hours a week. 45p goes a fair way in the City but I assume it goes much further in the village the maid is from. There is a crazy maid culture here where even the maids have maids. There was some talk of making a minimum wage a while back but it never happened because the situation is so complicated (according to my flat mate.) The maid's wage has been doubled since I arrived. It was 200,000 a month but it's now 400,000 so more like £20 a week. Will update after my next house bill/ after I've met the maid.
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