When you live in a developing country, where products and services are cheaper and the dollar is strong, you're allowed certain luxuries that you may not afford if you were living at home. People here have cooks, maids, nannies, and guards. Some even have masseuses that come to their homes to give them a massage while watching the Redskins play the Lions (or whoever). I pay my help $100 a month and that's apparently more than what most Ethiopians (who also have domestic help) pay. It's not about expatriates being bougie or an neocolonialist effort (b/c I wouldn't have no parts of it!); it's the culture. Everyone has house help.
Anywho, as much as I appreciate someone around to keep my garden green and cut up my fruits and vegetables, I am most appreciative of the low cost of goods and services, primarily services. Why, you ask? Well, I clean up after myself. I actually enjoy cleaning when I'm not forced to do it (bad childhood memories). I like pressed clothes and have no real issue with ironing said clothes in the morning. Laundry? Not a problem as long as I don't have to go to a seedy laundromat located between a seven eleven and a liquor store...and in the same shopping center as a Chinese-Sub-Wings-Pizza restaurant (thanks DC). And it's only me so its not like I would have a lot to do even if I didn't have help (I like to think of it as helping with local economic development).
The cheap things that I do appreciate (and can't do for myself) are beauty services. I'm not a diva (but I am the female version of a hustler). I was never really one of those people who had to get a fill-in every two weeks or making bi-weekly visits to the salon (though..that perm adventure might have turned out differently if I had). That's just not my style. But there are things that I like to get done that make me feel...girly. Feminine I think is the grown-up version of that word. But I couldn't afford these things when I was in the US. Shoot, I couldn't afford them when I was in Kenya. But now, I can go in to a salon and get a manicure and pedicure for around $10. I can get a massage for less than $20. And I'm talking about a good, scrong hour massage for less than 20 bones. Shoot, I can barely eat dinner in the states for under $20 (if I'm not careful). I realized last night, as I was getting my pedicure, that I like getting pedicures. I have no man here that I'm rubbing my feet against and even when I got pedicures in the States, my BF rarely noticed (which might be a good thing because I can't say that I would take "Awww..your feet aren't scraping me like a Brilo Pad tonight" very well). I just like for my feet to be soft. I like to look down at my open toe shoes and see freshly painted toes looking back at me. Not that I have talons without a pedicure but my toenails do get long. And while that may be the style for some people (the toe nails that come over the end of the toe), I prefer mine a bit shorter.
So, I've gotten used to getting my nails and toes done and even treating myself to the occasional massage (which I've been told by a health professional that I need to do more often because I hold a lot of tension in my shoulders. When I get stressed, I get tension headaches and it. is. bad.). And even though there are people here who can do different designs on your nails, I've also learned that I'm really simple when it comes to this. I wear some funky things sometimes (sometimes unintentionally) but there's something about just plain nail polish that makes me smile. This is literally the ONE time that I like pale, neutral colors. My favorite right now is pink (no green). I really like shades of pink on my nails. Makes me feel like a southern belle (I actually don't know why but I feel like there should be all kinds of "southern" sayings about women that involve what a lady does and doesn't do). My mom is not very big on these things so I don't know where it comes from. It just makes me feel prettier (cause when you look this good etc etc). Amazing what a few extra Birr in your pocket will allow you to discover about yourself.
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