What My Momma Taught Me: Part 1

It is funny to see how different people react to the freedom of living on their own. I know that there a few things that my mom has taught me that will forever be ingrained in my way of life, but I must skip or disregard currently for good reasons. I'm not talking about the good solid moral rules. I mean those little bits of wisdom that moms around the world pass down from generation to generation. I will share two very important ones today that I currently don't follow: the purchasing of water and the separating of laundry.

The Purchasing of Water

I can't tell you how many times my mother has gotten on my case in regards to buying water. "It's free from the tap at home! Why do you want to waste your money, no, our money, on something we already have? Think of what else you can buy with that? Next time, bring your water bottle from home."

Now, if we were desperate for something to drink and there was no chance that we would be home anytime soon, of course she would buy me water. Unfortunately, here I find myself having to break the smart and worthy habit of not buying water. The water bottles in the cafeteria contain 140mg of sodium each. I didn't know this until someone brought it to my attention, offering the thought that maybe that was why I'd felt so stick my first week and a half here. We headed to the grocery store around the corner to purchase large bottles of water with waaaay less sodium and for less than one american dollar each.

Needless to say, spending $15 in pesos on two bottles of water hurt. I hate purchasing things that I have available to me for free. But, for the sake of my health and peace of stomach, I have been buying water. Fortunately, my roommate gets water in a big jug dispenser, and she shares! I don't yet understand if it is just hers or for the entire room (three of us) but either way, less sodium=happier Elena. I love my water and those of you who know me realize it is pretty much all I drink. I'm glad to have found an alternative, because I've definitely been rationing myself. I don't want hypertension.

The Separating of Laundry

Oh how to begin this one. There are three main types of loads in my family: darks, lights, and towels. If you want to get picky there are also nice work shirts, messy/dirty work shirts, rags and kitchen towels, sheets, sleeping bags, and delicates. But we'll stick with the first, main three categories that plague me the most.

When I'm at home, the clothes are separated. We have laundry baskets for darks and whites, and towels are done each week. In fact, I am in charge of the laundry for the entire household. For a family of four we seem to make quite a lot of laundry. With all the separation required, this adds up to more than just one load a week. These days when I'm home, that means I'm not in school, giving me less stressors on my time. We get our water for free because we are on a catchment system, so I'm not worried at all about wasting water. And, I don't pay a bunch of quarters each time to do the loads. I understand how both my washer and dryer work, and this makes laundry time easy, simple, and it doesn't use the money I need for toothpaste next month.

However, when I am away from home, laundry requires an entirely different system. Time and money are of the essence, and unless you are planning on paying for my multiple loads, everything will get thrown into one. I repeat, EVERYTHING. Once in a blue moon will I do a load of whites for those two silly shirts that I really, really want to stay white. Other than that, my quarters are precious, and so is my soap. When away from home, the separating of the laundry rule does NOT apply.

So there you have three things that I have carried from my childhood AND teenage years into the now.
Some mornings I just stop and think, "My goodness, I got myself ready for school and rolling on time all by myself. How on earth did I manage that?!" I still clearly remember when my mom would wake me up in the morning, tell me what to eat for breakfast and to take out the trash (oh wait that was during Christmas break). Then at times like now, as I watch the early morning sun sneak into my room through the curtains I remember, "Oh yeah, I can do all that on my own now, because that's what my momma taught me."