During the week, I did something
that I classify an achievement. For the first time in months,
apart from noodles or a ham and cheese jaffle, I cooked
my own dinner. Wow, I actually cooked something! However,
it was not the fact that I cooked, but more so the fact
that I did anything at all.
I seriously cannot remember the last time that I completed
a normal household chore. Washing dishes? Forget it. Sweeping
the floor? Not a chance. I have not lifted a finger in the
name of housework for over a year. And it goes further than
this. Apart from my work, I have no responsibilities to
attend to in my life whatsoever. My pembantu does a fine
job in ensuring my house is spotless and my clothes are
washed, albeit with much defined fold lines. (Even though,
she never enters my fridge, hence the jar of vegemite with
a use by date of Feb 2001 in the door and the half-used
carton of coconut milk, by now with the consistency of concrete,
on the shelf.) My gardener leaves my yard very neat and
tidy. Somebody washes my motorbike. My landlord pays my
bills. Everything that needs to be done in my life is done
for me, and this is definitely a part of the lifestyle that
makes living in Bali so enjoyable. It also assists in providing
employment for members of Indonesia’s massive labour
market, but at what cost? Turning me into a lazy slob, who,
upon returning home in the West, has to go though a second
adolescence where the responsibilities of being an adult
have to be relearned. On my last trip back home, I was asked
to look after my sister’s two children whilst she
went to work. An easy task, no problem, although my sister
was not too happy when she arrived home and found me asleep
in front of the tv, food scraps and dishes spread about
the room, and her children eating the forbidden stash of
chocolate. I was optimistically given another chance, this
time I was to look after them at my parents’ house,
where I once again fell asleep, this time while my niece
and nephew were swimming in the pool. I was not asked to
do anything again for the duration of my holiday.
My cooking adventure was therefore somewhat of a reality
check. I enjoyed my time back in the kitchen and my brief
period of being responsible. On top of this, my mashed potato
on toast was lovely. PG
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