Eva-living with a maid

We finally did it. Eva and I have officially become friends. When I first came here, she seemed rather distant. Don’t get me wrong, she was always smiling and helping me out, but we never talked. It just didn’t seem right. It probably didn’t help that I had no idea how to treat her since I don’t know how you are supposed to treat a live in maid. I tried to show her though that I was willing to do everything myself and I didn’t want her to do everything for me. After meals, I always try to pick up my place and bring my dishes to the sink. I clean up after myself, keep the room very clean, take my own clothes off of the clothes line, and do everything I can to make Eva’s life a little easier. However, for the past week, we just haven’t quite clicked, until now that is.

Just yesterday I was eating dinner alone because Ines was watching tv and all of a sudden Eva sits down next to me. I was rather surprised because before now she always sits in the kitchen and eats her own meal and never talks to me in the dinning room. This, however, is a special occasion because Eva has pictures of her children. It turns out she has 4 kids who live in Nicaragua and she works in Madrid sending money back to Nicaragua. She shows me some pictures of her daughter’s 15th birthday party and I feel like she is letting me into her world. It is just a little peek, but she has taken the first step to us becoming friends and I quickly am elated.

That was just yesterday and today our friendship was sealed. She actually ate dinner with me! Ines was not eating with us, so I was alone at the table and she just sat down next to me with her plate. We chatted about her family and her sister who also lives in Madrid and she told me that she hates being here and wants to go back to Nicaragua with her family as soon as possible. She still seems really skittish at dinner, but I know that we have suddenly become friends. It is awesome. She tells me some things about Ines that I need to keep in mind and some of her preferences which are strange, but I should abide by them just to make life easier. At some point in time during dinner, she whispers something very important about Ines that I try to understand but for the life of me, my spanish skills just don’t work when somebody whispers. She asks if I understand this big secret that she just whispered to me in unintelligible spanish and I nod my head yes. True I lied, but I knew it was important and asking her to repeat it would put her in an awkward situation. So I am just hoping that I eventually figure it out, or maybe it wasn’t even important in the first place.

After dinner I watch TV with Ines and Eva and again Eva and I talk to each other when Ines leaves the room. Eva offers me a bunch of pants that don’t fit her anymore and as much as I would love to take them I know they are too small for me. Eva is about 5 feet tall and she is skinnier than I. I don’t know what made her think they would fit me, but I appreciate the compliment and the offer for friendship. I even get offered a beer and it is then that I realize our friendship is absolutely sealed and I am incredibly happy. After awhile, she tells me that she just finished off the last of the beer and when she stands up she loses her balance and falls right back down again. We both bust out in giggles since it is obvious that she has had the last beer. It was the first time I have laughed in this house since I moved here.

I’ve come to the conclusion that Eva will help me learn to speak 3 languages, 2 of which I am almost fluent in and one of which I struggly in greatly. The first language she will help me with is, of course, spanish. She doesn’t know English so she forces me to talk around what I want to say and she always probes me for answers. Unlike Ines, she doesn’t just give up and talks to me in English, Eva pushes me to speak more spanish. It’s good for me, and although it can be frustrating, I like it. The second language Eva and I speak is through facial gestures. We say a million things through smiles, winks, head nods, and various other expressions. Ines is simply to blind to read facial gestures, to be honest she is lucky to look at where we are standing in the room so me and Eva’s facial gesture language is completely fine to do and helps us say a lot. Fortunately she also saves my butt whenever Ines asks me a question and I don’t know if she is talking to me or to Eva. I really like the facial gesture language. The last language we speak is the hardest. This language is the whispers and lip reading language. Of course, it is done in spanish and whenever Eva whispers there is always background noise like the TV or the radio on so that Ines doesn’t hear us. So not only do I have to understand what she is saying, I have to try to block out outside noises. The worst is when she just mouths something to me. I always want to understand what she is saying, but I never get it. Maybe with more practice we will be able to practice this language we have. Overall though, Eva and I have become great at communicating with each other and by the time I leave here I am sure my spanish will have greatly increased thanks to her help.

I don’t want to give the wrong impression and say that Ines isn’t nice. She really truly is a very nice woman. However, there is only so much a 75 year old woman who is almost completely blind can offer. It’s just nice to have Eva on my side and have someone I can chit chat with around the house. I like having a new friend and although it took a while, I am glad that we have warmed up to each other.