"Sennen, we don't have a garbage disposal here. When you throw whole crackers into the sink, they can't go anywhere," I explained.
"We don't?! I didn't know there was a place that didn't have garbage disposals."
"Most of the world doesn't."
"Why? It's really useful – why wouldn't they have it?"
That was my same question when I got my first apartment in college. At least in the late 90's, Seattle housing often did not favor garbage disposals. Later when I lived abroad, I realized most countries made Seattle look like a garbage disposal haven.
The best explanation I have been given for the dearth of garbage disposals is pipe quality. In many places – such as old European buildings or new Southeast Asian ones often built with PVC piping, the pipes aren't strong or reliable enough to have food – even ground up – going down them. I also think necessity became cultural norm and in many cases even when building standards are high enough – such as in Singapore – the society isn't used to the convenience, possibly doesn't understand its full impact, and a market for garbage disposals just doesn't develop.
The Holy Trinity of Appliances in my book: Garbage Disposal, Dishwasher, Washer/Dryer. At age 30, I was no longer willing to rent an apartment without them. Only here, I have had to settle for only two: Dishwasher and Washer/Dryer. I was told it would take some plumbing work for the sink to support a garbage disposal – and that just hasn't seem important enough…. yet….
Of course the more interesting part of my conversation with Sennen was why there were whole crackers in the sink in the first place. It's not like crackers go bad and get dumped down the drain. In fact, they weren't even our crackers.
It seems Eirini and Alessandro's network of small-business-owning spies have reported an auditor on the island – sent to ensure everyone is properly recording their income and paying their sales tax – but also able to enforce labor laws. This happened last summer too. So, Eirini and Alessandro sent the kids to work from home. With them, they carried large boxes of the spiced rice and sesame crackers for which Nektar is known and which have island-wide acclaim – a scoop and many clear plastic bags. The kids' job: to scoop appropriate amounts of dazzling crackers from giant, industrial-sized bags into the small ones sized for resale.
I don't need to go into all the methods they used in the course of an hour and a half – I stopped watching anyway. Suffice it to say there were many lovely resale bags delivered to Nektar and scatterings of crackers – whole, partial and crumbs – on the kitchen table, floor and sink. From Eirini's perspective, they did great work. From mine, they did a crumby job.
In the end, the only appliance that really helped was the hand vacuum – accompanied by traditional tools like a handbroom, dustpan and sponge. Eventually, the kitchen came back together and we were able to leave for our afternoon at Petra.
While I don't usually have clean-up responsibilities from the kids' work – housekeeping here is a bit more active than in Westlake. The washer and dryer are smaller than home – meaning a I do almost nightly loads. This is 100 percent more than home where Silvia, the cleaning lady who comes on Mondays, usually cleans and folds all of our laundry. Garbage has to be walked to the bins in the back of town. Marble countertops hide nothing. A smaller dishwasher means running loads more frequently. Immanoula, the cleaning lady here changes our sheets, but leaves the dirty ones in the washer for me to wash, We live in paradise and I'm in no position to complain – but paradise with kids and no Silvia means more upkeep. And those pesky cats like regular food and water too….
Of course I enlist the kids who handle garbage, recycling and participate in cat care and grocery shopping. I've been hesitant to have them handling the dishes – but I probably need to get past that. Sennen has taken on cutting up watermelon for our nightly dessert. I'm working on getting him to clean up watermelon better after cutting.
I don't know why despite all the asking neither can keep clothes off the floor of their room and wet towels so infrequently make their way back to the bathroom after showers, but we're working on it. In Westlake, the clothes-on-floor problem is probably as bad, but tucked back in their rooms down a hallway – it's a more out of sight, out of mind situation.
Living in Bali meant a housekeeper and gardener came with my house – and the housekeeper brought my clothes to the local laundry which ironed everything right down to the underwear and socks and made everything smell wonderful. Living in paradise was a full-service experience.
Patmos isn't that kind of economy. Here, we live a better life than in Westlake, but we have to all take on some responsibility to make our household work properly. Which is healthy in its own right. Folding laundry has me appreciating how soft and good smelling it comes out here. All of it makes me appreciate Silvia. And the kids are taking on more responsibility and learning domestic skills. Without the pressing schedule of the school year – it's really quite manageable – and a reminder of how good we have it in Westlake and here.
Working their part-time job is also a fantastic source of responsibility and growth. Which is why I walked away when their job was trashing my house and calmly participated in the clean-up-effort. That said, I join Eirini and Alessandro in very much looking forward to the government inspector leaving the island – and my kids returning to their work site when scooping and bagging.
