Pacheta

Three times each week Pacheta appears at the door with a broom, mops and a bucket, her smile reflecting glints of gold. Her uniform is a navy skirt with a white, collared shirt. The initials of the cleaning company are monogrammed over her breast. Brightly coloured earrings decorate her ears.

She starts with the lower pool level, swabbing the decks and sweeping the floors. A cloth flies through the air, dispersing dust in every direction. Everything is moved, leaving proof that she has been there. A pounding sound echoes through the house. What is she doing??

From the lower level, she moves to the top bedroom level. Once again the floors are swabbed and particles of dust are scattered. Toilets and sinks and showers are cleaned and polished before we hear more pounding?

Finally, on the kitchen level, scatter rugs are gathered up, more swabbing of floors, wiping of counters and flicking of the dusting cloth. This time we are sitting on the main level terrace, ready to solve the pounding mystery. I watch as Pacheta lifts two cushions and beats them together, raising even more dust! So, this is the pounding sound! It is very reassuring to know that three times each week our cushions are given a thorough pounding!

Pacheta is the patient recipient of my broken Spanish. We laugh together and try to share family histories. I learned today that she is 51 years old , that she has five children and is also an abuela (grandmother) of nine.

I had difficulty explaining that John A-P was esposo number 2 and that this John is esposo number 3. "Son tus hermanos?" she asked. "No, they are not my brothers!"

Sometimes the sharing of family histories is too difficult. I still don't know which member of her family had a hernia and Pacheta was still confused about my relationship to John & Doug. Before she left, I thanked her for pounding the pillows, we hugged and she gave me another gold toothed smile.