February 5, 2017. Playa Royale, Mexico. The Cleaning Service.

The same little lady has been cleaning our condo ever since we moved here years ago.  She is tiny, perhaps a foot shorter than me.  But she is mighty.  Our place does not really get dirty but her routine never changes.   We chatter away to each other even though she does not speak English and I do not speak much Spanish.    But we like each other.   The first time she saw us this season she hugged us both.

I know she is supposed to clean every part of the unit, whether or not it is dirty but I always wonder if she does the same system when we are not there in the unit when she is cleaning.  For instance, she always starts on the balcony.  She sweeps the floor first.  Then she dusts and wipes the railings and the table and chairs.  Next she washes the windows.  Finally she mops the floor.  My observation is that the balcony only needs a thorough cleaning once a month because it is not really dirty.  The same is true of the two other  bedrooms.  No one is using them but she cleans the bathrooms and bedrooms as if they had been used.   I would probably not clean what is already clean if I was the cleaning lady. But then I would probably get fired.  Every so often, the bosses come by to check what has been done and to ask  me if everything is OK so I suspect her drill never varies.

She changes the sheets each week too and changes the towels.  She comes every Sunday.  We are happy to see her and she is happy to see me too because I always give her a tip.  Cleaning ladies make my life easier and I am grateful for all her hard work.    She is a sweet little lady.