A Once-every-two-month Luxury to be Enjoyed

The laundry machine in my house had some problems last week. The result: no clean clothes. I guess the situation became urgent enough to prompt Farzina and I to take our laundry to one of the many laundry shops in the area. We had no idea how the process worked, how much it would cost, or how long it would take. Not that it mattered…we needed clean clothes.

So, I wrapped up the dirty clothes in my galabaya and we headed down the street looking like hobos. The shop was close and we were greeted by three men. I attempted to explain what we wanted, but I’m not sure what kind of impact that made, if any. All I got out of it was that the laundry would be delivered by 10 that evening, inshallah, and that the place was closed on Friday. Oh, great, the magical Arabic saying that means the laundry probably won’t arrive for two days. Then again, I say it all the time when I know I’m probably not going to do what I say (see: promising to go back to a shop at the other end of the city).

As was easily predictable, the laundry didn’t arrive until Saturday. I wasn’t around, but I got the “good” news as soon as I got back. The bill was 52 LE (10 bucks) for me and 50 LE for Farzina. Wow, that’s steep. But then I saw the clean clothes on the floor. Each was immaculately ironed, folded, and put in a clear plastic bag. My socks were actually clean and my shirts were ironed for perhaps the first time ever. The initial pain of the bill was quickly receding….

Oh, and my galabaya was in pristine condition, and it smelled great. After a shower, I put it on and felt like a million bucks. I think other people noticed, too, because the guys at the shop I always go to offered to give me another galabaya as a gift. Inshallah.