Ladies, Don't Talk to the Bearded Guy!

Women here keep their homes spic-and-span.  They typically clean their flat almost daily, wash their windows at least every other week, and wash their drapes every few months.  They wash their carpets about twice a year.  A few do it themselves, but anymore everyone sends the carpets out to be washed.  It's not too expensive and the companies pick up and deliver the carpets.

That little bit of background information brings us to yesterday.

I am having a lady come in while we are gone to do a major deep cleaning.  So, before we fly out on Monday, everything in this flat needs to be picked up, organized, and stored away so that it does not get dusty or in the cleaning lady's way.

I am washing all our rugs myself, and rolling them up to be stored.   Since I can't do the carpets myself, I had arranged to have my carpets cleaned.  

The guys came yesterday to get the carpets (6!).  Noah was headed back outside to play as they pulled up in their van.  When I saw them, I made Noah stay inside with me.  They looked VERY religious.  It is not appropriate for women to be alone in the house with any man other then her husband, even workmen.

To avoid gossip, when a workman comes, either a neighbor lady pops by for a bit, and/or women leave the front door standing open.

When I saw these guys I wanted to make sure that they were not uncomfortable coming to my flat- especially because I am foreign (aka- loose).  So I made Noah stay inside for a bit.

It was so interesting because Noah has really learned how to handle these situations.  He's like a little gentleman and takes care of everything.  The men basically only spoke to him.  They even filled out the order ticket with his name on it!

HA!  Maybe I should let they try to squeeze the payment out of Noah, too!

It's the little cultural nuances like this that feel like they'll take a lifetime to learn.