El Limpiar

I have to be honest.  Cleaning is NOT fun here in Guadalajara.  There’s a lot of dust in the air right now due to the heat (and the fact that it hasn’t rained since January).  The dirt is very fine here… so you don’t even really see it but you’re constantly breathing it in.  Some people here even where masks (I’m assuming to avoid the dust… though maybe it’s for some other reason that I’m not aware of).  I don’t mind it too much until it comes to cleaning.

In Minnesota, I could get away with cleaning the house every 3 weeks or maybe even just once a month.  Hey, I’m only one person and I’m not talking organizing or picking up after myself or doing the dishes… that’s a daily task… but I mean mopping, dusting, scrubbing, etc.  Living in Guadalajara, I’ve found that if I’m in a pinch I can push really cleaning every 2 weeks.  However, by about mid week before the Saturday I need to clean, I start to feel somewhat disgusted with my living conditions.  Therefore, I have now gone to weekly cleaning.  I usually just do a quick sweep, mop and a once over of the bathroom sink and toilet on the in-between weeks… but on that second week, it’s wiping down all surfaces (since there’s a thick layer of dust everywhere by that second week).  I scrub the bathroom down completely.  And when I say scrub, I mean scrub.  I thoroughly sweep and mop the entire apartment and beat and hang all rugs out in the sun for an hour or so.  

After spending a couple hours cleaning, I become VERY grateful that my apartment is small.  I’d also like to mention that the dust here is not like dust in the states… it’s more like dirt and boy does it pile up fast.  I blame this mostly on the lack of screens and the openness of my apartment.  There is no such thing as a dust magnet here (like swiffer)… the dust is too heavy.  You literally have to wipe down all surfaces with a wet cloth or something that will actually grab it.

Anyway, maybe that’s enough complaining about cleaning… but it just seems harder to keep things clean here… which may explain why I’m always seeing people washing their cars constantly.