High hopes

Last night we interviewed a very nice Malagasy lady to be our new cleaning lady. E speaks impeccable French and says she speaks English, too. She said she thinks she could do the cleaning in 4 hours, two times a week, which is about 2 hours less per day than what Z was doing.*  And she will come in the afternoons instead of spending basically the whole day here. This is very good to me because I like having my house to myself.** :P E's pay rate, even with less hours, will be slightly more than what Z asked for, but it is money I'm happy to spend to be able to communicate.

And the best thing:  Sprout adored E from the first moment she saw her. We'll see if this continues to be the case, and if it continues to be "the best thing," which it might not if Sprout hinders E from doing her work. :P

The not-so good thing: E will not be free (because her current employers have not yet left the country) until Feb 20-21.  Junebug is due on the 23rd, and I would have liked to do a trial run with E a week or two before having a newborn in the house. Oh well.

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* Z had two telephones. They rang a lot. She talked on them. A lot. While she did continue working while doing so, obviously it wasn't as fast or vigorous as it could have otherwise been. However, because we were paying her "daily" and not hourly, I never felt comfortable saying anything.  I have made it clear to E that I don't mind if she receives or makes calls, but I don't want the phone ringing off the hook the whole time she is here.

** Z could have worked much more quickly and left a lot earlier, but she seemed content to putter about and spend the day here.