My friend Lilibeth

My friend Lilibeth work next door neighbour. It like hotel place people coming and go. She is like how you say manager. She know how use computer and she teach me also. She very clever. Her husband also live there he drive car. Lilibeth also know how to drive. She look after plants and house. She gives me lots of flower plant and I bring them to my maam to make her happy. My maam she look at them and she say Sally you look after them I have a black thumb. What is this black thumb black thumb? her thumbs very normal I do not understand her black thumb.

So I bring flowers home and I tell maam I want go buy medicine to make plant grow. She say ok Sally do you know where should we go to buy it? I tell her Carfour because I like go to mall. My maam she never take me anywhere. One time I tell her Maam I feel like vomit in the car. From then time she never take me in car only if she have to she take me. What to do there are so many round round and so many up down. One time at before house only one time I vomit little in car. I tell maam only one time but now she not take me. Children she will take to movie or mall but I have to stay home. Sally we are just coming she say but then she does not come for 3 or 4 hours. What to do sometime I get so bored but when she going I can sit on computer. They have 4 computer. One for Sara one is maam one is sir and one is a big computer which Rayan uses. He 5 year old and has computer. Maam say that not his computer that it is whole family computer. I thinking even I part of family so I can use this computer when maam goes out and just coming back.

Lilibeth very clever. She tell me all kinds of clever things. One day she say Sally why you not go to Satwa and buy phone cards and sell, you can buy a card for 21 dirham and sell for 25 dirham. I get so excited I will go tell my maam. My maam she no like it. She tell me Sally how many cards will you buy? I tell her 10. So she say Sally you will spend more money going to Satwa and coming back and then who will you sell the cards to? Then she tell me it not legal to sell cards like this. I understand. she no want me to make extra money and do my own buziness. Suppose I get successful then I can leave her. I understand how my maam is thinking. So I give up idea. I then also thinking who will buy my cards? I am little shy I cannot go to anyone in park and say buy my cards. maybe my maam is right. But I still no like that maam say no do business.

One time my maam and sir and children go one whole month and Lilibeth show me how to use computer. Also internet. Lilibeth say I very quick learn she show me email and blog I learn how to use everything now everytime they go out I quickly finish work and I go on computer. She show me how use google. I look at pictures of my home Davao and I feel homesick.

When I tell maam I feel homesick she say even she sometime feel homesick. But it different my homesick her homesick. She have family here I only have few friend like Lilibeth. I tell her at before place if I feel homesick my maam take me for movie or mall then I feel better. But this maam no understand she no take me for movie or mall she worry I vomit in car. I even tell her sometime housemaid get depress if they getting homesick but she not say anything. Then because I upset she not listen me I bang thing in kitchen and she go sit on computer. Computer computer all time I not knowing what she do.

Lilibeth husband drive a car so sometime he give me a carlift to spinny or choitram. Like when my maam family go to vacashin before they come home I tell her maam I go choitram by taxi and get bread and milk before you come. you can pay me taxi money. Then I go with Lilibeth husband to choitram and give him 5 dirham and tell maam I pay 20 dirham for taxi. That way I do my own business no need for phone cards.

8 comments:

Twizzle said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Twizzle said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

Dear Sally,
I readed your post and the true im kind of touched my heart, im not philiphine but i worked in canada as a nanny of 2 kids for 3 years and became citizen after that, i know many people like your maam dont want you to make your business or they dont want you to progress, dont tell her your plans and try to progress always, my advice for you is , if you want someday to make more for your life and for your son, try to get a job in canada on the caregiver program, many families in canada are ready to give visa for somebody that take care their kids and their home, but after 2 years of work you will be free to work in what you want, i put you one link where you can check for job www.canadiannanny.com, i believe you can do what ever you want but is all up to you, i see my own history, i arrived to canada when i was 18 years old and worked as a nanny, after that i worked and went to college, now I can say im graduate in finances and i have a good job, i desire you the best www. canadiannanny. com

Twizzle said...

oh Sally Sally Sally... I just read the last part of your post...

again, you are lying to your maam about a taxi when you are only paying $5 for the ride...

you don't need to do this Sally... like i said before two times already... think about how you are happy with this family...

yes of course you want more money... but what if you are found out and your maam sends you home? won't you feel guilty then and get angry at yourself for lying/stealing and now have no job at all?

stop doing this Sally... don't ruin a good thing!

instead of stealing/lying to get extra money, just STOP sending too much money back home that can be used for bad things. Save money for yourself.

I know you are looking at things other people have and you want to have nice things too... but you have to think about making your future more comfortable for you, not about things that you want to have now... that you don't really need..

Malbatt said...

Sally,
Maybe you're not cut out to be a housemaid as i can see from your writings, you are too ambitious to be a housemaid.
Twizzle could be your 'maam' who's trying to give you advice. You should think about your employers too. One day if you are rich and you can afford to hire a housemaid, and the housemaid uses your nail polish, steal your things, lies to you, what would you feel?

Maybe you should focus on what you're doing and climb the ladder from there. Did you watch 'Maid in Manhattan'?

You are a housemaid and that's not a bad job. You're lucky your current employers are good ones.

You're learning how to use the computer, that's an improvement already. You can improve your English next. Then when your contract ends, maybe you can write a resume, apply for a job in a hotel. You can start with being a cleaning lady, while working, take the chance to learn things you can use to add your knowledge, learn language (Arabic, etc), observe how managers do their work, learn something from there.

But I think you're more interested in making quick money by doing a business. To start a business, you need the capital and also the knowledge of running a business. It's not that easy.

The decision is yours. Think about it. Think from your employers' perspective too.

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Anonymous said...

sally ur maam was right, it is illegal

Anonymous said...

Black thumb means she does not know how to garden or to take care of plants cause she does not know then the plants just die. The opposite is Green Thumb... a good gardener or someone who is good at taking care of plants are said to have a Green Thumb. Hope this helps explain that.... by the way Green Thumb is different from someone with a Green Mind... but that is another story.

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