Five hundred twenty five thousand six hundred minutes

Well folks, WIU says it looks like we are here for a year. They think. Don't quote them. That's the plan. Nathan spoke to his supervisor last night and she said that they are pretty confident that we are going to be here for awhile. So still nothing in concrete, but I feel pretty good about it. That's the weird thing too - I do feel pretty good about it. I was relieved when Nathan told me because I really want to give this place a fighting chance and, let's face it, nowhere gets a fighting chance when it is 110 degrees. So I can chill out about packing in all the sightseeing in the next few months and wait until it cools down to an acceptable temperature. This also means that I am going to start spending some cash on making our place a bit more comfortable to live in. AND that if anyone wants to come and visit, they too can choose and non-flesh searing time of the year to do it...

So I have managed to touch off a firestorm in the neighborhood this week without even trying! I paid Chinu 1000 rupees the other day for the work she did over the last month. This comes to about $25. I thought this was an acceptable amount for the woman who washes my dishes, mops my floors, and cleans my bathrooms everyday. I was mistaken. Our landlord told us that this was unacceptable as this is more than she gets from the other people in the neighborhood and now she will want more from them all. Also, if she works an hour and a half to only pay her for an hour. So far, I have been told that she will rob me, lie to me, and steal my money while holding it over everyone else's head. My experience with her has been that she brings me every rupee that she finds, asks me if she can move anything, and she came back the next day trying to explain that I had paid her too much. I wanted to say to our landlord that first of all this is between Chinu and me, and second of all she is not a child and I don't feel like trying to squeeze as much work out of her for as little money as possible. It feels a bit dishonest to me. But then, I don't understand how business works here, so I have promised to only pay her 400 next month. I'm totally Kathy Lee Gifford with those Kmart sweatshops...