A Mutually Beneficial Relationship

We have a symbiotic relationship – they bring me food, I look out for them. Sound like the mafia? It’s my relationship with the Salvadorans who clean my office.

I have grown to love this extended family over the years. I originally started talking to the mom who is now a grandmother so I could practice my Spanish. That was probably 7 years ago. She’s only 39 and in that time I have watched her bring 2 new babies into the world.

For a while we worked on her literacy in English. She said she wanted to learn how to write so she could send notes with her children to school. But it turns out that her barely 3rd grade education in El Salvador left her lacking even in her own language.

She is one of the hardest working people I know. She bought a house in her name, not daring to use her husband’s name because he is still trying to gain legal status in this country. They have carved up the small house into lots of rooms and I couldn’t tell you how many people live there.

I help them when they need to contact a repair person or get a bulky trash pickup arranged or even pay a parking ticket. I go with Morena if she needs to have a conference at one of her children's schools. The whole system is still somewhat foreign to Morena, after being here for probably 15 years. She is reluctant to make phone calls that require English.

They have come to know that I love tamales and really all sorts of Latin American food. Morena invited me over to her house to learn how to make tamales, but I was not nearly as deft as she is at rolling them into those leaves. So they are always sharing with me. Last week I had two different varieties of tamales. Today it was a chicken sandwich that was like no chicken sandwich I had ever eaten. This one had beets and radishes and cucumbers and some green leafy herb that I couldn’t recognize. Yum!

Sandra, the 19-year-old daughter, now works in my office as well. She graduated from high school just as her baby was due. She seems to be content to have joined the cleaning brigade. Her baby was born just one month before her mom’s youngest daughter. I recently brought them a disposable camera with the idea that if they took the pictures, I would pay to have them developed. I handed over the pictures of the two adorable little girls (the aunt who is younger than her niece). And I was greeted with the chicken sandwich and the biggest smile you can imagine.

Sadly, this was the highlight of my day! I had a series of work-related problems to deal with. No yelling today, just problems. But things looked up when my trash can was emptied.

My dream is for those two little girls to escape the life of the cleaning brigade. They will grow up knowing how to make dynamite tamales, but I hope they will find something more fulfilling to do than empty our trash. They certainly have role models to demonstrate the importance of hard work!