Jobseeker’s diary

With Simon still away, I’m spending a lot of time at home. That shouldn’t be a bad thing, except when it’s not your own home. Crushing at someone’s house for extended periods has many challenges, more so when you don’t exactly pull your weight in terms of contributing to the expenses. And it gets tougher towards the end of the month, those last few days before people get their salaries. You see the strain on almost everyone’s face. These past days have been “dry” since Jane, the sole bread winner hasn’t yet been paid. On Monday, we skipped lunch so we could have dinner. As for breakfast, only Jane and her son enjoy that “luxury” now. The rest of us have to fend for ourselves. Midweek, when we were really beginning to scrape for what to eat, I overheard Jane speaking to her mother on phone. Later, she told us that she (her mother) would be coming over and would stay a couple of days. I was a bit anxious about her visit, wondering not only what she would say about my presence but also the fact that we were already too many people crammed in a two-roomed house. Selfishly, I wondered where she would sleep but more so where I would sleep. After all this time, I still consider myself an outsider so I wondered whether Jane would ask me to make room for her mum. I shouldn’t have worried at all. Jane’s mum is one of the nicest and most accommodating people I’ve met. I realized that the minute she arrived. She hugged me like I were her grandchild. “That’s the way we greet here,” she smiled, reacting to my surprise at the hug. She asked about my life, family and my experiences and hang onto my every word. I on the other hand found it easy to open up to her and soon, we were laughing about my little knowledge of the local language and how I had lost my way several times. She treated all of us “leeches” with respect and soon, we were acting like one big “happy” family. Like most mothers do when visiting their children, even grown children, she brought lots of goodies: Fruit, vegetables, milk and most importantly, food. So this is what Jane’s call had been about, a distress call to mummy to save the day! And save the day, week as a matter of fact, she did. There’s enough food to last until Jane’s pay cheque comes through. For now at least, we will be spared Jane’s pained look every time she tries to figure out how to feed the “army”, which happens a lot when she’s broke. This whole episode got me thinking that perhaps we should give up this city life, go back to the village and do some digging. Seriously, life there is a lot simpler and less expensive. Jane’s mum’s parting words to me were not to give up my search for a “real” job. “You’re such a brave girl. Many girls your age are not that resilient in looking for employment and that alone is an achievement,” she said. Very encouraging words, I must say, and hopefully by the time she returns, I will have a better story to tell. The other highlight of the week, my week that is, was Spain’s victory over Portugal. What? Where’s my patriotism for Africa? I’m rooting for Ghana of course but to be honest, watching Ghana play doesn’t give you the exhilaration David Villa does even before he touches the ball. And don’t get me started on Fernando Torres, Xavi, Alonso, Pique, Capdevila and the rest of the team… To be continued… nsophie77@yahoo.com