The Maid Enigma in Jakarta

It is kind of weird that I miss being in Jakarta during the Idl Fitr holiday since I'm not celebrating it. I miss the food especially. I guess that's why. And even though I no longer eat meat, I still reminisce how wonderful the food is during the holiday.

I called my mom last week and found out that her maids were going back to their villages for the holiday and my mom was telling me how hard it is not having not a single maid in the house.
She had to hire another temporary maid for Rp. 100,000/day for two weeks.
Huh, that's quite expensive.
I also saw a lot of Facebook postings by my friends about how they will have to bust their butt off while the maids are not around and how tired they are, bla bla bla.

Well... I don't have a maid here. I cook, clean up, do the laundry, walk the dog, and have a full time job.
My husband helps a great deal, though, so we divide the work pretty evenly, but the point is, I have no maid for the whole year. Period.
And my house chores are not bad. My American friends with kids and full time jobs have even a worse time than me and they are surviving. Yes, it is tough, but they are okay.

I see it's really questionable how much dependency the Jakarta residence has when it comes to maids (and nannies for those who have kids). Think about this: The maid recess period only lasts about 14 - 30 days of the 365 days/year, as oppose, like me, I got no maid for the whole 365 days.

I know how convenient it is having some help around the house. I lived in Jakarta for 23 years and I was very dependent to maids too. I threw my jeans on the floor, the next day it is back in my closet. Clean. I speaketh " I want some oxtail soup," then in a few hours, it's ready.
But here, when I cook, I have to chop my own vegetable, when I stain my white dress, I have to clean it up and wash it up myself. After my dinner, I wash the plates that I used. I clean my own bathroom. In fact, when I went home to Jakarta, I found that it was very uncomfortable for me to ask my mom's maid for something, hahaha... I even tipped them for their trouble before going back here.

Having said that, I have got to mention something funny though. About three weeks ago, on my Facebook wall, I posted that I was excited that my maid of honor is coming to town and that my husband was picking her up.
My cousin in Oregon, misread it and thought that I was excited that my maid is coming and my husband was picking her up.
So, after a long time of absence in communication, she called me, left me an urgent message to call her back. And when I called her back, she so curiously asked how did I manage to have a maid sent here to the US to work for me. She was interested to get one too.

Uhm,... awkward...

It was my maid of honor.... you know... like... hum.. how do you call it,.. bridesmaid when I got married. My best friend. Not a maid.
Then she broke into laughter.

This shows that leaving here does not mean that you are maid resistance.
Some people just love them to death and need them like crack.