the Life of Plenum; as told in words

[Diana]

Awesome read Plenum. I like your story.

the family that I stayed with had an uncle who was a recently retired government minister. They had a housemaid that was for all intents and purposes, an indentured servant. She was over 60 years old, had wretched teeth, and was small and bent over. Her 'room' was the size of a closet. She never left the residence, and worked from dawn to late evening cleaning, cooking, and attending the 'mistress' of the house. I never saw the slavery of yore, but I saw the slavery of the now. There is no mincing words about it.

During a visit to Bolivia, SA I experienced much the same. The poverty in places was appalling, with outdoor markets where the poor used the streets as a toilet. There was a group of Americans down there that all had live-in maids, whom they actually called slaves. They actually used that word.

However, all the "slaves" and servants did have Sundays off (it was the official day off). This is when they would go visit their families. They would celebrate every Sunday long into the night. We were in the city of Santa Cruz, and people had donkeys, chickens, and other farm animals in their yards. I woke up Sunday night to hear "partying" coming in through the window. I could hear music coming from all over the place, and the best part was that the donkeys were braying, the roosters crowing, the dogs barking, all chiming in with the celebrations!

I skimped over the second half of my life fairly quickly, but there are some very interesting stories in there too! But this piece is already too long, and I don't want to monopolise your day with these words.

Okay, time for the second installment of your story.