This is my first blog to go international as I'm reporting to you live from the South of France. A former college roommate (for lack of a better term) asked me if I was interested in going on vacation for free, the only catch being that I had to do the dishes. Of course, I immediatly jumped on the opportunity, which is abundantly clear by the fact that I'm no longer on Belgian soil and that my cell phone provider has changed to OrangeF (I'm pretty sure the F stands for France, although I'm open to other opinions!).
The trip started out a bit frantic because when we arrived at the busstop, all we could see where elderly people. Me and my roommate were the youngest ones there! I panicked a bit, but I eased my mind by saying that all the young people must still be at Saint-Pierre la Mer (a fact of which I was proven right 13 hours later).
The busride itself was fairly nice, since it had a capacity of 54 people and there were only 11 of us, we all had extra room. I slept from 2:20 am to about 8 am. Not much, but what do you expect to get from a tourbus?
When we arrived at the hotel I was quickly drawn to the magnificent colour of the sea. That's the kind of blue you don't see in the North Atlantic. The hotel itself is pretty nice as well. It has a building for the guests and a separate building for the employees (aka me). We weren't allowed in the rooms until after 3 pm, so we got out of our bus-clothes and changed into something more comfortable as we laid ourselves down by the pool. The sun was burning brightly and although my skin has a tendency to turn lobster-red first, it usually settles into a nice light brown tint some time after that - thankfully!
We ate around 6 pm and while we were waiting to get started on our work, we sat at the bar, getting acquainted with our fellow co-workers. At a quarter to 8 we were expected in the kitchen. My job is to wash all of the big and heavy stuff, which basically means I get the shitty end of the stick. I get to scrape those unholy pots clean and throw away the tons of leftovers, but I'll elaborate on that in a minute.
The whole time I was working there, I couldn't help but feel like Cinderella; working my ass off and waiting until something better comes along to sweep me off my feet. Alas, Cinderella got herself a prince, I got myself a gigantic plate of paella, clams and shrimps included to wipe clean. One of the worst parts of my job is the amount of food I have to throw out. Seriously, all that food could help fight hunger in the entire Third World. I threw away 17 entrecôtes, at least 5 kilos worth of potatoes, gallons of untainted soup and countless vegetables. Policy dictates however that everything left over, has to be thrown out.
My chef doesn't speak a word of Dutch, so I have the pleasure of trying to decypher whatever it is she wants me to do! Ninety percent of the time, I can make out what she's trying to say and I respond politely with a "Oui." or a "D'accord!". The other ten percent of the time I'm at the mercy of God's will, trying not to spill sauce all over myself and praying the garbage bag doesn't rip when I have to toss it into the bin!
With the job also comes a nice little working space. You know, wooden desk, reclining chair, potted plat somewhere, wi-fi connection etc. Oh wait, that's not me, that's the office of someone who is actually getting paid to do this kind of work! Which is not to say that I'm jealous or anything, I'm just covered in gravy and other things alimentary!
Nontheless, I kinda like it here. It's a quiet place where I get to meet new people, experience new things (even if that includes scrubbing pans and sweeping rice off the floor) and all the while, I get to spend the day by the pool or by the sea.
This Thursday is my first day off, so I'm going to try to do an excursion or maybe hire a bike to ride around Saint-Pierre.
I'm going to try to maintain this makeshift-journal and keep you updated on the daily life here at hotel La Méridienne! Forgive the typos as I'm writing this blog on my belly in my room with the use of my iPhone! But I'll do my best at delivering top-notch quality writing! *cough*
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