What have I been up to in 102F Panama

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The day starts about like this:

6am Roosters and dogs start a competition “Who is louder”

6:15am Wake up and get dressed

6:17am Go for a run (if and only if there weren’t too many fun people in the hostel and I didn’t have to run a bar)

7am Come back to the hostel after a neighborhood run and talk to our 37 y.o. cleaning lady Ara.

7:15 am Take a shower, make a big pot of coffee for everyone, a huge pan cake with honey for myself, and check computers for any reservations. Then the morning passes by talking and saying goodbyes to travelers who are taking off either to Bouquete, Bocas del Toro or Panama City; getting their e-mails and facebook info to be friends forever and ever…

12pm Lunch time. There are a bunch of restaurants where a plate of rice and beans with chicken and a small salad costs around $2. I have also been buying food in a supermarket but since it’s such a shared environment here, it has been stolen by a hungry tourist a few times.

The main duties during the day are: answering phones, ordering beer and soda, going to the supermarket, making sure we have the reservations under control, and we have enough drinks to run a bar at night, the area and swimming pool are clean… feed the dog and cat

When in the afternoon people start arriving, there begins my favorite part of the job: “Making best friends.”

For the past 5 days I met so many people that they start mixing up like peas in a pod. I start to see the likeliness and can shortly write a PhD paper about “Reasons behind traveling.” When we open the bar, 3-4 hours go by unnoticed talking about other countries, travel stories, left behind routine life, playing music and sipping brown rum of Panama.





*** Starting next week I will be promoted to be a manager which means I will get some money to cover my $2 meals J

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Photos

Maestro musica!!!
Gregg is playing

A perrot that died the next day
Not sure if because I kissed him or because we gave him cranberry juice and vodka.