Pouring pints and bathing in beer

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May day dawned in La Paz and brought with it protest marches, political speeches broadcast over crackling loudspeakers and plenty of ear-shattering gun salutes. Tom and I spent the day squeezing through the crowds and knocking on the doors of hostels and bars, in search of work. We were told there was bar work available at the Adventure Brew Hostel, a large ´party hostel´ which boasts its own brewery. The place is so big and there are so many people st1ying here - I was concerened it might be a little impersonal. However, as soon as we were introduced to the bar manager, Thomas (who we found slouched on a bean bag with his puppy Rafeal in his lap) and chatted to him about the job and hostel, we started to feel that we were going ot enjoy our time here.

We have been working at the hostel for two weeks now - four shifts a week buys us free food and accomodation (at an annex 300 yards from the hostel). While the concept of going to work seemed a bit alien at first, we settled into the job with ease and enthusiasm. In fact the routine of working, and the familiarity of the hostel and the city are comforting after months of waking up in a new bed every morning. We have a wonderfully hedonistic lifestyle here and are lucky enough to be living with a great group of people. We wake up each day to pancakes and hot coffee, and mornings often melt into afternoons, as we happily waste hours lying in hammocks, scribbling in our journals and swapping stories with our new friends.

Working behind the bar is very social and while the shifts are long, they often pass with lots of laughter and several free beers. Despite our stressfree and homey lifestlye here, we are expected to work hard in return for living for free. As well as putting the hours in behind the bar, we are responsibe for dreaming up, organising and promoting activities in the bar. Last week Tom and I were forced to overcome our shared fear of public speaking in order to put on a music quiz we had written. The quiz went down well, and gave us the confidence to put on a games night, reggae night(!) and a BBQ. Arranging these activities has been suprisingly fun, and having projects to work on has given us a sense of purpose and a chance to be creative, both of which have been lacking in recent months.

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Photos

Rafael
He likes to fall asleep on Amy´s lap