The Colombian Way of Doing Business

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I was stoked to be starting my new job and life in Cartagena. I definitely needed to get out of Ibague, and I had already fallen in love with Cartagena. The job description at this super chill hostel I got seemed unreal...but it was just that: unreal.

Upon my arrival to my new home, I was quickly slapped in the face with a very different job than what I had agreed upon just a a few weeks prior. I was supposed to work the bar and reception of this hostel I had stumbled upon and fell in love with. I was to start at 4pm each day and end about 10 or 11pm, depending on how busy it was. I was to get a room, food, plus a very small amount of cash each month (peanuts really, but food here is very expensive so it makes up for it). On top of which, I would teach English to the staff at a separate rate, as a way to be able to earn more money -this was even their idea! However, upon arrival, I learned that I would barely be getting half of all that we agreed to. Upon arriving in Cartagena, they´ve decided to not run the bar at night for unlcear reasons. -The closest I´ve been able to figure out is, that they´re new and don´t have the money to keep it going at night right now. This means that I would now start at 6pm and work until 7 AM. Yup, you´ve read it correctly, until 7 in the morning! I would now be the person that stays up all night to open the door and let the guests back in at whatever time suited them best -and the dreamy work sched slips right out of my fingertips. Since two hours have now been chopped off of my schedule, I would now be considered part-time (regardless of my working 13 hours a night with only one day off). This also means that I´ll also be getting less money, about $100,000 pesos less. Then we discussed how I would be teaching just once a week. It would be two classes back-to-back, beginning at 9am each Saturday morning. It didn´t seem to matter that I was only able to get to sleep just two hours beforehand. I wanted to discuss my pay for this part of the deal. As you can imagine, I was a bit stunned by this whole new work schedule, which I didn´t have much choice but to take (also why I´m sure she did this to me, she knew I had no where else to go). Plus, I coudn´t say much either as this whole deal was in Spanish, and my Spanish isn´t good enough yet to fight back in a way that could mean business. She kind of gave me a puzzled look when we discussed this portion of the pay. As it turns out, she was hoping to sucker me even more by throwing in those classes for free. Though in her eyes you could tell she knew she would need to pay me extra for this, just like she had said just over a week ago. I told her it´s typically $25-30k pesos an hour, but for them I would "give them a deal" at $20k (since I´m experienced, I can actually charge $30). She seemed to nod in an uncomfortable agreement and before she could say anything else, I finished by giving it right back to her without even realizing it, in true Colombian fashion: ...$20k per head, not per class (you always charge per class, regardless of the amount of people attending, not per head). With that, she chopped off the classes without a fight. She didn't even try to corner me into it as part of the deal. She said they´re so new they couldn´t afford it at this time, trying to make me feel sorry for them. I didn´t budge, I had already given them a "deal" and that was that. In addition to all of these new details I was slammed with, as the days passed, I found out that not everything on the menu was up for grabs. I couldn´t get that fruit salad, no that´s an extra cost for me. I couldn´t get that frappacino either, no that´s an extra cost too. They were never really clear as to what was an extra or not, even though I tried really hard at getting this clarified. It seemed to be on their Colombian terms: make it up as you go, so that was a bit annoying too. Though after getting on the cook´s good side, these extras didn´t matter too much! For instance, once she found out that I like frappacinos, she would call me in the kitchen and sneak them to me!

Despite this horrible situation, I can´t seem to get mad at them. I´m a bit heart borken by this bad form of business, sure. Perhaps still stunned by it all, but I can´t seem to hate them as one would normally do. I super love these girls here, they´re really cool and are super helpful. And then I realized it, I´ve unconciously learned the Colombian way of doing business throughout all my time of being here in Colombia. I´ve somehow learned not to take offense to this awful situation. They would have done it to anybody, especially a foreigner. Just like I gave it right back to them without even realizing it (with my English classes), it´s nothing personal. It´s all just part of the game.

Needless to say, I started the job hunt almost immediately. Adriana´s (one of the owners/the one who I made this "arrangement" with...er, well who I got screwed by) boyfriend even agreed that I needed a new job tout de suite. Luckily, within a week I managed to get one at the other, wildly known and packed Hostel El Viajero. I actually had the pleasure of staying there myself my first time in Cartagena! During my interview, my new boss felt horribly for me and ensured me that I wouldn´t work past 11pm, it´s too dangerous for women to do so here. There would also be a rotating shift, so I wouldn´t be stuck with the same schedule all the time - score! On top of which, from being a previous guest there, I also knew that you never work alone (like I do here at the Blue House Hostel). There will always be one or two others working alongside you. The only glitch, I now need to find a place to live, as she doesn´t allow her employees to reside at the hostel -she feels that everyone needs a real break from work. The upside: they pay a hell of a lot more, so this is entirely do-able!

Getting an apartment has been a bit tricky her. They don´t really have online places to search or anything of the sort. However, I have a few leads and have to decide by this Tuesday -I´ll save those details for another post. In the mean time, I´ve been basking in this charming town and getting no sleep. Why am I not getting any sleep? Well if you don´t know me or well enough, when I sleep I´m as good as dead. Therefore, I can´t sleep and just wake up when someone rings the bell, because I won't hear it. I basically have to stay up all night! Since my bed is in this makeshift room practically in the kitchen, I get woken up by the crew each morning with their wailing voices -that apparently can even raise "the dead." I´m able to sleep through most of it, or roll over and go right back to sleep, but that only lasts until about 11-12am before I can't anymore. Everyone is just too loud to sleep through it all. It´s good in a way; otherwise, I would sleep all day and by the time I wake up, have to start work. I'd just be cooped up in this really neat hostel the whole time. Plus, I´ve been able to hang out with a few guests that have gotten to know me and my situation -the best part of my job/working at hostels: meeting new people. When I told my bosses I gotten a new job, they were super duper happy for me. They know they don´t pay well, it´s too dangerous for me to work at night and the hours are not ideal. They reassured me I was part of the family, welcome at any time, must come and visit, and just how happy they are for me.

I would attach a bunch of pictures to accompany this post, but my Mac died a few days ago (RIP). As a result, I´m writing on a computer with an Arabic keyboard (sorry for the strange punctuation), with none of my own pictures to upload.

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Photos

Blue House Hostel
the website isn´t up yet. They also have the name of Casita Azul. I´ve coined the term Boutique Hostel for them. They only have one dorm room and the other 2 rooms they have are suites, like that in a hotel room. So no really a hotel, not really a hostel. Boutique Hostel. She´s going to start using that name for them.

Comments

[Lauren]

You are in Cartegena!
Hi friend! Just catching up on your blog posts - sounds like things have been a bit crazy in Cartegena! Hope life has settled down a bit since you wrote this post, and also that you have found a place to live! Muah! Big hugs!