The new job

  Porto Petro, Spain
Friday, June 23, 2006

Friday night came along and after an entire day at the beach, we began to get ready for our first appointment, we had bought tickets for a town party called Fiesta de San Juan which is a typical Mallorqui party held at the port of Porto Petro. There was food and dancing and singing, and after arriving late but thankfully being allowed something to eat, we stayed for the live band which played Mallorqui music (one of the musicians was Argentine) and decided to move on to our next appointment.

At midnight we were told of a beach party in Mondragó where the staff from the Blau Hotel where Bernie worked at would meet for drinks and late night swimming. Ed and I didn't know anyone and in the dark it was hard to remember faces for future encounters, but overall we had a great time. A small fire was made which people started jumping over. One French guy claimed he could walk on the hot logs and after much cheering, he did. He was so drunk he didn't even feel it though. We also met with Victor, the anthropologist, who we had nice conversations with. After a few hours we decided to head back to rest.

09 Varadero 2

The next day Ed and I woke at midday with the intention of walking to Cala d'Or to buy supplies for the apartment. We took a shortcut through the port whose street was lined with restaurants and bars. We passed a restaurant which had an interesting Asian Chill-Out style I hadn't seen before in my short time in the island. There were teak tables with white cushioned chairs facing the water, two day beds with Bali-styled drapery where one could lay under the sun having a light lunch, and a huge statue of a long-eared Buddha in Lotus position on the side. This seemed like my kind of place. We agreed with Ed we would stop by later for an afternoon refreshment and decided to move on.

05 View from the water

After taking a few steps, out of an unsought impulse I suggested to Ed we should ask if they needed more staff in the restaurant. Ed agreed and we took a chance. Luckily the owner was out setting up some tables so we asked him if he needed help with the restaurant. He immediately sounded interested and told us he was looking for young, hip people to work in his restaurant. Us! We mentioned we didn't have experience in the Gastronomic field but nonetheless, he asked us to stop by in the evening for a few hours for a trial.

11 Varadero 4

We all agreed to meet at 6pm in the restaurant to start working. Ed and I were really excited so we put off the supermarket shopping for the day and went back home to prep for our first night at work. I was totally nervous due to the fact that I had never held a tray full of plates and glasses before; I was scared I would dump everything of the first German lady I came across. I didn't even know how to properly open a bottle of wine, let alone serve it. Even though my dad had always talked to me about the art of opening, serving, and drinking wine, I had never put it into practice.

01 Lu in the Kitchen

We dressed in the cool Indian-style white linen uniforms we were given and walked the one and a half blocks from our place to "Varadero Porto Petro", the new chill-out lounge/restaurant in the area. As soon as we arrived we were introduced to the other waiters and waitresses which were a total of 4 plus the Italian kitchen staff. We were shown around and found that out back, there were a set of brick, wood and cement terraces with rattan couches and bean bags, colored lamps with candle light, more Buddha statues, a huge plasma TV (for the World Cup fans), and cool Asian sounds playing. Even though my main desire was to lay in one of the rattan sofas with a Cosmopolitan, we were instructed to wipe the tables and chairs which were dirty with dust and water stains. While I wiped the tables and watched Ed from afar rinsing the mop, I couldn't help laughing at the situation. Here we were in Palma de Mallorca cleaning a restaurant whereas only a month ago we were working for USA's largest telecommunication company; Ed leading a team of disconnection techs and I providing third level production support for the IT Department. The contrast was just hilarious.

The night progressed and as people started pouring in, Ed and I managed helping the waitresses, drying glasses, pouring simple drinks in the bar. Occasionally someone would stop for a breath and explain some details to us, but most of the night consisted on helping out the waitresses getting the orders through. I was very intimidated by the rhythm of things there, and watching the two waitresses rush by completely stressed with trays filled with heavy dishes and glasses scared the daylights out of me.

Six hours later, my feet and lower back were in agony and I couldn't wait to get in my bed, cursing the moment we had walked by the restaurant earlier that day. I still wasn't sure if I could pull off a job like this. I had never done any mechanical, manual work and after dealing with computers most of my professional life I yearned for a quiet desk job again. I had to try hard to recall the reason I had left my previous Buenos Aires routine but eventually convinced myself again this was all for the sake of travelling. The real money was here: in moving and sweating and stressing for the summer season. Somehow I had to find the strength to do it. After all, it was all about becoming accustomed to it.

After closing up at 3:30 am, the owner, asked us to come in at 11am the next morning for another trial shift and after that he would tell us if we were cut out for the job. Unable to no longer feel my feet or legs, deep down inside I hoped he would later change his mind about hiring us.

The next day, Sunday morning, we went through the same routine of washing and cleaning and drying and lifting and setting until 3pm when the owner, Alberto, told us to go home for a rest and come back later that evening for the dinner shift which was always much more hectic.

We went home and had a short nap before we had to take off again. I was so tired I could hardly believe I had agreed to this, but Ed managed to get me going and so we went back for the night shift. I decided then that despite the pain and stress I would give my 101% ....after all, I didn't come here to fail.