I arrived this morning in the beautiful city of Arequipa from an 18 hour bus journey from Lima. My bus left at 6:30pm Wednesday evening and I arrived just after noon on Thursday. Luckily I was able to sleep for a decent amount of the trip and even made sure to stretch every once in a while because thanks to my cousin Judy who suggested that my swollen legs and feet from my last long bus journey (8 hours followed by 14) could have been from a lack of movement and not from a mosquito allergy, I monitored my lower extremities and everything was a-okay! So this all started two days ago when I was approached by the manager at The Point, Lima who asked me if I wanted to be the bar manager in Lima. Puzzled, I asked what was going to happen to Rob to which I was told he was a shitty bar manager and was going to be fired. Well as Rob's faithful platonic wife and bff (and because I have already spent nearly 6 months in Lima) I respectfully and appreciatively declined the offer. Lima would have been a quick fix and an on the spot exchange of duties which ultimately would have been easy for the management team at The Point but then the second offer came; go to Arequipa to be the new bar manager; the position I was initially going to take back in December but then changed my mind after feeling I had made a rather rash decision. This could not have been more perfect timing because I was desperately looking for something to do to occupy my time where I wouldn't be spending a lot of money- preferably a place where I could work in exchange for free room and board. I was considering WWOOF (World Wide Opportunities for Organic Farmers) where I could work on a farm and learn all about organic farming. While manual labor outside in the dirt with bugs and sweat is not my favorite pastime, I recognize that some of our best lessons in life are learned from doing the things we may not want to do. Living an organic lifestyle that isn't detrimental to the environment is also important to me- like keeping composts, having free range chickens, and conserving as much as possible. Welp- no dirt for me because I was told there was a spot for me in Arequipa and that the current manager would be fired as soon as I got on the bus in Lima to make sure I actually go to Arequipa this time! I got the hostel before 1pm which is located just 2 blocks from the main square; Plaza de Armas and is located in a precious building. There needs to be some work done, especially by someone with a lot of initiative and creative visions, (yours truly)! I have a lot of neat ideas for making the bar a bit livelier and hopefully the rest will come; drink sales! The Point Arequipa is in a new-to-them location much closer to the happenings of Arequipa but not everyone knows about the address change; taxi drivers, travel book editors, bus stations so it's important to do some advertising. I am really excited to be here and will gradually be turning this place around starting with taking the 2 empty and non functioning toilet bowls on the roof terrace and turning them into potted plants yeehaw!
Side note: we watched a lame movie on the bus ride called Monte Carlo with Selena Gomez- the Disney channel girl. The plot is completely and utterly unimportant, but a dull character in the movie discovers her more adventurous side and the last scene of the movie is the dull girl and her new hot Australian boyfriend hiking to the top of Machu Picchu! I have the SAME picture with the ruins in the background that they showed in the movie...cool!!
Another side note; a lovely girl named Michal (Jewish and American) began working in the bar in Lima. She is from Philly and has a master's degree in Human Sexuality so naturally she is open to every one and their life story especially if it has to do with sexuality. Because we lay low when it comes to discos on Sunday and Monday nights, she decided it would be a good idea to promote sexual acceptance and use Sunday nights as gay club night. This was all of course fine with me as I have friends of all shapes, sizes and sexual preferences back home and am quite comfortable in most if not all situations. To be honest, I have no idea what the name of the bar was that we went to but the ratio of men to women was 10:1. Any chance I got to make eye contact with an attractive man, I quickly realized he was ONLY talking to men. This is definitely not a place for straight women to come to pick up straight men because there were 5 in the whole club who were dragged out with their gay friends. At 3am there was a drag show (obviously all in Spanish) and the MC had the most fabulous breasts I have seen in a very long time. Some of the other drag queens simply stuffed their shirts but there were a select few with obvious butt and breast implants. One tranny even had hair just like mine and my friend Aaron mistook her for me! Once she turned around and you saw her manly face covered in makeup, it was a different story! I was eventually overwhelmed by all the gay men grabbing me and my hair and spinning me around so I decided to go home around 4am. I was also annoyed that half of my 15 Soles margarita ($5.66 and pretty expensive) was spilled shortly after receiving it when someone bumped into me. I think I would go back if I was in a better mood to party and shake my tush.
Ok. Señora Tina. Tina is a 40 something woman who looks worn down on the outside. Tina works as a cleaning woman at The Point Lima 5 days a week for 8 hours and makes 25 Soles per shift (about $9.43). Tina is a very sweet woman and for the nearly 6 months (not all consecutive) I stayed at The Point, I greeted her with huge hugs, bright smiles, and happiness without missing a day. Tina wouldn't hurt a fly. A few months back I thought my ipod was stolen and it was recovered by Tina 2 months after I had accepted it's unfortunate destiny. It was in the bar all along! I nearly cried in Tina's arms out of sheer joy that I now had my portable music back! Liz, the younger, more obnoxious and less hard-working, more gossipy woman told Tina that when she finds expensive or nice things around the hostel that backpackers leave behind, she could sell them and make a profit! Looking at Tina, I could tell in her eyes that her conscience was too innocent for such acts and my heart melted even more. Tina goes about her business every day cleaning up after backpackers, unclogging toilets when people flush the toilet paper that should have been placed in a trash bin, mopping vomit from irresponsible and hungover backpacking teenagers, sweeps broken glass one breaks in the bar, makes beds and throws away dirty presents left behind. Basically this woman is a saint and called me her 'hijita' which means little daughter even though she can comfortably rest her head conveniently between my bosom. I decided when I left for Ecuador I was going to give Tina a small gift in appreciation for helping me wrap up bleeding fingers from the few times the dull knife in the bar slipped, or giving me some home remedies to fix an upset tummy, making my bed, and the other countless things she unnecessarily did for me just because I greeted her with a smile and spent time chatting with her. I bought her a gift Wednesday morning knowing I would give it to her that evening before my departure. When Tina came in for her shift at 1pm on Wednesday, I greeted her with my shiny smile and embraced her with my long arms, asking her how she was on this fine day. Before she could even answer, Tina teared up and said she was ok. Lies. I took her by the hand and walked her into my dorm room where I knew the inhabitants were not present. Tina even brought her mop along. She broke down crying and explained to me that she hadn't been paid yet for the month of February. While she went on and on venting I picked up broken pieces between the tears and came to find out that she was asked to work an extra shift at her second job which pays her 10 Soles per shift ($3.77) but I am not sure how many hours, and she has to buy her 13 year old son new shoes and feed her family as she is the only one who works. Her parents also live with her whom she provides for and Tina then showed me the 5 inch scar on her stomach where she had stitches (and possibly an operation) in the hospital which was caused by her ex-husband but again, between the tears and the fast spanish, I am not 100% sure what he had done to her but it didn't matter, it was bad. By this time I am crying and hugging Tina every couple of sentences and wiping her eyes. I knew this was the perfect time to give Señora Tina the present from me. I reached into my back pocket and handed her a giftcard worth 50 Soles ($18.86) to the supermarket around the corner. Tina was speechless. Her family would be able to eat. I gave her 2 day's wages of what she earns working at The point so she could feed her family. While my money supplies are running low and I am trying to be frugal, I knew that Tina needed this way more than me. She embraced me with her small but round frame and told me that she had always wanted a daughter to which I replied 'Soy su hija' which means 'I am your daughter.' Of course I started crying more, reached over to my left wrist and removed a red an black beaded bracelet, a popular touristy purchase amongst travelers which is believed to bring good luck. I had received this bracelet from my friend Emily who I met up with in Ecuador and just knew that Tina had to have it. I gently stretched the bracelet around her fingers and slid it on to her hard working hand and hugged her again. I am going to miss Tina for the 2 months I plan to stay in Arequipa but I will be taking her out for a nice dinner- just me and her to thank her for being the woman she is. She needs to hear it and most of all, deserves to hear it. It's so important to remember how fortunate we are in every life scenario because there is always someone on the other side who's got it way worse. After reading this, I hope that some of you are inspired to make a donation to a charity, buy a homeless person a sandwich (not just handing him or her 5 bucks) or help an old man carry his groceries. It's the little things that count and knowing that you made a difference in someone's life for just a few moments, possibly their entire week should be completely worth it.
