Back to the Beach

Preface: due to bad internet, all my photo files getting corrupted, and general procrastination due to beach, the following few posts are reeeeally late.  Like two months late.  So they're 'what I did' posts rather than 'what I'm up to now'.  Since I'm on the move again, my posts should be a little more consistent. I hope.

Anyway.

November 12-28, 2015

I was back in Sua, which you'll remember from this post two months ago and also this post from two years ago. Only this time I was there to stay for a while.

I lived in a friend's spare room for a while at first, and got started on my first beach 'job' at one of the little beach bars.  I was offered the job when Shay and I came through before, and decided to come back and see what it was all about.

There's a lot of sitting in hammocks involved in this job. But this is the view which doesn't suck.

It doesn't have a set schedule for when its open. It all depends on when Dario (owner, also know as Salsita and Flayolay) feels like it, and if there's any business. Also running out of beer usually closes the place down.

When we do open, it means taking everything out of the fridge to put on the shelves. The fridge gets chained and padlocked shut at night so its storage for the glasses, liquor bottles, strainer, juicing things, knives, cutting board, etc.

Those go out on the shelves. We have 2 pint glasses and 4 of the ice cream sundae looking ones. There used to be 2 small clear glasses, but they disappeared and we gained a blue star one, I think it was absorbed from the restaurant across the street.

Hammocks get hung, swings get put out, tables and chairs passed down from the balcony on the second floor, and the sound system gets set up. It plays discoteca quality salsa all day.

I also get to set out the fruit we have for the day, meaning fruit art!  It gets stacked attractively on the counter, exact order depending on how many oranges and grapefruits we have to make pyramids out of.  The pineapples sometimes get flowers stuck in their tops too.

The selection usually includes piña (pineapple), naranja (orange), pomelo/toronja (grapefruit I'm pretty sure), and maracuya (passion fruit). Sandia (watermelon), melón (cantaloupe) and papaya have also shown up.

The trash on the sand floor that accumulated overnight gets picked up, cups, bottles, spoons etc. Counters and tables get wiped clear of sand. And then we enjoy the day.

Since I'm the gringa in town I get a lot of people stopping to talk. They all know my name. I know about a third of theirs.

In the evening the light bulbs get screwed in so there's light. The lightbulbs are colored so that's fun.

Whenever we decide to close, processes are reversed and everything is tucked back away.

In my first week and a half I made a whole $14, so I'm not in it for the pay. But hammock sitting in front of the ocean isn't too bad of a way to spend a winter.

Note: I spent a couple weeks at the bar, then got a job waitressing at the best restaurant in Sua, so the rest of my winter was spent not in a hammock.  That post coming soon!  Also the other things I did on the beach when not working.