Let’s see, where to begin? If you stay anywhere too long, whether you think you like it or hate it, no matter if you meant to end up there or if you thought you were just passing through, that place begins to feel normal. It begins to feel like home. You’re world has shape again. I already have my favorite hangouts, eateries, beaches, and most importantly… I’ve met plenty of people around town. It’s nice walking around town and receiving a friendly “buenos dias” from someone you met the previous day.
Work at the hostel isn’t really work at all. I keep the lobby tidy, show people to their rooms, but generally I hangout with tenants and talk about where we have been, where we want to go, and our lives back home. Travelers share whatever helpful info they have about previous destinations and most people are generally on the edge of their seat when I explain what my month in the jungle was like as well as my Ayahuasca experience.
The hostel is ran by an Australian woman named Susie. She came out here 6 years ago after the passing of her husband and bought a large house to transform it into a hostel. Very recently she built a house not far from town. It sits on a cliff with the most amazing views of the ocean. I can’t give you a square footage or anything but I will tell you that is a very nice house. It cost a grand total of $25,000 to build and she has to pay a whopping $4 a year in taxes.
I know I have mentioned how cheap everything is down here but I will give you a rundown of what I spend on what. The other day I bought a liter of coca cola and a bottle of pretty decent rum. My total was $8.48. On the corner about 40 yards from the hostel they sell burgers. Pretty decent burgers at that, not just for South American standards. The price of one of these gems is $1. For lunch there are a few places I go. They have a set menu so you don’t exactly choose what you get but they tell you before hand. Typically it is some sort of meat, a side salad, a banana, a huge scoop of rice, a delicious bowl of soup, and a cup of juice for $2. A gallon of water is $1 and a 32 oz beer is $1.25.
Life is simple here. I have been living with 5 t-shirts for about 2 months. Each day I see the line between ‘want’ and ‘need’ a little more clearly. I see people here with barely anything except a smile on their face and I think back to all the people with cars, jobs, family, and more food than they need and those are the people who think happiness comes in a prescription pill. I do think that every person needs something slightly different to find happiness but I also know that whatever it is that we need, its not much. I get my fix each morning as I walk to the beach and pass a gymnasium where they are holding a PE class. The sound of the basketball hitting the floor over and over is my theme song. I walk down to the shore, wearing the same shirt I had on the day before, knowing that I have to return to the hostel in just one hour for work, and I smile. No money in my pocket, no car to drive around in, nothing. Yet each morning I find my tranquility in that 3 block stroll.
PS A very happy birthday to Katie Parucha!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment