brrrRRING...brrrRRING...brrrRRING...

No way can it be time to get up yet. Nope, that's right 4:45. It's my first day of work in seven months. Why did I choose "cook at a cattle station" again? Oh right, food and accomodation included and no place to spend money. I stumble to the kitchen where lights and music (horrible top 40 pop music, no less) are already blaring.

Amelia, my boss, already has the meat cooking, and I get to do eggs. I'm cooking for 10 this morning, so I decide scrambled is the best way to go and do a whole dozen. Later I'm told, "Scrambled is for when you're trying to save eggs, so do half the number of eggs than people. Add some milk and really whisk them to get air in so they're really fluffy." Half an egg per person is piddly; I eat 3 eggs myself at home. Also, in my experience, people take more than one egg's worth when they're scrambled.

As everyone exits the kitchen, Amelia instructs me to make a cake for "smoko" (smoke break). "There should be recipes for cakes without butter in the book." Oh yea, we're out of butter. I panic as I look through the pantry, cold room, and store room and come up with no flour either. There is oatmeal, so I decide to improvise individual oatmeal in muffin tins. They explode almost immediately, so I choose undercooked rather than impossible mess and possibly no food if they completely bubbled over.

I get yelled at for thinking there was no flour since someone put it in the other cold room (I was not aware there was another cold room). But I did make something, so crisis averted.

People were in for lunch in about three groups. Ki-Vi is on her own. "So how late do you guys work?" "Dinner is at 7:00, so..." "That's a lot to expect out of people." "But time flies. I can't believe I've already had lunch!" My day is crawling, but I do admit that days and weeks did fly by after the first few panic-filled days.

That afternoon, I scour recipes left by former cooks and organize them into meals and desserts. I also start to organize the pantry and store room. We have a freezer full of mince (ground beef), some lamb chops, 10 kg plain flour, 10 kg self raising flour, 1 huge bag of potatoes, 2 huge bags of onions, 1 large box of apples, 1 large box of carrots, many cans of coconut milk and sweetened condensed milk, and some random cans of other food, but not much else. We weren't going to starve, but we had lots of similar meals until a big grocery trip was arranged and a "killer" done and aged.

For dinner, I cooked some mince (ground beef) and topped it with potatoes and carrots. It was beautiful; all the carrots and potatoes cooked (unlike many subsequent meals). There just wasn't enough for everyone; Dave had to eat leftovers. "Cook more food, lots more," I'm instructed.

By the time I finish dishes, it's 8:30 or 9:00. This may not sound late, but I soon made my lights-out time 9:00. It was another short night made even shorter by my anxiety keeping me awake thinking of what I had to do the next day.

Shout Out to my English (and Swedish) Homies

My new English friends requested a shout-out on my blog. We met during the fun-week orientation with Work and Travel Company. They were going to spend a few days in Bondi before heading to Melbourne, which was where I was headed. I saw most of what I wanted to see in Sydney, and the rest I can see when I get back at the end of the year.

I had been pretty quiet and awkward for the first week, as I am when I meet new people, and was kind of just tagging along with them, but I soon made myself integral to the group via “that’s what she said” and other innuendos.

A few of them now relish speaking in an American accent (that sounds nothing like anywhere in America). “Mwaniker” is my new name, but they also call me by singing my full name. It cracks my shit up. When they request my English accent, they call me out for speaking “posh.”

They call me their mum because I’m prepared for all situations. All I do is have the map memorized, have everything in its place (OCD), carry a Swiss army knife, and have safety pins to be considered “so efficient it makes me sick.” I’ve also been nicknamed a walking encyclopedia since I share random facts. 

So here's a "hey, hey" to Binx, Scott, Adele, Luke, Jess, and Richard.

People Die in This Weather

Today was a hot one--42 C or 108 F! We were warned upon starting orientation today that "people die in this weather." Awesome because knowing my luck, it will be me. I just tried to stay out of the sun, wore my hat when I was in the sun, and drank loads of water.

We were also told to wear "sun cream" and not to worry about tanning because the sun will burn right through it, what with Australia being right under the hole in the Ozone Layer. Oh yay, one more thing that can kill you...eventually.

I did survive, though, and without a sunburn, so that's a plus.

Dominican Safari: A Most Random Assortment of Activities

On our second day in Punta Cana, Lauren and I went on a "safari." The all-terrain truck picked us up in front of the hotel early...well, for vacation that is.

There were already a bunch of people on board, and we went to another resort to pick up a group of eight, filling the truck. However, the last seats were split, six in the back and two in the front. The people exiled to the front persuaded people from the back to switch with them so they could all be one big happy family together. "Oh, good! We thought we lost you!" squealed one girl. *Eye roll* by Lauren and I. "It looks like we're going to be the rowdy ones, this time," announced a guy in that group. Fan-freaking-tastic.

The truck drove to the entrance of another resort and called six people, including Lauren and I, off the truck. The other four people only spoke French. Just as I was asking Lauren why we were being banished since we're not French, the guide asked us what language we spoke--English and Spanish. "Ok, that's fine. You stay here." Then the truck drove off. Yes, drove off, leaving us stranded by the side of the road. Uuhhh...great, we're going to die.

A full five minutes later, another truck showed up. Foof, not going to die! More importantly, we didn't have to spend the day with the obnoxious group. 

Lauren on the truck

Our truck had a driver, a tour guide, a videographer, and a bartender. The guide spoke French, Spanish, and English, so that's most likely why the French speakers were transferred. He repeated everything in all three languages, but I think I understood the Spanish better than the English. 

As soon as we got on the bus, the bartender yelled, "OPEN BAR!!!" Open bar meant beer, rum, Coke, Sprite, and water. I was leery of drinking on the bus, since I am apt to get car sick. But we were sitting in the front of the truck, and the whole back was open. So I went ahead and tried some "Dominican champagne" (rum and Sprite). Surprisingly, I did not feel car-sick the whole time.

The guide was trying to tell us things as we were driving, but the engine and wind were so loud, we could hear nothing else. The bartender was trying to talk to me, but I couldn't hear him, so I just did my bobble-head impression (smile and nod).

school

First stop was a school sponsored by the tour company. The guide said grades 1-3 attend in the morning, and 4-6 in the afternoon. Now, I have no idea how those children learned anything because if they have tour groups in and out all day, every day, there's no learning going on. For the sake of the children, I hope they sponsor more than one school and rotate tours throughout the week. 

San Dionisio

Then we went into Higüey to see a couple of churches. Normally, I'm not big on visiting churches. I can see one or two before they all start to look the same, but there were only two on the schedule, so I survived. San Dionisio was celebrating its 500th anniversary and is one of the oldest churches in the Americas. The tile work reminded me of the Alhambra in Granada, Spain...

Alhambra tiles

San Dionisio tiles

Today's history lesson: In 711, Muslim Moors invaded Spain, bringing with them the Islam religion and Arabic architecture. Because depictions of animals and humans is discouraged in Islamic art, geometric tile-work is prevalent throughout their architecture. So the tile-work was imported by the Moors into Spain, and the Spanish brought the tile-work to the Americas. "THIS is why you study a language!" Lauren stated, not only to speak the language, but also to learn history and culture. To conclude, the Spanish fought back and reconquered Spain, finally kicking out the Moors in 1492. 

Basilica

We also went to the Basílica Catedral Nuestra Señora de la Altagracia, which was built in the 1970s. Instead of seeing the Virgin, I had to pee. There was an attendant who handed me three squares of TP on my way in, but of course, there was no toilet paper in the stalls. As usual, though, I was prepared with travel tissues. By the time I was done, those who had gone into the church were already exiting, so it can't have been that exciting. 

sugarcane field

Our next stop was a plantation, where they grow coffee, cocoa, and sugar cane. There were large concrete slabs out front for drying out the coffee and cocoa beans. We got to try freshly ground cocoa mixed with sugar from the sugar cane. It was heavenly. They also cracked open a couple cocoa pods so we could try the fresh cocoa beans.




Lunch was at a ranch. There was a cigar rolling demonstration before eating. After the meal, there was the option of a horseback ride. Lauren went ahead, but it was hot and humid, so riding a horse did not sound fun at that point. Also, I heard the hammock calling my name for a siesta.

Frank at Macao

The last stop was Macao beach, which is undeveloped, in that there are no resorts built there. I hate sand, so I stayed on the bus and got hit on by the bartender. There was a child playing in the sand next to the bus. She had a cup and was pouring sand all over herself...on her legs and arms, in her hair. I was just glad I wasn't the one with sand covering my body. *shudder*


 


We were exhausted when we got back to the resort, so we promptly took a nap. Any day where I can have one nap I consider a success, so two naps was trophy-worthy.