I definitely thought I'd have more time to blog up here in Alaska, but I rarely have the time or energy to! Today I get the day off because I'm sick (well most of the day off, but I still have to do dinner prep) (this is my second or third day off this whole time I've been here!), so I've decided to...
- blog
- watch a chick-flick
- figure out my future life plans
So much has happened in the past month that I don't even know where to start! I guess I'll do topics to keep things more organized!
Dynamic in the Kitchen: I've been having a great time with Manny, the chef, and Nadia, my work partner, in the kitchen! A few weeks ago the oven stopped working, so Manny was in a pretty bad mood for awhile. One day he asked me what he was even doing here and I said, "Well you're working in a tiny kitchen, cooking for 30 people, in an oven that doesn't work." He thought that was funny and I think it made him happy that I understood the struggle he was having! But things got worked out!
Josh and Buehler set up a new oven on the back porch of Shannon's cabin. Shannon says that the oven with its wood covering that Josh and Buehler made looks like a "redneck kitchen." It does look pretty redneck but it's solved a whole lot of problems in the kitchen, which we're all happy about! :)
Manny, Nadia, and I have a ton of fun together! We tease each other a lot. We call Manny, "the creepy cat" because he always comes and watches us make our salads and stuff to make sure we're doing it right. And he sometimes just stares at us creepily (in a funny way) from outside the window or from wherever he thinks seems creepy, haha! He calls me "smalls" and his "ace." He calls Nadia, "Pineapple Fruit Cup," and I think he has another nickname for her but I'm drawing a blank on it! He started calling her Pineapple Fruit Cup because when she introduced the dessert to the guests one day, she was supposed to say, "Haipu," a Hawaiin dish that Manny makes, but she forgot how to say it and just said, "We're serving a Pineapple Fruit Cup." Haipu is a pineapple fruit cup, but you wouldn't normally introduce it that way...The funny part was that she practiced how to say, "Haipu" right before she went out there to introduce it, haha!
Guests: Before I started working here, I didn't realize that the guests would be such an important part of this place. I knew we'd be serving them, but I didn't know we'd be spending so much time with them and that different sets of guests really change the atmosphere around here. We've had some REALLY cool guests!
A few worth mentioning...
The Belgian Family- A family from Belgium came and stayed with us for about a week and we had a great time with them! They were incredibly sweet and polite! One night we all hung out together on Manny's cabins porch and shot bow and arrows and talked. I talked to the two sisters about Europe and got their contact information so that when I go, I can ask them what places I should visit!
The Family from Monterrey, Mexico- I'm pretty sure that was the city they were from! This was a big family that came to visit- two brothers with their wives and teenage/adult kids. They were an EXTREMELY wealthy family, but they were also EXTREMELY humble. You wouldn't have ever guessed that they were as wealthy as they were. I knew they seemed rich, I should say, but I didn't know HOW RICH! They live in a Family Combine in Mexico, where all of their family members live on a large amount of land in expensive houses. It's fenced off and in the middle of their combine they have a tennis court and pool and other fun things like that! That explained why all of the cousins and aunts and uncles seemed so close- because they all live right close to each other on the same property and get to run around and have fun with each other all the time! They also own 250 thousand acres of land about 2 hours away from their combine and they've bought African safari animals and placed them on their fenced off land. Hunters come and stay in lodges on their property and hunt the safari animals (lions and whatever else is hunted in Africa). One of the young adult sons could sing and play the guitar and another guest from a different party (group) could also play the guitar and sing, so they sang songs together after dinner and everyone watched. One of the girls from the family from Mexico could also sing really well, so her and her cousin did some wonderful sounding duets! One night, we all sang well known songs like, "500 Miles" together on the front porch, which was a whole lot of fun!
I could go on and on about each set of guests, but that could take me all day! It's been an awesome experience to be able to meet and get to know people from different walks of life and different countries or areas in the United States. I love being able to be in the kitchen with them, serving them their breakfast and dinner each day. Nadia and I are lucky because we probably spend the most time with the guests during the day and then we can also spend time with them after work if we aren't too exhausted (or if we aren't preoccupied with working out and watching chick-flicks together!)
Adventure: We don't just sit around watching movies and exercising after work, though, don't worry! We try to get out there and do adventurous things from time to time! I have paddle boarded, kayaked, gone on a few hikes, watched fireworks that were only a few yards away from me, shot bow and arrows, tanned in a raft in the middle of the bay, done a lot of four wheeling, shot guns, fed a dear, and seen whales from on the boat. I'm going to try to do as much as I can this last month, so I don't have any regrets when I go back home! I may even go cliff jumping!
Staff Dynamics: Oh boy, is there a lot of drama here! Someone is always upset with something, it seems! I should have made this my Psychology internship because I could do a whole lot of observing family issues here. It's been interesting, to say the least! It would be hard to run a business with your family when everyone has different ideas of what should be done and they all feel that they have the right to make their way happen, since they've all put so much into making this lodge what it is. I'm glad that I'm out of the drama, and that I have a good friendship with everyone here! It almost feels like they're my family members now. I love it and am grateful for this experience, despite the craziness of it all!
I HAVE 26 DAYS LEFT HERE! I have mixed feelings about that! Part of me is really excited to go home and the other part of me wishes I could stay here longer! Leaving here will be tough, but exciting. Shannon has already offered me a job here next summer and this place will always be important to me, so I know I'll be back, whether it's to work or to bring my own husband and kids one day.
Until next time,
Coral
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