Working Man

I got a job!

My first night at the restaurant, Los Balcones, was very interesting. I told the owner that I had experience waiting tables (I don't) so I could get the job. I didn't realize how much work it entails and I now have a new respect for servers the world over. So not only had I never done the job before, everything was in spanish. The menu was in spanish, the other workers speak pretty much all spanish and I had to write the orders down in spanish for the cooks. (It's actually kind of a weird role-reversal down here, I feel like I'm their underpaid migrant worker) I've taken several years of spanish classes and had a lot of practice...I'm not a complete rookie when it comes to the language, but that night was the single biggest learning experience of my life. My vocabulary grew by probably a hundred words I didn't drop any food, so I considered it a success. We had around 10 tables that night, which I thought was pretty good for such a small restaurant. So I went back the next night for the sequel, dreading it. My legs were tired and my brain was fried because of all the multi-language thinking I had to do and I was just exhausted from learning and doing a completely new job in just a matter of hours.

When I got Balcones on Sunday, i set up all the tables and swept and mopped the floor and all that good stuff and then waited. We had two tables that night. Five people in 8 hours. They were all guests in the hotel and it was the exact opposite of the night before. The place was dead and I actually felt kinda bad for the owner. Last night was the same way but with less people. I also had to hand out fliers, which I am terrible at. They gave me a bunch of slips of paper that permitted the bearer to a free drink and appetizer. Mistake. All the people that came in last night got their free stuff and left without even looking at a menu. It was painful to see the people just kind of shuffle out when they finished with their free shit.

My only real complaint is that I'm the only waiter at the moment, and I think they expect me to work everyday from 3 until 11, which sucks. I haven't been to the beach in several days (I know, I know, waaah waah waah, but if you were here it's all you'd want to do to) and I just don't think I can keep up this rigorous schedule of getting to work and sitting around for 8 hours. Junior even told me that my bike is ready and i haven't even had time to go pick it up yet. I do get a free meal out of it though, and a good one at that. The restaurant serves traditional peruvian style food, and it's awesome. Excellent, super fresh seafood. I watched the chef buy the crabs and lobster from some dudes who pulled up in a boat. They had JUST caught the damn things. Fresh.

Anyway, that's all I've got for now because that's really I've been doing the past few days. I'll get it all settled though and pass the news along to you guys.

adios