Picture: The main houseTo understand my experience here, you must also understand Claudia, my fellow volunteer. Claudia is a 55-year-old German woman who has taken a year off work to travel through Africa, volunteering in various countries. She worked with HIV-positive families, planted trees, made paper, evaluated pre-schools, and climbed Mount Kilimanjaro (where she had a love affair with her 25-year-old African guide... “He left no part of my body untouched,” she told me).
When Claudia came to this guest farm—one day before I did—she didn’t have a project lined up to work on, so she made herself useful: asking guests if they’d like anything to drink, cleaning up after they ate, assisting in the office… She did so much that within a couple of days the staff stopped doing their work, content to let her do things for them. Subsequently, she was never approached by the owner to discuss possible work projects and, instead, became a regular member of the staff (except unpaid, of course).
Every time I feel like I might be finding my way here, Claudia comes to me with some harrowing story that puts the fear back into me. Her stories usually involve verbal abuse and bullying… maybe she was told to stop talking so much or someone snapped at her for dropping something. Sometimes she brings stories from the staff about how unhappy they are. Whatever her stories are, they are always awful. And I don’t think she’s exaggerating; I once saw her being reprimanded, and it was very uncomfortable.
But these are her experiences, not mine. I have carved out my own niche of work, where I do not have to deal so much with serving the guests, and I get along fine with both the owner and the manager. With the staff I am cordial but not submissive. So while I know there is a lot of negativity around me, I could be in pleasant denial of it if it wasn’t for Claudia.
What I really need here is a friend. The days are very long. It is too hot to go outside for more than a few minutes at a time between 9am and 6pm. I could bear it all if I only had someone to talk and laugh with. I think that's what's really missing for me here. But Claudia is my primary companion, and her unhappiness is contagious.
Well, you've got at least one great friend here in Brooklyn keeping up with your exploits - and like as not others as well.
ReplyDeleteIt seems to me that Claudia is her own worst enemy here. Why did she arrive without any kind of plan? Why doesn't she approach the owner and discuss some alternative projects? Why is she accepting the situation as it is instead of working to do something about it? Don't let her negativity get to you. It seems obvious to me that you have more strength than she does in this case.
ReplyDeleteWell said, R. Personally, I'd be purloining vials of hooch now and then and retreating back to the grotto for bit of attitude adjustment and down-time. It is a a downer when someone else's dark clouds cast shadows over one's own space - but maybe a good fight with the establishment is in order. May be time to shake an angry fist and unionize!
ReplyDeleteWell, I commented to the owner about how hard Claudia is working, and last night he gave her some positive feedback. Until then she'd had nothing but negative comments.
ReplyDeleteAs for the hooch, we are charged for every drink. They even want to charge us for each additional roll of toilet paper we use, beyond the two that were given when we arrived! Luckily our friend Gertrude is giving us free rolls when we need them.
Hotels always charge the staff- pretty standard. It's less about being stingy than it is about not becoming a pantry and saloon for all the workers. As far as TP goes - make every square count! It's all in the technique.
ReplyDeleteIt looks like I will make it through my stay without having to buy more toilet paper. One small victory for me!
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