Hey, Want to Run a Backpackers? - 11/16/2012

Leading a lost lamb back to his pen, just another day at the farm

Some of the horses on the farm

BEN - We woke up this morning ready to go.  Gabby's eye is feeling a bit better and the swelling is finally starting to go down a bit.  Steve and Adrian were down at the backpackers early in the morning and asked if we wanted to paint.  We of course agreed and took on the large undertaking of painting the entire front hallway.  The hallway is kind of a nasty, mustard yellow color with chips and residue of old posters and stickers all over it.  We moved the tables and other furniture out of the way, laid some newspapers down, and got to work.  The wall required two coats each so this was definitely an all day project.  I was on roller duty, while Gabby was in charge of the small paint brush, handling the finer details, ie coloring inside the lines.  The project took the entire day, with requisite stops for lunch, to play with Karoo, or to feed Simon some piece of food that he probably shouldn't have.  By late afternoon, the walls and I were completely covered in white paint, and looked great.  As we were marveling at our own handiwork, Adrian came in and dropped a bomb on us.  His tourist visa was expiring, and no one would help him renew it.  His work visa was not coming through.  In short, he had to leave the country.  He was flying to Hong Kong in 2 days, to go visit his parents for a month before coming back and resuming his duties as manager of the backpackers.  Just like that, Gabby and I were in charge of running a backpackers; a full blown business.  We were now responsible for customer care, finances, and upkeep of a hostel.  What the hell?!  We had two guests at night, a nice German couple, and one of the strangest most frustrating ladies I've ever met.  We were talking to the Germans about India (they had some good advice) and this lady was blatantly making up facts and talking over everything the couple had to say.  She was very frustrating.  Gabby and I ended up making some stir fry for dinner which was tasty as always, and we headed off to bed, our guests happy and new business running nice and smooth.