Muñeca del hostel

I work at a hostel in La Ceiba, Honduras. La Ceiba is the gateway to the Bay Islands - CHEAPEST PLACE TO DIVE IN THE WORLD: One of the most beautiful reefs in tropical waters. Everyday I see aproximatley 20 Scuba enthusiasts. Some are enthusiasts because that is their life, they dive. These are the people that move out to Utila for 5 months and get their dive master and instructor certifications. They are also the people who come to La Ceiba to buy cases of O´dooles beer, somthing you can´t just get on Roatan. They are stuck on the islands indefinatley.

There are also general travelers. I will break them up into two groups.

First there are those who are away from home for a five or more. Secondly, there are those traveling for a shorter period of time.

Within these subgroups you have a multitude of categories people fall into. You have the sojourners, the party girls from Sweden, the blokes from England away for the holidays, the young and retired civil engineer from France, the couple just married traveling the world together, the couple that will be married at the end of their trip, the pair that are not really enjoying the company they keep, the childhood bestfriends fulfilling their dreams of travel, the young woman trying to suck all the beauty out of the world, the drunk, the cracked out italian who thinks that he can get by speaking italian, the smooth talker, the argentine from nebraska..sigh......oh there are so many strange people that pass through.

These people have plenty of stories to tell. Antidotes more than anything. I see a small snippet of their life, the life they are choosing to live, the character they are choosing to be. I know nothing of their pasts; they are totally anonymous to me.

All these people are so different, but I serve the same purpose to each of them. To take their money and offer them a little advice for their next bit of travel. Every single day, only about 8 times, do I give directions to ¨somewhere good and cheap to eat¨(super baleadas, out the door to your left, left at the corner, its on the right down a block). The ferry leaves at 9am and you want to leave from here about 8:15. The ATM machine is three blocks down, HSBC on the left, Banco Atlantida on the right and if you want to get a bottle of water or some beers also you should go to the ATM at the Texaco station. Wireless internet? We have it here.

Its not the fault of these travelers that they are only the zillionth person that has passed through my life in the past 7 months with exactly the same agenda. It cracks me up when people ask for me to book them a taxi to the ferry dock and seem like it is a spactacular request. Of course we´ll have taxis in the morning to the ferry....we´re on it.

This is a lonely little lifestyle of mine, muñeca del hostel. I don´t know these people nor will I ever. I sense its time to divorce myself from the tourist scene for a bit. Ahora me voy en dentro de la jungla. cheque.