I began working at this hotel after finishing secondary school. The owner still works for a company in another city. He built the hotel when tourism began growing in Lushoto because he hoped it would provide an additional income. His decision proved successful, and the hotel now does well.
Only foreign tourists stay here. Local guests and foreign visitors have shared hotels in the past, but this sometimes created tension. Local people may watch television, have a few drinks and talk loudly, while foreign guests expect quiet. Keeping the groups separate became the easier solution.
We also have an internet connection, and only foreign visitors use it, including some who stay at other hotels. It is another service shaped entirely around tourism.
I work in a hotel in my own town, yet the rooms and internet are used only by people who have travelled here from somewhere else.
Guests occasionally complain about the room prices or about waiting for food. Our prices are fixed, so I cannot change them. The special meals tourists request are cooked only after they order, which means they take longer than the dishes normally prepared for local customers.
I do not have much personal conversation with visitors. My English is not strong, and many tourists are busy with their own plans. Their accents also differ. At the beginning of a stay, I may struggle to understand somebody, but after hearing the person speak for several days, it becomes easier.
I learn a guest’s accent slowly—one request, one meal and one day at a time.
I believe guides are important outside the hotel. Without them, children may approach visitors for money. If some children earn well from begging, more will copy them and fewer may attend school.
Visitors can also surprise local people when they show affection in public. To them it may be ordinary, but here it can look strange because it is not how couples generally behave in front of others.
Tourism gave me employment after secondary school and has made the owner’s investment successful. But it has also created a place designed almost entirely for outsiders, where I spend my working days learning customs and accents that I cannot share with my neighbours.
The hotel has connected me to the wider world, although the connection still runs through fixed prices, unfamiliar habits and a language I am learning season by season.