I started working at this hotel after finishing secondary school. The owner, who still works for a company in another city, built it once tourism started here, hoping to make some extra money — and he guessed right, because the hotel does well now.
Only foreign tourists stay here. There have been tensions in the past between locals and foreigners under the same roof; when local people watch television and have a few drinks, the shouting tends to disturb the foreign guests. We have an internet connection too, used only by foreigners, including some staying at other hotels. Occasionally tourists complain about room prices, or how long their food takes — but there's no real need for that. Our prices are fixed, and the special dishes we make for tourists are only prepared to order, so naturally they take a little longer than the local meals.
I don't have much personal contact with our guests, since my English isn't great, and some tourists are simply too busy for small talk. It always takes me a little time to adjust to their accents, but I get better at understanding them the longer they stay.
If tourists went out without guides, more children would start begging — and the more they collected that way, the more other children would follow, and the fewer would end up in school.
If tourists would go on trips without guides, more children would start begging, and the more they would get from that, the more children would start begging too and the less children would go to school.
When tourists show affection toward each other in public, local people think it's strange, almost crazy. That's simply not how people behave here.
A guest list that never includes his own neighbours, and an accent he's learning one season at a time.