Dearest Rachel –
I’m not sure what you would’ve thought of this place, honey. I’m still trying to get used to it myself. After yesterday’s travels (particularly the obscenely early start to the day), I retired at what might otherwise be considered a ridiculous hour of nine o’clock, but which you might have at least been understanding of.
Of course, this meant that I was up at a similarly absurd hour – although given that this place either runs on Mountain Time (which might be the title of another letter in the future, or not) or dispenses with Daylight Savings Time, it amounts to just about the same time as I usually wake up back at home, just without any internal debate about the gym, as that’s not an option down here. Be that as it may, though, this meant I was up with nearly two whole hours to deal with before the breakfast buffet was supposed to open.
Not that I have any difficulty killing time, even without the question of working out to, erm, wrestle with. Thanks to computers and the internet (however spotty it may be here), there is no generation after ours that needs to concern itself with the possibility of ever getting bored if they don’t want to be – which could be both a blessing and a curse – but that, too, is a whole separate topic. Anyway, I spent an hour or so hanging out in my room (or on the porch, which had better reception), alternating between my usual news feed and whatever I could think to write you about my observations about the place thus far. Some of those observations are going to have to be set aside for the time being, though; I don’t think I’ve really seen enough of the place (why, we haven’t gotten to the Just One facility yet!) to pass that level of judgment on it. It just wouldn’t be fair, to say the least.
One thing we were warned about was the proliferation of insect life, but thus far, that hasn’t been much of a problem. Some of the credit for that can be given to the fact that we had ourselves a real gully-washer rain last night. It had a sound to it not unlike the nor’easters we would experience back on the island; so that, at the very least, would have made you feel, if not necessarily ‘at home,’ at least quite comfortable.
As you might guess, after an hour or so on the computer, it felt like I needed to make my way around; partially to just stretch my legs, but also to figure out where they would be serving breakfast. You know by now how slow I take the start of the day, so I figured I would need to budget extra time between breakfast and the bus out.
Besides, I wanted to find out where it was we would be meeting; we’d been pointed in a vague direction of it being around the corner, but the hotel campus had more than its share of corners. Better to get lost at the beginning of the morning than get lost trying to find the place at the last minute, and wind up hungry on the way to the mission.
As it so happened, I needn’t have worried; I was the first one to show up. In fact, I was there so early that I wasn’t sure whether I was in the right place or not, as it looked very much like a normal restaurant. I didn’t know if there was supposed to be something else set aside for our group in particular. My limited command of Spanish didn’t help either; what finally came to my rescue was technology, as one of the waiters brought out his phone, where he texted me (and the app translated his question) “Are you hanging with Douglas’ group?” Douglas is one of the head staffers at Just One, so I figured I could safely agree with him. He then escorted me into the separate room, but gestured while he did to the counter, which was set up cafeteria-style. I had, in my own clumsy way, singlehandedly found my way to breakfast.
By the time I’d been there for an hour (and I was good, honey – I only had the one helping), there had been perhaps enough of our people through to fill only one of the tables halfway. Since we would need to be leaving in less than an hour – and there was more for me to do, in terms of getting ready – I decided I would do well to head out regardless. I’d be working with everybody in their turns, I expected (and still expect).
And while there’s still a lot of morning to tell you about, there’s not a lot of time in the moment to sit down and write to you about. I’m doing construction work in the morning, and sitting down with the organization team about their accounting processes in the afternoon. I don’t know when I’ll have time (or energy) to tell you about it all any time soon.
But until then, I’d hope you could keep an eye on me, and wish me luck. I’m definitely going to need it.
Letters to Rachel 