It’s the Little Things

This week there was a training conference for the group that’s been here since March. Because I had two committee meetings and a technical session for other TEFL volunteers, I got to overnight in a hotel.

When I was little, I would get excited about staying in hotels. Red Roof Inns, to be specific. I still get a little excited (mostly in the form of “stealing” all the complimentary items) about staying in hotels. But with the weather this past week being cold, and reiterating that none of our homes have central heating and all of them are made out of concrete, I’ve seen my breath more than I would prefer to while sitting indoors. The best part of a hotel?

Central. Heating.

It’s the first thing I touched when I went into our suite. Although getting into my suite was another issue entirely.

I was supposed to room with two other volunteers. I checked in and got the key for room #209. When I went up to the second floor and walked down the hallway, I noticed that there were no numbers on any of the doors. I couldn’t even count which room it may have been because I didn’t know which side of the hall were odd numbers and which side were even numbers. I asked a maintenance worker in the hallway and he pointed to the room. I opened the door, turned on the heater, and unpacked.

That’s when I got a message from one of the people I was supposed to share the room with.
“Did you check into our sweet room yet?” she asked.
“Yeah,” I said, “Did you?”
“Uhm… we did too, didn’t you see our stuff?”
“No… I don’t know what room you checked into but none of your things are here.”

After a lot of confusion, you know, since there weren’t any numbers on the door… we figured it out. Apparently, the key I had opened both the door to the room I was in and the door across the hall that was the “real” room #209. The room I was in also had a lock that didn’t work right. I’m not even going to talk about when a friend went to move a table in the restaurant and was startled when the table top came off in her hands and the frame and legs remained defiantly on the ground. Welcome to life in a postmodern society. Why would there be numbers on a hotel door? Why would the table top and table bottom be connected?

But the heating is nice. You don’t realize how much you appreciate feeling your fingers and toes until you can’t. Two people excitedly told me that they were able to sleep without socks on last night, which is a real luxury. Going back to a cold house later today won’t be much fun, but I can always adapt another volunteer’s winter strategy: never, ever leave your sleeping bag. Not even when you get up to go to another room. Hopping is the main form of transportation within your ice cold apartment.