From entertainment to medical care to receptionist.

My job as an entertainer for both children and adults was tiring and exhausting, but at the same time very rewarding. I got a job offer to work in a small family hotel in Puerto Rico, while i was living in Playa del Inglés and didn't have a car. So the solution existed in letting me stay in one of the "garages" of the hotel, as i called them. They were studios below the street level. This is where i lived and worked for about 9 months, travelling to my studio in Playa del Inglés each sunday night late, doing laundry on my day off, and travelling to Puerto Rico again by bus on my day off in the evening, to be ready for work on Tuesday morning. When contract was finished and the hotel decided to work together with another person, one part of me was sad, but another part of me was reliefed. I would now be able to find a job closer to my home and not loose so much time travelling by bus. The job i found was one of translator/receptionist/driver at a private clinic at a distance of 1 km from my home. Great! I signed a 6-month contract and started working immediately. We were now living in February 2015. My work in the private clinic was not great, as i went from working with happy children and parents and singing and watching shows, to working with people who have injured themselves and/or are in pain or became sick during their holidays. This job i didn't have for a very long time, when i was sent to the mainland of Spain because my boss had opened up a brand new clinic in a hotel in Marbella. So i went with a doctor to stay there during the first month of the opening of the clinic. We had exactly one patient there, a case during the early hours of the morning. Which we solved well. Then we flew back and the other receptionist and Cuban doctor took over our spot in Marbella. Plan was to travel there again (all expenses paid by our boss off course), but then i had received some bad news about my mom so i had to go back to Belgium for an unknown amount of time. When i told my boss about this, she asked when i would return to the island. I couldn't give her a clear answer so i lost my job. But i didn't care. Never loved that job anyway. After having spent 6 weeks in Belgium, my mom sent me back and the whole job hunt would start again. I worked another 6 months in another private clinic, and then i quit because that was really NOT the job of my dreams. There was a Dutch restaurant looking for someone to do their public relations, i applied and got hired. This was a great job for me with nice colleagues and bosses and i had a really nice time there. They treated me well and i did this for a year, working nearly every night from 18.00-22.00. I barely had or asked for a night off. After this gig i was spoken to by a person who was looking for someone to sell excursions. By the time i was ready for a new challenge so with a little pain in the heart i left the restaurant job. Went to work down the beach selling excursions. Got paid really well there, and after 9 months my contract there finished. We are now in December 2017. One month after, i started to work for another excursion company right in front of the Dutch restaurant i worked before. I had a scooter at that time so it was more easy for me to get to places. I was not long in this job when i had an accident while promoting the Segway and i had broken my wrist. This immediately ended my job there and i needed surgery and one night in the hospital in Meloneras. After recovering for months, i tried the excursion business again in april of that year, but i didn't like my new boss, nor the location nor the customers there. So i quit after about 6 weeks. At the beginning of June i found what would turn out to be my most steady job, with an endless contract as well, something very rare to be found for foreigners working in Spain. I was going to be the receptionist of Apartamentos Nogalera, starting from June 18th in 2018. Working for a Swedish boss, a retired pilot, i earned a good amount of money for working only 22 hours a week. And my tasks were simple: check-in and -out of customers (90% German, a few Swiss and barely any Austrian customers), sometimes come in for a late check-in at night. I helped them book an excursion or a taxi, and i was there for them when they had slight issues in their appartment. Working with a small team of 2 cleaning ladies who were lovely, 2 gardners kind as well, but a pain-in-the-ass head receptionist, i came to love this job where i could chitchat with customers, make jokes, receive little gifts and tips when they left,... And a contract with no end date... Aahh this was really IT, i found my place to be, my forever job on the island. Finally, after 5 years and a bit on the island, i was where i needed to be. That is, until COVID hit the island. To be continued...

Photo: 2016, Playa del Inglés