Hello all!
Oh how incredible it is that so much can happen in such a small place in such a short period of time. Let’s review the most important news, shall we? Hesitating going to Mozambique? Over it. I’m going. If I end up penniless, lost, and confused there is amazing coastline all the way down so Beach Bum Beaton it is. Really, I came here for an adventure, I’m being offered an adventure of a lifetime with some very cool company, why on earth would I turn it down? If I don’t find work, I’ll figure it out. I always figure it out. So yes, I am going to Mozambique. My poor friend, Brendan. That boy has tolerated some full on freak out from this nut job and still encourages me to come down. I think we’ll be just fine, absolutely fine.
There has been some SERIOUS drama on the work front. First let’s start with me copying and pasting an email conversation that I’ve had with the director. I’ll take out names and addresses but you’ll get the gist of the story.
Hi R!
Hope you guys are having a great time, connecting with lots of friends, drinking lots of really good drink, and causing tons of trouble. Just as a holiday should be. Have attached my resignation letter, had it ready for the 1st but unfortunately, just got internet back today. Cc'ed it to Mac, as apparently he's in charge. Give my best to C, please!
Janice
Mac is most definately in charge.
I cannot see him physically restraining you.
You have but one life... Live it.
R
Thank you, R. After discussing time lines with Mac, so as to have an extra body here while he is away, I am thinking of flying to Dar on the afternoon of the 27th as Mac should be back the evening of the 25th. I can turn in my visa application for Mozambique on the 28th and then spend the next week or so hopefully seeing a bit of Tanzania while I wait for my visa to be processed. CB has suggested that I must try to do a safari as it is Africa, after all, and gave me some ideas of where to go. Any ideas or suggestions that you have would be really appreciated as it’s hard to know where to start and what to highlight. I’m looking at this being a good excuse to get that blog up and running again, as you’ve said. Also, if there is a possibility of accessing the 100USD / month for my time here, it would open up some options for me in terms of travel. Thinking that maybe if I get chased by a lion or two it will help with losing the ass I’ve gained. Thanks again. Talk to you soon.
Janice
Janice,
I repeatedly asked you to accept the 100$ a month and you kept
declining saying you had renumeration enough. I therefore did not
budget for it so the answer regrettably is no.
I wish you had taken it on a monthly basis.
R
Hi R,
Yes, that is rather regrettable. I do remember two conversations we had about the $100, the first one being whether I would take the payment in Tshillings, to which I replied, of course, and the second one being after a lengthy discussion on budgets, my role within the company, and how strapped SD was at the time, it was added, oh and we have to pay you, to which I replied, not to worry about money right now, I was fine. I didn’t mean for that to imply that I wanted to waive the honorarium completely. I understand that this is a very slow time for the business. Please see that this is something that I was depending on, maybe not receiving the whole lump sum at once, but at some point. Are there other options we can explore here?
Janice
Janice,
your exact words were "I feel I have been renumerated more than enough"
sorry about this, but when you said no. I took it to be no.
R
***This will be the next and final email that I will send to him in a couple of days as there has been some other drama that needs to cool first. I know his response will be bitter and unchanged, these emails are quite kind and apologetic but I’m jaded because of my dealings with him thus far. $500 is a good chunk of money that he is conveniently now trying to back out of… good times for me.
R,
You illustrated my point of misunderstandings perfectly by quoting what you state to be my exact words; I have not once in my life used the word “renumeration” or “remuneration” (which is what I think you meant to type) hence, showing me quite clearly that this was not a situation of me turning down the money, but of a miscommunication. I have always depended on that $100 honorarium as a put away fund for the travel I intended to do once I left Pemba. Again, my comments of you not needing to worry about paying me “right now” in no way implied that I was turning down the small token of agreed upon money after I have been unemployed for several months. That makes no sense as I have always known that I would need it.
I have never asked to be compensated for anything extra that I have done for you here at your resort and that is where I think the misunderstandings have developed. You’ve spoken to me several times about past situations where you’ve been asked to pay someone for helping out around the resort when you made it clear that you had no intention of paying them. To this, I said that I understood and did not expect to be compensated for the extra responsibilities I have taken on. I’ve had no problem covering the resort a number of times while all of your staff have been away or when you have needed assistance and I do believe I have done a good job of it based upon the feedback from you and from guests. I want nothing for that, and never have. Again, I think these are the conversations you are remembering.
It’s a shame that you feel there’s no room for discussion considering my stay and I continue to be baffled as to how it came to this. These emails are simply inquiring about honouring what was the original agreement for my teaching. Nothing extra, nothing more. I do hope that you recognize the difficult situation that this has placed me in and will reconsider exploring options with me.
***I’ll be sure to post the response, guaranteed it’s going to be a doozy. He’s such an idiot!
Oh and it gets better. I went diving yesterday for the first time in over a month. Things have been quiet, no staff around to teach, might as well get in the water. Weather has been rough so conditions have been challenging – exactly what I wanted. We hop back in the boat after our first dive and sweet boat captain Mohamed tells me that the cleaning girl called him while we were under the water. 10 armed police men came and arrested Mac but no one knows what’s going on. Dave and I have a little chat, trying not to let the guests overhear, and essentially, what can we do? We’re out at sea, the guests want to dive, Mac’s already gone… carry on? So we do. I’m a little pre-occupied on dive #2, no doubt, GM in Tanzania jail… this isn’t going to be good.
Get back to the resort and start making calls. Our Swahili paperwork-administrator-lawyer-business guy who works at the resort and our Swahili taxi driver both speak excellent English, are well connected, and are already on the case at Mac’s side. Thank goodness! After a million phone calls and tons of back and forth, it seems that the corrupt tourism board took Mac to jail for a payment that wasn’t made from before was even here. NINE YEARS AGO!!! They claimed that he was summoned to court and didn’t show. No such summons was ever delivered here. AND this is a civil case, not a criminal case, they should be suing the company, not charging Mac, yet they insisted on putting him in jail and criminally charging him as personally responsible for the lack of payment from NINE YEARS AGO as he is the current manager!!! Think of all of those horror stories you’ve heard about 3rd world jails, no food, no sanitation, complete dire straits. Yep, we’re freaking out.
And in the midst of all of this, we have two guests and oh looky here, a walk in guest. Sure, no problem. Ummm… I’m handed a set of keys that was tossed to a local staff member as Mac was being carted away, I have no money as other staffers are running to me asking for supplies and food to take care of the day to day, and I’m to try to sort out this new guest who wants prices and packages and la-dee-dah. Why don’t you just settle in and we’ll talk money later, ‘K? Awesome.
Dave is the hired help, supposed to be the dive shop manager and running the resort when Mac is away, but he wants nothing to do with any of it. Nothing. Says he doesn’t know what to do anyway and it’s all up to me. Hmmm… really, after the BS that the owners are putting me through, why on earth would I want to keep this place running? WHY? Because I’m an idiot, that’s why. So off I go. I get Dave on the phone with the owners in the UK asking them for pricing. I clean a room, arrange food and fuel for the boat and generator on credit, and take phone calls from our business and taxi guys with regular updates and to do lists on Mac. I get a phone call from the owner’s wife with pricing and set about getting our new guest settled. Oh, and by the way, I’m just the volunteer English teacher.
The night continues on with its chaos of business and taxi guy coming and going to gather what they need for Mac and to make a plan. The jail is a good hour’s drive from here and much longer by local transport. I ask Dave to sit down to dinner with the guests, as we all sit at one table together, to be hospitable but he has this issue with eating at night and says he’s just going to his room. This happens a lot. Dave, seriously, help me out here. Nah, they’ll be fine, good night all. He’s 45 and the EMPLOYEE here. COME ON!!! Thanks. So I try to sit for dinner, get called away, and never really make it back to the table. After the guests have eaten and toddled off to their rooms for the night, I get into a nice discussion with our night guards using kitchen staff as translators. I’m pretty sure one of them is stealing fuel but tonight is NOT the night for me to have it out with him. I give him the extra 10L of fuel he says he needs to keep the generator running and try to get to bed.
My head is on runaway setting. Did I send the right clothes and things for Mac? Oh poor Mac, I can’t believe he’s in jail… an African jail! Curses to death on the owners and their exceptionally insensitive and self-preserving responses to all of this (he was giving regular updates on facebook! Complete clod.) What else can I do? How am I supposed to keep this place running with no money and almost no food? Why can’t more strings be pulled to get Mac out of jail? Why is Mac IN jail? The owner is the prince son of an Indian so and so connected to every high official from here to there and we can’t get him out of jail for a civil case?! Around and around and around.
Morning comes with a phone call at 6:30am. Taxi guy is trying to reach bushiness guy but can’t get him. I gave Dave a 7am chore – get up and drive our business guy half way to where he needed to be to be with Mac and pick up the fuel arranged on credit on the way. I’ve never heard a grown man whine and moan so much about everything. I’ve tried to have a sense of humor and make fun of him a bit about it, but seriously, you’re a grown man! While he’s gone, I crack the whip at the kitchen girl who has been late with breakfast everyday and I get the new guest sorted out and fitted up for his diving kit as he wants to go diving. I continue to field phone calls, tend to three guests who are surprisingly needy, and get the dive boat set to go. When there haven’t been guests for a while, it’s amazing how quickly everyone seems to forget the expectations of their job. 9am Dave returns, scoops up his divers and they’re off.
Then I start in on another search and taaa-duuummmmm! Found the missing briefcase that has 1. Mac’s passport, and 2. Cash. Sweet, sweet cash. Spent the morning paying off the debts I managed to accrue, greeted, schmoozed, and convinced two more new walk –in guests to stay as that brings me more cash, rearranged and cleaned rooms as the guy from yesterday needed a new room and the two new guests needed to be set up but we’re down to almost no staff for low season. Sent this staff here and that staff there to get the bits and pieces we still needed. Sorted paper work for bills and orders, continued with the phone calls, and continued to worry about our dear incarcerated friend, Mac.
Dave and the divers return. Dave eats lunch and goes to bed, such is his routine, until the generator comes on late afternoon. He’ll be on his computer for a couple hours then disappear to his room for the night. I spin and putter around as now that they have returned, everyone seems to need this and that, staff want this and that and it’s hard to walk away from people with a simple, “sorry, I don’t work here”. Supplies here are bought on an as needed basis. We need this for lunch, send someone to the village, we need this for dinner, someone else needs to go this time. It’s ridiculous. And all the while I’m not sure if I should be spending the money that I found but I figure telling the guests, “sorry, we don’t have toilet paper tonight” isn’t really an option. Really.
The day blurs into the evening and I ask Dave to just keep an eye out while I run up and take a quick shower as it has been a long, stinky time since this girl last smelled like soap. Can I just please leave the phones with you? I just need a shower. Imagine the best 4 year old whiny voice you can… but I don’t want to talk to guests. Dave, I’ve been with them all day, there’s a bunch of other crap I need to do later, please, just give me half an hour, you don’t have to talk to guests, if they need anything, I’ll get it when I’m back. Please just answer the phones because it might be about Mac. He said he’d grab a beer and sit in the lounge area but he wasn’t going to do anything and he was going up to his room straight after I got back. I took the phones with me to the shower. Again, thanks Dave, thanks.
And that’s exactly what happened. I came down, he went to his room. 7:30pm. Not his job, he was done working. I continued on with phone calls that one minute said Mac was out, the next, nope, he’s in for one more night. I tried to get info for guests on airlines and reservations and things that I have no idea about and I tried to be as hostess hospitable as I could be. Things slowed then stalled out around 9pm and the guests were left to entertain themselves. Me? I blog. See, you guys are THAT important to me! Okay, that’s a bit of a lie. I’ve just been fuming a bit and this is a good release for me. All about me, all about me, all about me.
On that note however, I do need to crash. Mac is still not home, but it sounds a little like he has gained international celebrity status and may not be struggling or suffering nearly as much as my tormented imagination figures. Sounds as if British High Commission representatives on are the case, ex-pats who have been business owners here for decades are calling in favours and pulling strings, and Mac is front and centre attention of all things government in Pemba right now. But he’s still in jail. Fingers crossed for freedom tomorrow…
HE’S FREE! HE’S FREE! HE’S FREE! Our boy Mac was released from his vile captors around noon today. Before I get into it though, I went back and read what I wrote before… and I said DAVE was a whiner?! Holy crow! I’m ridiculous! I might be the biggest whiner / complainer on the block! Sorry about the oh-poor-me sob story. Being responsible for this place is not difficult, not in the least. Apparently being tired gives me the creative freedom to make running a pokey little resort sound like manning the latest mission into space. Wow. Sorry about that folks. This crybaby has cowboy’ed up and has gotten over herself. Seriously. Ridiculous.
So MAC! He’s back, he’s very quiet, and he’s pretty shaken. Have given him lots of hugs and lots of space. He’s not wanting to talk about it so much yet. He can joke about the conditions, they were shit but not as horrid as I had imagined, but I think he’s more traumatized by the realization that he was set up as a tool to be used and held for ransom by a very coordinated and corrupt government effort. Really. He is completely vulnerable and when it comes down to it, alone. All the phone calls in the world can be made and money thrown by the bucket fulls but it comes down to him at the mercy of some very twisted, powerful men who have an agenda. Terrifying.
I had some time to talk, or rather listen to our business guy and taxi guy after they had returned our dear GM to the comfort of familiar surroundings. Oh dear friends, the stories they were telling. I know there are many sides to how this all went down, but these two have been the ones in the court and in the jail. These two have been the ones on the phones and in offices with lawyers and magistrates and judges at all times of the day and night over the last 48hrs. They haven’t slept, eaten, or seen their families. These two had to raise the money and put up their own to get Mac out. These two are who made it happen. Guess who’s taking all the credit? The stories they were telling, about the director yelling, screaming, swearing, and threatening the magistrate, caused the magistrate to dismiss any hopes of Mac being released last night. These two went on and on about how hated the owner is, on this island and with locals, how ignorant he is about people and relationships, which in turns makes things infinitely more difficult. They said he throws money at people and thinks it will make problems go away but all it has done is make things worse because he doesn’t know how to talk to people. Sound familiar? These two said that if the owners were here when Mac went to jail, they feel for sure that Mac would still be in jail because the owner does nothing but make things worse with blind, childish rage. But he’s the hero in all of this. You should see the facebook sellout. It’s disgusting. Do you guys remember where I am working? Check it out on facebook and read the statuses… it makes me absolutely sick. Free PR for his resort. Utterly shameful.
Mac was supposed to leave on a much needed holiday in a couple of days to go visit his sister and relax for the first time in months. They have his passport, he is out on bail, and cannot go anywhere off of the island for the next 30 days. I don’t even know what to say to him. I want to smuggle him out in my backpack. Mac’s a really good guy who has been set up and left to take the fall for years and years of political and personal mismanagement by some very selfish individuals. There is a direct link back to the owners mistreating someone or other and most of the crime or drama that has happened here. Yes, yes, this is Africa and there are shady deals and crime all around, but this is different. I’m a little biased because I have a huge hate-on for these two right now, but to see the two educated, LOYAL employees of this place shake their heads in disgust and distress over how this has gone down… it speaks volumes. Volumes. Please keep Mac in your thoughts and send as much positivity over this way as you can… this boy is going to need it.
I still haven’t figured out my timeline for departure and travel yet. Some of it will depend on how long I can get my Tanzania visa extended for. I’m really excited to start travelling and seeing things and experiencing at least a little bit of Africa. Animals! Oh how I want to see animals. Which reminds me… I really need to get a camera.
So signing off for now so I can get this posted. I’ll keep you guys filled in as I seem to have lots more time on my hands lately. Hoping that once I leave here the stories will be much more interesting and a whole lot less negative and whiny. I really need to work on that, don’t I? Sorry about that folks. I should have moved on a long time ago. Anyway! Stay tuned for the latest…
xoxo
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