Starting the Holidays

Suitcases and Decisions

The next morning I had to get up early because I still had to pack almost everything and I wanted to get to the hotel a bit after lunch time. I got up, had some cookies for breakfast (I really didn't have anything left but cookies and some water) and checked if the laundry had dried during the night. The results were annoying - almost half of my clothes were still a bit wet and I wasn't able to pack them already. That destroyed my plans a bit and I didn't know what to do instead. I took my last shower in the small and disgusting bathroom and started to organise my beauty products. I had decided to take most of them with me to the hotel and to let them there after the ten days - it didn't make sense to throw them away now when I was still there and could use them. Furthermore, I hoped that I might have enough time to care for my body during the free days. Even if I had already decided to take everything with me, there was still the problem with the bags and the space. The clothes would need most of the space and I was sure that I would need more than my two suitcases and the backpack. That wasn't a problem itself because I had a lot of bags, but I would have to get to the taxi with all those things at the same time, so I only could pack as much as I was able to carry. 

That made everything even more complicated, especially because I couldn't really start to pack as my clothes still had to dry. After I had packed and organised all the beauty products I put all the clothes that were already dry on the sofa to gain some overview and packed my other things like books, animals, pencils, earphones etc. into my small suitcase. That was all that I could do for the moment - I hoped that the other clothes wouldn't take too much time to dry. I opened all the windows, hated the fact that I didn't have a balcony and put them into the one corner where I could see some sunshine in my appartment. I had also put the laundry from the bed and the towels into the washing machine, but that would take about 2 hours and I would put them on the laundry rack before I left the appartment in the end. Then there was really nothing left to do and I decided to go to the beach and pass by McDonalds for some lunch (yes, another time McDonalds, there wasn't any other possibility to have cheap and fast food because everything was full of touristic restaurants and furthermore it was only 11 am). I hated to wait - I just wanted to check in my hotel room and relax at the pool, I didn't want to lay in my bed anymore, watching shitty American TV series in Spanish and trying not to use the subtitles in order to train my language skills. But the clothes would take some more time to dry, so I went to the beach after my short lunch and watched the waves and the tourists with their little dogs. The hotel would be up the hill, so I wouldn't have the possibility anymore to be at the beach in only 5 minutes. But I was looking forward to the services: no cleaning, no washing, no cooking - somebody else would do everything for me during these last 10 days. 

Moving to the Hotel

After I had waited about 2 more hours most of the clothes had finally dried and there was only my beach towel and a jacket that were still a bit wet. But I didn't care about that, I would take them with me like that and put them into the sun at the balcony of the hotel later. Finally, i was fully motivated and started to pack all the clothes into the large suitcase. Well, let's call it "I tried to pack them" - after about half of them the luggage was already almost full! I started to be a bit afraid - I didn't want to throw away so many things... but after a while and some logistic changes I had put all my clothes into the suitcase except my two large jackets and my raccoon bathrobe that took too much space. I would put them into the backpack and my Mum would hopefully have enough space in her suitcase to take it to Germany with her. The next problem were all my shoes and the beauty products; I had to find some space for them in the suitcase as well. It was a real logistic problem but after about one hour I had packed everything into two suitcases (one large, one small), one backpack, one plastic bag and my handbag. Everything was incredibly heavy, but it wasn't too much to carry it all at the same time. Furthermore, it wasn't quite far to the taxi stop (even if I had to walk to the one that wasn't next to my house as I had to put the keys of the appartment into the letterbox of the real estate agency) and it would drive me right to the entrance of the hotel. 

I made a short break at my sofa and looked around in my now quite empty appartment. Except all my bags that were located in the middle of the room there weren't many signs that somebody was living here - there was no laundry at the bed anymore, no things in the shelves and the kitchen was fully cleaned up without any nutrition etc. The only thing that showed that there was somebody living was the laundry rack with the towels and the sheets drying in the sun. Finally, it was about 1 pm and I was sure that I would already be able to check-in at the hotel (if not I would leave my things there and walk around one hour or go to the pool), so I checked all the corners if I hadn't forgotten anything and when I saw that nothing was left that I would want to take with me, I packed all the bags and tried to leave the appartment. It wasn't that easy with all the bags and I felt like a turtle and just hoped that nobody would see me and that I wouldn't drop anything. Already the small elevator was a challenge - with my things and me inside it was totally full. I left the house and started my 10 minutes way to the real estate agency and the taxi stop. It was more exhausting than I would have expected but after 20 minutes I finally had left my keys at the office and walked towards the taxi stop. The taxi driver was incredibly friendly and helped me with all my luggage while I sat down in the car and told him where to go. When he found out that I was able to speak Spanish we talked a bit about the warm winter and my time on the island but we arrived quickly, I paid only 5 euros and he even helped me to bring all my things up to the reception. 

At the reception I gave the booking confirmation to the woman there and my identity card. She gave me a form to fill in and asked where "the rest" would be. In the first moment I was a bit confused, because I didn't know who she was talking of, but then it came to my mind that my Mum and her boyfriend would arrive in the evening. I told her that they would arrive later and that I had already been to Puerto de la Cruz before and she gave me the keys for my room. She explained the hours of breakfast and dinner to me, the poolbar and all the other important things, before I could finally go to the elevator with all my stuff and walk to my room. Of course, it was the last one at the end of the floor but I was incredibly happy when I finally had arrived. I fell into the (hard) bed and had a short break - it was hot outside as always and it had been more than exhausting to bring all my things from the appartment to the hotel. But now I had arrived and when I had gained some energy back I walked to the balcony and enjoyed the new view. I could see everything: Teide, the Orotava Valley, the Sea, Puerto de la Cruz and the pool of the hotel. That was almost my next aim, but I had to get to a supermarket before and visit the Vietnamese girl at home before. She had cooked me some spring rolls and I had told her that I would come to her hotel and pick them up. So I changed my clothes to something less warm and let my things as they were and left the hotel room. I was already dreaming of the relaxing part of the day - fortunately it would still take some time until my Mum and her boyfriend would arrive.

Incomfortable Encounters

I left the hotel and started my way to the Vietnamese girl who was living in a hotel also in the district up the hill but a bit more in direction of the sea and the city centre, so I had to walk down a bit. I didn't know the corner where the hotel was situated very well, but it wasn't difficult to find the way to my former colleague. Walking down the hill wasn't that exhausting but as I was already tired and it was still hot I wasn't quite happy about my situation. I arrived at the hotel and wrote a message to my friend that I was waiting outside. As she was relaxing at the pool it didn't take long until she arrived. She gave me a small plastic bag and we talked shortly about our Saturday and the plans for the rest of Sunday. She was excited because there would be the two new interns on Monday and she didn't know a lot about them yet. I was happy that I didn't have to think about that anymore but I tried to give her some encouraging advice. After a while there was nothing more to say, so we agreed on chatting the next day (of course I was curious about the new interns, too) and meeting at the weekend when my Mum and her boyfriend had gone again. She went back to the pool and I decided to go to the supermarket and buy some sweets, fruits and water for the hotel room. 

I took a street next to the main street because I wanted to avoid all the annoying people who were waiting in front of their restaurants asking all the tourists to eat their delicious dishes. Of course, that kind of marketing is normal in touristic areas but after almost 6 months I was more than annoyed when I just saw them. So I walked up that more or less abandoned street in the early afternoon and a man walked past me. I didn't think about it, even if he had stared at me, and continued my way. But after some more steps I realized that he had turned around and was now walking behind me! I was confused and a little bit scared but as he didn't seem to be strong or something I just continued my way and started to walk faster. But the street didn't end and I could hear that the guy was coming nearer. He said things about my body and that I shouldn't run away and other disgusting things like that. I hated my decision that I had chosen that abandoned street and that there was really nobody else, just me and that man. I started to be afraid a bit more and hoped that he would just go away after I would have reached the main street. But as he had almost reached myself I decided to stop and hope that he would pass by. He looked at me and said something but I just told him to shut up and leave me alone. I took another street that led through a playground and a shopping centre and started to feel safe again - finally. I had never experienced something like that and was a bit shocked. Furthermore, I knew that I would be afraid when walking around for the rest of my time from now on. 

Before I returned to the hotel I passed by the supermarket in the commercial centre of my former work and bought some bottles of water, two cans of Fanta and some fruits and sweets. Then I walked up the hill to the hotel and couldn't stop turning around - still afraid that the guy from before would come back and follow me. But fortunately there was nobody behind me and I reached the hotel, totally tired and exhausted from the sun and the weight from the plastic bag of the supermarket. I went to my room, started to unpack my clothes (which took me a while) and finally went to the pool for some time. It was a bit cold already because the sun was hidden behind clouds and there was a strong wind, but I was totally relaxed and hoped that I would have some nice days with my Mum in Tenerife before I left to Germany. 

Photo gallery