At the end of July, having exhausted all entertainment and mood-boosting options, another restless girl and I decided to find a second job. Simply because it was boring as hell. Our schedule was fixed—we worked every day from 4 to 11, and we didn't know what to do with the rest of our time. You couldn't swim in the ocean (there had been several shark attacks on vacationers), there was nowhere to walk, and there was zero entertainment.

How it all started.

However, finding a second job in such a small town wasn't easy—all the spots had been taken by more proactive students since the beginning of June. So: if you're interested in money, look for a second job as soon as possible. We remembered that 40 minutes away by bike, there was a wonderful bakery with nice staff and delicious pastries—we decided to go there and give it a shot. It turned out that two employees were leaving in a week, and they urgently needed replacements. We had good English, so they hired us to serve guests at the counter—selling buns and coffee. The bakery was open from 6:30 to 11:30—the bakers (Russian students!) worked from 1 AM until the very morning.

The next morning, feeling proud of ourselves, we got up at 5 AM and set off. The first thing we didn't count on was the incredibly strong wind! Sometimes it felt like the bike was just standing still. The second thing: we hadn't seen any rain all summer. But naturally, on our very first day of work, it started to rain—a DOWNPOUR—and we were only 15 minutes away from the bakery. We were soaked to the bone—clothes, hair, shoes—and we didn't have a change of clothes. When we arrived at the bakery, our employers were surprised we had even shown up. Naturally, we didn't work that first day. They gave us hot drinks to warm up and treated us to breakfast. To say I had doubts about the second job on the second day would be an understatement. I convinced my friend that the commute was too long and difficult, and we shouldn't waste so much energy. Especially since we were already earning pretty well at our first job.

However, something about this place hooked us. The good attitude of the employers, the team, or something else. And the very next morning, we set off again.

The work seemed quite interesting to us, and the customers were always very sociable and happy. Chatting with the Russian guys working in the kitchen was also a pleasure. In short, this place won us over.

Orange blossom bakery

On the way to the bakery

By the way, we even forgot to ask about the salary. It was something around $9.25 per hour + the kitchen and floor staff shared the tips. It varied per person—from $10 to $25 a day. Plus free drinks, a bun, and a sandwich every shift.

I almost forgot to tell you about the cleaning ;) Every day we scrubbed the hall for another hour after closing. The guys in the kitchen were killing themselves! There was dough, jam, sugar glaze, and other goodies all over the walls and floor that had to be scraped off with special spatulas. Usually, cleaning in the kitchen started around 10-11 AM, so all the bakery visitors could enjoy Zemfira and Mumiy Troll, to whose music the Russian guys cleaned.

This job seemed like paradise to us. But for the guys for whom this was their main job, they couldn't earn a lot of money—just enough to cover the program costs and a little extra for some purchases and a small trip.

Many started leaving for Russia as early as the end of July. So we even managed to work in the kitchen.

To conclude all these pros, we were very often driven back home by car. And for the last two weeks, the Mexican dishwasher drove us there and back by car. As it turned out, he lived not far from us.