She gets her first tip

Day 18

Dear diary,

I got my first tip today.

We have a full house at the hotel, and after the first day of helping Jean, she called me to the kitchen and told me if I would help around the hotel, making beds and doing some cleaning, she'd be able to drive me to the village to try and contact my company again. She didn't have time to drive me all the way to the consulate, but I was so thankful anyway that I immediately said yes. She had some conditions though: she didn't want guests thinking the wrong thing, (which I understood totally) so we agreed it would be best if I didn't tell them I was a guest too. In exchange, the more days I was stuck here and agreed to help her with chores at the hotel, for each day she would take some off my tab. We laughed at bit that maybe if the consulate dragged their feet some more, she'd end up owing me money at the end of my vacation!

Since then, I haven't had much time to think about anything but the next chore. It's been good for me though, and a little exhilarating! Today a couple from Canada thought I was a local that was working at the hotel, and gave me a tip of about $6 Euro. I'd been wearing some jogging shorts and a tshirt with my dark brown hair in a bun, so I guess they didn't realize I was a rich American. I didn't say anything but 'merci' and was a little embarrassed about the whole situation. But also secretly a bit excited by it. Here I was, a woman who was used to driving a Maserati, getting a tip of about 10 dollars for bringing room service. The reversal was a bit dizzying, to be honest.

Jean congratulated me, hugged me, and told me I'd done a good job and that she was proud of me. She kissed me on the forehead and she shooed me on my way. I walked back to the cleaning closet a bit unsteady. My feelings from her kiss, even just on my forehead, were hard to explain. I'd never been into other women, I think it's just the unusual situation here?