Log 31: Hostel Life

“Alright, you're gonna be in dorm 400.” The front desk guy at the hostel’s thick Irish accent caught me off guard for a moment. As he spoke, he dropped a towel, sheets, and a pillowcase into my arms. “Dorm 400 meaning, like, on the fourth floor?” I asked, eyeing my forty pound duffle bag on the floor next to me. He nodded. “And I’m gonna go ahead and assume there isn't an elevator?” He shook his head and chuckled. Damn. 

After lugging my bags up the stairs, out of breath and profusely sweating, I took a moment to collect myself before unlocking the dorm door, only to find it completely empty when I did. I gave the U-shaped room a once over. Sky blue walls - a cluster of grey lockers against one of them, ceilings that you'd picture being in an office building, and dark brown imitation wood floors. However, most of my attention was on the five sets of white bunk beds in the room, each of which was already made up, and had various people’s belongings strewn across it. Um, where's my bed? I calmly set down my bags and descended back down the stairs to the front desk guy, who was checking in another new guest.

“Hey, me again. Are you sure I’m in 400? Because there's like… not an available bed in there,” I explained. “Really? Shit, okay, I’ll send somebody up there to sort it out.” So, I went back up to the dorm, and this time, there was someone inside!

Achilles (uh-KEE-lay), a Cancer, from Maine, on a gap year. I checked to see if he had any insight on the bed situation, and he said not really. But then, he went over to a bed and started stripping the sheets. “I think this is the one that's supposed to be empty,” he supplied. As much as I wanted a bed, I wasn't sure this was the right way to resolve the problem. “You know,” I said, “don't even worry about this, the guy downstairs told me he'd have somebody figure it out.” He just looked at me. “Yeah, that's me. And here's your bed - I figured it out!” Now I just looked at him. “You work here?” I raised an eyebrow. For one, Achilles looked quite young to be working in hotel management. For two, he was wearing a swimsuit and looked fresh off the beach. And for three, he was literally rooming in the same dorm as me, two bunk beds down. “Yup, I have for the past month” he said. “What are you, like nineteen?” I laughed. “I will be this June,” he replied. Well alright then, Achilles.

That evening, after picking up dinner from an assortment of food trucks parked along Waikiki about a block from the hostel, I sat down to eat in the communal kitchen at a table full of strangers. I met:

Karrissa: the girl who was getting checked in while I consulted the front desk guy about my sleeping arrangement concerns. She's from Michigan, taking a week off of work I guess to just do nothing in Honolulu.

Maddie: My bunkmate from Sydney, Australia. Helped me solve a Wordle puzzle that I had been stumped on all day. A cancer.

Ollie: a North London native with an accent to back it up and a black belt in Taekwondo. He traveled here alone to surf, because none of his friends back home are interested in the activity. Sounds a bit like John Oliver to me.

Matt: a legit pilot. For some small domestic airline that I’ve never heard of, but still - the guy flies passenger planes. 

Sherri: A middle-aged stock broker and writer, thrice published.

Brenda: a Capricorn, as well as flight attendant for the same airline as Matt, totally by coincidence.

Doug: has been looking for her wallet throughout my entire stay at the hostel. Appears to be a lot less concerned about the issue than you would expect.

Cindy: A friend of Brenda’s. Quiet, probably because she's a Pisces with a Capricorn moon. 

Canada boys: two boys that moved into the dorm the night before I departed, from a tiny town four hours north of Vancouver. They told me the neighboring town to theirs is called Taylor, Canada. 

The following day, I spent the morning exploring around to find a cute place to grab breakfast. However, scouting out such places isn't really my forté, and I got bored of searching about 10 minutes in and ended up eating oatmeal at the Waikiki Hilton. Next on my agenda was Diamond Head. All I could remember about that hike from my youth was that it sucked and there were a lot of stairs. So this time, I went in determined to stick it out to the end no matter what. This actually wasn't a super noble goal, considering that the hike actually turned out to be pretty quick and easy, culminating in a beautiful view of the city. I concluded the day by eating a plate dinner in a park, but got scared and left because a concerning number of roosters started gathering around me.

Highlight: The first time I stepped into my dorm’s shower, I was shocked by how cold the water was. I guess ten people sharing one bathroom depletes the hot water supply quickly. What can you do? Nothing. So, I told myself to quit whining and took a freezing shower. Several freezing showers, actually. My final morning before check out, I got in the shower and was appalled to see that whoever used it last had turned the nozzle as cold as it could go. What a psycho, I thought. Just for kicks, I turned on the water to see just how cold it would be. Much to my surprise, the water that came out was...hot? It dawned on me then, that I had been turning the nozzle the wrong way throughout my entire stay.