- In Archive
- 2017-11-17 21:22:55
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Aleksandra Dimitrova has been on Work&Travel for three consecutive years on Nantucket, MA. She has worked as a busser, server, foodrunner, babysitter, landscaper, and housekeeper. Her favorite work experience is from the restaurants, because she was able to improve her English, meet different people, and get to know the American culture and eating habits better.
“Of course there were some small negative experiences, but if you don't focus your attention on them, they don't look significant at all,” explained Dimitrova.
In her own words the secret for her positive attitude was that “if you find a difficulty, you just have to overcome it. Her most cherished work memory is from her third summer.
“Our restaurant was a part of a bigger US chain and so, one of the big managers of the company and their executive chef came on a visit and asked for the best server,” recalled Dimitrova. “We were six people at that time and my manager told me that I should do it. I was so scared, but everyone was discussing my improvement after that and at the end my manager told me she was proud of me.”
At the end of the first summer, she went to New York for four days. Her best memory from “The Big Apple” is from the first night, when she went out to see Times Square. “It impressed me that New York is brighter at night than during the day, because the buildings are very tall and there is not much sunlight that gets to the streets, but at nights everything is covered in lights.”
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Dimitrova in 2015 in New York; personal archive[/caption]
The following year Dimitrova decided to go to Hawaii and even though it took her a lot of time to travel to and from there, she did not regret it. Dimitrova's most cherished memory of Hawaii is the day she went diving in the most popular bay, Hanauma. “I felt like I was in the movie “Finding Nemo”, because the fish and the corals were so colorful, the same as in the animation, and I even saw Nemo (Clownfish),” she recalled.
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During her second summer, in Hawaii; personal archive[/caption]
During her third year in the US, Dimitrova decided to visit the Mexican Caribbean, because of its rich history and Chichen Itza, one of the most famous archaeological sites in Mexico. During her trip to Chichen Itza, Dimitrova learned that the Mayans still exist and found out her tour-guide himself was a Mayan. She also discovered that only Mayan people are allowed to enter the pyramid. But what impressed her the most were the Mexican people.
[caption id="attachment_37627" align="aligncenter" width="768"]“Mexico was completely different from all the places I had visited in America, the people were very welcoming, they seemed to be doing their work because they want you to feel good. In America people are treating you well, but in the end they expect you to pay them for the kindness. In Mexico, even though some of the people weren't tipping them, they still continued to be nice to you on the other day.”
Dimitrova in 2017, in Mexico ; personal archive[/caption]
Arlinda Osmanoviq, first-year student, Albania
Osmanoviq also spent her first year of Work&Travel on Nantucket. Her first job was as an assistant and dishwasher in the kitchen of a hotel and she made juices at the other place where she worked. “At a later point I had four jobs, but some were part-time,” explained Arlinda. I basically worked from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. everyday.” Some of her other jobs included being a busser and a hostess. She had only two free days for the whole summer, and that was because she was sick and took a day off to recover. “It was difficult, but I had this goal I had to make money to pay for AUBG, because I didn't want to ask my parents for money,” said Arlinda. She has paid both her first semester and the Work&Travel program by herself.
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Osmanoviq (top left) with her co-workers from the restaurant; personal archive[/caption]
What Osmanoviq found difficult about the work in the kitchen was that washing the dishes from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. meant being wet all day because of the water, and damaging her hands constantly when getting the hot dishes out of the machine.
Osmanoviq also recalled being discriminated by her co-workers, who let her do the work of two people by herself. “Even if I tried to complain, it didn't help, because there were people with more than five years of experience. So the chef didn't trust me, only them."
Initially, Osmanoviq had in mind to travel around the US, but her views changed and she decided not to, because she did not know if she would make enough money to be able to afford it.
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Osmanoviq with her roommate and their landlady' child.[/caption]
Osmanoviq shared that her favorite moment was when she stepped on American land for the first time, because it had been her dream since she was 15. Her worst memory is of her chef getting angry with her and her friend, after finding out they had not signed out during their lunch break. “We forgot to clock out unintentionally, but the chef found out and he was mad at us. It was because you have the right to go on a break but you have to clock out, because it doesn't count in your work hours,” she explained.
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Osmanoviq with her best friend, who helped her through the hard times at work; personal archive[/caption]
Osmanoviq shared it was her friends that gave her power to stay in the US until the end of the summer. “After 16 hours of work, you're tired, you get nervous, you are homesick to the point that you just want to call CIEE [Council on International Educational Exchange] and return. But I didn't do that, because of my friends there who supported me,” she said.