Life’s a Beach

Lomma Beach House is the headquarters of Kite.se, the biggest kite surfing school in southern Sweden. It was built mostly by friends all with the common desire to have a place where everyone and anyone would feel welcome to come chill out, relax and converse with like minded people.
When the wind is good, the house is used for kite courses, and when the sun is shining we are selling ice cream and beach food to the public.
No two days are the same, but the morning breakfast ritual is firmly in place. We arrive out at the beach, perhaps go for a quick wake up swim, then settle in for a glorious breakfast the Swedish way. Coffee machine humming, an array of cereals, yoghurts and fruits, followed by soft and hard breads topped with caviar, cheeses and cucumber. It’s a feast for kings and time is taken to enjoy each mouthful, and to soak up the early morning sun on the deck. One would have to try very hard to have a bad day after a start like this.

 

 

 

 

 

The house is staffed by young travellers recruited from the HelpX website. It is much like the set up we used at El Elefante Amarillo, with the Work Away volunteers.
Take two French girls, two Spaniards, an Irish girl, a good handful of fresh young Americans and any Swedes that happen to be lying around, mix together with a generous helping of spontaneity, leave to cook a while in a sauna and you have a fail proof recipe for madness.

A Change Will Do You Good.

 

At the time of my last post I was working in sunny Spain , learning a lot at a new job and planning a week long trip back to Sweden for Midsummers.

The crisis is very much a reality in Spain. Even if you manage to find employment , there is no guarantee you will get paid. The restaurant business is a tough industry to be in at the best of times. Andalucía relies heavily on the tourists dollar, and although the tourists are still there, they are much more reluctant to part with their money. High end restaurants, such as Tragabuches (where the least you can expect to spend per person for a meal, is €100) are experiencing empty dining rooms night after night. Meanwhile the middle range restaurants seem to be faring a lot better. There is a real need for flexibility. Unless these high end places change their concepts and open themselves to other markets, by offering more affordable options, the prognosis is fatal.

Although I was grateful for such a great learning opportunity, I ended up losing money when I started work at Tragabuches. It is now August and after numerous bounced checks and subsequent bank fees, I am yet to be paid for the 270 odd hours I worked in June. It’s an unfortunate fact of life but we need money to survive and when the work/ life ratio is unbalanced, motivation wanes.

While back in Sweden for Midsummers, my friend Erik offered me a role he had offered me almost two years earlier. It meant spending all my days out at the beach, starting up food sales to the public in a brand new kite surfing house. It was an appealing offer.

 

               

So one week before my 26th birthday, I went back to Spain, quit my job, broke up with my boyfriend, moved out of my house and was back in Sweden within a week.

Although I adore Spain and the Spanish culture, I struggled to find my place there. Whereas I feel very much at home in Sweden. So while Sweden may not have the sunshine and cheap cervezas, nor does my new job hold the prestige that comes with working at a place like Tragabuches, life at the beach, surrounded by a great group of young people isn’t such a bad trade.