All I wanted was to practise my English, I never expected more than that, but all I got now is the weird feeling that you may never see a person you like again, and it makes you feel sad that it only lasted for a few days.

This is my case. I’ve been working for a catering service for the past 5 days and I got to know 5 English native speakers, who I’ll never see again unless they want to take me to their countries and adopt me (not very likely). And it’s an amazing experience because I’ve never been with foreigners for such a long time. I only get to serve them food, and ask them if they want coffee, but that’s enough interaction for me, the right amount I need.

However, today’s been different. I was sent alone to the location at 1.30 AM and I believe everybody noticed how incredibly bored I was this morning, and that’s why they were all so nice to me.

The thing is that I don’t want to forget these 5 people because they are kind, respectful and most importantly, they like me.

I taught them my name, just for the sake of knowing theirs. It was funny that they compared Belén (my name) with Berlin. Apparently, they both sound alike to them, so since I didn’t want to be called ‘Berlin’, I asked them to call me ‘Bell’ that is a shot for my name and it’s something they can perfectly pronounce. OK, now it was time to get to know them.

Firstly, we got Gary. He’s the director and photographer of the photo shoot. I really don’t know much about him, but he’s nice. He’s really tall, a bit fat and wears a cap. He has blue eyes and white beard. He’s bald. He always says ‘Hola, Bell’ (I think he likes saying the word ‘bell’, and that’s why he remembers my name) and says ‘thank you’ a hundred times in one day. He’s British; don’t know which part, though. I’ll try to find out more if I get hired for the next few days. Together with him, we have Ian. A short, soon to become bald British guy, who is the assistant photographer, and apparently, a good friend of Gary. He’s more serious, but deep down I know he’s kind because whenever he can, he smiles at me perkily. He wears glasses with black frame and has brown eyes. They both like black coffee with no sugar. Gary loves ‘mediaslunas de manteca (croissants)’. Seriously, he will leave Argentina with a few extra pounds – not my fault! Both Gary and Ian like teasing me with the fact that I could immediately remember their names. ‘You’re good!’, they said. Actually, they are pretty good too because they have to problem with my name either.

Secondly, there are Sarah and Amy. They are Americans living in Germany because of their job. I don’t know much about Amy, just that she’s from Detroit. She always has a smile on her face, even if it’s raining or if she’s bored. She’s a bit chubby and her hair is long and with blonde highlights. She eats absolutely everything I offer her, which is nice because I don’t feel like an idiot every time I approach her with food. Sarah is quieter. She hates Germany and wants to return to the US. She’s tall, blonde and thin. Her gorgeous blue eyes can be seen from a distance. She is rather picky with the food and she’s ‘always OK’. Other than that, she’s really sweet and thankful, so is Amy.

And last, but not least is Peter. I adore this man and I‘ve only known him for 3 days. He couldn’t be cooler. He has this Tom Sawyer look and he’s sort of hippie. He wears baggy pants and these old black boots. He always brings the same sweater to work and has this cool orange raincoat. He has piercing blue eyes, and has grey hair. Today I talked to him for 20 minutes and he told me a lot about him. He was born and raised in Massachusetts but he now lives in Los Angeles (Hollywood, to be more specific). He also used to live in China Town there, so when he saw the ginger tea he was very excited. Peter is not a mechanic like I thought. He explained to me that he’s an artist. However, he doesn’t like selling his stuff. I think he said he’s a photographer as well. But he now builds this machines that they put on cars to take pictures from different angles: I believe that’s art too, so does he. This is not his first time in Argentina: he’s been twice in Buenos Aires, and also in Mendoza, Bariloche and San Juan. He plans to visit Alta Patagonia in the near future and he wants to go Salta because of the variety of colours. He’s the nicer out of the 5 of them. Every morning, he comes up to the breakfast table and he says ‘Hi, Bell’ or ‘Hola, Bell’ and takes his orange juice and coffee. It kills me when he says ‘Gracias’. Actually, the 5 of them try to say ‘gracias’, which is really friendly. Today, Peter used me as a translator. I was so bored this morning that that exact moment when he asked me, made my day.

Bottom line: this job is demanding but definitely worthy. This is an experience I’ll never forget because I’ll never forget Sarah, Amy, Gary, Ian and Peter who are the only reason I took this job: they needed someone from the catering service who spoke English to them and I was perfect for that, even if I don’t know how to make coffee.