Calm before the storm....

After a week of frantic cleaning, extra hours, and tempers flaring all departments of Mennorode have managed to recuperate from the Ridwan group that was here. I believe that I wrote about them in earlier blogs from October or so. Even though we finally cleaned everything up from them, the one day that didn't have many rooms to be cleaning was filled with frantic preparations for the next group of Ridwans coming tonight! The kitchen has been preparing food like crazy, housekeeping has been on pins and needles, banqueting is ordering everyone around and setting cult like rooms, and Kostas (the bartender) is waiting in anticipation. Two groups of Ridwan come, a week apart. The first group is small with about 100-150 people. They live unbelieveably relaxed and carefree, often we wonder if they're there in their minds as they simply walk straight past us with glazed over eyes. But this second group....there are over 200 of them, and they quite literally invade and take over the entire hotel while it's workers frantically attempt to straighten things, provide every request, and stay out of the groups way. So now we're ready. We're waiting with a 'bring it on' mentality. The next two weeks are the weeks of the year. So Ridwan, bring it on, make your rooms and the hallways as dirty as you like, I'll be right there to clean it up and provide you with your every request.

Although this is a great mentality for all the workers here to have, the Ridwan are really just the beginning. Next weekend (the 15) there is an over lap of Ridwan and Origami people, meaning that all of the Ridwan rooms will need to be cleaned and reset in less than 8 hours. This usually takes us the entire week to do (not because we're lazy, it literally just is that dirty and that much). Luckily (or maybe not?) I'm working in the bar that day, which means i don't have to deal with that, but I do however have to deal with the 350 people that are going to be demanding Cordine and Wines. Maybe I'll just disappear?

In other news, I have FAR too many books to read. The list has grown to 30, and newly include:

Lady Oracle-Margaret Atwood
Mrs. Dalloway-Virginia Woolf
Lolita
Siddhartha-Hermann Hesse
For Whom the Bells Toll-Ernest Hemingway
The Origin of Species-Darwin
The Tipping Point-Gladwell
Four Quartets-T.S. Eliot

So I'd better stop wasting my time writing about the Ridwan and get on it eh?