Amy was right. The host, Lalo, is very helpful. He jumps right into action to help me get rid of bed bugs. We lay out all my clothes on the brick wall outside the office and spray them with a poison, along with the backpack which he seals tightly in a black garbage bag and sets it in the sun. Lalo gives me a tour of the hostel and I tell him I think I may want to pay extra for the private room because “I may need a place to cry this afternoon.”

 “No,” he says. “If you need to cry . . .” and he pats his shoulder indicating that’s where I should do any crying. I resist the urge to try it out. Instead I take a bunk in the 8-bed room with Amy. We laugh a lot throughout the evening and inform Lalo that we’ll be returning next year to help him run the hostel.