Spoiler alert: It wasn’t me. I’m still single, so if you are a woman between 25 and 38, DM me if you are interested. Just kidding (or maybe not).

My friends, Juse and Paula, used to work with me until they started their own business a couple of years before (audiovisual content). Sometimes I help them with creative concepts, copy, screenplays, or voiceovers. I was excited to share with them there.

So with them, my solo trip ended. Now we were just 3 guys trying to solve a simple but tricky question: What the hell are we going to do with our lives? Meanwhile, we could enjoy Viajero Hostel with its party vibes, interact with other guests, take cool pictures, and play with our drones.

By the end of the week, Juse waited until we were alone to tell me about a secret mission we had; Paula’s boyfriend, Daniel, was going there to propose to her the next day, so we had to take her out the hostel while he arrived and set the surprise dinner. Then we had to record everything the best we could. 

Piece of cake. Paula is cool and easy-going; “it would be easy to distract her.” I thought.

We took Paula to Palomino. This town is iconic and famous among foreign people; there are a lot of hostels and restaurants. I want to say there is a beach, but it isn’t because the ocean is taking it off. Though still beautiful.

We spend the whole day there. It was a Friday, so we will party at the hostel anyways. Juse and I were both anxious; Daniel was handling this just with Juse, so I had no details, blind. I assumed my role, asked for drinks for my friends, and made them want to party that night.

When we arrived at the hostel by the end of the afternoon, It wasn’t like the day I’d come; it wasn’t that crowd so the risk of getting caught was higher. We sat near the pool (the bar is next to it), and we started drinking some rum (By “we,” I mean Me because they didn’t want to start before dinner, but I could miss dinner because of Paula’s proposal) before we go to the room to take a shower and dress for the party.

I went first because I wanted to avoid being alone with Paula and say something that could ruin the surprise. On my way, Daniel approached me. He was nervous and happy, grateful to us for helping him with this noble task, but his anxiety almost got him caught by Paula later.

Then it was Paula’s turn, and I could talk appropriately with Juse about the next steps; when the time had come, Juse would take Paula to some spot at the beach where Daniel would be waiting for her. At that moment, I had to run to our room, get the camera, run back to that spot 100 meters away, and hide in the shadow to record the video of the proposal.

Paula came to the pool with a question mark on her face, asking Juse about the dress he put on her bed while she was taking a shower. They are like siblings; it’s hilarious how they argue about anything. I was too sober for that. Juse dropped a smoke grenade and left us to take his shower.

Paula asked me if I knew something because it was so weird that Juse picked a dress for her and told her he was following instructions. I offered rum to her to gain a few seconds because I didn’t have a clue about what to say. 

Daniel texted her; that kind of message was understandable between significant others. Paula started to doubt, then their song filled the place. Paula was nuts. She went crazy and told me it was not a coincidence (of course, it was not), but I gave her a look like she was mental.

She told me about that song, the timing of the text, and the weird thing about the dress. She was 100% he was there. In between, I drank more rum and gave Paula a few more, but I was about to get caught, so I had to lie with the truth. (To lie with the truth? Yeah, sometimes the truth is too obvious to be real, so people don’t believe you.)

Me: Paula, are you listening to yourself? Do you really think it has some sense?

Paula: …

Me: Let me put this straight, so you receive a text from Daniel, and then your song start playing. You are telling me Daniel is here because of that?

Paula: It could be. Why did Juse pick me that dress? How come he is following instructions? Instructions for what? Am I crazy?

Me: Paula, I’m afraid that you are actually crazy. I hope you already know that. Don’t you think that if your boyfriend bothered to buy a ticket to come here, he wouldn’t show up as soon as he came to see you and spend time with you instead of hiding behind the bar and watching you talk with me right now?

Paula took a long shot of rum, she almost believed my stunning performance, but she still had a lot of questions. Juse came to us; it was time. He told Paula to follow him; Paula was nervous and said something like “No, I will stay here with my friend Lema” (Lema is my last name), and when she said that and looked at me, I was walking far away. She yelled to me, “Traitor.”

It would take me a lot of time to go to the room and do everything as planned, and I was tipsy, so I confided in my phone’s camera. I ran there and crashed my knee into the cabin close to them. Fortunately, they didn’t hear that. Without a knee, I hid next to a palm tree (full of ants, what a joke) and recorded their video. Then Daniel asked Juse and me to join them to thank us, Paula was relieved that she was not crazy (I still think she is, but what are you going to do?) 

Juse and I were so happy for them, we celebrated and told everyone in the hostel about our friend getting married. That night was exceptional, we ended up playing the chairs game which I almost won, and then a group from Bucaramanga arrived at the hostel, bringing the party with them; what a way to close this trip.

With a colossal hangover but the satisfaction of getting some excellent hints about what I would like to live, having met terrific people, helping a friend to be surprised, and some other stories, I will keep to myself.

Read: Chronicles about a road trip in the USA – part 1 here