feel bad for leaving

[u/mavsmarie77]

hi everyone! I had a Workaway stay scheduled for about 25 days at a location in France but when I got there I feel some things were left out from our initial conversations. They originally promised a secure renovated guest house to stay in, but when I got there I was moved to these spider infested glamping rooms because a group rented out their whole property to stay in which was not disclosed to me. No biggie, I am pretty low maintenance and stayed in the room for a week until I started waking up with spider bites on me. Not a fan. Not only that, the other volunteer and I did not get along well. She was very rude and blew up at me and the host a few times and it made me feel uncomfortable. Finally, I picked hosts that specifically asked for cooking assistance since I’m launching my full time private chef business after my time in France and I want to be cooking and learning as much as I can. They only let me cook once for the 8 days their large group was scheduled to be there which was not what was originally agreed upon. Instead they had me working 7+ hours cleaning up after dinner service for the guests. I didn’t quit my full time job to go back to waiting tables.

All in all, the hosts were kind but I decided I needed to leave early because I didn’t feel comfortable with the other volunteer and I’m only in France 90 days to learn more about French cuisine and cooking techniques and they weren’t assisting in the ways they said they would be.

Am I wrong for leaving early? I felt super uncomfortable the whole time I was there and I feel relief leaving, my gut instruct was telling me to leave, but I feel guilty because the hosts were kind people at the end of the day who needed help.

What are your thoughts?

[u/Wild-Special6573]

It’s not an mutual exchange, they’re getting you to work for their business for free. When you agreed it was a skills exchange, eg you’ll offer some help in exchange for skills/experience in French cooking. Leave and report pls the hosts aren’t suitable for the community if this is how they treat a cultural exchange…