First Night Shift

I had my first night shift at the hostel tonight. Jimmy the manager told me not to worry: "It's easy." The first few hours were pretty laid back, because there was no one in the house. However, things started picking up around 8 pm. People came back from dinner, new guests were checking in...and they needed tours, someone asked me a really complicated question involving a refund, I was hungry, dishes needed to be put away, people were watching tv, someone turned on loud music, others were cooking, the owners came by and started chatting with guests, people were talking shop about gems, the shower curtains had to be washed, someone needed her lock broken off her locker because she lost her key, one guest couldn't sleep because of another's snoring, and around 11:30 pm - just when I was taking the guest who couldn't sleep across the street to our overflow dorms - a stressed, young French woman came to the hostel looking for a place to stay because she couldn't get a hold of her friends in Phoenix and almost cried because couldn't afford the rate ($35/night).

Yeah. Cakewalk.

There was so much stimulation that it was difficult to do one thing at a time.

However, one thing I enjoy about my job is making guests happy, because I like to make people happy. Going the extra mile to clean someone's dishes or calm them down or find them a better room or make them comfortable is really rewarding when they become relieved or content. Tonight, I definitely did all of that - people were happy (even the stressed French woman, who we charged a lower rate). Believe me, it's not easy...like when someone leaves his dishes in the sink and says, "I have no problem with you washing my dishes if you'd like," and then walks away and doesn't come back. But sometimes that's the way it is. Life isn't always cool, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't be.

All in all, it wasn't bad. In some ways, it was even fun.

The Job Market

What do you get when one desperate employer meets one desperate and inexperienced candidate?

A job.

I think I was the only one who applied, because they called me within 24 hours of me filling out an application. I also applied to work at a restaurant...which I've never done before. So why should they hire me? My phone "interview" consisted of a few questions about my moving to Tucson, and then he told me that I could start as soon as the drug screen results came back.

Tucson Tour: Downtown

This is my first video of downtown Tucson. I plan to post more in the future, so stay tuned!

You can access the video via Youtube here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9NIfbMt7BM

The Sprawl

Tucson may not seem large, but it is very spread out. It's a motor- and bike-friendly city, but it doesn't cater to walkers. Luckily, the transportation system is decent...not awesome, but decent. When I first arrived in the city, I needed to re-learn how to plan trips: "I have to catch the bus at this time and be out of the store by this time," or "It's going to take me 2.5 hours to get to the mall and pick up a pair of pants I ordered. Do I need anything else there? Because I'm not going back for awhile..." I'm lucky there was no place I had to be during my first few weeks because of my time miscalculations. I just wish the supermarket and a drug store were closer, you know? You have to plan for a two-hour block of time for a round-trip to either of these places. It's especially frustrating when you want to pick up one thing.

However, for other things, Tucson is very walkable. I can easily walk to the downtown bus station, cafes, the library, a yoga studio, and a YMCA. So I will quit complaining. I enjoy walking, honestly - much more than driving a car.

I also have to admit that I was impressed with how accessible the streets were for cyclists when I got here (even better than Madison in my opinion). Maybe I'll spring for a bike in the future.

Bike-friendly street:

But otherwise, these are car people here:

Living and Working at the Hostel

I now work at the hostel where I'm staying. The deal is a work exchange: I work 3 shifts a week and get a place to live in return. It's nice for someone who doesn't have a place to stay or know anyone in the area. I get my own private room, furnished with a bed and dresser, and I have access to a full kitchen, free wi-fi, and free laundry. Essentially, free room and utilities in exchange for 24 hours of working a week. With my rent taken care of, I now have to find a job to buy groceries and other things that I might need. The nice thing is that they're really flexible here, so if I do find a job, they'll try to work around it.

I like being at the hostel, to be honest. At least for right now. I meet so many interesting people every day. Here's a brief list:

Young British people (several individuals) who quit their jobs to travel
A cycling crew going from Tempe to Tucson
Students from Ohio taking a week-long nature course
A young woman heading out to LA, who is writing a book about her crazy life
A massage therapist
A yoga teacher in training
Foreign exchange students from East Asia
Students from Virginia who brought quail eggs for cooking
Egyptian army men - parachuters here for training (it's fun to watch them cook in the kitchen)
A cake decorator from Buffalo - she's my age
A Dutchman biking across the southwest
A gem seller from Toronto who lives London
Two young women (not together) traveling around the US figuring out where they want to live
A man who practices shamanism and likes wheat grass cocktails in the morning - he told me he liked my energy and that I was like his spiritual "sister"...which made me chuckle :). He's a nice guy.

I like meeting all these people and hearing about their lives. It's reassuring to find people my age and older who are in transition and don't always know what they're doing with their lives. It's also great to meet people who do know what they're doing and to find out how they got there. The gem seller, for instance, told us about several jobs he had. One of them was a pillow factory. He had to jump off a high platform and land on the pillows as part of his work. I imagine that's fun :).

Every day is interesting and it's never the same. The only thing I wish right now is for a little more privacy. I don't have my own room yet, because the famous gem show is coming and all available space is given to guests. I also need to spend my first two weeks as an employee living in the dorms - it's part of the protocol. So I'll have to wait a little longer before I really have my own place.

Computer Lessons

I met a senior woman at the hostel. Her name was Cynthia. We exchanged life stories and hers was just as interesting as some of the "foreigners."

I don't know how old the woman is, but she calls herself a senior citizen. She moved to Tucson to do hospice care. Originally, she wasn't a nurse, but recently felt called to take up this profession...essentially begin anew in the second - or possibly third - stage of her life. She essentially packed her bags and moved to Tucson, like me...except she had a job. She told me about how she felt out of place beginning all over again and how the younger hospice care workers would scoff at her. Cynthia, however, was determined. It was something she felt passionate about, though she didn't share exactly why.

I suppose she felt touched by my reasons for moving to Tucson and took a liking to me. She gave me a ride to the mall the other day to pick up a pair of jeans I ordered. We got lost, even with her GPS announcing directions for all to hear. However, I was glad for it, because we shared more about how things in our lives seemed to bring us to where we were. She calls it the "Universe" while I call it God. Regardless, it was really great to share the feeling of being where we were supposed to be.

Earlier that morning, Cynthia asked me to help her with the computer. She needed a map and some location information. I pulled it up for her and she was amazed. She asked me to show her some other things like just pulling up a browser and finding a store. The computer was very foreign to her and she was so grateful to me for taking the time to show her how to use it. Cynthia told me about how librarians in the town where she lived "ran away" when they saw her coming, because they didn't like answering her questions. I told her I was more than happy to help. She asked me if I would be interested in doing this regularly, and - not having anything else to do - I said, "Sure." She said she's wanted computer classes for three years now and would be happy to pay me. She asked me to think about a rate. I felt bad taking money from an older woman, but I accepted it as a form of gratitude. I learned a few years ago that accepting "thank you" is just as important as saying it.

Today we had our second session. Cynthia amazed me at how new everything was to her - everything that I took for granted. Simple things like knowing which windows to close (some have multiple X's in one) and replying to e-mails. She took notes and told me she'll have to practice. She thanked me at the end and I assured her that it was my pleasure to help. She insisted paying me at a rate double of what I was going to ask. It's not enough to cover groceries for the week, but it will definitely help :). I have a feeling this is going to be one of those token friendships you read about in books and see in movies about a young person and an old person benefitting from each other unexpectedly. The funny thing is I think only a few times in my life have I looked forward to working with an older person. Usually I just get frustrated and therefore avoid it. However, today I was glad to see her. A computer lesson gave me a sense of purpose for the day, which is so important when I wake up feeling like a failure because I don't have a job.

She probably doesn't even realize how she's helping me in more ways than one. I look forward to the next lesson.

The Journey to Tucson

A V-log for the intro:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ah8e04mcBXI&feature=youtu.be

This is my first video, so bear with me as I take on the video-producing learning curve.