Some Favorite Roadrunner Guests

The hostel has a fun community atmosphere: many people (both staff and travelers) eat, cook, and socialize together. Right now I'm enjoying the flow of new people during the busy season, and I make new friends almost every day. Some of those friendships last only for a day (because people leave) and some last longer. Let me introduce you to some of them:


Marta
Marta is a cake-decorator from Buffalo, NY. When the bakery where she worked closed, she took off for Tucson. She's my age and very athletic: she cycles, lifts, runs...probably pushes boulders in her spare time. She's one of the better friends I've made here. Marta wouldn't stand still long enough for me to take a photo of her, though, so it's a little blurry...but she's standing next to the chocolate cake she made for a coworker's birthday. 

Todd

Todd was here for the gem show as a non-gem vendor. He travels around the country selling sunglasses. I stopped by his tent and he helped me pick out a cool pair...and then we commenced topractice our modeling skills. 

Todd also writes and was in the film industry for a while. He's a pretty chill guy, but quick-witted, too...he can give me a run for my money sometimes. Sometimes.


Egyptian Military Parachuters
These guys were just fun. They were in Tucson for training, because we have a military base here. Only a few spoke English. I managed to catch one of them (Elsaid was his name) near the end of his praying and asked him to read some of the Quran. He didn't speak English at all, so there was a lot of gesturing. I've never seen the holy book up close before and I wanted to hear the correlation between the text and the words. He was more than happy to show me and even pulled up some online translations later. From left to right, we have: Elsaid, Monsour (Mano), Sabry, Morhtar, and Hassan.

Mano teased me about my feet and how small they were, so we had a running joke about shoe sizes. I'm holding up my hand for size 3 and he for size 5. 

Goran
Goran was also here for the gem show - he's a geologist. He's from Serbia, but moved to Vancouver to pursue his dream. He's soft-spoken, tranquil, and one of the sweetest men you will ever talk to. 

He would make these frappachino drinks in the kitchen all the time. He offered me one a few times, but it always at night and I didn't want to be wide awake on caffeine right before bed. I liked to watch him make them, though...frothers are the coolest gadgets!

Dan
Dan, in her own words, is "French-educated, Vietnamese-born, a Canadian and Dutch citizen, raised in New York City." She is one of the most fantastic people I've met. She's animated, talkative, very responsive to your thoughts, and funny. I enjoyed being around her because she made me laugh all the time. Dan was also at the hostel for the gem show; she is a dealer and works with only rubies, sapphires, and emeralds. She lives in Holland right now, but doesn't care for the country much. In her spare time, she's a farmer on Farmville and takes great pride in planting crops and caring for her animals. I love this woman so much, lol. (Photo courtesy of Facebook)