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Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Moolah

Gah, I made a Wordpress site and was then told people in Ethiopia have no issue with Blogger at all. I guess it depends on where you are in Ethiopia, but I desperately hope it's somewhere where I can use Blogger because I find it easier to use than Wordpress.  That being said, I'll be using this site until I no longer can.

For being a volunteer that's supposed to get a living stipend, I'm spending a lot of money on getting ready to go.  Medical bills were way more than I expected (that root canal in January didn't help), but I expected something there.  Last week, I went to REI and spent 800 dollars.

And sure, I returned a couple of items yesterday (a water purifier [because PC lends the latter out, not cuz the water is clean] and a backpacking cooking set), but that is still around $650.

Granted, some of the stuff in my cart I could have done without, but I think spending money on things is how my mom is taking control of my safety and well-being.  Do I need a $120 raincoat? No. But it makes her feel better than I have one.

Still, it's a lot of the little things that add up: microfiber towels (cuz otherwise they don't dry quickly enough in the rainy season), a headlamp, a Swiss army knife, hiking socks, water proof underwear, luggage locks, light weight shirts, gloves, measuring cups, rechargeable batteries. And this doesn't count all the skirts and shoes I bought: as a teacher I have to dress conservatively and professionally (skirts below the knees and closed toe shoes [that must be able to last two years in rough conditions] aren't cheap).

I'll probably end up bringing way to much, but if it calms my mom down I can lug another 20lbs through a 3 hr hike. I'll only have to do that once.  But I'm just saying, for a free adventure there's a lot of money being pumped into this trip.

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