Gearing Up

I'm trying to get together everything i need for my 2 years in Mali. I'm trying to stay basic...i HATE being that kid that has all north face gear and a hydration pack for a 3 mile hike. I'm a basics person...I like non name brands and avoid fads (some would say i lack fashion lol).

All the same this prep work is costing me a TON of money that I don't' really have. So far I've bought:

• 2 Macabi skirts (www.macabiskirt.com) @ $40 (discounted) each -- these are essential for modest Africa clothing that is still practical (and so stink cool!)
• 1 pair of chacos at $50 give or take (discounted) - i wavered on buying these, but i think quality comfortable sandals are going to be a must. I already own Keens so I'm covered in the toe protection department for more hazardous walking days
• 2 sports bras at $25 dollars each -- i'm in desperate need of these anyway, my old ones are in sad condition. I got nike drifit which is sorta brandnamey...but i went to get underarmor, and passed for the cheaper nikes...bras need to be quality, it's a fact. you can't skimp on dairy and you can't skimp on underwear...it's too important.
• 1 pair of Nike capris at $39 i got these on the Sports Authority Outlet site. I HATE capris, but shorts are a no no in Mali, so i'm trying....i'll probably just endure the heat in light pants though.
• 1 Divacup -- tampons just aren't available in the rest of the world...$4o bucks
• Bug Hut, 4 nalgenes, headlamp, frying pan REI for $125 -- just stuff you need in the third world lol. The pan is up for argument...i've heard yes you need one and no you don't...i like to cook though so i'll probably bring it.

That comes out to about $385 so far. And I still have to pick up a few things. Apparently bras are impossible to find (of any quality) so i should bring 8 new ones....oh lord that's gonna be spendy. What else...I need new trail running shoes and running pants (again no shorts allowed). That might be it though. I'm keeping my clothing list small. Jeans, pants i have, cotton tees, tanks, undies...that's it. I hear you can get clothes made REAL cheap in Africa so i'll probably rely on that for the most part.

I guess the thing is you gotta pay for your life for 2 years up front...and i just don't have that spare cash lying around (okay not totally true, i have a couple grand in savings...but it's FOR SAVING).

That's it for now...sorry for the money complaining...i'm going to the like the 6th poorest country in the world and i'm whining about $$$ for a flipping fry pan. I'm lame. I'm going to shut up now and dwell on my lameness.

:) Only 3 more months...scary. (PS still FREAKING out about leaving Thomas, but with great faith I freak out :))

Gypsy on

Finally

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/7f31888c-f8e5-11dc-bcf3-000077b07658.html?nclick_check=1

This makes me very happy. The world community is finally paying attention!

Hope Easter treated you all well.

Gypsy on!

Easter tidbits

1. Easter falls on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the spring equinox...hence the constant moving of the holiday
2. This will be the earliest Easter we will see in our life time (barring some huge advance in medicine)
3. Easter can only possibly be one day earlier than this year's Easter
4. In second century Europe, the predominate spring festival was a raucous Saxon fertility celebration in honor of the Saxon Goddess Eastre (Ostara), whose sacred animal was a hare.
5. After discovering that people were more reluctant to give up their holidays and festivals than their gods, early Christian Evangelists simply incorporated Pagan practices into Christian festivals. As recounted by the Venerable Bede, an early Christian writer, clever clerics copied Pagan practices and by doing so, made Christianity more palatable to pagan folk reluctant to give up their festivals for somber Christian practices. (bunnies and eggs make more sense this way then trying to tie them to Jesus lol)
6. "Many modern practitioners of Neo-pagan and earth-based religions have embraced these symbols [the egg and bunny] as part of their religious practice, identifying with the life-affirming aspects of the spring holiday. (The Neopagan holiday of Ostara is descended from the Saxon festival.) Ironically, some Christian groups have used the presence of these symbols to denounce the celebration of the Easter holiday, and many churches have recently abandoned the Pagan moniker with more Christian oriented titles like 'Resurrection Sunday.'" (this makes me laugh, sounds like Freedom Fries)
7. Dietitians are warning that eating five Easter eggs (the average given to most children) plus the bars included with them, could see youngsters doubling their recommended calorie intake for a week, risking becoming hooked on chocolate, plus seeing their weight increase by several pounds within days. The recommended daily amounts are around 2,000 calories a day for an average 11-year-old boy and 1,500 for a girl, but many could be eating up to 10,000 calories over the Easter period.
8. Ninety million chocolate Easter bunnies are produced each year.

Have a happy Easter everyone! Enjoy the pagan chocolate, eggs, and candy and revel in the Christ's Redemption!

Ode to the Irish

Kiss me, I'm Irish...no really i am. Bailey...self-explanitory. Actually my great great grandpa on my MOM's side (so not even the Bailey side) was an Irish sea captain. He came to the US...and now I'm a salty irish pirate's great great grand-daughter. Yay me.

Inherited Irish Traits:

• Green eyes??? i dunno is that Irish? lol
• Short lephurcaun stature
• I like rain...???
• I can hold my alcohol...actually not true anymore. i RARELY drink these days, so i'm a light weight now...sad
• i probably have a temper...but i'm not admitting it
• i like green

LOL...well i'm irish at heart! You know what I WISH i would have inherited...the amazing voices of Irish singers. For example:

• Damien Rice
• Damien Rice's chick...whatever her name is that sounds like a flippin siren
• Enya
• Glen and Irglova or whatever her weird name is

See, i mean, come on. Enya for crying out loud. She's the most amazing singer EVER. Pure tone in her voice, it's really amazing. I'm 99.9% sure that the song that i walk down the aisle to is going to be Aniron from Lord of the Rings. I'm not a Lord of the Rings junkie...never read the books and not HUGE into the movies or anything...but that frickin song is so beautiful. PLUS i hate the "here comes the bride big fat and wide..." song. Everytime i hear that song that's all i think, not really what i want in my head as i go into marriage lol.

Well that's a digression to say the least. So happy st. patrick's day! May the green beer flow with abundance! And don't forget to kiss me!

Right I'm pro

So i'm on this yahoo group for Peace Corps people. Like people who are applying, people in the field, and people who've returned...well they wanted to find out who had blogs etc. since reading other people's experience is so helpful yada yada yada.

This mostly translates, in my experience, is that we peace corps applicants are freaking nuts. All we do all day is obsess over what country we'll end up in, what our job will be, and what the hell we're supposed to pack with us.

I'm really no help. I had no problems with my medical or placement...i'm pretty much an anomaly.

But speaking of obsessive peace corps behaviors...In the last week I've probably checked and rechecked about a 100 websites on packing lists. I've now got a rough idea of what to bring...but no idea how much it will weigh or if it will even remotely fit in 2 checked bags. What I do know is that clothes will take up the least space lol...pans, knives, head lamps, etc will likely be the bulk.

Can we just talk for a moment about spiders? i hate spiders. HATE. I'm not scared....not really, i just hate them. They're yucky. All those legs and weird eyes and they jump and crawl WAY too damn fast. Africa has big spiders. I know this cause at the zoo every single one of the nastiest spiders is found in Africa. I think i need to pack a bb gun. Then i could shoot them from a distance. That'd be cool. Spiders rank in the top 3 things i'm concerned about in my PEace Corps travels.

Spiders are superceded by learning my new languages French and Bambara. #1 on the list, however, is missing thomas. :( That's gonna suck.

In happy news, Thomas and i are going to Disneyland on Sunday! Yay! And on May 12 we fly first class to DISNEY WORLD! yay. :)

Gypsy on

That's Enough!

Okay they've gone too far now. They're rounding up cats and killing them in death camps. That's the last straw! China Olympics suck.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/worldnews.html?in_article_id=528694&in_page_id=1811

Poor kitties. :(

In other more positive news...

Thomas and I spring cleaned, on our to-do list:
Fix the gate
Sweep the patio of winter leaf debris
"Clean" the dirt of cat poo
Cover said dirt with bark dust
Replace broken toilet seat
Hang 4 guitars to unclutter living room
hang super cool Cost Plus Star lantern
Get rid of crap we don't need
Laundry

It was great. And our backyard looks AMAZING!

Thomas is keeping my condo when I leave, so we wanted to spruce it up for the long haul. Turns out I'm keeping my house even when I"m in Africa. That's good for Sawyer, he'll have a home :) Now we just need to paint the bedroom.

Gypsy On

That Really Grinds My Gears

Remember that family guy where Peter is on the news with a segment "That Really Grinds My Gears"? Well ya i do. I love family guy. Anyway, here's things that grind my gears. I'm not as bitter as i sound....lol

1. That frickin B of A LOST my deposit of $2160 dollars that i put in THEIR ATM. How do you LOSE a desposit? And how can i just be "outta luck?"

2. Friends who for whatever reason don't have the common courtesy to acknowledge that they are in fact your friend. What is this? Is friendship and love some sort of commodity now that you don't have enough to give out?

3. Friends who just forget you exist cause you broke up with their other friend. What the hell? (that one's been eating at me since college, i still live in LA jerkfaces--yes i did edit that for content)

4. working. lol.

5. ... HRC

okay i think that's it.

gypsy on