2008.12.22: December 22, 2008: Headlines: COS - Macedonia: Blogs - Maceonia: Personal Web Site: Peace Corps Volunteer Panopticon writes: Things I Can Do with $25
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2008.12.22: December 22, 2008: Headlines: COS - Macedonia: Blogs - Maceonia: Personal Web Site: Peace Corps Volunteer Panopticon writes: Things I Can Do with $25
Peace Corps Volunteer Panopticon writes: Things I Can Do with $25
In the spirit of displaying how grateful I am for every dollar, I'm going to make a list of how much things over here cost and what, exactly, I can do with $25.
Peace Corps Volunteer Panopticon writes: Things I Can Do with $25
Monday, December 22, 2008
Things I Can Do with $25
IMG_0970 by Wayan Vota Flickr Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.0 Generic
Since arriving here in Macedonia, several family members have been thoughtful enough to give me some money. A few times, someone has written me to tell me they wrote me a check for 20 or 25 dollars and actually said something like "I know it's not much..." etc etc. Well!! In the spirit of displaying how grateful I am for every dollar, I'm going to make a list of how much things over here cost and what, exactly, I can do with $25.
-Nice dinner including my favorite salad, a big pizza and a glass of wine: $7
-A weeks worth of groceries including comfort items like Diet Coke and cheddar cheese: $15-20
-One month's worth of internet access in my apartment: $13
-A round-trip bus ticket to go see friends in another city when they promise to make me fajitas: $5
-A Teflon frying pan (God knows this is the most useful thing I've bought since I got here): $11
-A delicious hot chocolate: $1
-A new pair of nice dress shoes: $20
-A kilogram of Macedonia's finest tomatoes: $1.50 in winter, $0.50 in summer.
So! That gift that you think "isn't that much" will buy me a nice dinner out, a whole month of internet and a much needed fajita escape to another city. And, BELIEVE ME, I can't even begin to explain how grateful I am whenever I'm able to do or buy any of the things listed above (along with many, many others).
Tomorrow, I am going across the country by bus to spend Christmas with a big group of volunteers. Three have offered up their apartments to host others and there are promises abound of lasagna and tacos and we have a gift exchange planned for Wednesday night. I'm very excited about it, it will be a Christmas unique from the rest I've had!! Part of me certainly wishes I was home with family but I'm excited to do something different too. I will be going to the capital tomorrow and spending one night there then going on to the west where I'll spend Wednesday, Thursday and Friday with a gaggle of volunteers then probably head back to my humble city on Saturday morning. It will be nice! I get to see the west side of the country, finally spend some quality time with my fellow volunteers outside of training and just generally RELAX for more than a few hours with other people! Fun for all.
And total cost my Christmas? Probably about $30. So thank you!!!!
Links to Related Topics (Tags):
Headlines: December, 2008; Peace Corps Macedonia; Directory of Macedonia RPCVs; Messages and Announcements for Macedonia RPCVs
When this story was posted in February 2009, this was on the front page of PCOL:
Peace Corps Online The Independent News Forum serving Returned Peace Corps Volunteers
| Director Ron Tschetter: The PCOL Interview Peace Corps Director Ron Tschetter sat down for an in-depth interview to discuss the evacuation from Bolivia, political appointees at Peace Corps headquarters, the five year rule, the Peace Corps Foundation, the internet and the Peace Corps, how the transition is going, and what the prospects are for doubling the size of the Peace Corps by 2011. Read the interview and you are sure to learn something new about the Peace Corps. PCOL previously did an interview with Director Gaddi Vasquez. |
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Story Source: Personal Web Site
This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - Macedonia; Blogs - Maceonia
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