October is ending. I don't want to speak too soon and then get hit by lightning or something, but this year's bad luck streak have been relatively handle-able.
My internet was out for 2 weeks and I almost gotten hit on the freeway twice in the same 2 minutes and lost some important keys after a week of holding on to them securely and some other miscellaneous bad shits that sort just blended all together now in my head, but overall, I am relatively in one piece and life goes on.
Sure, I'm currently the only person in the office who got a case of food poisoning off El Pollo Loco grilled chicken from the communal staff lunch. I finally able to handle a solid meal after 48 hours of stomach-ache so life is looking up. Still, it's kinda sad and discouraging in term of chicken because now I can't think about the food without feeling a little bit pukey and that sucks. I mean, if I can't think about chicken what can I think about???
Life is cruel.
But I'm still alive. So yay. 100 days until departure.
Goodness gracious it's posts like this that makes me realize how lame my life has become. I need some serious drinking and dancing and lovin'
Friday, October 28, 2011
Saturday, October 15, 2011
unexciting shoes, a first world problem.
Goodness gracious, all this student loans is cramping my style. If I stay on schedule, I can pay that shit off in 10 years. Yay.
On other news, even if I'm poor, having my own living space again is so worth it. Plenty of sitting around naked time (haha just kidding... maybe) and plenty of room to toss my shit around. Life of solitude is quiet nice. My land lady's poodle is the most and only frequent visitor in my bed room, and even then, my carpet gets more action since the dog likes to rub itself on it.
Moving on to the good/main stuff. Shoes. Despite only having two feet, any girl would agree that we can never have enough shoes. At least a pair for every occasion and more if we're lucky.
For Peace Corps, shoes are just as important because walking is inevitable and good feet support is a must. Previous and current PC all recommend the newbies to bring at least a pair of Chacos/Teva/Keen for their two years.
Initially, I didn't want to after seeing how expensive and ugly they are, but after some consideration, such as my current flip flops/sandals don't give me that much support or cushion and they are not made for beat up dirt road, I'm giving in and am not shopping for a decent pair. The good thing is, I get about 40-50% off on the account of being a Peace Corps volunteer, the bad thing is, did I mention how unattractive they are?
Under normal circumstances, "shoes shopping" would totally excite me, but looking at these guys, this is soooo not the case. Wah.
1. Chaco: They are supposed to be really good for your feet and all that jazz but on top of them being super expensive ($90 to $100+ a piece) they are also pretty much the least unflattering kind of shoes I have ever seen. Not at much as Uggs though, but still. I'm all about spending good money on good shoes, but they would have at least be good looking too. I spent an hour looking at all the options and the more I look the uglier they got. I was actually having a hard time deciding which one is the uglier one. I don't understand the differences in style or whatever because they all look alike but in different colors. People's feet look like little piglets hogged tied onto car tires by colorful but ugly ropes.
2. Teva: These are slightly easier in the eyes, they don't remind me of car tires, and I can actually tell the difference between each style. They are about $5-$10 cheaper than Chacos and I actually don't mind wearing them. WATSAN (Water/Health Sanitation) volunteers, i.e: me, are recommended to have some light weight hiking shoes so I am having a hard time deciding between the open toes and the closed toes shoes. I don't want any closed toes knowing how hot it's going to be, but the open toes might be dangerous for my toes in the event that I have to step into some muck/rock/swamp/whoknowswhat. Plus, the closed toes shoes seems like they would ask for socks, and for the time being, I'm really trying to avoid the socks and sandal look despite it being all the rage among tourists and travelers these days.
3. Keen: Keen is sort of like Teva, so now that makes me wonder of whether Chaco is just the ugly odd one out or is there something between Keen and Teva that I don't know about. Its price is in just about the same with the other two brands. I neither like or hate the shoes (as oppose to really dislike the looks of Chaco). This pair is being considered, it's a whopping $90. It actually looks a bit better than the Teva closed toes Jason Texas Chainsaw one in term of design. If I finally decide a closed toes pair, I might go with this.
Which would you pick?
On other news, even if I'm poor, having my own living space again is so worth it. Plenty of sitting around naked time (haha just kidding... maybe) and plenty of room to toss my shit around. Life of solitude is quiet nice. My land lady's poodle is the most and only frequent visitor in my bed room, and even then, my carpet gets more action since the dog likes to rub itself on it.
Moving on to the good/main stuff. Shoes. Despite only having two feet, any girl would agree that we can never have enough shoes. At least a pair for every occasion and more if we're lucky.
For Peace Corps, shoes are just as important because walking is inevitable and good feet support is a must. Previous and current PC all recommend the newbies to bring at least a pair of Chacos/Teva/Keen for their two years.
Initially, I didn't want to after seeing how expensive and ugly they are, but after some consideration, such as my current flip flops/sandals don't give me that much support or cushion and they are not made for beat up dirt road, I'm giving in and am not shopping for a decent pair. The good thing is, I get about 40-50% off on the account of being a Peace Corps volunteer, the bad thing is, did I mention how unattractive they are?
Under normal circumstances, "shoes shopping" would totally excite me, but looking at these guys, this is soooo not the case. Wah.
 |
| Chacos, spells like tacos but chuglier. |
 |
| Might look decent with a skirt, no? |
 |
| This design reminds me of Jason's mask in Texas Chainsaw |
3. Keen: Keen is sort of like Teva, so now that makes me wonder of whether Chaco is just the ugly odd one out or is there something between Keen and Teva that I don't know about. Its price is in just about the same with the other two brands. I neither like or hate the shoes (as oppose to really dislike the looks of Chaco). This pair is being considered, it's a whopping $90. It actually looks a bit better than the Teva closed toes Jason Texas Chainsaw one in term of design. If I finally decide a closed toes pair, I might go with this.Which would you pick?
Monday, October 10, 2011
Four months vs. forty hours.
I have about four months or so to get my shit together for departure, and working forty hours a week doesn't leave me much time to do anything else (or actually give me anymore money, ironically). The good news it that it only takes me under 30 mins to get home from work now so more shopping and planning time. The slight-downside-but-I-already-saw-this-coming is that I don't have that much money to spare in term of buying and spending because now I'm paying for rent. But I don't hate it, and I'm complaining because it's my blog, and I can do whatever I want. Wah.
In term of paper works wise, so far, I have turned in my aspiration statement and update resume. Other pending things to do are:
- Yellow fever shot -- To fight off the disease, not the (Asian/yellow) people
Yes, another vaccine shot. Just when I thought I had gotten them all, there is still one more. This shot costs somewhere between $112-$120, but Peace Corps will reimburse me up to $150 so it's not a problem. And I can get it at Vons. Cool, right? Who would have thought, stop by the store for some bread, and leave with more than just ingredients for a sandwich.
- Ghana Visa, Peace Corps Passport, Passport Pictures -- What? You mean, my American Passport alone isn't enough? What is a Peace Corps Passport? And I have to take an extra 10 passport pictures?
I don't know about anyone else, but having your passport pictures (or driver license picture) taken is never a fun experience. You don't get to smile/show your teeth, you don't get to wear hat/scarf/sunglasses or maybe even earrings, and if you have bangs, sometime it gets pinned on the side and not always in a cute fashion. It's just a full frontal face snap, plain and dull. The only different between this and a mug shot is that you pay somewhere between $5-$15 bucks for your 4 pictures while a mug shot almost always include some overnight time in jail. I don't know who got the better deal here.
- Deferring my loans -- Pretty much the numero uno important thing in my book. Get those pesky debts taken care of. Ugh, the things we have to deal with for higher education.
- Packing or form a concrete packing list -- Don't even let me get start on that shit.
In term of paper works wise, so far, I have turned in my aspiration statement and update resume. Other pending things to do are:
- Yellow fever shot -- To fight off the disease, not the (Asian/yellow) people
Yes, another vaccine shot. Just when I thought I had gotten them all, there is still one more. This shot costs somewhere between $112-$120, but Peace Corps will reimburse me up to $150 so it's not a problem. And I can get it at Vons. Cool, right? Who would have thought, stop by the store for some bread, and leave with more than just ingredients for a sandwich.
- Ghana Visa, Peace Corps Passport, Passport Pictures -- What? You mean, my American Passport alone isn't enough? What is a Peace Corps Passport? And I have to take an extra 10 passport pictures?
I don't know about anyone else, but having your passport pictures (or driver license picture) taken is never a fun experience. You don't get to smile/show your teeth, you don't get to wear hat/scarf/sunglasses or maybe even earrings, and if you have bangs, sometime it gets pinned on the side and not always in a cute fashion. It's just a full frontal face snap, plain and dull. The only different between this and a mug shot is that you pay somewhere between $5-$15 bucks for your 4 pictures while a mug shot almost always include some overnight time in jail. I don't know who got the better deal here.
- Deferring my loans -- Pretty much the numero uno important thing in my book. Get those pesky debts taken care of. Ugh, the things we have to deal with for higher education.
- Packing or form a concrete packing list -- Don't even let me get start on that shit.
Friday, October 7, 2011
who gives a shit
"Not everyone can be a doctor," this was said to my mother by someone whose own daughter is a doctor as they discuss (and probably compare) their children. And this person thought she has the upper hand because her own child is now a successful doctor while I am still a post graduate who's about to enter a semi-nomadic lifestyle of being a Peace Corps volunteer. She even told my mom, "I wouldn't let her go to Africa if she was my kid." And she probably thought that she would appear sympathy trying to 'comfort' my mother in light of me leaving for a poor 3rd world country.
And for that, I feel bad for my mother having to listen to this person gloats, but that's the only thing I feel bad about. To the rest, I say, who gives a shit.
So what if I'm not a doctor. I have plenty of friends who are studying to be doctors, and that's cool because that's what they want to do. Not me. Chemistry excites me as much okra, and okra is gross. I don't want to be a doctor, and I'm okay with it. I don't want to touch, cut, feel, heal people. But I still want to help them... in some other ways. My mother is still getting used to it, and she'll come around, so really, who cares about what you think, dear person who probably don't even know what the box is to even phantom the idea of thinking outside it.
But then of course, this is a norm in the Vietnamese/Asian culture. People living against a master standard and if something/someone doesn't measure up to it, it's considered worthless. Again, if you ask me, I say, fuck that shit.
I don't need to be conventional or follow any traditions against my will. I will do whatever I please, and I will make it. I won't be a doctor but I will do other things, and hopefully in the process, make my mom (and dad, and grandpa and grandma and other people who care) proud. Just you wait inside your box and see, if you can even see that far outside the lines.
And for that, I feel bad for my mother having to listen to this person gloats, but that's the only thing I feel bad about. To the rest, I say, who gives a shit.
So what if I'm not a doctor. I have plenty of friends who are studying to be doctors, and that's cool because that's what they want to do. Not me. Chemistry excites me as much okra, and okra is gross. I don't want to be a doctor, and I'm okay with it. I don't want to touch, cut, feel, heal people. But I still want to help them... in some other ways. My mother is still getting used to it, and she'll come around, so really, who cares about what you think, dear person who probably don't even know what the box is to even phantom the idea of thinking outside it.
But then of course, this is a norm in the Vietnamese/Asian culture. People living against a master standard and if something/someone doesn't measure up to it, it's considered worthless. Again, if you ask me, I say, fuck that shit.
I don't need to be conventional or follow any traditions against my will. I will do whatever I please, and I will make it. I won't be a doctor but I will do other things, and hopefully in the process, make my mom (and dad, and grandpa and grandma and other people who care) proud. Just you wait inside your box and see, if you can even see that far outside the lines.
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