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.

Chacos, spells like tacos but chuglier.

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.

Might look decent with a skirt, no?

This design reminds me of Jason's mask in Texas Chainsaw

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?