pinkwik

Ok- So I decided that if I’m going to have to look for a new job, that I will need some new clothes too… mainly shirts and blouses… something not black and tan or black with blue flowers on it. But when I got to JC Penney and Fred Meyer all the shirts they had had black as the main dominate color. Now, there’s nothing wrong with black, but I wanted something brighter. Something to wear during spring and summer. But everything seemed it was just off the trucks for fall and winter. I even tried Ross… where just last week I got these super cute pants with the super cute back pockets! LOVE them!

Anywho, My last stop was Macy’s. Now, I have a Macy’s card and all, but their prices are so out of my price range that I never ever shop there. Unless I find something on sale rack, and even then, it’s usually more that I really wanted to pay. Hey- I was scoffing at the price of the $14.99 pair of super cute jeans I got from Ross. When it comes down to it, I really hate to shop, and I really don’t like spending money….. but mostly… I hate shopping.

Again, everything ‘dressy’ at Macy’s had black in it. I know black goes with everything, but it just doesnt seem very summery or anything. I was just about to give up when a sales lady came to ask me if I was finding everything ok. I told her what I was looking for.. something with color…. and so she and this other sales gal started showing me clothes to try on… and they started me a room. Now, the shirts they were bringing me did still have black in them, and some of them even though they had color, they were darker colors, but some of the shirts they brought me were cute. Except for this one silky yellow, black and white shirt… made me look like a big fat bumble bee with ruffles. Cute I guess, just not the look I was going for.

So after they brought me all the shirts I thought were in the store, there had to be a million shirts in my dressing room. So, I tried on shirt after shirt, capri pant after capri pant. and after all of that I think I bought only 5 shirts. But it’s more than I started out with. All the shirts that I bought, I can wear to work, and a couple of them are more casual. But most of all, even though there is a black and white shirt, all the others are bright, and have lots of color. And, they’re super cute too!

I found that most every shirt out there is made the same way. V-neck with the panel or elastic that sits right below the girls…. you know what I’m talking about ladies… the babydoll type shirts. The ones that make you look pregnant when you’re the furthest thing from it. Now,  I get that we’re an overweight nation, and maybe this is a style that hides all those extra pounds really well, but I just dont like them. I’m a girl of 5′7″, and my weight is proportionate to my height, with no extra pounds to spare… but I do not care for a shirt that makes me look fat, or pregnant. This seemed to be the only style out there… what’s that about? Where’s the variety? What ever happened to the simple women’s dress shirt? Are they hiding them somewhere?

So after my shopping experience I called my boyfriend, and told him we would never need to worry about me shopping and spending all of our money, cause I hated shopping! Now, don’t get me wrong, I do love shopping for clothes for my son. And that’s good, because he’s 11, and doesnt have the whole style thing yet. I had to explain to him just yesterdat that when a man wears a button up shirt, he must always wear am under shirt. He’s sooo cute!

And I do have to say that over the last few years I have found a love for shoes. Precious, Precious shoes… and expensive shoes. I don’t buy these shoes, because I can’t afford them. I take that back. I CAN afford them, but I won’t spend that kind of money on something I wear on my feet. But I love to look at them… covet them… and dream about them. Now, if i ever get over spending money, then we’re in trouble, but until then… I’ll just keep saving my money… and not putting myself through the shopping nightmares.

Well, in one of my previous blogs I wrote that there was the possibility of travling to Tanzania this summer, and I’m here to tell you… it’s on! I leave for my big adventure on July 11th, and with an overnight in Amsterdam, I’ll be on my way to Tanzania for just a little over a week.

Google Earth is such a wonderful thing! I am a girl who does not travel hardly at all, and I’ve never been outside the US, so this will be an adventure for sure. But, as you all know you can get onto Google Earth and check out pictures other people have posted from places all over the world, so I’ve been ‘touring’ all over Amsterdam, which had been both helpful and sometimes humorous. On Google Earth I get to see the Anne Franke House, all the shops and squares, the sidewalk potties..OMG- have you seen the outdoor sidewalk potties? Crack me up! I’ve never seen anything like that before! But it’s so much better than having people pee on the sidewalks….

Oh, and they also have a Prostitution information Center.. always helpful I guess, if I ever lose my job here. I mean, do they have brochures and pamphlets on the subject.. sortof like what you would get at a job fare? is there someone there to answer all my questions… is there vacation pay? Again, this is just something we don’t have here and it’s funny. And don’t forget marijuana is legal in Amsterdam. A friend told me the other day I could have some hash with or for breakfast, and seriously… my mind went straight to hashbrowns… or that corn hash stuff…. I never even went to the marijuana! It wasn’t until I was telling my boyfriend about the conversation that he pointed out what she meant by ‘hash’. We got a good laugh out of that one.

I went the other day and got my shots, but will still need to go back for the best shot of all.. yellow fever. Now, I’m going off my Humira just so I can get this shot right before I leave in July. So we’ll have to wait and see how all of that goes as there are no studies o fhow things go once one goes back on Humira. Will i end up getting yellow fever or not? We’ll have to wait and find out.

I’ve got my tickets and my passport, I’ll be buying a few travel pieces of clothing to take with me.. and soon I’ll be all ready. I’m getting both excited and nervous about my trip. It’s just going to be a very long trip!!

So I will go visit some of the lodges in Tanzania where we have our clients stay. Check out the lodge grounds, amenities, etc. I’ll stay overnight at a few of the lodges and then there will be about 3 nights of tent camping in the National Parks, which should be fun. An experience of a lifetime!

I will also spend my last 2 days touring some non-profit orphanages and secondary schools between Arusha and Moshi. Now most of these places will have AIDS victims, children mostly, but adults too. I am sure this experience will impact my life greatly…. we just don’t have this kind of sadness here. We have our own poverty struggles, but not like in Africa and other parts of the world. I have never thought about how I would feel seeing and holding an infant or small child that I know is dying. To them it’s a way of life.. what they know. It’s very sad.

I will post my pictures when I get back, probably on the www.choroa.com website, as that is the Safari Company I work for and will be using for my trip. Although I don’t think I will put the orphanage pictures on that site, but I’ll keep everyone posted as to where the other photos will be.

I will also be going to a village that Simon Mtuy of Summit Expeditions & Nomadic Experience does alot of work in outside of Moshi.. I think it’s outside Moshi. He was just here in Bend, and he held a few speaking engagements. Very nice guy. i met him one morning and we spoke about where he grew up, his Kilimanjaro climbing and the company he owns that leads guided trips up Kilimanjaro. You can check Simon out at www.nomadicexperience.com

Anyway, as my trip gets closer, I’ll try and write, and then I’ll for sure write when I get back