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Where
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Feeling the Pinch"This is all very noble," said Charlie, "in the abstract, all this your man is saying, but what does it have to do with real life? Let's think about real life for a second. Let's think about a situation in which you lose everything... you lose everything! You see what I'm saying? You lose everything, the house where you live, your income, your cars - everything. You're out on the street. You don't know where your next meal's coming from. What good do a lot of high-sounding ideals mean then?" The boy said, "Many of Epictetus' disciples asked him that exact same thing, and you know what he told them?" "No, what?" "Have you ever seen an old beggar?" The kid's eyes were boring right into him. "You're asking me?" "Yes." "Sure I have," said Charlie, "Plenty of them." "See. They've gotten by," said the boy, "They've managed to get food to eat, 365 days a year, probably. They're not starving. What makes you think they can all find food, and you won't be able to?" "What kind of consolation is that supposed to be? I'd rather die than go around with a cup in my hand." The boy smiled, and his eyes brightened. "Epictetus talks about exactly that, Mr. Croker. He says, 'You're not afraid of starving, you're afraid of losing face.' He says, 'You don't have to have some high position before you can be a great man. One of the great Stoic philosophers, Cleanthes, hauled water to make a living. He was a day laborer, Mr. Croker. But nobody thought of him as someone who didn't have a respectful job. Why? Because he radiated the power of Zeus." Tom Wolfe - a Man in Full 5th October 2006 I do have ush477,500 ($NZ396.50) in my wallet and am owed ush120,000 ($NZ99.67) for a grand total of ush597,500 ($NZ496.17). With careful planning and belt-tightening, this should last me until mid November. I plan to leave on January 30th 2007. Hmmm... I do have a insurance claim from a camera that was stolen in Ghana for 6,500,000 cedi ($NZ 1120.50) which I am now relying on to avoid getting into credit card debt. I have a receipt and I have a police report, but this is an insurance company we're talking about. As I found with my stolen SIM card, insurance companies are - as someone so eloquently put it - all handshakes and blowjobs to start with, but in the end they're taking you from behind and don't have the common decency to give you a reach around. From now on I will be going on very few, if any, expensive adventures. No more rafting on the Nile, no more road trips to Kenya and no more lunches at western style fast food outlets. Mind you, that doesn't mean that there won't be any adventures. Take the upcoming Man Camp for example. The Man Camp will see me being placed in the African jungle with the clothes I'm wearing, a cell-phone for emergencies, malaria medication, a machete and five or so other equally ill-equipped male Mzungus. We will be picked up three days later. The females are planning their own Women Camp. In some ways, I feel a little put upon. Coming from an upper-middle class family, I have never really gone without. A successful IT career ensured that the money has always rolled in. People threw money at me, and it stuck. But after a year or so of abysmal mental health (including a $NZ40,000 ish psychiatric hospital bill...) and a year or so of income-less volunteering I am having to go without things that I normally wouldn't of had to. I'd like to get a replacement DVD drive for my battered laptop. I'd like to see the mountain gorillas on the Rwanda-Uganda border. And I'd like to visit Tanzania and Ethiopia and add to my ever growing passport stamp collection*. But in reality, I wont be able to do any of these. But I've learnt, I've grown, had adventures and I'm a lot more stable than I used to be. I have no regrets. I have been asked to extend my stay in Africa by two months to project manage the construction of a school. The position would involve a small stipend of $US300 a month, free accommodation and free meals. The $US300 would ensure that I wouldn't slip into debt, but I wouldn't be saving money either. I need to start making money though. I need to save for a plane ticket to Southeast Asia and enough money for incidental expenses before my first long awaited pay cheque arrives. This - combined with fear of mental health problems brought on by stress - will see me turning down the position. Which is a shame. I would of done a good job. Instead, I will be working in a simple job in New Zealand for two months. Kinda looking forward to it to be honest. *A little known fact about passport stamps is that if you die with the most passport stamps, you not only the win the game of life, but you get the only bike in heaven. You'll be able to cruise by the saints and proudly boast, "You like this bad boy? Do ya? Huh? You want one? Oh that's right, this is the only bike in heaven... Muhahahaha!." Don't believe me? Dial 0800 - ASK JESUS Questions? Comments? Try contacting
me. (c)
2005 and 2006 Malcolm Trevena. |
