In the airport as I was leaving I noticed ceramic cups in Juan Valdez (the biggest coffee chain in Colombia) and skipped excitedly to the counter to make my order, as I thought this was the start of the change, and that soon these cups would be standard in all outlets across the country, I got even more excited when I saw soy milk on the menu... Sadly my dreams were crushed when I found out that you couldn't get just any drink in these cups and they were only for use if you ordered a gourmet coffee complete with a weighing, grinding and brewing demonstration...so although I have seen the last of the paper cups, it is only because I have left the country!
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I had my last class with one of my groups today, they there me a party, with disponible plates, spoons and cups etc. On the Plus side the packet of napkins never got opened, so they will live to be disposed of another day.
And these aren't even all the tissues, and it isn't even 12 o'clock yet!
I think I might look into borrowing some handkerchieves from my dad when I get back to Ireland, incsse I get another cold! I was always against the idea of handkerchieves, but I am coming around to it now. The original concept of buying nothing new is going well, I think the point was to prove (to myself) that I have enough stuff; clothes, shoes, bags being probably what I had the most of, and while at the start of the year I was making a mental list of what I would like to buy once I reached 2017, and shopping with Ciarán as a way of satisfying my need to shop, I have now gradually changed my attitude to never buying anything new again (so it should be no problem seeing the rest of the year out)! Home wares is another area where I purchase(d) a lot but I didn´t feel any temptation this year as I knew I would be moving half way through, let´s see how I fare with this in the second half of the year! I had bought a new phone and computer about a year before embarking on this challenge, and since my previous computer and phone were about 5 years old, I wasn´t expecting much temptation on this front, I also own a projector, a point and shoot camera, a hair straightener (which I believe I have used one this year) a hair dryer which I left in Ireland, none of these things I consider essential, and if any of them did break, I would probably just (even next year) share or look for a second hand one (phone). I was already getting books from charity shops and book exchanges, haven´t bought a CD since the year 2000 and been watching movies on the internet, so no issues there. There are a few souvenirs I would have liked to buy from south America, like a hammock, but all in all the few pieces I picked up from flea markets are perhaps more authentic than store bought souvenirs, and I was always a bit skeptical about the need for a lot of my purchases after i took them home. This hat for example, currently lives on top of the TV and hasn´t been used as a sun hat since the way home from the trip it was bought on in 2014 (and probably only then because that was the easiest way to carry it). The only thing I am worried about (in terms of buying new stuff) is the need for an extra bag to get the rest of our stuff back to Ireland,But I am doing the last leg of my journey with Ryanair, so am not the best choice for a second checked bag, and so will leave Ciarán to deal with that problem.
So that was the original plan for 2016, 100% success so far (except for the race t-shirt, medal etc...but I have already given my excuses for that in a previous blog post) but before the year had started I extended the challenge to no packaging, the success rate in that category is not as good as above: I was originally planning to make one long blog post, but because of technical difficulties (chunks of text disappearing) I have decided to split it into installments. So I decided it was OK to sign up for a race the day of (since the T-shirt and race number had already been fabricated and so would go to waste either way).
And with this particular race you have to carry your own water bottle so I don't even have to worry about that. However the down sides of signing up on the day are that it is not a fixed goal to work towards (so I have not been training and also getting on with my life generally which involved an 18km (1km vertical) hike this morning where I got my feet and running shoes wet) and also that there are last minute surprises, if I had signed up in advance I would have known that it was a 12.75 km and not a 10 km (on the plus side at least I won't ruin my 10 km time average...and it is guaranteed to be the fastest 12.75 km race I have ever done!)! Leaving the beach yesterday I hung out my sarong and bikini for a little bit of drying time before I packed up...and then forgot them :( I do have one other bikini, slightly ripped, frayed and stained and another sarong also stained in a less coordinated colour, so obviously this is not good news.
The people at our hostel happened to mention that a friend of theirs was there, so we rang the beach hotel and now if they looked for and found my stuff and then looked for and found my stuff and then the other guest brought them back here and I give my address and phone number to the owners here and they find someone to bring it to Bogotá and that person looks us up, I will get my stuff back, but that is a lot of links in a very fragile chain, so I am not optimistic! ...and I may have accidentally melted it together backwards!
Hopefully it still works! I actually haven't had to use it that much, but I like to carry it with me, just incase. I found a store where I can buy a lot of non perishables with no packaging, I wasn't expecting to find such a wide selection of products until I went back to Ireland! Unfortunatily it is a "gourmet" shop, so pretty pricy, with everyone else dropping a few chillies into the tiny paper bags provided, while we filled giant (by comparison) bags and huge bottles, the lady at the till made sure to look us both in the eye when she told us the final bill!
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For 2016 I am not going to be a waster!I am going to try to buy nothing new: clothes, electronics, home wares, gadgets, souvenirs etc. Archives
December 2016
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