idea of how to improve my project and I'm going to start collecting
data for it tomorrow. I'm excited about it and my project again in
general. Though now I'm worried about something that Leo thought I was
going to do, but wasn't planning to do, and now I think maybe I should
do that too?
I'm developing more spots of this rash. The ones I'm most concerned
about are on my leg. I don't know how they got there because I wear
pants in the field. Ai! I'm developing blisters, too. I walked about
16 km (10 miles) yesterday and about 16 km again today.
Yesterday I met another American who will also be here this summer
doing research. She's living in a rented house by herself, and offered
for me to stay there with her. The rent is already covered, so I could
stay there for free. This is definitely awesome, but the house isn't
as nice as the field station where I'm currently staying. We'd have to
hire someone to cook for us (and preferably clean too), but the cost
is still far less than staying where I am now, especially when Jon
will be here. Some of the cons are pretty big though. Let's weigh them.
Pros of moving to the house:
-Dramatically cheaper (1/5 the cost of staying here)
-More control over the kind of food I eat (I think)
-Plenty of space (it's huge really)
-Would have someone to discuss my research with
Cons of moving to the house:
-Inconsistently running tap water. Basically I should assume no tap
water and collect rain water off of the roof.
-Probably less secure from theft (has some broken windows)
-Bucket baths only (no shower) with water I heat myself (this is one
of my biggest concerns since I'm having this rash problem)
-A few kms further from most of my field sites
-It's kind of dirty and unfriendly looking right now, especially the
kitchen and bathroom. It's a once-nice house that hasn't been well
kept for a while now.
-All of the electric outlets in the house are different so I'll need
an adapter.
-There's no bed frame for me right now, only a foam mattress. I said I
wouldn't move in until there's a bed. I'd really like to have a bed
and I think it makes it easier to deal with a mosquito net.
What do you think? Should I move in with her? Should I try to find a
nicer house to rent and see if I can get her to move there with me?
1 comment:
That doesn't sound all that great to me. I think if you'd rather save money, I'd look for a different house. To me, the biggest problem is security. Don't you have a lot of expensive equipment with you? And other equipment that while maybe not expensive would be really terrible for you this summer if it got stolen? And, if you already have blisters, living farther away doesn't sound like a great decision. However, I really don't know how tight your money is. But money isn't everything. Sometimes it is worth spending that extra money to make life easier.
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