I had a very interesting conversation in the car today with my dad. See, we were planning on going to Greece for about a month and a half or two months over the summer. But we are having some financial problems. I mean, we have never been the wealthiest people in the world, but I mean we have never been poor. And we are not poor, not even close. No, that's not what I am saying at all. But the source of this problem is that we still own the house we bought in Florida, and we have been leasing it out for a couple years while we are renting up here in DC. So we bought that house for $600,000. Yeah that is a lot of money. The problem is we have put a plethora (vocab word of the day- check) of money into that house, more than it is actually worth. So what I remember from this conversation is that my parents are trying to decide whether to foreclose it and let the bank take it or continue putting down small payments on it every month. If the bank took it, we would still owe $160,000 on it, because we have payed a certain amount on it... or something along the lines. I'm not sure. Can you guys make sense of this? So we cannot afford (as of right now) to really do anything this summer because of all the money we are putting into that house. No summer camps, vacations, rowing camp.. I sound incredibly spoiled right now, don't I?
Anyways, the point is not that I am extremely upset about not being able to go to Greece. I mean I am upset, but I understand. We have to put the money where it matters. The point is that I now feel like this is somehow my fault. My rowing is costing us A LOT of money. I told my dad that if it became too expensive I could stop. But I just can't shake the feeling or stop worrying about this. Actually, the author Frank McCourt just came to mind. Angela's Ashes- what an amazing book. At least I have a roof over my head and food and clothing. He hardly had any of that, and there are still so many people who are in the same situation as he was. So I guess when I really look at it, it's not that bad.
But when I was outlining a section of my textbook for homework, I came across this image:
And I don't know why, but it just made me feel about 10 times better, and I felt really hopeful, too. It's a very cool poster. I think it's an old poster for the Women's Ordinance Workers in World War Two.
On another note, I finished watching the french movie, "Les Choristes," yesterday. And if you don't know who Jean-Baptiste Maunier is, let me show you.
I am currently obsessed. But it is a really good movie, and I recommend seeing it. It's about troubled boys in a boarding school post- WWII. A new prefect comes and gets them in order by forming a chorus. I love the movie, and there are a lot of great songs in it. But if you don't understand French, I would recommend getting the DVD, so you can use subtitles.
Well that's all for today.
Until next time,
Natalia
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