Wow. I am sitting here at Hyperion Espresso as customers are picking up today’s issue of the Free Lance Star. The Two Dollar Challenge in on the front page. Their comments – well, let us put it this way – they are not so generous. I think they can be categorized as running the gamut from the mocking to some good-natured ribbing. Comments in the latter-category include “I wondered if they were using the facilities in dorms – if so that is cheating.” “They used a tarp – oh that is cheating.” “The challenge ended before the rain – oh that is cheating as well.”
These comments arose as a party of four was enjoying their espresso this morning.

I had a great night last night but had to get up early this morning to catch a train home to NJ for the weekend. Naturally the $2 a Day Challenge was still on my mind. I got to the train station this morning, after going to Starbucks to get my iced grande soy chai which cost $4 + dollars, and as was sitting and waiting for the train when I saw a man rummaging through the trashcans on the platform.

My first inclination was to be a little taken aback and frightened; I was pretty much alone on the platform at this point. However, after sitting there for a while watching him, and having him pay pretty much no attention to me, I couldn’t help but think back to yesterday and the past 5 days. While none of us legitimately dug through random trashcans (at least I didn’t) I’m sure that if I hadn’t been in the confines of the University I might have considered doing what this man was doing.

Yesterday was the last day of the challenge. I really enjoyed sleeping outside last night. It was a nice way to wrap up the week. It was not that cold so it was very comfortable weather to sleep in. Even though I had a good night sleep, I was kind of spastic all day long. I could get my mind to work just fine but I clearly was just not myself. I had a test and a presentation yesterday and thankfully both went well.

I ate breakfast and somehow got by without coffee but I was dozing off in my 9am class. By the time lunch rolled around I was famished. Unfortunately, I did not plan ahead and bring any of my crackers with me so I was left with no food until 4pm. What definitely did not help is that all I could think about was the fact that the econ picnic was going to be at 5pm. The whole day, I simply wanted a hamburger and a beer.

I was able to make it until 4pm to eat and as soon as I finished my pb & j sandwich I hopped into the shower. It felt so good! I stayed in there for about half an hour and did not want to get out. After I was showered and put on clean clothes I headed over to the econ picnic. I finally got my hamburger and beer and was pretty satisfied.

Yeah, I missed a day. Sorry. It got kind of crazy.
Work=sucky badness. I went back home and read as did a bunch of homework, like a whole twenty minutes of it, before I passed out on the couch. After that I boiled some water and wetted my hair in order to control the look of greasiness before work. I grunted goodbye to my roommate who was making a delicious-looking dinner and ran off to work. I left my car in front of Combs and walked down to work. There I a bunch of sass from my co-workers about my new "slciked-back" look. To my distress that night was a really slow so I wasn't able to use work to ignore my fatigue and hunger. One person who did come in was the server from Hyperion who got her two free slices. So much for my free dinner for the night. I left work with only 20 dollars in my pocket and a huge hole in my stomach.

After both finishing my thesis and the challenge this I feel like I can take on the world (after a real night's sleep and a sandwich). The last few nights have been rough with all the school work I had to complete without the ability to eat use electronics at my apartment, and bath but it is just about finished.
I have to say that what I just went through is nothing compared to what people I see on the street live with everyday. My main focus was school work and not nutrition or hygiene or rest which is not what people who live in real poverty are concerned with. I was able to make it because I am surrounded by other people who can afford to help take care of me. Life is very different when entire populations of people live on less than ten dollars a week and there is no one who can spare a sandwich or donate a leftover coffee cake and Starbucks coffee. My experience was deprivation, not poverty, and it was self-induced.

So yesterday I was in my sociology class (one of the reasons I'm doing this) and I was really pissed to find out that basically no one has been taking this seriously. One girl even said I figured that it was stupid to starve myself two weeks before exams and the one other girl who was in my class that was also doing the challenge came into class with makeup on, clean straighten hair, and had eaten apparently "fine" for the whole week. This wasn't the first person I had seen that was "doing" the challenge. They had used loopholes to be completely fine for the whole week. Bartering for showers, electricity, food, and clean clothes. Maybe I'm just not that resourceful, but I thought I was going to try to actually see how it was for people in third world countries!

Today was bad. I really needed coffee this morning; thankfully Starbucks has been coming through with that every day. Unfortunately I still had an insane amount of work to get done. This only made my day more frustrating and the lack of food and showering made me get aggravated very easily.

I spent most of the day inside working on job applications and homework. I broke down a little in the middle of the day primarily because I hadn’t eaten in a while and additionally because of the stress of work and getting ready for graduation. Thankfully the school was giving away free food again today and I was able to grab a hot dog.

The day got a little better but I realized just how much my brain needs food in order to function. I have also been craving Chipotle for the past few days ever since someone mentioned it. Having your mind on food constantly only makes you want it even more when you know that you cannot have it.

Hooray! I'm clean! It's so exciting to not smell bad! I did forget to bring my baby carrots to campus with me today, and since I'm still adhering to the challenge rules in terms of food, this means I won't get any sustenance outside of water til 5. :(

I only have twenty minutes (again), so I'll try to update this thing again tomorrow to elaborate on some of my reactions to this project. I have to say that I would not do this again at this point in the semester: it's far too close to finals, and I have to admit that my grades have suffered a bit because I just don't have the energy to focus/concentrate/be productive. Dr. Humphrey and I agreed yesterday that future Challenges should be held early in the Fall semester, allowing more students to participate due to a lighter workload (at least in terms of school). I know a lot of students backed out of the Challenge at the last minute because they knew they just couldn't sacrifice their grades for the cause.... and to tell you the truth, I don't blame them. On the plus side, I have pretty much kicked smoking cigarettes, although I'm sure that won't last long since I'll be erm... celebrating pretty heavily this weekend.

I honestly wish I could participate in this challenge more-so than I have, but the cost of sacrificing my grades is really not an option. I am definitly beginning to feel some of the embarrassment of not having showered all week as I walk across campus and into my classes and internships. I feel like I have to explain to everyone that I am in fact not homeless and am just participating in the challenge for the week. It is very awkward and somewhat disappointing that I feel the need to explain myself and my appearance to everyone who may not know what I am doing and going through at this point, because If this really were my circumstance, I could not write it off as a simple experiment to raise money and awareness for global poverty.