So I am moving to university on Saturday – the time really does seem to have crept up. My friends, as a going away surprise, organised a meal for us all last night. We went to this Italian place in town, where I had my last parmo till Christmas (apparently London doesn’t have parmos – I am going to have to learn to cook them and make thousands of pounds introducing them). I’m usually quite a stiff-upper-lip sort of lass, and don’t get upset easily, but last night I couldn’t help but get emotional, especially after my closest friend presented me with a wall frame which contained various photos of us all inside. It really was a lovely night, and my friends made me feel so special – like a birthday, but sadder, because I knew this would be the last time till Christmas I would see any of them. It just struck me last night how much I love my friends, and how much you come to rely on them, and just become used to them being in your life over the years. I have known one of the girls since I was three, when we met in nursery, and I have never started something new without her there – so this will be strange. Yes, going to university is going to be this brilliant experience, and I’ll meet loads of new people there – but I always think it is sad in life that, more often than not, to get something new, you have to leave something else behind.
Seriously, they can have it, keep it, do what they want with it. I have come to the realisation after spending yet more money today, that I am not very good at budgeting. Up until now, that hasn’t been a massive problem – when my bank account gets down to 35p so that my card gets declined from superdrug, that doesn’t matter. Yes, it is embarrassing to have to put the items back I wanted to get, but no big deal. In two weeks however, I am going to university, and it is going to become a problem. I have worked out that once I have paid my accommodation for my first term, I’m not going to have that much money left over each month. Take off the price of my contract phone, and combine with my bad budgeting skills – let’s just say I am getting nervous. I know that if I ever did get into some serious trouble, my dad would be there to bail me out. But I really want to prove myself, that I can do this. Yes, I have been irresponsible with spending in the past, but now I will have essentials to pay for, like food. So here’s to growing up and learning money management skills. Either Topshop will accept my soul, and I can continue to have beautiful clothes. Or, I will have to get used to budgeting. Wish me luck, I fear I’m going to need it.
“More than 10 million people in Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, and the newly-formed Republic of South Sudan have been left in need of food, water and emergency healthcare because of one of the worst droughts in 60 years. Hundreds of thousands of people have fled Somalia due to the drought and conflict, parts of the country are now afflicted by famine.”From DEC.org. I don’t know about you, but reading something like this makes me feel unbelievably lucky to be British. I have had a free education up till the age of 18, I have had free medication as a child when I needed it, free dental health care, and always had a hospital available to me. My parents have always been able to afford to get groceries in, and even when my father was out of work, the government supported him. These are things which I often take for granted, as I’m sure many others also do. But reading something like this, along with all the other articles and reports on the news, and what I have learned in my geography lessons, makes me stomach turned. The contrast in lifestyles between mine and someone living in Somalia or Ethiopia is just devastating. Healthcare is a human right. Education is a human right. Food and clean water is a basic human right. And yet these are things which many people in African countries go without. Malnutrition levels are as high as 50% in some regions of Somalia following two years of drought. “Somalia is hardest hit, with the UN declaring a famine in its Bakool and Lower Shabelle regions. At least six out of 10,000 children are dying every day in Somalia, the UN says.”From the BBC News website. After receiving an email from the Conservative party this morning about making donations via the DEC website, I promptly headed on over. I donated £100 – hopefully that money will be able to help feed some of the millions of starving people, where it would have otherwise have only been spent on taxis and alcohol. I feel like it was a fare compromise on my behalf. Please, even if you can give as little as £5, every bit helps. Donate today at DEC website. This has been copied from my external blog.