Privilege

I have already come to discover that what I will learn the most about this year is privilege. One of LVC's tenets is simplicity, which different people interpret differently, and every LVCer experiences them differently. For better or worse, many of us begin their year with some type of privilege (ranging from white privilege to college education to supportive families) and I don't want to assume that every privilege I hold is one I can get rid of. But I hope to highlight either the things my peers and I go without this year or the things I've realized I'm lucky that I don't have to go without.

The Metro. At $1.65 a ride during rush hour, the Metro would cost over $60 a month if you had to ride it to work every day. For those who are unable (either geographically or physically) unable to walk, the bus is the cheapest way to take advantage of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority if you purchase weekly unlimited passes for $11. (Not to mention that driving a car or being able to walk to work is a huge privilege in and of itself!) As a suburban girl, I had never regularly ridden the bus; on the rare occasion I had to use public transit, usually to travel to DC, I took the Metro. The trains run more regularly, have more predictable routes, and run 10 or 15 minutes faster. But the Metro wasn't going to cut it on my stipend this year, so buses D1, D3 and D6 have become my fast friends for my commute to work. The bus isn't really so bad. For one thing, it often runs more directly than the Metro does and has stops in more locations. I've gotten to see so much more of the city than I would from an underground tunnel. And it's much easier to sneak a bite of breakfast or a cell phone chat than it is on the Metro.

Living near a grocery store. I'll primarily refer you to my friend Allison, a fellow Grinnellian and DC LVCer, for a personal account of this issue. But I will say that urban living doesn't necessarily lend itself well to grocery shopping, especially if you don't have a car, and that the LVC houses are fortunate to have carts and reusable bags to get back and forth the 8ish blocks we have to walk to the grocery store.

UPS. The first package I was supposed to receive at Emmaus House never came. As UPS only delivers from 9-5, none of us are home because we are, of course, at work. I'm still not certain if the problem was that they needed to get inside our gate and don't have a key or if someone to sign for the package because of its value. Either way, it was a huge hassle and I finally had it delivered to my office, which I was lucky to be able to do. It had never occurred to me that it would be a problem to do something as simple as receive a package, but I know that I won't take it for granted again.

I realize these are small adjustments, but they are adjustments all the same and my guess would be that the people who enjoy any of these things often don't think twice about the fact that others don't. I know because I was one of those people not too long ago. The great thing about LVC is recognizing these small things, appreciating what you have, and learning to make do with what you don't.

Food

One of the challenges of LVC is struggling to stay within the $100/month individual food budget. We are expected to pool our money and cook together to make it last. Many have expressed doubt or worry that I would be able to eat well enough on this amount. However, so far, the Emmaus House has pulled it off beautifully. Here are a few of our tricks:

- No processed or packaged foods. This means no granola bars, no individually wrapped snack goods, no desserts and no junk food. Luckily, this hasn't yet meant having to go without any of these items! Anything you can buy in a box you can make yourself, and we've already had great success baking our own bread and cookies. Adriana is now famous for her "Best Ever" Emmaus House Banana Bread. And of course, it's made us be healthier and easier on the environment.

- Little fresh produce. Sadly, this does mean that we are eating less fruit and vegetables in general. But most vegetables do come frozen and if you don't overcook them, the USDA states that they are just as healthy as the regular kind. Broccoli, green beans, carrots, corn and cauliflower are frequent dinner ingredients, and frozen berries make their way into . Don't worry, we have already had plenty of money for enough fruit for us each to have a piece daily, the occasional bag of spinach, and as much garlic as we could ever need.

- No meat. With the exception of lunch meat, we very rarely have any with meals and often find ourselves making vegan meals. It's a good experiment in finding other forms of protein.

- Leftovers. In addition to the full spice shelf we were greeted with when we moved in, we also found plenty flour, sugar, rice, beans and other canned goods in the cupboard. We have yet to run out of most of these items, and when we do, they are easily and cheaply replaced. Leftovers also refers not only cooked dinner left uneaten, but any items that went unused for cooking. For example, Nicole bought a green pepper and bag of baby carrots for her dinner and now we have crunchy veggie snacks to last the rest of the week.

- Staples. We tend to spend a big chunk of our money on bread, milk, cheese, eggs, and cereal. For lunches and on the weekends when no one is assigned to cook (the five of us take turns Sundays through Thursdays), it's quite easy to make a meal out of these items or any leftovers.

- No boys. Last year's Emmaus House included three men out of the five residents, and they went through significantly more food than our four women and lone man do this year.

- Free food. During our LVC year, we are not supposed to accept funds from friends or family or take additional paid jobs as the point is to live a simplified lifestyle. However, there's no rule about accepting extra food! We all often get free lunch or snacks at work or told to take home leftovers at parties or other events. I, of course, am lucky that my family lives close by and are good for the occasional dinner out or bag of apples. While I am trying not to abuse this and stick to the spirit of LVC, we definitely benefit from the generosity of people outside of our community.

So far, we typically spend between $90 and $100 each week, allowing an extra $15 for house necessities like dish soap or a mid-week milk run. To give you an idea of the types of dinners we've been cooking, I've made broccoli pesto with pasta, Ecuadorian locro soup, African groundnut stew (thanks to Mom), salad with strawberry vinaigrette, and New Orleans red beans and rice (although I'll have to try it again - them just didn't have that ReNew feel). And tonight Adriana and I made a delicious pizza since no one was assigned to cook.

Sorry I've been so lazy about updating this blog! I hope to make it more regular. I'd love to hear from any of you who read this.