Pesos

So far, I have been spending A LOT of money in Mexico!!  Of course I realized that Puerto Vallarta would be a bit more expensive than Tanzania, but it's not a lot more expensive, so I really had to analyze why I am spending more money here.  This is what I have come up with.

1.  My friends here have more money, hence, suggest more expensive activities.  The general standard of living here seems a bit higher than in Tanzania, so even my local friends here have more money than my local friends in Tanzania.  And even Sofia from Sweden (fellow volunteer in Tanzania) was on a pretty tight budget, which really helped me out!!  I usually hang out with my classmates here in PV, and most are here only for a few weeks, so they are looking to experience as much as possible in a short time!  And of course, I have a hard time saying no to fun activities!!

My expensive friends and I cruising around PV!

2.  I live right in downtown Puerto Vallarta, whereas in Africa, I lived a good 20 minute, very shady, dala dala ride away from downtown.  Here I am super close to shopping, restaurants, and activities, whereas in Tanzania, I was pretty close to the orphanage and....not much else.  It is so tempting to spend money when everything is so close!  Which brings me to number three....

Hanne and I dining on the beach!

3.  There are so many great restaurants here!  I had really good intentions of getting groceries weekly and almost always eating at home, but so far, that has not really happened at all!  I have gotten groceries exactly once since arriving here, and I still have quite a bit of food left in my cupboard.  I just love to go out to eat, and when there are probably 30+ restaurants within 10 minutes walking distance, it is pretty hard to eat at home.  And Mexican food is so good!!  I have actually decided to seriously limit my semi-expensive, touristy restaurants, but allow myself as much street food and local Mexican food as I want!!!  In Tanzania, unless I wanted to take the 20 minute shady ride into town, I had exactly 2 food choices near my house....chips mayai and cassava.  Hence, it was a lot easier to convince myself to eat at home.

Mmmm....quesadilla!

Mango donut snack

4.  Shopping.  My street is pretty much the "cute boutique, accessory, and shoe store" version of Michigan Ave.  I have thus far restrained from buying any new clothes or shoes (I can't say the same for accessories), but it is SO tempting!  And I don't even like to shop that much, but I walk past these cute displays every day on my way to school.  I simply didn't have this temptation in Africa!  There were very few stores in the whole city that sold new clothes and shoes, as most people bought their clothes second hand at the flee market.  By the time I was finished with my 14 weeks in Africa, I was pretty sick of wearing the same clothes that I had packed, but here, I am getting sick of my clothes already!!  I want cute NEW ones!!

New beach chair and new inner tube......obviously I needed these things!

5.  Maya is doing great, and I love having her here with me, but she is certainly an added expense.  Dog food, treats, poop bags, a new bed, not to mention that we've already been to the vet twice since she developed some sort of skin allergy from the humidity here!  But besides that, her health has been great, thank goodness, and hopefully her medicine will be cheaper here.

Me and my baby

Next week, Louie will be here visiting (I'm so excited!), but I swear after he leaves, I am going on a strict budget!!!  We'll see how that goes....