LBL - Day 2

The second day is over and if it was a competition, I'd win! I spent only 60ct today and I am happy and satisfied. That means 2,30 Euro extra on my daily budget tomorrow, wow!

Brekki was again oats with applesauce, for lunch I had pasta (left over from yesterday) and dinner was a potluck dinner from AIMS. Max 2,90 Euro of course. I buddied up with someone else and we made a delicious, easy and super cheap apple crumble. Three apples were 27ct each and digestive biscuits were ~50ct. We cut the apples, layered them in a pan, crunched biscuits mixed with apple sauce on top and into the oven until the crust is crisp and golden. It's already relay nice like that but to make it more fun it always possible to add ingredients like sultanas, nuts, butter and on top cream. 

LBL - Day 1

Today our Live Below the Line week started. We, from the Amnesty International Maastricht Student group, challenged friends, family and strangers to live one week under the Dutch poverty line of 2,90 Euro per day. Might be a challenge for some but it's not impossible.

My day was ok-ish. Started quite good, in between I was really hungry, then way too full because I had to much dinner and now...well, now I'm hungry again. I guess, a glass of water will do though.
So this is how my day went:

My shopping today all from Albert Heijn:

1kg Spaghetti 69ct

Rice cracker 21ct

Oatmeal 41ct

Apple sauce 59 ct

Can peeled tomatoes 52ct

Total 2,42 Euro

+ one banana from before ~ 16ct (1kg 99ct)

Breakfast:

Oatmeal with apple sauce and a mashed banana

Most important: 

Drinking enough water!!

Light snack in between or instead of crisps and popcorn while watching a movie: 

Rice crackers with apple sauce

I was actually really struggling during the day in Uni. I'm used to have a big lunch with me, several snacks in between and to start with, a big brekki in the morning. After my first lecture in the morning (end 10.30am) I was already really hungry. No time for lunch yet and no apple or banana with me. So I was eating rice crackers all day and it wasn't really satisfying. Lunch was again oatmeal, thus I had no warm and filling meal for lunch either. I need to find a better solution for the next couple of days.

Dinner:

Plain pasta with the can of tomatoes. No spices, salt or pepper. I thought I really want to start from scratch and it's actually a really nice way to reduce my

 salt intake. Looked a bit sad but it wasn't too bad. Nice to once concentrate only on the taste of the tomatoes.

At the weekend I had kind of a struggle because I still had so many veggies in my fridge and I needed to use them up. Such a waste otherwise but I handled it well. Invited a friend over for dinner and made a lovely Minestrone with all my left overs. I guess though that it one of the hardest things. To actually have nothing at home at the start. Brekki is for example covered for the next week and spaghetti are a good base as well. Tomorrow I can use my money to buy veggies and maybe some apples or bananas.

First day : Check - I'm excited for the rest!

AIMS Live Below the Line

ARE YOU READY FOR THE CHALLENGE OF ALL CHALLENGES? TOMORROW WILL BE THE DAY! WE CHALLENGE YOU TO LIVE BELOW THE LINE!

In the Netherlands, living below the poverty line leaves you with €2.90 per day. Do you think it's possible to live on only that much per day for one week? AIMS would like to find out., SO JOIN, NOMINATE AND SHARE!

Share with us how you are preparing yourself for this week. Did you already have your last piece of amazing lemon drizzle cake? Are you ready to get creative and share this experience with your friends?

LET'S GET STARTED AND REMIND ALL YOUR FRIENDS!

Also, do not forget to let out your inner hipster and use our hashtag: ‪#‎AIMSlivebelowtheline‬ !

Mitte der Period

Unglaublich, es ist schon wieder die dritte Woche der neuen Period zu Ende und damit auch meine Midterm week. Ich hatte glücklicherweise nur eine Arbeit, aber an der hatte ich ganz schön zu knabbern. Es war ein take-home Examen, dass heißt ich hatte drei Tage Zeit einen Aufsatz zu schreiben und der war in Form einer Rede. Fand ich zuerst total cool, aber wenn man dann utopische Ideen irgendwelcher Philosophen in die Wirklichkeit umsetzen muss, ändert sich die Freude dann doch ein bisschen. Es ging um Political Philosophy, einer meiner momentanen Kurse. 

Ansonsten spielt sich nicht viel ab. Die Tage werden kürzer und mir fehlt die Sonne. Ich bin momentan selten zu Hause, hauptsächlich in der Uni. Den Tag über Tutorials und Lernen und dann bleibt man gleich da für die Abendveranstaltungen. Gestern zum Beispiel war Open Mic Night und ich war total geflasht was für Talente sich in UCM tummeln. Alle möglichen Leute haben gesungen, Gedichte vorgetragen oder getanzt und es war einfach nur kuschelig im Gemeinschaftsraum. Das ist das Schöne an UCM, es fühlt sich irgendwie auch an wie zu Hause, aber vielleicht verbringe ich auch einfach zuviel Zeit hier, urgs. Aber alle lümmeln auf den Sofas, es ist gemütlich und für die mit der größten Nervosität wird am Lautesten applaudiert. Am Dienstag war der niederländische Botschafter für die Türkei bei uns und hat uns über die türkisch-niederländische Beziehung, die übrigens schon seit 402 Jahren besteht, erzählt und uns einen kleinen Einblick in den Alltag eines Botschafters gegeben. Als er Botschafter in Russland war, ist er anscheinend immer zur gleichen Zeit wie Putin zur Arbeit gefahren und stand deswegen immer unendlich lange im Stau, weil die für ihren Präsidenten eine Stunde lang am Morgen die Stadt absperren. Verrückt oder?

Und jetzt Wochenende!