To pay or not to pay?

Last night we three interns went to a Bread for Life dinner and food distribution. It was funny, being on the receiving end of that. First thing I noticed was that they made us sit half an hour through a worship service before they brought out the food - and while we sat, the volunteers ate not too far off. I feel like the structure was exactly the opposite of what I've always been taught, which is meet the physical need and then the spiritual one. After supper we waited for our number to be called and then we were truly blessed. A big banana box of food: oranges, peppers, potatoes, avocados, lettuce, tomatoes, pears, grapefruit, onions, half a cabbage, orange soda. Then our pick of five bread products (we got two sandwich loaves, one cinnamon swirl, bagels, and english muffins), a deli meat, a yogurt each, a 18 eggs, a gallon of milk. They even helped us bring it to the car! If we went here every week, we probably wouldn't have to spend much money on groceries for the rest of our time here. It was certainly plenty for three people.

(everything in this picture is from the pick-up, except the bag of oranges in the top left corner - those I bought from the fruit truck on our way out there)

But do we deserve it? Sure, we're living on $100 a week (minus tax), but we aren't paying for housing. Gas is really our only expense. And if we fell on hard times, I'm sure all of our parents would make sure that we didn't starve. But if we're trying to be independent and we take the parents out of the picture... the less I spend on groceries the more I can put towards paying my student loans off. It's a bit of a conundrum, I suppose.

Today, in light of all the money I just saved on this week's groceries, I decided to go for a breakfast bike ride. I went up to Lake Montezuma (the next town over) and got a fresh, homemade cinnamon roll from Cricket's Dessert and Sandwich Shop. It was delicious, and only $2. Of course, now I probably have to go use my sensitive toothpaste 'cause it was so sugary-sweet! :) I pedaled around the "lake" (I would call it more of a pond, but whatever), then headed back home. Just over 9 miles in all, and I have to say it felt a lot easier than that 6-8 mile ride I took to the fruit truck when I first got here. I suppose I'm getting used to the altitude!