Everybody say, "Yay Pete!"

Dear Money God(s) and/or Goddess(es),

Thank you. Thank you thank you thankyouthankyou. I'm holding a feast in your honor or sacrificing a goat or something. Unless money gods are vegan, in which case I'll burn a little soy instead.

So, I owe my sanity to a man named Pete. You see, I was broke at home last night, so down I couldn't sleep. I've never been so depressed that I couldn't even sleep before. And what, Dear Reader might ask, had got me so depressed? Well, what gets any of us depressed? Money. As I had said before, I'm quite broke. I took out a loan before I came to Germany with the expectation that I would use half of the loan to pay my bills in the USA while I was gone and the other half to sustain myself my first month here. $1,000 is what you need to survive a month here, so said the government committee overseeing my trip. $1,000? It was more like $2,000 or $2,500. Think about it; I have:

• a BahnCard 50 (necessary to make train travel a viable option) - €110
• necessary travel by train and bus around Germany - about €160
• a hotel room my first two nights here (no youth hostel to be found) - €110
• a bed, blanket, pillows and sundry things needed for work and home - €250
• cell phone and minutes - €50
• camera - €40 (okay, maybe I didn't need this)
• shoes, tights, gloves, a hat, and a belt (because it's cold here, I only brought open-toed shoes, and I'm losing weight) - €55
• batteries, power adapters, and things to make things work - €30
• food - somewhere between €5 and €15 per day, so somewhere from €150 and €450 (I'm gonna say €300, because I ate out a lot before I got my own kitchen)
• internet and a few calls to the US - €50
• gifts for people back home - €10
• various costs like entry to Barnaby's to see Tom Principato and the odd beer at a cafe - €40 to €50.
• my bills back in the US - $290, which is something like €217 - €220

All of this (so, everything that I can remember) comes to about €1435. That's somewhere between $1920 and $1950. That's what I can remember off the top of my head. I'm sure that with various bus passes, maps, sundries, yada yada yada, I've spent my $2,000 and more. I was dead broke. I couldn't pay my rent (€300 a month to a very understanding roommate), I couldn't pay the €56 that I owed for my part in a field trip to Berlin --I couldn't even pay my roommate back the €12 she lent me for a library card. I had asked my mom, my roommate, even my friends for money. I had stopped eating anything that didn't come from my house. I wanted to call home and whine or write an e-mail, but I didn't have the money for either of those. I was the most broke I could possibly be.

And then today I was like, "I have a euro. I'll go check my e-mail real quick (Okie-ism: "real quick". I get made fun of for it here.)..." I get an e-mail from my stepmom saying (from her e-mail to me) "Hey, I was telling my boss, Pete, about you and your situation over in Germany and laughed and said that you young and resilient, and one day you too will laugh about it... "She later brought him some company checks to sign and he said to write one to me for $1,000.

Serious as a heart-attack. It's in my bank account right now. I checked. Then I checked again. Then I started crying in the internet cafe. Then I payed my bills with it. Now I'm gonna go pay my rent. I have no idea how to thank this guy. If you're reading this, Pete, then know that for one Okie in Germany you are a dream/prayer come true. You are better than Nutella. You go, Pete. You go.

I sent my stepmom back an e-mail with more on this, which she will send on to Pete. I hope to pay him back soon. And to send him a church. And a nice card. But first and foremost I wanted to say thanks.

Well, on a completely different note, the movie I was in -- No Burgers for Bigfoot -- is finally up on IMDB. The cast and crew are being added bit by bit for some reason, so if you don't see my name there, check back in a week. I'm a movie star! Can my day GET ANY BETTER?!