Excess Baggage

This is a picture of a wooden stool I purchased about 6 months ago. It was carved from a log by an artist who uses natural media like wood, metal and cast off, "found" items.

I loved it on sight, especially because of the slightly spooky little face etched into it. Even though it's heavy as hell, and I probably won't be able to take it with me when I leave Kenya for good, I had to have it. Like some of the stuff I just brought back from America.

The rectangular slips of paper atop this stool represent that stuff. Besides my 2 free checked suitcases, there were two others, and they were overweight. Oh, and there was the small rolling carry-on I'd hoped to stow overhead. Problem is, I already had a backpack and a shoulder bag, so the guy at the KLM counter made me check that one, too.

Now, in my own defense, I would have only had 3 suitcases, except that when I visited my sister Marilyn in Atlanta, she made me take one of the suitcases I'd stowed in her garage post-Gulu. She also forced me to go shopping with her at this fantastic consignment store where I picked up some really nice suits and dresses that were so cheap, they were almost free.

Oh, and then I HAD to bring back the yoga mat I bought before I first moved to Nairobi but forgot to bring. And then there were the DVD's; my brother-in-law Ron loaned me all of his "24" and "Lost" discs so I can finally figure out why people were so obsessed about both series. And then there were the health and beauty-aids I can't get in Nairobi....oh, and the shoes that were on sale at Macy's, and the spices from DeKalb Market in Atlanta.....

You get where I'm going with this? Well, maybe you will when you find out how much I paid. When the counter agent told me the amount, I was stunned into a horrified, bug-eyed, carp-mouthed silence. I'm still reeling. I felt like somebody hit me over the head with this heavy-assed stool. But I had to consider my options. I could have unchecked those two extra bags, called a friend to come and take them back to DC....and then I would have missed the plane. Or I could have started screaming and cursing and crying and pleading for mercy. And then I would have missed the plane and been arrested.

So I paid the........$800. And as they swiped the various cards, I knew it was probably the karmic cost of a couple other times when I'd flashed a little cleavage and received a huge discount from the guy behind the counter. Cleavage and a smile used to be my most effective travel companions. This time, they let me down Big Time.

I'll keep these receipts as a painfully profound reminder of the cost of "stuff." Stuff I thought I needed to have. Stuff that would make expat life a little less lonely. Stuff that would make my skin smoother, and my butt look a little tighter in jeans. Things that would make my feet look sexy. Things that would make my food taste better. Things that would make me work out harder.

Stuff that I'll mostly wind up giving away and leaving behind. What a price to pay for mindless materialism, eh?