Menu del día translates to mean ‘menu of the day’. The concept contains three key components for the Spanish. It involves eating, sitting and talking. People here love lunch. It often starts at 3 PM and lasts until dinner. In summer, work stops at 2 PM and lunch and a mandatory nap are often the only activities left in the day. The nap is mandatory because the “lunch” is a 3-course affair that begins with paella and ends with tarta de queso (figure it out). And coffee. And free shots of weird herbal liquor. In my observation, this Spanish tradition varies from the New York City restaurant experience…
Appropriate Use of a Cell Phone: A History
I think often about appropriate use of my cell phone. The topic seemed especially poignant when I switched over to an iPhone, a heart-breaking technological change in 2012. (Yes, I realize this was roughly five years after everyone else.) The switch to iPhone My beloved Droid 3 had finally broken beyond repair. I strolled to the Verizon store on 3rd Avenue, convincing myself that change was good. The panic welling was the same as when I was five and my parents would decide to “upgrade” our refrigerator. I still have an old-dog eared picture of my tearful, scraggly five-year-old self next to my cherished, ancient refrigerator during our lengthy…
Hope for a Monday
I’m constantly searching for news that will give me hope for a Monday. Lately, I’ve found it in the posts on “Wait But Why?”. It’s changing my life. The latest series of articles (on Tesla Motors and Space X) have given me a naive, college-freshman-level of hope about the state of the world. Definitely enough to get through your average Monday. Call me a dreamer, but I find hope in positive environmental change. It started in college. Granted, for me, college happened in Boulder, Colorado. It’s sort of a ‘positive environmental change’ mecca. We launched all kinds of campaigns. Environmental campaigns, eradication-of-world-hunger campaigns, Earth Day campaigns, stop-cutting-down-the-rainforest campaigns, pay-more-attention-to-my-campaign campaigns,…
Saturday Plans
The first day of school was a smashing success. More importantly, the first day of school was on a FRIDAY, so I am already faced with the first of 42 (but who’s counting?) glorious weekends to make relaxing Saturday plans. An example of how I plan a relaxing weekend below: Conversation with self, Wednesday 10 PM. “Oh, there is a language exchange hike outside of the city this Saturday! It is only 90 minutes traveling each way. I should definitely do that because I might never be able to go hiking again! And I will get back with at least 15 minutes to run home, shower and change for dinner….
Happy New Year
Teachers (in their adorable, dorky teacher way) like to say “Happy New Year!” when they see each other in September. I started hearing the phrase almost immediately when I went back to work 2 days ago. This “Happy New Year” business means two things: New Year Facts Fact 1: I moved to Spain a year ago. Fact 2: SCHOOL IS STARTING. Literally: school is starting in 24 hours. What I really should be doing is rooting myself in the reality of Fact 2 and frantically preparing course materials, lab manuals, neatly organizing stacks of colored index cards, etc. Instead, I have been lingering around in the dreamy realities of Fact…
Word of the Day
You know that super-satisfying feeling you get when you learn a new phrase or word of the day that helps to describe a situation in life? For example: Word of the Day Examples FOMO “I hate “The Bachelor”, but I get FOMO when I don’t go to girls night” Food Baby“I can’t fit in my new dress because I’m pregnant with my food baby” First World Problems“Friend 1: Waiting for the cable guy sucks!Friend 2: Genocide sucks. Waiting for the cable guy is a total first world problem” I love discovering these words that help me to explain my life. My feelings get lonely when I can’t describe them. Today I…
Summer of Gratitude
I love summer. Duh. Everyone loves summer. The problem is summer is ending. For me there are 5 official days left. I do not want to spend those days thinking “Gah! I wish I had been able to go to Singapore this year! (Seriously-read Crazy Rich Asians. We all need to go to Singapore immediately). I want to spend these days reflecting on all the great stuff I did this summer and being grateful that I have what most American adults consider to be an absurd amount of time to travel, relax and generally do whatever I want during each year. For example… Today I took 3 hours worth of…
How to Write a Blog: The Crisis of Fabulous
I am having a crisis about how to write a blog. Well, crisis might be a strong word. But I am having, at the least, a time of intense doubt and confusion. Like most crises, it started with good intentions. A few days ago, I typed “how to write a blog” into my google search bar. A reasonable thing to do, you might think. However, like all internet searches, it was a disaster that resulted in deep insecurities about all aspects of my life. For example, the first thing I am meant to do is “define my readership”. Oh. My. God. I can’t even define what I like…
Hello from Bilbao
Hello from Bilbao! I am back in the land of small meals, copious wine and terrible coffee. Spain! It feels wonderful to be home. More accurately, it feels wonderful to be holed up in a 4-star hotel room at Abando Bilbao, where I have been placidly binge-reading on my Kindle, drinking powdered cappuccino and half-heartedly considering if there is anything else I would rather be doing with my time. Conclusion: there is not. That is not to say I have not explored the town. Bilbao Explorations: First, I went to the Guggenheim Bilbao and met Puppy (picture below). Second, I strolled through a captivating exhibit on the life, times and art of Jean-Michel…
Adventure Continues…
This Swiss adventure continues! First, you will be glad to know I successfully evaded the fly family from the Istlewald hostel. This morning we packed up and got back on the road. The travelogue continues with driving stories and, of course, lots of food. Highlights below: 1) The drive on Jaunpass road was wonderful. The road cuts through the middle of Switzerland from German-ish Bernese Oberland to French-ish Gruyere. It’s decorated with a changing landscapes of cows, mountains, and lovely cottages. 2) It also swerves rather dramatically at the beginning. Therefore, the monent we found the Jaunpass road instead of accidentally driving to Italy was certainly a highlight of…