Day # 31 I did it! Lo logré!

Un mes pasa rápido y si que lo pasó este mes de Marzo. Ya último día del mes , último día de escribir y último día de la semana de vacaciones de primavera. 

Me gusto la experiencia de escribir cada día, era una bonita forma de expresar mi día a día y de cierta manera conectarme con otras personas, en este caso maestros/as. 

He visto que escribir en espanol me gusta mucho y que todavía puedo hacerlo , por trabajo y contexto de vida  he parado de escribir en español,   y que las palabras fluyen más rápido en español para mi , pero tambien debo decir que en inglés le agarre el gusto también de escribir, quizás por el hecho de que era escribir de situaciones que me pasaban, yo me sentía una Carrie Bradshaw. Escribir sobre lo que te acontece cada día creo que es fácil y dinámico. No he tratado , todavía, de escribir como los demás una palabra al día, o hacer un poema, o algo así. Quizas el proximo año , me lanzo de nuevo y ahora ya con la base de como es, pueda enfocarme en escribir “a lo sugerido” del dia. Creo que fue un buen comienzo a esta linda experiencia de escribir!  

I will translate it… first of all, if I have to translate from Spanish to English the words are more difficult to find since I did it with all the flavor of words in Spanish… but this is the translation of my ideas… A month passes so quickly, and this was the case in March. Today is the last day of March, last day  to write, last day of the week of Spring break. I enjoy the experience of writing everyday about my day and connecting with other teachers.  I enjoyed  writing,  of course writing in Spanish is easier and more fluent than in English, but I found myself in a situation of rediscovering my ability to write in Spanish that for so long I had it in silence. Maybe next year I will try to do it following the suggestions of finding your word of the day, writing poems, and more. I think it was a good beginning for this great experience of writing! 

Advertisement

Day # 30 Lunch Date

It is always fun to meet Alejo in Chicago’s downtown for lunch, because he works there. And today, we met for lunch. I was planning to take an Uber but he said it is better to drive so we can go out of the financial district. So, I left by 11:00 AM, not too much traffic on The Stevenson so that’s always good. And I noticed that the Kennedy has a right side exit for streets to go to the loop, so now the middle goes fast all the way north. The city was empty. It has been empty since the Pandemic started; it is not the same like it used to be before. Some tourists, some students on field trips walking in groups. We met by his building and then he drove. We went to a restaurant decorated from the early 70’s. It is by the Lincoln Zoo. We used to take our girls there after the zoo. This time it was just the two of us. It looked like all parents decided to take their children to the zoo and to that restaurant . It was packed. They “parked” their strollers outside the restaurant. So maybe it is the family restaurant in the area. 

After lunch, we drove back downtown, he went back to work and I came home. Now, I am waiting for my “flan” , a Latino dessert made with eggs and milk, to be ready. It is in the oven right now. 

It was a fun lunch date. I am really enjoying every day of my Spring break in town. 

Day#29 Fun Tuesday!

Yesterday was a busy but fun day!

I started my day by cooking early. After that I had my appointment for a massage in a nice spa where you can also enjoy the heated pools. So, I got there on time, they showed me the lockers area, something complicated to set your combination for the lockers, they gave me a nice heavy robe and sandals. After getting ready I went to the pools. It was fun, relaxing. Not too many people. The majority of us were moms. I forgot to bring my book. They have a sitting area there too. Then it was time to get my massage, so I went to the “waiting quiet area” where you can get snacks, tea or water. Someone came to take me to the massage area.  My massage was for only 50 minutes. It was ok, not as intense as the last ones I had in Peru and for a ⅓  of the price from this spa. After finishing the  massage, I went to the lockers. The shower was very nice, it was like a good hotel: different showers and you can set the temperature of the water by pushing bottoms. They have all what you need to get ready, good hair products , combs (new ones) and everything disposable. So I took my time to get ready, because after that I was meeting my best friend to go to the movies.

I drove to Yorktown and my friend met me there. There were a lot of  groups of girlfriends, groups of 3 or just 2 friends like us. The movie was fun. People were laughing and making comments during the movie. After the movie, we were hungry so we went to Oak Brook, Blanco Cocina. And that’s  when we started “the chisme” talking and talking until they closed the place , by 10:30PM it was time to go home and say goodbye.  We are planning to get together next weekend with our families. It was a busy day but at the same time it was a fun and relaxing day! 

Day # 28 Spring Break- Best friends/Teachers making plans

Day # 28 Spring Break – Best friends/teachers making plans

Well, I will say that yesterday was an awesome day! Over the phone, my daughter and I  decided that I will not cook but we will get Poke bowls. So right after my pedicure and manicure, I picked up the poke bowls. I called my cleaning lady but she is on vacation . Never mind we said. Let’s clean the house right now. This is my house in Plainfield. So we did. I cleaned the first floor. She did the second floor. I love my spin mop, it’s so easy and fast to clean floors. So after that we were so happy ,and feeling accomplished! Well, our family tradition rewards “culver’s” , so we got our ice cream.

It was around 7:30 PM when I set my appointment for a massage for today , Tuesday at 3:00 PM. I am so excited because it’s in a spa where you can enjoy pools and whirlpools before or after your appointments.

After that , around 8:30 PM, my best friend called me and said the movie we were going to this week ends on Wednesday. What should we do? They only play it in Yorktown. She lives on the north side. She agreed to drive to the suburbs, she said it is ok, she used to pick me up when we were young to go out when I used to live in Villa Park, so it is kind of funny that we are doing all this driving just to hang out and spend time together. She had to do some “accommodations “ for her young daughter for today but she got it. I woke up early to cook Peruvian Food for my daughter. Her dinner is ready: rice (white rice cooked with garlic and salt) and lentils (cooked with Peruvian spices) and a “salsa criolla” kind of pico de gallo.  So, a lot is going on for today. And it is only 10:36 AM . So far a great second day of the Spring break week. 

Day # 27 First Day of Spring Break

And officially it is Spring break day for me! I was able to sleep last night. Usually I can’t sleep from Sunday to Monday. But last night I slept all night long until Alejo’s alarm went off. So , what should I do today? Yoga, text my best friend Maria E.  and clean the house. So that’s exactly what I did, in that order. After cleaning the house and taking a long shower, it was time to talk to Maria E. She is also a teacher and she is on spring break as well, but she still has younger children, so between sports and doctor appointments, we were able to set 2 days to hang out during this week. My daughter, who is a young adult, is requesting her favorite Peruvian food. That means get to the store and buy ingredients. Maybe for tomorrow. It’s sunny, and it’s still early. It looks like it is the perfect time to get pedi and manicure. We will see what else is coming up this afternoon. 

Day # 26 A Gym Date night Out!

Yesterday, I wrote about buying healthy food to start making healthy shakes. Alejo came from work and noticed in our kitchen counter the fruits “so we are doing the shakes ah!”  and said “of course, that’s the plan, right?” . So, I was watching tv, he was sitting next to me , asking me why are you watching that Christmas movie now? It was National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation . I sad “ because this movie always makes me laugh and I didn’t watch it this Christmas because we went to Peru”  . So he sat next to me and watched the movie. 

Then Alejo asked me,” Do you want to go to the gym? “, it’s early. And I said “ Yes, let’s go”. As I mentioned before in my posts, he had asked me before to go with him and I always said “No, too cold, No too tired” but this time I decided to go. So we did.

Both of us have the same gym membership, so we went to the one by home (in Chicago).  So he went to do his routine and did my routine. I was almost done and he was next to me “are you done?”  I was doing legs “ocho, nueve, diez, one , doce, trece,catorce , quince , dieciseis” , ok now I am done… Yes , I count in Spanish … I don’t know why, but I still do it.

“Ok, so I’ll meet you up front” … “Ok” … so I did some stretching , went to the locker room . In the city everybody leaves their stuff in lockers… in the suburbs I noticed that we just run from the car and that’s it. 

So, we got home. It was night time. So we made our first batch of healthy shakes. 

It was a fun “gym date” and now we know that we can go together to the gym too!

Day # 25 Not a regular Saturday morning, shopping for healthy food

Every Saturday I try to keep the same routine. I try to wake up around 8:30 AM and start my day with yoga. Then clean the house, while having coffee and listening-dancing-singing salsa music. Then a long shower and be ready to get the “real treat coffee” and do errands. 

Well, not today. I woke up when Alejo’s alarm went off, fell asleep again, woke up with my family texts, fell asleep again, until finally 10:15 AM my eyes opened and it was time to start the day. Checked some more texts from friends and family. Then Yoga, quick clean here and there, shower and let’s go! Shopping time! Well this time groceries. Since I will be off this week, I can cook and try the new healthy shakes. So I got papaya, bananas, strawberries ,  dragon fruit (pitahaya), linaza seeds, chia seeds, prunes, almonds,  granola, old fashioned oats,  and almond milk. Got my starbucks and went home. So tomorrow I will start making the shakes. I think it is time to start getting healthy by eating healthy. We have been going to the gym, so I think we are ready for the next step: eating healthy. 

So we will see and “May the force be with us” .

Day # 24 Nostalgia de Vacaciones de Primavera

Usualmente para “Spring Break”, vacaciones de primavera, no viajo. Me quedo en mi ciudad y aprovecho para verme con mis amigas, salir con mi hija, hermana y sobrinas. Trato de limpiar y arreglar la casa , citas al doctor,  en fin lo que no hago durante el año escolar por falta de tiempo. Pero el año pasado, Marzo 2022, fue diferente, fui a Lima, Perú. Ya habían pasado 2 años y 8 meses que no había regresado por el COVID. Y fue un viaje muy relámpago de solo 1 semanita y que fue planeado rápidamente a pedido de mis papis y hermana-sobrino que me decían “vente, unos días, escapate del frío, sigue el verano por aquí”. Yo había tratado de buscar pasajes y estaban caros. Pero mi hermana me llamó un día por la mañana, en horas de trabajo, me asusté al ver su llamada, pero era para decirme que había encontrado super ofertas por Expedia. Al llegar a casa, entré online y no encontré exactamente la que ella había visto pero encontré otra oferta y la compré. En 2 semanas estaba viajando a Lima. Ya eran muchos años que no pasaba verano en Lima. Fue super lindo pasar tiempo con mis papis en la casa, salir a pasear por mi querida Magdalena. Ir a casa de mi hermana y reencontrarme con mis primos después de casi 3 años. Ver a mis mejores amigas del cole y de la universidad.  A pesar que allá , en esa epoca, todavia habian muchas restricciones por COVID, como presentar la tarjeta de vacunación para todo, si, todo, lugar público: tiendas, restaurantes, mercados, starbucks, etc. y usar doble mascarillas… pero igual lo pase lindo! Al regresar era necesario para abordar el avión hacerse la prueba del covid , la de 24 horas, todo fue bien. No me contagie de COVID en Perú. Fue un viaje corto pero muy bonito. Ver a mi familia y amigos y reencontrarme con mi ciudad y mi gente siempre me llena y recarga de super buenas energías positivas, la energía del amor incondicional. 

Day # 23 That’s my cousin!

I have a student who told me that her  “ brother”  , who is her “cousin” I have been trying to explain to her  (es tu primo) , is in our school. I asked her aunt who picked her up yesterday, and she confirmed that “the cousin” is in kindergarten. So today after dropping off some papers in the kindergarten area, we visited the cousin. She was so happy to see him! 

The cousin asked his teacher “ where is her classroom?” and his teacher said “I will show you later”. Well, we were almost ready to clean up and oh what a surprise! The kindergarten teacher stopped by with her cousin! “Mi primo!!!” yelled her! She was so excited! “Look, this is my brother! “Your cousin” , oh yes , my cousin!  They were so happy! I introduced my class to one of our school’s  kindergarten teachers . Everybody was so happy to meet a kindergarten teacher!  They said “I am going to kindergarten, I am going to kindergarten!” 

It was such a great moment to have two special visitors in our class! 

Day # 22 It was hard to wake up today!

Today was a day that it was hard to wake up. I set my alarm for 6:10 AM . It went off, turned it off and went back to sleep until I woke up at 6:35 AM . Rushed to the bathroom, and did the daily routine but fast. I was able to leave the house on time. Drove to work, got my coffee and I was on time to start my day. 

I don’t know why I was feeling so tired! I went to sleep early and I was reading a book before falling asleep, so it was a good relaxing transition to sleep. 

Maybe the weather? Maybe my body just knows that it is time to take a break? Or maybe I am getting sick – allergies… Did I say that my eyes have been hurting the past 2 days? 

So, 2 more days and I will have a great week off. I am staying in town , but my “to do list” keeps getting longer… but it’s all good, time to relax.