Hello, hello and Happy Tuesday!

This past weekend was a good one… one where I didn’t really do too much, but it also felt busy.  Next weekend, we have a fun TRIP planned!  More to come!

Thursday

Let’s start with Thursday, since Thursday is my last day of class for the week.  I had class, then quickly went home for a few minutes and then headed back out the door to head to Magasand for salads and some chit-chat with my good friends Sarah and Christina.  Fun fact: I met both of them in sort of random ways.  Christina moved into the apartment upstairs in the building I lived in for 3 years and posted something on FB about looking for roommates.  I messaged her saying I didn’t want to be her roommate, but I wanted to hang out and the rest is history.  Then with Sarah, she saw I had commented on a post about working for VIPKID so she reached out to me and I helped her through the interview process and along the way, we realized we had a lot in common!  Now both of them are my best friends here, so that goes to show that random connections can lead you towards meaningful friendships.

ANYWHO, I don’t have pictures from Thursday, but it was fun.

Friday

On Friday, I did some work at home before having my teeth cleaned.

Second Spanish teeth-cleaning experience- def better than the first I had but not as great as the cleanings in the US.  I’m thinking I may have to get one cleaning per year here and one cleaning per year in the US.  After my cleaning, I ran a few errands and then worked on VIPKID for an hour.  I’ve been trying to work an hour per day just for a little extra cash.  As much as I don’t love it, it is nice to know that it’s there when I need some extra money!  

As soon as the class was over, I shoved food in my mouth and then ran out the door to a doctor’s appt.  I had blood work done to check my thyroid levels, so the doctor wanted to review them with me.  When I was leaving the office, the doctor said, “you’re good to go, Tamara.  Be good, be happy, see you in a year”, and then he looked at me and said “or be bad, and be happy, but be happy because that is, without a doubt, the most important thing”.  It stuck with me all weekend.

From there, I hopped on a bike and headed to Lavapies to do a tour training with 2 girls.  It was a lot of fun and the time flew by, which led me right to 7 pm when I met my brother to head to the synagogue.  We wanted to see if we could meet some friends, and that’s a good place to do it.  I had a good night, but was exhausted once I got home!

Saturday

Despite being exhausted, I had to get up at 8 to make bagels for someone who had ordered them. 

Luis delivered them for me and then got a haircut, so I used the time to answer some emails I had been neglecting.  You know when you see a message you should respond to, but then you just let it go and go and go and then you feel weird about responding so late?  That’s me.  100%.

When Luis was home, we went to the gym in hopes of doing a full-body circuit class, but it was jam-packed with people so we each did our own thing.  This is how Luis works out: 

I ran for 20 minutes on the treadmill and then did 30 minutes of NTC, followed by 15 minutes in the sauna.  I’ve been loving the sauna recently!!  And I have built up my tolerance from before which was about…3 minutes.

Saturday afternoon was pretty low-key.  Luis had lunch with his family and I worked at home (and I also got some really exciting news! which I can hopefully share eventually).  In the afternoon, we hung out until getting ready to head out for Sarah’s birthday dinner.

We met her and 8 of her friends for dinner at LaMucca which used to be one of my favorite places, but Saturday’s dinner (the food!) was so disappointing.

I should know better than to order a salad without asking for the dressing on the side, but DO YOU SEE THAT?  After being miserable for a good ten minutes, I asked the waiter if he would bring me more lettuce since there was so much salad soaked in dressing, so he took my bowl and brought it back with more lettuce soaked in dressing.  I almost cried.  At least the people were awesome!  After dinner, we headed out for drinks and got home around 3 am.

Sunday

Again, I had to get up early (around 10) to make bagels, but this time for that aforementioned exciting reason!  So I made the bagels, then went for a quick run, and then headed out for a business meeting of sorts. I was out until late afternoon, so when I got home I was starving.  I inhaled a salad and then Luis and I went to El Corte Ingles to run errands and then spent the night cookng and reading.

I am currently reading Nujeen, which is the story of a wheelchair-bound girl and her escape from war-torn Syria.  It is REALLY good and I am more than half way through in 24 hours.  Recommended!

Happy week, friends!