¡La vida es una aventura! ¡Siempre!

¡La vida es una aventura!

¡Siempre!

Hoy es el 31 de diciembre....T menos 2 días antes de voy a ir a Madrid.  Y mi aventura de hablando y escuchando y aprendiendo español.  Mi aventura de viviiendo en una otra cultura por tres meses.

¿Emocionante?  Sí.

¿Interesante?  Sí.

¿Miedo?  En realemente...no porque me gusta aprender nuevas cosas.

Esta aventura es tan difici como caminando Camino de Santiago.  Y después de completar Camino Frances y Camino Finisterre, creo que puedo qualquier cosas.  Es la verdad para mí.

¡Feliz Año Nuevo!

¡Salud!

¡Buen Camino!

T menos 27 días y contando....antes de ir a Madrid

Mi Camino amigo en Madrid escribó....

"Alto, alto, Nina, no hagas trampas ¡¡  ;-)

Debes escribir este correo en Español.

Y el Blog debes continuarlo en Español que lo empezaste muy bien.

Ánimos. No temas equivocarte que de los errores se aprende."

¡Es la verdad!  Así que estoy escribiendo en español.....

Hoy es el 5 de diciembre.  Y t meno 27 dias antes de ir a Madrid.  Estoy emocionado.  Excepto para el embalaje, estoy lista para este aventura.  Me recuerdo un dicho que está consido en mi abrigo Desigual "Cazador de aventuras".  Sí, soy cazador de aventuras.

Mi compañero de clase español y yo dimos un presentación el pasado jueves.  Todas debe presentarse en 5 minutos.  Y habla sobre 7 temas de pais:  presidente, bandara, comida, musica, dinero, clima, y 3 personas famosas.  Elegimos España.  Era una buena práctica hablar.

Mi clase español termina el 15 de diciembre.  Mi baile clase rueda termina el 11 de diciembre.

Buen camino.  Y deseo que tu próxima aventura sea muy buena.

Expeditions....

October 17 and just finished reading this article....

http://m.dailygood.org/story/1413/how-to-talk-to-strangers-kio-stark/

And watching Kio Stark's TED Talk....

https://www.ted.com/talks/kio_stark_why_you_should_talk_to_strangers

I am intrigued with the five expeditions she outlined in her article.  Mostly because they bring up past personal experience with such expeditions (in some similar form to what she outlined).  And has me think ahead as I embark on my three months in Spain amidst strangers.  With the added twist....speaking my non-primary language.

Anywho....check back as I embark on Kio's five expeditions while those around me speak my primary language!  And blog what I notice!

Love it!

!¡Buen Camino!

Ever An Adventure...

It's Saturday, 17 September 2016 and I just finished completing some of the program paperwork on-line.

¡Estoy muy emocionada y más o menos nerviosa!

I am heading to Madrid, Spain to study spanish language during the months of Jan, Feb, and Mar 2017.  I figure after four semesters.....I am in my fourth semester at present.....that it's definitely time to get past my not-speaking Spanish.  And immerse myself in a place where Spanish is the first language.

That was my thought this past May as I concluded my semester of Spanish 2A.  The Universe/Source is always testing me.  LOL.  LOL.  I was at City College of San Francisco during May for the pre-departure orientation of the Cuba study abroad program.  As I waited for the orientation to begin, I wandered the hallway and looked at the various postings on the walls.  Outside the Study Abroad Program office, there were flyers for the programs being offered....
Oaxaca (Fabulous culinary program!!! as I recalled the awesome and tasty time I spent there last July),
Cuba (Woo Hoo...will be there in several weeks, I thought),
Paris (great city and not interested in studying French),
Rome (hey, a new program.....another great city and not interested in studying Italian),
Madrid (Hmmmm, Madrid?  This is another new program!  Wow, studying Spanish in Madrid!)

I pulled out the Madrid flyer and took it with me.  As I read through the flyer....WOW.....here was all the logistics of studying Spanish in a Spanish-speaking country outlined for me in a front/back flyer.

I am a bit nervous.....until I remind myself of the morning I awoke after arriving in Napoli, Italy.  And decided to take an Italian language class.  And went on-line and found that a class was starting that day.  And how much easier it was to learn Italian when after class I walked out into a city where Italian was the first language.

I also ask myself....If not now, then when?

¡Buen Camino!

Happy Spring-Cleaning....

Today is Thursday, 11 August 2016 and the start of go through each room and clear out what we have not used in  12 months :-) 

Starting with easy room for me--the bathroom.  It is now complete.  Feels great to throw out old meds or bath stuff I can't remember when last used!

Happy clearing!

A self-compassionate person is....

A self-compassionate person recognises the problem,

addresses it if possible,

deals with it emotionally,

and moves on

without making a dramatic production out of it.

Unknown Author

Photos I Took In Cuba....

And this is link to the rest of the photos I took in Cuba! En-Joy!

Doing Something Differently (plus a lesson learned from a broken finger)

It's Friday, July 9, 2016...and since my post about "deviate from routine".....well, Life has/is giving me ample opportunities to "deviate from routine".  At least one planned and one un-planned....

All Good! say I.

Traveling gives ample opportunities to "deviate from routine".  And my planned trip last month to Cuba (June 5 to June 18) was no exception.  The cultural program through City College of San Francisco was great.  And I highly recommend it.  Greg Landau the program instructor was fabulous.  He is a wealth of Cuban and Latin American history.  Plus his personal stories from traveling to Cuba since he was 6 as well as playing and producing music are interesting to hear.  The music I heard, the dancing I saw, the people I met along the way.  All memorable and wonderful!  And it was a joy to take a break from cooking.  From eating what I eat at home.  From making the bed.  From cleaning.  To have others serve me.  To have others offer to help me.  It also mixes the brain up....to hear a different language being spoken around me.  To see different things.  See my other post for the essay I turned in for my assignment.

Breaking a bone gives ample opportunities to "deviate from routine".  And I did that by accident - because no one I have heard of, intentionally breaks a bone :-)  On the evening of June 9 in Cienfuegos, Cuba, the toe of my shoe caught the lip of a driveway.  In an instant, I went from talking with a travel colleague to face-down on the sidewalk.  No slo-mo on this fall.  When I fell forward, my forehead landed on the left open-palmed hand which in turn landed on the concrete sidewalk.  At the moment, I believed I sprained my ring and little finger.  An x-ray a few hours later showed what I had hoped was not  - a fractured ring finger bone --the break was just above the knuckle.  Grateful then and now that my fingers took the fall instead of my forehead and my teeth.  Regardless, having my fingers and hand in a cast gives ample opportunities to "deviate from routine".  Asking for help with carrying something.  Or cutting up food.  Or preparing something to eat.  Or opening a jar.  Definitely got me out of my routine of wearing pants, leggings, or underwear (all too difficult when having to use the bathroom).  I know....TMPI.  Meanwhile, dressing in dresses, especially ones that have no zippers, has been different for me.  And I have to admit....FUN. 

And I have come away from these "deviations from routine" (trip to Cuba and broken bone) with doing or being or thinking differently.  And for me that is a great thing.

Update.......
I saw the Kaiser orthopedic physician assistant on Tuesday, July 12.  The bone is healing beautifully per the x-ray.  Thank you bone and body for the amazing job you do!  They removed the cast.

Time to free the ring and pinkie fingers.  These 2 have been constant companions in stillness and immobility, in a cast of one form or another for 32 days.

What I learned from these two after the cast was removed.....If You Don't Use It, You'll Lose It!  So these two have inspired me to keep my body and brain moving.  These two came out of stillness and immobility....stiff, puffy, swollen, afraid to move, not wanting to move, hurting when they did move.  And the thumb, index, and middle fingers are encouraging them to follow the physical therapist instructions.  Telling them they can regain their mobility and flexibility.  And my experience knows this "for sure"!

Stay tuned for my photos from Cuba.  And a left hand with five flexible, mobile fingers.

Meanwhile...I hear the physical therapist's voice in my head....going through the instructions.  Thank goodness, I have done one of the 3 to 5 times for today.

My Cuba Essay 27 June 2016

As part of the 2016 Cuba program, the participants' assignment was to write a 5-page essay or equivalent about my experience or some aspect of my Cuban experience that made an impact on me.

Aquí está....

Disfruta...

Celebrate....A Deviation From Routine....

Take a moment.....

Oh phooey, take a whole day!

And celebrate!

Really bask

In all that is

Blessed,

Good,

Joyous

About your life!

And then tell someone.

Anyone.

Everyone.

What you are

Celebrating!

Spread celebration!

Nina Chong

17 April 2009

It's Saturday, June 4, 2016 and if I learned anything from these past 60 days of celebration....it is that every day, every moment is cause to celebrate (or "to mark (as an anniversary) by festivities or other deviation from routine").  I particularly like the "deviation from routine" part.  Deviating from routine, even the smallest deviation, requires mindfulness.

En-joy your celebrations!

Day 44 of my 60 days of celebration (Saturday, May 14) - Cuba on the brain....

Went to the first of two orientations for my trip to Cuba with City College of San Francisco's (CCSF) Study Abroad Program.

The program is Latin American and Latino/a Cross-Border Social Movements.  The focus is the Cuban Revolution and how it brought on profound changes in Cuban society and impacted much of Latin America.  The program will explore the changes in Cuban culture after the Revolution and the new institutions that emerged.

LOL LOL....as I typed above, I was taken back to middle school....I did not do well in world or american history or geography in middle school :-)  Anywho, I have come a long way since then.  I am no longer interested in making an "A".  Instead interested in the experience.  Thus will be taking the program Pass/No Pass.

Met CCSF's instructor (Greg Landau) on our program.  He has been going to Cuba since he was 5 years old.  His father was a film maker and Greg went there often as a child and now as an adult.  Excited to be going with someone who has connections with the people, music, and culture of Cuba.  And personal experiences.  He'll be taking us off the tourist path and for that I am grateful.

I love traveling off the tourist path as I enjoy seeing how people in another place live day-to-day.  Helps keep my perspective open.

Thus I am grateful to have the time and finances to go on this "planned deviation from routine" next month.

Thank You!

ascorbic acid aka vitamin C

May 9 and Day 39 of my 60 days of celebrating the transition from my 6-0 birthday into my 6-1 years of living.

A friend yesterday told me about this free 30-minute clip of a documentary (link below) where she learned about the benefits of ascorbic acid aka vitamin C.  She's been using ascorbic acid powder for about 4 months and definitely noticed a difference in her particular health symptoms and circumstances.

https://thatvitaminmovie.com/movie30/freescreening30/

I am ever reading about or looking into non-conventional medical methods for treating or preventing disease/illness that have proven successful for people.  With my past health symptoms and circumstances, I believe in balancing conventional with non-conventional.

And I believe in sychronicities.

--My friend today telling me about this 30-minute movie and her experience with taking water with L-ascorbic acid powder dissolved in it at breakfast, lunch, and dinner-time.

--Earlier in the week another friend with cancer e-mailing about her progress with a new MD and a new protocol since beginning of this year, that includes liposomal ascorbic acid.

--I just finished a book by Norman Cousins "Anatomy of an illness as perceived by the patient" who used laughter to heal his symptoms.  And in reading the book, I learned he also used intravenous ascorbic acid after he read various research papers.

--My food choices are relatively good.  And I did not eat fruit on a daily basis (until I did my raw fruit and raw veggie cleanse in March).  The first day of the fruit and veggie cleanse, I noticed that my low, low, low, low level of fatigue was gone.  Makes sense today - fruits have ascorbic acid (among other nutrients).

So I am most definitely having lots of my daily fruits (and veggies).  Plus taking 1 gram of L-ascorbic acid powder daily at breakfast, lunch, and dinner, to see if that helps the wrist pain I sometimes have in either or both wrists.  And reading up more on ascorbic acid :-)

Here's to your well-being!

Day 35...May 5...what's there to celebrate?

It's way too early in the a.m. for this Queen of Sleep (as most of my close friends know I LOVE my sleep)....it is 4:30 a.m. and I have been tossing and turning since 2 a.m.  And got to thinking about being in the midst of my 60 days of celebration for my 60th birthday, that I began on April 1.  And looking back at the past week...I wondered what had I celebrated each day?  Because I think "happy" when I hear the word "celebrate".  And the past weeks had left me exhausted mentally, physically, emotionally.  And for that, I am not happy.

No wonder when the bank teller asked me yesterday 'how are you?'  I paused, took a deep breath, and responded 'I don't think I'll respond truthfully because I would be talking to you for a long while.'  She looked surprised.  And went out of way to help me with what I believed would be a simple transaction.  Turns out the branch no longer offers counter checks so this wonderful soul of a bank teller called to find out how I could do my transaction without counter checks.  Thank you bank teller named Pensom!

Anywho....since I am wide awake and have not blogged each day as I had hoped and intended, I decided to look up the word "celebrate" for some inspiration and insight into "what had I celebrated in the past week?"

Thank you Merrium Webster for the definition and Source for the idea!  This definition struck a chord "to mark (as an anniversary) by festivities or other deviation from routine". Specifically the part about "deviation from routine". Those three words are giving me the best belly laugh right now.  Belly laughs definitely feel good!

Most certainly each day since last Wednesday (when I returned from my trip to LA to celebrate my friend's birthday) has been a 'deviation from routine' for me.  NOT the deviations I planned and certainly a deviation!  And definitely "undesired outcomes".  Even being away from home is a deviation from routine.  Or having a purse stolen.  Or having family or friends stay with you.  Or traveling.  All Good....for a "deviation from routine" as I now see and feel....can be exhausting as well as informing me.  For me, the "deviations from routine" of the past week (even this being awake from 2 a.m. to now it's almost 5 a.m. or my time away in LA) certainly has me notice what I notice.

Thank you "Unplanned Deviations From Routine"!  You are testing me to see how I will respond!  Will my words and deeds match up?  Will I respond in auto-pilot?  When Unplanned Deviations From Routine or Undesired Outcomes, assault me :-) will I support myself with healthy choices?  Will I acknowledge my feelings, my emotions rather than dismiss or hide them?  Will I come out from behind myself into the conversation or checkout?  Will I be conscious or un-conscious?

As I look back over the past week, I am most proud of me and my responses.  And that's definitely something to celebrate!  And an awesome way to start a day!

Lessons learned from a purse stolen....

It's Wednesday, April 27....last Wednesday daytime, I arrived in LA for a week long visit with my friend.  To celebrate her "divisible-by-5" birthday.  Little did we know that this would be a memorable birthday in more ways than either of us would imagine.

That Wednesday night....her purse was stolen from the back of her chair, while she, her 2 friends, and I were at a wine bar.  We were sitting a a small, round, high-top table in a small wine bar.  The place was not very crowded.  We had a fabulous time.  None of us saw anything unusual....so we were stunned to find her purse missing when we got up to leave several hours later.

Afterwards.....it was an emotional and exhausting 12 to 24 hours....as she had 'everything' in her purse.  We were both glad that I was staying with her.....to help her with the 'after' of such a traumatic and stressful set of circumstances.

We got a lot done in 12-24 hours.  So we felt better as each stop-gap was placed.  And all in time to en-joy a planned outing on Friday night to a performance by her friend Kristin Korb (an amazing jazz bassist and singer) at a cozy, house concert hosted by Alan Goldman.

And lessons I learned from this experience....

--Be sure your AND your girlfriends' purses are safe from being taken when in a public place--no matter how nice and safe the place looks, feels, etc, etc.

--Carry in your purse ONLY the credit cards, ATM cards, etc. necessary for the outing.  Her 'everything' included checkbook, social security card, car registration, besides credit cards and ATM cards.

I am in LAX now awaiting my flight home.  I just finished looking at what is in my wallet.  And there are two different ATM cards I do not need to carry with me at all times given how I use them.  Same with a PayPal secure ID.  So when I arrive home, I plan to travel outside my home with.....only items necessary for that outing.  Makes me think of what I read in Marie Kondo's book....she arrives home, un-packs her purse, thanks everything for a wonderful day, put all the items away.  Next day, she starts a-new.  I shall see how this change in my habit and routine works.

phone calls....

April 10 and been "meaning to" call this person or that person to say hi, catch-up, etc, etc.  And somehow the day goes by and there I am at the end of my day...the call did not happen.

"Not today" I say as I look out the window as I type.  Off I go to make some phone calls :-)

First let's have adventure bread wrapped in lettuce:

Starting with the A's in my contact list organized by first names.  Interesting how I look at the first name and realize I have not talked to or seen that person in many moons.  Or who is that person?  Guess I need to clean out my contact list :-)

Regardless...it was a great day.  I left a voicemail for A in Dallas.  And talked to A (who goes by his middle name J) "across the pond".  Then I totally skipped to L's because I had been meaning to talk to L after a mutual friend gave me news that L was going through her last round of chemotherapy.

I will keep them in my prayers.  Sending them love, Light and well-being.  Trusting each will take awesome good self-care.  J is dealing with aging in-laws with health situations that require constant care.  L with the aftermath of chemo.

It was difficult and hard for me to lose my folks in the same year.  And as time went on, I realized they spared me from dealing with parents aging and losing their mobility and faculties.  I see that as I watch those (much older than I) age.  And spared me from the aftermath of several rounds of chemotherapy (in the case of my mom).  My folks left this earth before each of them could no longer en-joy their life.  I am happy for them.  And for those whom they left behind.

Now, after several hours with telephone talking and shopping at the farmers market, I walk over to Chinatown.

Time to FINALLY get to the exhibit Chinatown Pretty on Ross Alley in Chinatown.  'Meaning to' see a number of exhibits....and manage to miss them...until now :-)

Clothing definitely reminds me of my mother :-)

As I make my way back home, I decide to check out the pop-up Chao Mien at Naked Lunch.  Been "meaning to" check it out (and I think it's been a pop-up for 2 years??).  Today's the day.  The spring rolls were tasty and filling.

And I can't remember the last time I had shrimp chips!

Miss Txoko (which was this place before it shifted menu and name to Naked Lunch).  Happy that the shift was good for the owners.  I miss the food from Txoko.  Oh well, change happens.

Another new place is Tamarind Hall, so I decided to have a drink and nosh here as well.

The egg rolls were tasty and unusual as they were filled with baked taro.

My view from Taramind Hall.

Yet another great day of celebration!

photos only - dinner at Aziza - 9 April 2016

Thank you J, C, G, A, and T for a delicious birthday dinner out at Aziza!

Company was great as usual!

Food was pretty to look at and delicious to eat!

Atmosphere was awesome!

Yes, we started with dessert first :-)