Home Away From Home

I hate oversleeping. I just HATE it. Fine, so i slept at 4 and at 845 switched off first alarm clock thinking i had another 15 mins to go. Extended 4x i woke with a late wake up call at 945. It just ruins my day after workin so late trying to put things in order...

This is me leaving the office, for who wonders whether the market is picking up. It is 3 am london time but i am sure it is a decent time to leave work in some other places in the world. London brings the london eye and some restlesness This is me leaving the office, for who wonders whether the market is picking up. It is 3 am london time but i am sure it is a decent time to leave work in some other places in the world. London brings the london eye and some restlesness makes me download iphone applications rather than taking the nap I usually do. Because of all i start leaving behind sleep starts being at a premium again. At least i get to see London Christmas lights!!

It's cold outside but it does not really matter cause it's Friday. And i got Francesco all for myself. Hopefully it wont't rain ans i can take him out for a stroll (well me walking, him in the boogaboo). We already have a date for brunch on Sunday and we will just chill and watch a movie tomorrow night (me watching movie, him sleeping and potentially waking up every other hour for attention). Despite the new (beyond small) project i got yesterday and the 6pm Friday call I got from another client the weekend outlook is positive with limited downside, which will feel good given i get the little one for myself! Weekend, here I come!

Yes I am back to M&A and yes, I am back to getting requests on friday afternoon for meetings on Monday. It is a client driven business, that is what people give as excuse. Client or not truth is as the good old times I gave up on sleep to make sure I had a weekend and did my work all in one and as such it is Monday morning and I am beyond sleepy. I recognise the feeling of going to work on Monday and wishing the week goes fast to get another shot at sleeping. But all in all, except for the sleep part, the weekend was not too bad. I had dinner with some HBSers. saw Portugal beating Hungary for 3-0, and still cooked home made burguers for our sunday night get together!! I like this new M&A weekends. Don't get me wrong, yes absolutely I would preder not to do any work but in the absence of the possibility or alternative I get to be happy with the balance achieved :-)

I know, I have been back for a while, but these days I am really really back to work. But i am still hanging on. Just when you think you may be lacking the motivation, a weekend in Portugal and interesting work just make adrenaline kick in again. I had a long 16 hour day and for the second day in a row I left with a feeling of job done even if there are still to dos in my list. It is rare and I know still early to sing victory but small triumphs make me happy. Small and big obvious. Last week was full of good things and it translated into bringing my love for "A Little Gesture" further. 100 people joined to network and support a cause and I was fortunate to be in the center of it. Speaking in public was never my cup of tea and I must say I was not eager to go talk in the microphone. But for the first time, all went away. There was nothing around me but me the dream the children and the will of telling people about this love. Help them understand and believe it was impossible

This weekend was Oktober Fest weekend. Unbelievable that I that do not even like beer, get to go to a party where the only point is to drink and enjoy liters of beer... But the girls said it was our first reunion so I took it as a given that I had to go :-) and made an effort to replace 1 liter beers with half liter mugs of wine and all worked out. The funny part is we start in the morning... At 11.15 we were at the door of a tent which name i can hardly spell and even less pronounce no matter how much german i learn. And if you think that once you are in you take it easy you are mistaken, you stsrt immediatelly with tbe mass of beer and many people will already be having their schweinhaxe (pork's knee, perhaps not spellt the right way). You "only" have until 4.35 pm so you better start going fast. And then you just chat drink and have fun. And you let the surroundings deepen in you, as people from all ages dressed in bavarian customes will loudly sing "ai prosti&quo

Friday night and i am definitely out of the office. I was told i was meant to have a cool weekend and i realize at 7 pm that i have no plans. In a way i dont feel like any plans but on another i know i will regret not making the most of my free time. So i decide to follow instructions and get myself some plans. It is hard between old friends that i am not used to see on friday night and the harvard people that are still adjusting back. And the portuguese never let me down and i guess we like to all be lazy together!! It will definitely a cool night!!

After an initial schock moment of not being able to cope with all i wanted to do i finally seem to have progressed out of it. Working my org skills to the max I managed to get a lot out of my plate and all seems to be running smoothly. Even though B is out of town this week, leaving behind quite of an empty space, in fact i know there is a lot i can do with my time. I think the fact that i have a new c. 1 kg netbook definitely helps, and i am still to discover all its features. 3 months without a computer I guess had not happened since the late 90s for me and has revealed itself a transformational experience. I transformed into moody laptop deprived Sara and tried to use someone else's laptop whenever intense iphone use was not enough! I am sure it was quite entertaining to watch my despair from the outside and, the more i felt deprived of it the more uncertain I was about which new laptop i should take. That is why it took 3 months! Life is back to normal now and i think back to

Sometimes I feel like I am losing it. I just can't do all the things around me that need to get done, the move and stuff for the new house, the coming back to London, the reunions with old friends, the training, the studying and most of all the NGO things accumulate and I just seem not to be able to cope. I sleep worse every day, I am more tired when I woke up, tonight I even dreamt of FSA regulation. And my to do list keeps growing and I am the bottleneck in so many things. In fact, I am almost not being able to run a to do list anymore. Some days it is hard to see the light in the end of the tunnel, or shall I say the crosses all over the to do list. I don't know where to start, I have troubles prioritizing and I don't see how it can get better. We are too few for what we are doing and I am afraid sometimes it can all fall apart. I just had to let it out, I can't always keep the spirits up...

This year, thanks to a group of friends, my birthday wish has once again come true. For my 28th birthday, I asked you to help me feed and bring to school 70 children between the ages of 3 and 6. With friends' help, I raised 1790 Euros, which net of paypal fees, allows me to give one meal a day and schooling to 30 children for an entire year! I can't tell you how lucky I feel to have friends like you. I may not have made it to 70, but I am way better than before. And I have not given up just yet. Even though the kids have their lessons under a tree, they are privileged to get a meal before going home, perhaps the only meal in their day. A Little Gesture (NGO) will not only seek to raise the remaining funds, but also complement the aid with school supplies and a construction project to give a roof to this school. With little gestures, our dreams do come true. I want to thank those who helped for your little gestures, for making my birthday wish happen, for being my friends! -----

Dear Friends I am now in sunny Lisbon, after a race through London flat hunting and a month living my "other" love in Mozambique. I am happy to be finally back in Europe and looking forward to a new life in London in 2 weeks. Today is my 28th birthday and as tradition dictates i get to make a birthday wish. I was moved by my friends generosity last year as I raised over 3000 Euros for the Orphanage Technical School. After spending a month seeing close what money can do in Mozambique my birthday wish is clear. A 65 year old teacher fed 70 children for 3 months with 1000 Euros. I want to pay her whole year. I want to build her a school. I want to give those kids a chance Today I ask all my friends to make my birthday wish come true. You must admit, it could be harder :-) It is not a Gucci Bag, a Prada pair of shoes or an expensive dinner. I ask for your donation, whatever you can give, a little gesture, that we will make a great help! Donate Here https://www.paypal.com/pt/cgi-b

Sometimes it's hard not to lose hope. Last week I had to tell a 10 year old I would not give him his monthly food supply until he would go back to school and would show up every morning. He is an orphan, his mum abandoned him, his stepmother tried to still from him. Sister Aparecida is now the one who feeds him, dresses him and sends him to school. But temptation is too big and the week he gets the food he does not go to school and stays home eating. Since it was exams week, we had to delay the food... Yesterday we went to look for the house of a 2nd grade kid who stopped showing up at school. Yesterday he came and said his dad did not let him come to school because he had to make some money everyday to take home. When we went to his house we knew why he came yesterday: his dad was away. Sister Isabel has promised to come back Sunday but today the kid was in the streets again. The dad was back. Today, as I left the pre-school in the morning, a policemen asked me to give a ride t

I am staying by the beach. It is kind of a dream house, a varanda to the sea, a little kitchen and nice fresh wood blinds. It makes it look amazing. Well, it is amazing, but it is not summer here. The last couple of nights me and Isabel do not let go of our little blankets when we are in the leaving room given the air current is so strong. The fact that it does not have windows makes it very fresh in the summer but kind of windy and cold in the winter, i.e. now. Not that it is Boston winter. It is kind of 20 degrees, so it is not bad, but the fact that wind comes in through every window makes it very funny. It always makes us laugh, especially when we try to sleep and we think the roof may fly away at any point in time! Yesterday and today I thought a course about teaching 3-5 years old. No you are not mistak, I never thought children this age. But the mere fact that I had good teachers throughout my life topped with a teaching book from a former volunteer are enough ingredients to be

I fear I won't make it, I fear no one will understand, I fear to be different, I fear not to fit in. Being here brings us together and brings us apart. In a way I fear no one will ever understand what I go through, in another I fear I will never be able to explain. I trust the little gesture I do will make me whole and at the same time each departure makes me incomplete. I try to spend the most and the least amount of time here and with each person and I always feel it is not enough. I do the same when I go back home and I always feel I don't meet people's expectations. It could be that I do, it could be that they just expect too much or it could be that I just don't do enough. The hours and days are barely enough to accomplish all I feel I could. But they still pass by and they never wait. I try to accept that I will never have it all and choose the little things that make me happy. But it is more talk than anything else as the things that make us happy are never that

So I went to Maputo last night, trying to buy some furniture for the Orphanage. Result was close to zero as in the end, none of the 5 shops existing had the metal shelves we were looking for. I guess they don't do them here. We ended up in game, the one we know already, looking at expensive shelves wishing we would buy those pretty little lockers for the kids. In the end, we decided to buy a big closet for the toys and just DIY with the shelves: bricks and wood should do the trick, and maybe some paint to cheer up the room. Tomorrow I go back to Xai-Xai and I kind of look forward to it. Off course I look forward to go back to the house by the beach, but more than that, I look forward for the Orphanage change to kick off. I need something to change, I need to feel like we are reaching this children the way we are reaching the 50 families I visited last week. I feel like the Harvard in me is demanding more results and is frustrated with what I have not achieved yet. I trust the new c

So I came to spend a month in Mozambique. It seems life wants me to live the real thing. My computer broke after the first 5 minutes on, perhaps an energy peak, perhaps something else, perhaps my computer is just tired of being on all the time. So I am out of working every night, every time, checking email, doing stuff stuff and stuff. I am disconnected, living Mozambique to the most. I am staying in an amazing house by the beach in Xai-Xai, try to go to the beach at least an hour a day at 8am and then go and visit communities and schools. It is hard but it is rewarding, it is heart breaking and it gives me hope. My first 2 weeks are over and my next 2 weeks are starting. I don't know if I will have internet again but I promise a lot of emails, pictures and updates when I return. For now... I go back to them, as they need me most.

Yes, I am going somewhere again. Pretty unbelievable I know. This time I am heading to Mozambique for a month. Hoping to work, hoping to rest, hoping to think a lot of things through. Hoping to finally find the time for myself, hoping to finally hit the brakes. Sometimes I wonder whether I will ever stop being more familiar with the entertainment on board by BA than the hostess, whether I will stop accumulating airmiles and benefiting from airport lounges... Not that I mind them, it just tells you a lot about you. Sometimes I wonder if we will be able to stop. I wish B. was coming with me, but he is not. So I guess I will have to do this on my own. Here I go again...

Post #100 had to be special. So I saved it for today. I today graduated from Harvard Business School. Not being one of those people that always dreamt or even ever imagined this it was a touching day. In fact, I dont think I landed yet, mainly to the fact that in little more than 72 hours I will be leaving the United States, Harvard, Boston, my mini United Nations group of friends. My house is already barely furnished to remind me of reality, bags are everywere and the movers left a long time ago. There is no turning back, this is it. Today I was conceeded the masters of business administration and the President of Harvard claimed we were now equipped to lead people and organizations. Guests could not hear it but amongst us a laughter came up on this sentence. Not that we think it is funny, I think it is mostly a nervous laughter: "is this it, are you sure I am not the admissions mistake?". Yes, this is it. I graduated from Harvard, I wore the little hat, I got my diploma and

I am now back to Boston after more than 20 days going around South America. The return was hectic between packing, unpacking, laundry, selling furniture, meeting people, getting logistics ready and finally getting my cute cap and gown. It sounds like this is it. My Mum arrived today and I already dragged her to her first HBS event, a BBQ but the weather was nice and she seemed to have enjoyed it despite the jetlag. Tomorrow should be quiet despite the movers "visit" in the morning but then it picks up during the week, with the calendar up to HBS crazy standards. But it is a special week. I am a pile of emotions between celebrating each piece of furniture that I sell and staring at the empty space that it leaves behind. I cry and I laugh, I am sad and I am happy. It will always be hard to leave, no matter how much I want to go. A piece of my life will always remain in Harvard campus and no 5, 10 or 50 year reunion will make it go back. It is hard to speak so I leave it to

Yesterday we took the morning to go to the floating islands. The name on its own is weird but it is exactly what they are. They are made out of reef and they float! Over 2000 people live there since at least 1200 B.C.. It all started when someone got tired of leaving the fights going on in the shore at the time of th Incas and just "moved out" of the city and into the lake. Now thtey still live there, but it is a lot of work. They build new houses every 8-12 months (or at any after storm), they cover the floor of the island with reef every 2-3 weeks. The good thing is they live out of tourism since they are so special. When you sit to listen to the explanation you can see and feel the island floating with the waves of the touristic boats that pass by. And then you go into their houses and dress their clothes (you are not exactly given an option) but is quite fun. They have hats for the single and hats for the married to make sure you know from the distance! But they are very

We now reached the third and last country in our journey. We crossed the Bolivian border this afternoon amidst complications and surprises to find out that Mexicans need a visa for Peru. After all, we had not had visa problems in at least a week so something needed to add some spice to the trip. We are now in Puno, a little town by the Lake Titicaca and hope that Tevia can get it all sorted in La Paz on Monday. The visa should theoretically take 15 minutes (if that is what it takes to Saudi Teeba) so she should still make it to Cuzco and go to Machu Pichu with us. It is funny that not a day goes by without something. Teebs is lying next to me still in stomach pain and spent the day sick, perhaps food poisoning or whatever else poisoning. She finally had the rice we brought her and seems to be doing better given she is asking me where I learned to type this fast. :-) Today is a short one, as I am trying to catch up with emails. But I already uploaded the pictures for Bolivia !

Iguazu seems to have been a long time ago. After a heavy party night in Buenos Aires we took of to Bolivia and life has changed substantially. We left Pato behind and got two new travel companions, Kunal and Thomas. And we went to the desert... not figuratively speaking, really... After a 12 hour transfer from La Paz to Uyuni, we took off the next day to the Salar de Uyuni and were impressed how a vast amount of salt can look like snow and be so cool. We took all these artistic pictures and stopped for the night a Hostel that is made of salt walls. Again we met Anouroop and Boney in the middle of nowhere with no previous warning and they told us this hostel was luxurious compared to the following night and started getting scared... We sorted it out with red wine and live music. Yes, a random Canadian guy played the guitar and guess who (me) played the drums... It was fun but I had bruises in my fingers the next day. But at least that helped us warm up for the night. The next day we wen

Today we took (another) early start and came to Iguazu. The day started in the best way when Teeba was in the Aeroparque waiting for us. After all the mess of being rejcted an Argentinian visa, not being able to change a flight after travelling the first leg and not being able to buy a one way since it arrived to Bolivia too late, we had lost hope. Or else, we had accepted that higher forces were keeping her away and she should just stay in Ecuador with her friend Pamela. But I guess she fought it one more time after knowing that the Visa had been aproved in Argentina and it was the stupid New York Monica that did not gie it to her. And with only Pato (and Pamela off course) in the game, she showed up. I was happy but not too surprised, since Pato was way to stressed yesterday and I mentioned she was coming by surprise to face the denial of the remaining girls. Moreover, I learned how to hope the best from Teeba (other than in April Fools) so this was more of her. We passed out on the

Yesterday the internet in Argentina did not cooperate so no update. The day in Mendoza was great, with the nice and small family Vineyard of Altos de Hormigas being one of my favourites. They were very nice and the Malbec reserva the one that finally convinced me to like Malbec! We still had one more vineyard to go, Familia Zucatti, where we had a great lunch but the tours was already too much, we prefered to walk around on our own. But again, very different and very worth it! Today, we added Tevia to the group (after she came in my room at 5am) and repeated the Cemeterio since Tev and Shilps had not seen it, and then Malba. Surprise, surprise. Buenos Aires is not a small city but we still managed to run into Nitin and Ted in the Museum! We had a nice lunch with them and went for some more sightseeing in the afternoon. We went to Plaza de Mayo where the Casa Rosa is, walked down Calle Florida, the shopping street and up to Plaza San Martn for an excellent night view of the city. No

After an early start to get to the airport on time and being over-charged for not being Argentinian, we managed to get ourselves (and our bags) to Mendoza. We were greeted by Sheraton's nice service (and special corporate rate) and followed after a strong breakfast to te Vinyeards. We started with Catena Zapata, one of the biggest in the region. Inside the Mayan architecture building everything is modern and we had a great tour. The Chardonnay 2007 took us to the amazing view of the terrace and we said goodbye with a Malbec 2006. Mercedes, our guide, was really nice and clearly proud of the vineyards 4th generation. We then took a nap on the way to Salenteim, a very different style, modern architecture, with even a museum. As we saw the amazing table they gave us by the sun, the decision was unanimous: let's skip the tour and just sit and have a lunch and wine. The Sauvignon Blanc took us through lunch, and actually went well with my Rib Eye but the Tempranillo we started with

After 48 hours flying, me and Chrstine arrived to Buenos Aires, sleeping on 4 hours slots. After 6 hours straight in a bed (finally) we walked around Recoleto, saw the Cemitery and Evita Peron's grave, had a coffee in La Biela, had a massage and even managed to run into Anuroup and Boney in the middle of the Street. Short update today, we need to go out for dinner!

I am now at JFK and I am really not sure what time it is. The clock says 6.56 but it could be 11am for me. It it is hard to tell since I have been sleeping on 2-3 hour slots for the last 24 hours and I will continue alike for the nest 24 or more. I do not get to Buenos Aires until 5am on Friday so a long way to go awaits us. Christine is passed out in the bench and I am kind of jealous. But instead I am taking care of UK taxes, accounting and related emails. At least I should sleep fine on the plane. The lady got us both windows after she realized we valued sleeping more than sitting next to each other! It is clear where I was last week... Portugal, that is why I did not blog! Maybe some other times with B.'s pictures from kitesurf!

It was not easy but I made it. Last night, the Section had planned to go and watch the Red Sox together. I had it booked for months. But the weather was not friendly. It actually poured and after an hour in Fenway hanging out and eating greasy food and not finding any other Section A people, we went back to Christine's and had tea by the fireplace... They said the game was cancelled so I thought my Fenway experience was over. But it seems the game was postponed only a couple of hours so I decided to take an hour out of the schedule and use the ticket (since I was not getting a refund anyway) to go. I convinced Shilpa and Teeba to come along and we ended up being a good group. We only stayed for an hour but it was enough to see home runs and understand what ball, strike and out mean! Oh and to take some pictures to the famouos Ortiz! Even I knew him! We left at the right time, they were winning and it was starting to rain... Go Red Sox!

I don't want to say one last brunch because I am hoping not to starve in the days to come and I don't want to say the last one with Maryam and Niki because even though they are not yet all set in going to London I still like to believe they will. Well, Maryam seems closer even without a job but Niki is in danger of going back to Switzerland... of all places! I will definitely miss her around if that is the case. True that she was in the same building before and we never spoke, but now that we know of each other, I could not imagine London without her chaotic energy! We had a good time, some great filet mignon benedict, some gossip and a lot of life changing conversations even though some people would just call it girl's chat. I am proud to have written 1800 words out of 3000 in just one day for my BBOP paper. It seems that I will be able to write about Mcel (to be read EMEECELEE) after all and it will be a pleasure to bring a Mozambican company to Harvard. Let's just ho

There are 10 days left till classes are over and I take a last flight to Lisbon from Boston so posts should start being one last time a lot. Yesterday, me Pato and Tevia took one last trip to the outlet. But we super-behaved. We only bought what we wanted and expected to buy. Our first shop was even Brooks Brothers Women where I spent most my budget trying to follow the recommendation in the book that I am reading that you should create your own style but also dress as you want to be paid next year. I decided to make an investment and analyse the NPV in a year. I also ended up copying B. in the Samsonite set he bought last year (though I got a extra discount, haha) and decided to buy myself incentives to keep on going to the gym, now that my trainer says that he can really tell the difference after only 4 sessions. Overall we did some really good shopping and stayed there for 7 hours! Off course Tevia passed out the first quiet minutes in the car and I failed to find a McDonalds until

Yes, I crossed the ocean there and back one more time. And one of the last times, at least having a home in the "wrong" side of the ocean. I did a lot the last couple of days, especially given the jet lag that hit me for the entire duration of my stay... Took care of all the godmother specific shopping, saw some friends, spent time with the family and off course, baptized Francesco! Francesco was super well behaved and barely cried when the actual water came over him unannounced. He did not look like a girl in the dress and me and my sister were proud of him to death. Frei Bento was nice enough to try some words in italian and frequently asked my Sister to translate it for the family. With Christ's resurrection we celebrated Francesco's "entry" into church. He was always in God's heart, but we thought it was important to acknowledge that blessing. Auguri Francesco!

I am, promise! Packed two bags, one to stay, one to come back. Have my readings, my writings, my cases, my slides, my files, my ipod, my german texts, my glasses my pens and pencils, my flying socks, my passport, my I-20, my Euros, my chargers, my phones, my jacket, my handback, my make up and my lenses. Done!

L ast night was the second and official celebration for Christine's bday. We seem to have always at least 2 celebrations and I even think there were 3 but I missed the Wednesday one. Since Tevia and Teeba celebrated their birthdays for a week it is hard to keep up. Christine is my Austrian friend with the sweetest Austrian accent from the sweetest Austrian place. Yes, I had actually been there before, Zell am See! I was there during the time I lived in Wien for a skiing weekend organized by the super hectic students' association. She is right from where the Sound of Music was taped but yet she had never seen it until she came to HBS and we offered her the film. Her 20-year-old brother, who is visiting for the weekend, says that they live the Sound of Music in their childhood so they don't need to see it! But I think him and Jaime were impressed with my singing and coreographies... Anyway, the party was at Christine's house and what started quiet ended up being a really

I generally have nothing against April Fools, someone plays a prank on me, I play stupid, smile and wave and take the joke as it is, a joke. And laugh at myself for having believed in it in the first place. But this year, April Fools was too much. The joke was uncovered a couple of hours ago and I am still outraged about it. It played with my trust and my friendship and not even when an email saying it was a joke arrived did I understand that it referred to the actual prank. I was too worried and too much into my deep thoughts about the situation. I worried about all I could have done about it, I worried about everything. And it was a joke. I have been cooling down for a couple of hours, and I will sleep on it. But it will be hard to change my mind. It was a bad joke. This year, April Fools was not funny. E ja que me esqueci de ligar, vai ter de ficar para amanha mas por agora Parabens Rosinha!

I am back to Boston. As the title says, it is grey and rainy. Annoyingly grey and annoyingly rainy. I am now in a new concept of student life, with only 2 classes per day and only 2, max 3 days of class per week. I guess this is what they mean when they say the second year is laid back, sadly enough that only started today and I have less than a month to go until classes finish. I have what, 8 days of class left in total? It is Spring everywhere else but here. Even in London it was Spring, but unfortunately before I got there, not while I was there. But it was good to go back, it was kind of one last time before moving back there for good. I even took an extra piece of luggage with winter jackets that I am assuming (probably wrongly) that won't be needed in Boston anymore! Grrrr it is so grey!

Everyone is going everywhere. Costa Rica, Colombia, Argentina, Dominican Republic, God knows where. I look outside the sunny window and people line up for taxis to Logan. My flight is later and simpler. I am off to London for the week. Hopefully B. will pick me up from the tube station as I doubled my bags filling them with winter jackets that I hope I won't be needing anymore in Boston. And then there is a far far away chance that Francesco might recognise me. Or maybe not. But I will be so annoying to him the next 5 days that he will HAVE to recognise me before he is off to is outage in Milan! Or at least I hope so! I am sorry in a way that I am not joining the girls in Colombia but at the same time I start wanting to go home more and more. It is sad that after all B. won't be home but I guess that means I will spend some time with myself, which sometimes is a really good idea. I am off now, taking off soon!

Today my post is for you, because you are so special, because I miss you so much, because life without taking off at 1 am to drive off town to meet you for one drink, beating rush hour to make it to the sunset and a carioca de limão, sleeping two hours after a night of chating away our hopes and dreams. Life without you is not the same and I wish I was there. Happy Birthday

...my sister Tania. It is her birthday today. She may not like it if I call her now (3.30am Lisbon time) so I will leave it here and hope that Diogo and Madalena fill her morning with happy birthday kisses! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Oh no, it has been more than 2 weeks! T-W-O weeks! Where is my new year resolution of writing at least once a week? And to replying to emails within aweek of arrival rather than a month? So maybe I am not keeping up with all my new year resolutions but at least I keep up with some. I don't do job search anymore (not that there is much to look for anyway), I do a lot of NGO CEO work rather than all-in-one person work, I got myself a PT and went to the gym more than once (and more than zero) this week (and the week is not over yet), I re-started my german lessons and I am even playing more the piano. So I do have good reasons for blogging less! But I will still try to be better! The thing that really cheered me up and was not on my new year resolutions was the TAN I got in Turks and Caicos. It could have been the ugliest island (which it was not) but the tan in my face would make up for any cheating taxi drivers charging "government regulated" rates Oh, and off course, th

I don't think I mentioned before how much I use to suffer from migraine. I did, and I like to brag that I don't suffer from it anymore. But some days, it is really not true! Today is one of those. Last night, I convinced my self it was but need to rest. This morning, I could feel it exploding even before I woke up... Class did not make it better and making end of year accounting for the NGO neither. I hate having migraine, I get slow and stupid if I take medicine, I get nervous and impossible to put up with if I don't. I guess tonight it will have to go away. The girls are in the concert for Teeba's birthday and I am here...

It was a long weekend, short if you think about having to come back, long from the perspective that it started Friday at 5am and just finished. After some troubling events to make sure we packed and made it to the airport on time (including Maria), the hope of getting somewhere warm and sunny out of the Boston snow storm made us dream through the 2 flights. And there we were, Turks and Caicos! From moment 1 (which means zero is excluded) I found the service to be better than in the Caribbean, though still far from I would expect from a country that is meant to live out of tourists. Moment zero was the one we found out the cabs from the airport were "government regulated" and per person but we eventually overcame hat situation (by paying). Restaurants were generally the ones with the best service, the rest had indeed a lot of room for improvement. But what do you ask when the sea varies between shades of coral blue and green, the temperature is a minimum of 25C and your only d