Reclamation

Over the weekend I had thought about writing a whole post about the events of Saturday. They can be summed up in a paragraph though. I went to the library and put my car in the shop. The car needs to go back this Saturday so that they can finish the work since they had to order a part. Grrrr. Then I will be already to start taking road trips. Saturday was also my aunt's birthday. After the errands, I went to a brunch that one of her friends was having to celebrate her life. Then I went out to dinner with family to do the same. My stepmother is still the same. Her birthday is later this week.

Now onto the real subject here. A few weeks ago I was talking about reclaiming my life -- and my sanity along the way. Tonight I took yet another step in that direction. I am once more enrolled in a Portuguese class. The surprising thing is that the instructor remembered me from before. It's been three years since I've taken a Portuguese class. It's slowly starting to come back.

Of course, I still could not escape death. We had to pair up with a classmate to do introductions. The woman with whom I was paired said that she was taking the class because her sister-in-law who passed away in June was Brazilian. And now this woman is raising her twin three-year-old nieces. She is taking Portuguese because she doesn't want them to lose their mother's language. I don't know about you but I wanted to cry. But then we got to hear from the one guy in the class who said that he wanted to learn Portuguese so that he could meet more women the next time he goes to Brazil. And so we got to laugh. All in all, it seems like a fun group of folks. When I had to describe myself later in the class, I said that I was faladora. That would be talkative. Because I figured that I should be honest.

Tomorrow night and Thursday night I am going to try to enroll in a couple of dance classes. I would have tried for one on Wednesday as well but I tutor on Wednesday nights.

I'm nowhere near done in reclaiming my life though. There is still at least a couple more pieces to the puzzle.

Expanding horizons

I thought I'd jot down a few thoughts before heading off to work. Yes, you read it correctly. It's Sunday and I have to go to work. Did I mention that I have to go to work tomorrow too?

Just like Gloria, I have a list of things that I'd like things I'd like to do some day. Well, I haven't really put them in a list. I just let them float around in my head.

The item at the top of my list was to find an apartment that I like in Berkeley. Done that. Now it's time to try to take care of some of the other things. I've always been fascinated by language and have wanted to learn more.

I was checking on my mom's house when I came across the catalog for Adult Education. It dawned on me that I should check Berkeley Unified to see if they offered something similar. They do. I thought to myself, "Now I can sign up for a Portuguese class." Then they burst my bubble. Apparently they offered Portuguese in the Spring but will not be offering it in the Summer. I really do not feel like taking another class in Spanish or Italian; I could use the refresher though. I started looking through the list to see if there was something else. Unfortunately ballroom dance does not fit into my work schedule. Same goes for ice skating and the intermediate hand knitting classes. So what have I decided? I'm thinking Arabic. It fits into my schedule and when my relatives come to visit this summer, I'll actually have someone to practice with. (Don't ask. That's another story.)

I guess if I actually go through with it, then in the fall I'll have to start planning that trip to New Zealand -- something else I've wanted to do for years. If not, I guess I'll just make do with the books I purchased years ago when I briefly thought of trying to learn Russian. Hey! And I have someone with whom I could practice at work. So what if he has this creepy sex maniac air about him? Scratch that thought. Guess it's Arabic or wait until Fall when they hopefully offer Portuguese again.