A little ME break

Hello again faithful blog readers! (Are you there?)

Before getting into my guide to Menton, France, I'll give updates on ME :) and talk about travel again next time.

My life has just been more of the usual. I've had more translations coming in,some tech work and more marketing. I have been practicing my interpreting and have my first job as an interpreter beginning of October. WOOOOO!!!! That will be exciting. I know I can do it! My skills are there at least going from Spanish INTO English. I just work best under pressure and being on the spot that way, I'm sure I'll be fine. I also decided that I need to take the leap with going to Argentina. Family circumstances allowing, I'm going to go in the spring and hope to find a job there, since it will be a lot easier in person than expecting people to respond to emails from some random person they don't know in the US. I may do an online TEFL certification to be better prepared.

Another awesome thing is that I set myself a 30 day yoga challenge. My studio has one but I know I can't commit to that financially and time wise but I knew I could do it for myself. The deal was at least 20 minutes of yoga a day for 30 days straight, even if some days all I did was lay in savasana and breathe. I actually ended up doing about an hour or sometimes more every single day, it just felt so great! I think there were only 2 occasions on which I stuck with lighter 30 minute practices if I was really tired. It's been really fantastic for me both physically and mentally. I can see visible differences in my body and have noticed increases in strength. I mastered a few new arm balances and the other moves have become easier. I've also learned to value the meditative aspects of yoga too and that's done wonders for my stress levels as I navigate this transitory period in my life. Some days, as I said, I did 20 full minutes of breathing exercises. I used feel so weird doing breathing exercises and felt that meditating was just kind of kooky and didn't really work and just wasted time. Well, I still don't meditate in that stereotypical sense, but taking a few minutes to clear your mind can work wonders. I can't imagine starting my day now without those stretches to wake me up, or taking time to focus myself for the day. I definitely recommend that every do this! You don't have to be super flexible, or have a lot of time, or go all out yogi. It's really as simple as 10 minutes a day, and it's all about YOU! If anyone wants some online resources and videos I have tons so just send me a message and I'll give out links.
Now that my 30 days are over I'm still going to keep it up. I just might not be so strict about it, maybe some days I'll go bike riding and not feel up to it, or some days I'll be busy or traveling, but I know I need yoga regularly.

The baking and cooking has continued in my abode as well. I have to keep my home well stocked with baked goods at all times and have been particularly enjoying biscotti of all kinds, as well as some other pretty cupcakes and cakes. I'll do a post full of those pictures one day too and see if I can maybe promote a future catering business ;)
My friends and I have also held some dinners and potlucks, and Houston has been a fun place to hang around too. I'm serious! Houston can be really fun! We have great parks with a lot of free events such as concerts, dance performances, movies, and classes. Midtown and Montrose areas are full of cute coffee shops and bars and vintage stores. And where else can you continue lounging by the pool well into October?

That's all I've got for now so I'll leave you all with some pictures and bid you farewell for now!

My cat when she was tiny. So cute!








Playing with my camera.










The peppers that have been plentiful on my balcony all summer. I think their season is coming to an end and I'm going to miss them.

Any job openings for professional procrastinator?

Yes, this is what I am, and lately I've taken it to an extreme. While it's sometimes just me being lazy, as per why I haven't moved on to the next destination on this blog....
I kind of want to touch on the bigger picture today and put off the French Riviera a little longer because my brain has been set to repeat for the longest time and I can't stop it. I think about this in my sleep, I wake up thinking about it, and I spend my days searching for ways to change it.

I've basically put my life on hold since I graduated in December. Some reasons for this I'm aware of and others I haven't figured out, but I don't know what to do about any of them.
I think a lot of it is fear, a large part indecisiveness. I know that even though I don't have a clear idea of what will make me happy, for right now it's becoming critical that I simply DO anything (and on top of all the pressure I put on myself, my parents seem to get more and more impatient with me each day), but then I just can't follow through on anything. I feel restless and unsettled all the time due to this stagnation, and then really afraid of what will happen once I decide on or manage to plan a direction for myself. Where to go? What to do? What will I miss by choosing one thing over another? Can I have it all???

Then there's fear of not succeeding. I was already rejected from the two things I had become seriously invested in, not to mention countless job applications. But I can't fail if I haven't really tried, so instead I try everything halfway. I've investigated a lot of opportunities but I'm stuck about what I'd really like and how to do it.

So this post was really just to vent a little, I'm still stuck, but I do want to post the options I'm investigating thus far, and think that maybe by revealing something a little more personal about myself on here and making my goals more public I'll feel even MORE pressured to do something.

First, I need to go to Argentina at some point. I don't know how long I'll go for or what I'll do there, but that will happen and hopefully sometime this fall. I've looked at the English school there. I know they have courses for English professors, particularly a 3 part seminar in November that I could do. However, it would be nice to find a job with them. If not I can take the seminar, and find some other fun classes to take while I'm there and simply make it a shorter trip. Due to some personal circumstances, a shorter trip might be better anyways, even though experience wise, longer is better. And I do have family and friends to stay with and who can keep me occupied anyways, not to mention a free place to stay!

Today I emailed a Portuguese school in Maceio, Brazil. I don't think I could afford their courses, and would like to do something longer than 2 weeks of classes anyways, but I asked about job opportunities teaching English that I know they've offered in the past.

This week I will get some interpreting practice and record myself interpreting some cassette tapes of old interviews I have so that I can start getting higher paying jobs. And now that it's written down I HAVE to do this!

I need to do some more serious investigation into volunteering in Israel. I know the programs themselves are free, but obviously other costs are involved, and I need to start preparing myself financially and otherwise if I do choose to go live in Israel for 5-10 months (depending on the program).

I will go to a few networking events for the family business, and search for potential clients online, since I live on the computer anyways.

I will not neglect my friends just because I feel defeated and want to stay curled up on the couch forever (yes guys, this is the reason, I haven't stopped loving you!)

I will stay or go back to being more politically active because I know this really does make me happy. I will start this by going to the Mayoral Forum tonight to hear all the Houston candidates speak.

I'll finish organizing my apartment because I like being neat and clean :)

This emotional spillage was brought to you by a quote on another blog I happened upon this morning:

“I wonder if I’ve been changed in the night? Let me think. Was I the same when I got up this morning? I almost think I can remember feeling a little different. But if I’m not the same, the next question is ‘Who in the world am I?’ Ah, that’s the great puzzle!

-Alice, Alice in Wonderland

Now I'm off to start being productive!

My very first entry!!

Hello! I'm finally getting around to starting my blog. I've thought about it for a while and have just made a lot of excuses- I'm not sure if I can manage to keep up with one consistently, or if my life is interesting enough for people to read about, am I a good writer? ...etc etc. But either way, here I go! I'll start by introducing myself and writing a little about what you may read in the future.
So first, What will I talk about??? Well, my real passion is traveling so that will be my main focus. I've kept written travel journals before and had a lot of fun with those. but they were just for me. This way all of my friends and hopefully readers I pick up along the way will get to enjoy my trips too. This also solves the dilemma of "what if I don't blog regularly?". Now I'll only feel obligated to document my trips, though I'm sure I'll write about a million other things too. Back to how I feel about travel- regardless of what else is going on in my life, work, friends, family, anything, I NEED to travel. It's not just that I like to, of course I like to, I love seeing new places, and meeting people and experiencing how they live in various countries, but there's also this restlessness. I just can't stay at home for too long or I go crazy. Not that I don't love home. I actually love to be at home and also need that consistency and comfort in my life too. I'm all about contradictions, so this blog will be confusing and fun! So yes, traveling is my life and I always want it to be my life. I have no idea what that life will entail, which is another purpose to this blog, but no matter what I end up finding out about myself and what I like to do, I will travel through it all. Starting with my upcoming trip to Barcelona, some cities to be determined in between, and a couple of weeks in Menton, France. It will be glorious!!! I LEAVE IN 3 DAYS!!!!!!!
About me:
I graduated back in December with a degree in marketing, but in all honesty, I can't stand the idea of entering the corporate world. I'm not sure what I was thinking by going to business school, other than the fact that it seemed practical and applicable to most anything I'd like to do. Or so I thought. I haven't managed to think of something I could apply it to now and enjoy. The economy doesn't help either, as there are not many jobs available, should I choose to seek out one of those office jobs anyways. I want something that allows lots and lots of travel. Whether I'm traveling with my job, or simply have a job that's flexible enough to where I can travel on my own.
Up until now I've worked with my parent's interpreting company doing translations here and there, some market research, tech work, and a lot of PR stuff. I'd like to continue this kind of work since we travel all the time and it always brings new and exciting experiences. Unfortunately there just hasn't been enough volume of work for me the last few months and there won't be until I get myself together, work on my fluency in Spanish, and simultaneous interpreting, and get certified. Eventually I know I'll probably do this, but first I really want to try something new. Something in diplomacy would be fun, or world peacemaking, something really idealistic along those lines. I want to feel like I'm doing something important, and the last few months of being broke, and unemployed, and no longer a student, have left me feeling like a completely useless unaccomplished person.
I need to fix this. I know my self esteem has definitely suffered a blow, and that really just leads me to make things worse for myself. That's two more things I'm sure you'll end up seeing once in a while. Politics, and introspection/ learning what makes me happy.
I also like food, cooking, baking, and eating a lot of it. Mostly vegan things, all vegetarian, so you'll see quite a bit of that, especially since I like to show people that it's very much possible to have amazingly delicious things without hurting animals or sacrificing your health. Also because traveling usually means trying exciting new cuisines, and how could I go to France and not talk about their food??
And one final word, since I'm sometimes like an old woman and it's past my bedtime. I have the greatest family and friends ever and I will talk about them often. I have just a few close friends who I'm with all the time. One of which will come spend a week with me in Menton, and it will be the best week ever! And when it comes to family, I'm probably closer to them than what most would consider normal. They are my best friends in the world, and even when they drive me insane, I'd still rather spend my day arguing with them, than be anywhere else. I think my mom is superwoman, and we talk on the phone numerous times a day if I'm not with her, and it really bothers me when we haven't talked in over a few hours. And I'm not just saying this because they'll most likely read this. They're so great that I know they'd continue to help me with my rent whether I talked about how wonderful they are on this blog or not.
That's all for tonight, and I'm looking forward to begin the vacation blogging really really soon!

- Gaby