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Infinite Country by Patricia Engel | Thoughts

   Published : 2021   ||    Format : print   ||    Location : Colombia ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆   What was it about the country that kept everyone hostage to its fantasy? The previous month, on its own soil, an American man went to his job at a plant and gunned down fourteen coworkers, and last spring alone there were four different school shootings. A nation at war with itself, yet people still spoke of it as some kind of paradise.. Thoughts : Infinite Country follows two characters - young Talia, who at the beginning of this book, escapes a girl’s reform school in North Colombia so that she can make her previously booked flight to the US. Before she can do that, she needs to travel many miles to reach her father and get her ticket to the rest of her family. As we follow Talia’s treacherous journey south, we learn about how she ended up in the reform school in the first place and why half her family resides in the US. Infinite Country tells the story of her family through the other protagonist, El

How is it September already? | Weekly Snapshot

And hello, I'm back (we'll see)!


Good Riddance, August

Am I glad I decided to take the month off from blogging! It turned out to be a month I took off from a lot of things. Much of August was consumed by homeschool / virtual school, dealing with the terrible twos, office remodel, and remote work. Life pretty much happened on the side. I think we ate all meals all days (though I can't promise it was always healthy), we've tried to work like responsible professionals (though work happened more often when kids were sleeping or busy with something else). 

At the beginning of the month, my father-in-law left to India. His stay here had been extended by three months, so we are glad he was able to finally get a flight out. He reached home safe and completed his 14-day quarantine without issues. On the other hand, him leaving meant the husband and I were going to have to figure out how to handle childcare, school, and work. We are very thankful we were able to delay this moment but it doesn't make it easy, of course. A month later, it is still a challenge that we are figuring out each day. Some days are easier of course, on other days, my husband and I find ourselves negotiating with each other and our calendars to see who can make which work call without having to deal with screaming kids in the background. Without guilt, we have used TV a few times to help us out. Thankfully our colleagues are understanding, even if we aren't always.

I don't expect September to be any different. We chose to keep kids home because we believed we could handle it and also because there were still so many unknowns out there. I keep trying to remind myself that, because otherwise, we're thiscloseto throwing in the towel. I feel encouraged by the low/no cases of Covid-19 in daycares and schools here so I may start talking myself into letting them go. Still, a big part of me is resisting that, so we'll see. Tell me your back-to-school / children still at home stories, so I can feel better!

First Day of Kindergarten

My daughter is 5 and in Kindergarten this year! That feels very strange to write, because 1. we had never stopped "learning" since schools shutdown in March and we were looking for ways to keep the education going (aka keep the kids engaged), and 2. she is doing online learning through her school. Her teachers are doing a fabulous job sharing lessons and making Fall definitely feel much different from Summer or Spring. Still, I'm doing a bulk of the work as well. I'm glad I'm not figuring out curriculums or scope and sequence but it's still a challenge making learning feel fun and ensuring frustrations are kept away. I don't know about you, but my early education years didn't have much fun. You had to go to school, you had to learn things, love it or hate it, it was a part of your life. I'm glad that's not the attitude today as it really is so much fun learning through play - it also makes it easier for parents (at least for me) to partake in school lessons and not feel frustrated.

Reading

My reading had pretty much vanished over the last month. I picked up several books and put them down after a chapter, or a page, in some cases. Each book was either too wordy or too frivolous or too unrealistic or too realistic. These are all books I would enjoy in a different time, different world, not in one where a kid or work or a chore keeps interrupting me every two minutes or I have to plan my daughter's lessons or I have to take frequent breaks. 


Coincidentally, this weekend, when I was also beginning to work on this post, I found myself reading and loving two books - The Underground Girls of Kabul (which is also my book club's next read) and The Memory Police, which I'm finding it hard to put down. Hopefully, these will kick me back into the reading gear. 

Watching

As in the past, whenever life gets crazy, I find a show to keep me sane. This time, it's back to Star Trek. I started with Picard (yes, I'm late to that one) and loved it, so I'm watching The Next Generation right now. Only 10 episodes into Season 1 but it's enjoyable so far. I can see why it's so popular. It's very annoying though when someone in each episode mentions that there are women on the bridge. I'm trying to remind myself that this is 1987 but even then, it's supposed to be in the future! Was it that foreign an idea in 1987?

Since I missed much of August in bloglandia, what has been the highlight of your month?

Linking with The Sunday Salon at Readerbuzz and The Sunday Post at Caffeinated Reviewer.

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