Back to Lisbon

Well, I'm back in Lisbon, to a new job and to the adventure of everyday life (as opposed to the comfort of being taken care of at my parents' house on an idyllic island). 

I miss my mom's crunchy salads everyday for lunch and the latte my dad makes for me everyday after lunch. It's a stark contrast to the leftovers I eat for several days while braving life here on my own. Everyone says their mom's cooking is the best, but I do appreciate my mom's healthy food (I guess I owe my health-freakness to her) which you just feel good about eating. She always has salads for lunch and soups for dinner. 

Every now and then, when I get nostalgic, I think about those salads for lunch and that coffee sprinkled with cinnamon. 

Swimming

I ♥ swimming in the ocean.

Especially in the Azores, where the water is a lot warmer and more transparent than in Lisbon. But I don't love it nearly as much as my mom (who recently learned how to swim) or even as my boyfriend Daniel (who has been swimming as a sport since he was little and loves all things ocean). I love it, but I get cold easily and wimp out. Then I sit on my towel taking pictures of my mom. I love my mom's enthusiasm though, how she stays in the longest and splashes around with pure glee on her face. It's incredible how someone how is sixty-two can find such childlike joy in a simple thing.

Vacation is for...

... projects from pinterest.

I found the cutest US map puzzle on pinterest here and it was easy to make. I printed out the printable map, glued it onto boxes with paper glue and cut out the states. It's a fun way to learn the states, which I never did (despite having taken the states test at least three times... my memory is pretty bad). Now I'd just like to have a printable booklet with information about each state!

Finding moments of prayer

I have a church literally two minutes walking distance from my parents' house here in the Azores, which makes it very easy to make a daily "retreat" while on vacation. Which is one of the main goals of vacation after all...

 

"Dear friends, St. Dominic reminds us that at the origin of witnessing to the faith, which every Christian should give in the family, at work, in society, and even in moments of relaxation, is prayer, a personal contact with God; only this real relationship with God gives us the strength to live every event, especially the most suffered moments, intensely. This saint reminds us of the importance of external attitudes in our prayers. That to kneel, to stand before the Lord, to fix our gaze on the Crucifix, to pause and gather ourselves in silence, is not a secondary act, but helps to us to place ourselves, our whole person, in relation to God.

Once again, I would like draw attention to the need to find moments to pray quietly everyday for our spiritual life, we particularly have to take this time for ourselves during our vacation, to have time for this attempt to talk with God. This is also a way to help those who are near to us to enter into the luminous rays of the presence of God, who brings the peace and love that we all need." - Pope B16

(http://www.catholic.org/hf/faith/story.php?id=47219)

Picnics are for...

...marshmallows and napping.

 

Other than spending time with family and in nature, relaxing and socializing, of course. I have a cousin who organizes a family picnic every time she comes to visit the Azores. I think it's a great tradition. So does her chihuahua (pictured below).