You did it! Another Friday down, and our last Friday of October. It’s already November. 2021 is flying.
What’s on my mind? Coming “home”
For once, I’m having difficulty thinking of anything stressing me out. While 2022 continues to be a mystery, I think I’m at peace for what I can handle at the moment.
As much as I am enjoying the beach and as much as I enjoyed Mexico, I am excited to, and looking forward to heading “home” soon. I’ll be happy to get a touch of cooler/cold weather (it’s 90˚F as I write this) and get some consistent water pressure in the shower.
I’m obviously very excited to see my family and friends as well as the bounty of food waiting for me. Yunji will be ecstatic to have exponentially more options for things to wear, and I think I’ll be excited to wear socks and pants for the first time in a month.
We’ve been gone just about five months, and I think in a perfect world I’d come “home” every three months. Whether this is possible remains to be seen, but I’m happy to learn I can fairly comfortably do a five month stint away. We were about as close to home as we could be and we stayed in one country, so we will see how we fare next year.
What’s on my tastebuds?
While I just had shrimp tacos (the ones I mentioned in last Friday’s freestyle) for lunch today, I wanted to recall some of the top tasties from last week.
Last Friday, we basically had dessert for breakfast. The “coffee” was definitely played up and a diabetic’s nightmare. The “food” options were croffles (croissant x waffles): some savory and some sweet. My “coffee” was a play on a dirty chai latte (yum) with mini croffles inside–decadent and so yummy (but not something to eat all of the time).
We also returned to two previous hits: Las Hijas de la Tostada and El Fogon. Las Hijas was somewhere we had previously eaten (and enjoyed) in Queretaro (video available on YouTube soon!). They are famous for their seafood tostadas, and they did not disappoint here. Yunji and I both ordered the same thing (rare for us): breaded, fried shrimp tostadas and a mixed (fish, octopus) raw tostada. All the food was great, but Yunji’s–and Ari’s–wine were basically undrinkable.
El Fogon was somewhere we ate earlier this trip known for their al pastor. Unfortunately on our second visit neither their al pastor nor their sirloin (steak) was ready–those spits need time against the fire! The ladies opted for arrachera (skirt steak) tortas while I went with chorizo. Everything was delicious.
Lastly, we finally had Chicago deep dish pizza at Don Chendo. The flavors and toppings were on point, but the size and crust left a little to be desired. Still, at ~$10, you can hardly complain especially since we’re a long way from Chicago.
What I’m watching: a lot
Where to begin? As my reading waned last week, my “watching” consumption skyrocketed (our 70” TV probably only exacerbated things).
Last night, we finally watched Coco. Is it Pixar’s best? Definitely maybe. And I’d argue it’s closer to a yes than a no. I tried so damn hard not to cry (and was successful but just barely).
Prior to that we watched a double feature of Hocus Pocus and Halloweentown–yes, Yunji loves Disney+. Both movies were better than I remembered, but Hocus Pocus is undoubtedly better.
During all the Halloween marathoning, we also made time to finish season 3 of You. Some people don’t like You because it goes well…beyond. I, for one, enjoy that the show really doesn’t give a f*ck and can do whatever the writers want. It’s refreshing for most (if not all) conventional rules to comply. You can expect the unexpected and still be surprised at just how far the characters go.
I’m sure there’s more we’ve watched, but that’s all I can think of off the top of my head. I finally logged into HBO Max here, and was disappointed to find Dune is unavailable in Mexico/Latin America at this time. I’ll have to check back in with my Netflix to see what else is on my watch list.
What I’m reading: The Fifth Season
This is a re-read (and first time listen), so I can highly recommend it right off the bat. It’s really hard to describe The Fifth Season without giving anything away, but it’s a fantasy book that takes place somewhere where every few centuries there is a catastrophic “fifth season” of climate change.
N. K. Jemisin is a master worldbuilder and gives voice to many underrepresented people. As with The City We Became, I am loving the audiobook version of this text.
After this, I’m planning to listen to Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince and Deathly Hallows. Then I’ll get back to reading and probably kick off with Project Hail Mary.
What’s up this weekend?
This is my partner’s last weekend on PTO, so we will probably be taking it easy. We are now less than two weeks away from heading home, so that will mean trying to eat (and revisit) as many restaurants as we can before we leave.
I also envision some beach–and/or pool–time as well as watching even more Halloween movies. Additionally, I think I will go try to find an above average bottle of tequila later today to consume over the weekend. Pretty boring (albeit enjoyable) stuff as we wind down and slowly prepare to head “home”.
Thank you for visiting and reading and see you back here on Wednesday with another sabbatical post. Please head to youtube.com/intristang if you want new content in the meantime!