My day starts by slowly waking up to NPR. I then finally get out of bed after getting a good dose of news, drink water, and kiss my wife to wake her up. I wash up and then go make us banana-peanut butter-protein shakes that I can’t live without (1 banana, 1 spoon of peanut butter, half a scoop of chocolate protein, ¾ cup of milk and 7-8 ice cubes). Depending on the weather, I drive my wife to her English class at Pacific Grove’s Adult Education School while listening to NPR’s Democracy Now. Many times I have to slow down because there are deer in the road (or terrible retired drivers). On the way back home I do my best to catch a glimpse of the beautiful bay. When I get back home I do physical therapy on my shoulder and start preparing/studying for today’s classes. After a morning class, I go pick up my wife while listening to NPR (Diane Rehm Show) once again. When we get home, I stop to marvel at the beauty of the 8 hummingbirds (including a baby) that are always flying around our lemon tree. Every time I get home and see the sunshine, flowers, lemon tree and humming birds around our house (in the middle of wintertime), I take a deep breath and smile, feeling so happy to live in sunny California. I quickly have lunch with my wife, do shoulder therapy again, and rush to classes. When I arrive in class I am pleased to greet the smiling faces of my friendly IEM classmates. Evening time involves a lot of studying, body-weight exercises while listening to James Brown (wishing I could dance more often), shower, dinner and wondering about my near future practicum/job. I go to bed around 11pm. Weekends involve: teaching a guitar lesson to a friend; “renting” a free Redbox movie; Bboying (break dancing) at DJ Dialogic’s spot; visiting the Monterey Aquarium outside deck (to whale-otter-dolphin-sea lion-seal watch); biking to Pebble Beach; listening to 88.9 FM KUSP’s “Soul Shack”; cooking; pretending to be Brazilian; and visiting a nearby park to practice photography with my wonderful new wife as my model. The weekend ends by reviewing my never-ending to do list that includes hearing back from a Hip-Hop education conference proposal, informational interviews on crisis management, deciding on an international education program design client, and wondering constantly “what will my next job look like and when will I have more time to dance?!”.
