my day, and a confession

Good things about today:

1. It's my last day of work until Friday because I have a (work) conference the next three days. This may sound like breaking from work for work, but being out of the actual restaurant for a few days hanging out at a posh golf resort will be nice.
2. One of the people who lives in my house just handed me a strawberry custard shake on his way in from work. I think the shakes are common occurences, it's just that I haven't gotten one in a while.
3. I saw a very good movie tonight, the Aviator, while eating a great curry that my husband cook and having a nice glass of Riesling.

Confession: I am about to end my entry so that I can watch my guilty pleasure - La Madrastra. Yes, I am watching a Spanish-language Mexican novela, aka, soap opera. I feel like when I confess my novela-watching hour that I need to back it up with, I am an NPR addict all day. Just a novela-watcher at night. You see, my husband is Mexican, and although I speak a lot of Spanish at work I still have a lot to learn. I figured I could learn something about both the culture and language from purposefully watching a little Spanish TV.

Novelas are a major staple of Latin American television and people in my house are always watching them. I figured a few months ago that if I followed one, I would be able to understand enough over time to get into it and in turn, enhance my language skills. Well, it worked, but it also got me hooked on the story of Maria, estranged from her children after serving 20 years in prison for a murder she didn't commit, trying to re-enter their lives as their stepmother after being released. It sounds crazy, but it's really quite gripping. And unlike American soap operas, which take years for anything to happen, things actually happen almost every day on La Madrastra, because it runs for a few months, and then it ends. So that also means that I am not hooked for life, just a few months. See see, it's okay.

I'm going to miss the show for the next two days while I'm in Lake Geneva.. I guess I'll have to ask Fermin to let me know what happens.