Esta es una torreja. Es un postre tradicional de Semana Santa. Mi prima más pequeña estudió para chef y aprendió a hacerlas. El Jueves Santo nos reunimos como todos los años, a excepción del año pasado, cuando el confinamiento por el COVID-19 era totalmente estricto. Ni siquiera mi mamá quiso hacer el bacalao a la vizcaína de ese año. Pero este, sí. Así que nos reunimos, manteniendo la distancia y sin tener contacto entre nosotros. Cada quien aportó algo del menú tradicional de Semana Santa y tuvimos la suerte de sentarnos en torno a la mesa, conversar y comer todos juntos. Son esos momentos los que nos llenan de alegría y esperanza. Son los momentos en que volvemos a ser familia y recordamos lo que hacíamos cuando la "normalidad" prevalecía. Eso pensé este semana. En la suerte y en la buena decisión que tuve de asistir a distintas actividades del Semana Santa cuando tenía buena salud y la vida era "normal". A veces, asistía completamente sola, pero no me importaba. Toda mi vida he hecho muchas cosas yo sola. Ahora puedo disfrutar de los recuerdos y las anécdotas de esas incursiones de Semana Santa. La vida es buena, especialmente cuando puedes ver a tu familia alrededor de una mesa, sanos y con alimentos para compartir. La vida es buena.
April 5, 2021
It's been a huge challenge working from home and not having the in-person contact with colleagues and students like I would normally have. We've been doing our best to stay connected online, but it is a challenge, and not the same as in-person. It's also been a challenge to learn new technologies. For example, there are so many different platforms that can be used for working together online - Microsoft Teams, Skype, Webex, Zoom. It's been a little like drinking from a firehose and trying to figure out how best to use these resources, their limitations, etc. Which one do you use?? Sometimes, you have a choice, but depending on the group you're working with you have to adjust to a different one. I've been trying to jump in and just use them, learning haphazardly as I go along. When possible, I do try to sign up for workshops, or read through/watch materials I find online so I can better understand these resources and how to use them. I've been using remote desktop to be able to access my work computer from home (so I still have access to our shared drive and other files on my work computer). However, sometimes the connection doesn't work and I have to go to campus to restart my work computer. So far, that has worked to resolve the problem, and I know my colleagues have been having the same issue sometimes. Our team at work will often joke to try the "good ole restart" when something isn't working right. Most of my colleagues are pretty savvy with technology, but for a couple others I know it's been a huge challenge. Also, depending on what kind of internet we have at home, that can also make a big difference. I think we all try our best to be patient with each other and realize that technology is a great resource, but it's also not perfect and presents it's own set of challenges.
July 6, 2020