Tuesday, April 16, 2013

music to study?

Oh mi Dios! - this is what I've been thinking this whole semester. I'm beyond busy, but super happy with the path my career is following. Definitely feeling like I'm going places, and how I love that feeling! I would love to have more free time to write, but lately it's been either writing on the blog or working on my on-going research projects... Obviously, research wins and trust me, reading confession manuals from the 16th century is not as fun as blogging but I gotta do what I gotta do, right?

My post today is to ask you what kind of music do you listen to when you need to study or work...???
While I love my Cafe Tacvuba and Rock and Español playlists, it doesn't really help concentrate. Do you have any recommendations for good background music that is not too distracting? Would love to hear ya!

Saludos,

MJ

Thursday, January 31, 2013

College organizing: readings


I thought it would be fun to show you how I organize different aspects of my life, like school and my home. Perhaps one of you can find the tricks I've learned useful.
I wanted to start with college readings. A recent survey at my university showed that more than 60% of the students don't do the required reading. Even more students admit to start doing the reading just before a test. Qué crazy, no?
I've mentioned before that I'm getting a M.A. in Spanish Literature, meaning I have to read A LOT! Just for fun I recorded how much I read last week: 827 pages in one week, which consisted of two novels and a bunch of articles. And it was an easy week, I usually have to read 3-4 novels per week! If you think that's a lot, wait until I tell you about all the writing, research and other homework I do, (but that's for another post!)

Anyway, how do I do it? Simple, I divide the readings.
Don't try to read the 3 chapters you were assigned all at once. Chances are you'll get tired and stop paying attention after a few pages. Reading in small chunks will not only make the reading more bearable, but it will also help you retain more information.

So here you go, 5 tips to make college reading easier!

First, figure out how many days you have to complete a reading. I usually give myself 4-6 days to finish a novel and 3-4 days to read articles. That all depends on how long they are and how far apart the due dates are. You need to be realistic with your time so you can divide your readings accordingly. Be honest!! For example, I know I don't get anything done on Sundays since we visit my family. Therefore , no readings are scheduled for that day!

Second, divide the pages you have to read by the days you have open. Say you have a 100 page reading and 5 days to finish it. That equals 20 pages per day. I use post it flags to divide the parts. It doesn't sound that bad anymore, does it?

Third, you can even divide your reading even more! For example, if you have 4 breaks in between classes, spread out your daily reading. Or do half in the morning and half later. Waiting in line? read a page or two, your date is late? finish that psychology chapter. We all have time to read, you just gotta find it!

Fourth, try to write a brief summary of each part you read. I obviously highlight and take notes while reading, but I always write the main points or summarize what I've read in a few sentences. The summary is usually written on the post it I use to divide the readings. This helps me refresh my memory before reading the next part and even works as an index in case I need to go back and find something specific.

Fifth, stay on track!!! Keep an agenda and make sure you read the days you planned to. It's easier to think that you can add the reading to the next day's  just because it's a few pages. Like I said, smaller chunks are better! I sometimes read ahead if I'm up for it, but I've learned the hard way not to procrastinate.

So here you go! I hope some of you can use some of these tips.

Mucho love,

MJ


Saturday, January 26, 2013

Birthdays and coscorrones


Today is my baby's 3rd birthday! Yes, THREE years old... don't ask me where the time has gone, because I have noooooo idea!

Somehow birthdays remins me of my own birthdays growing up in México, when my grandpa will give me a coscorrón for every year of my life. I don't know if it's a mexican thing but I remember coscorrones being the gift of choice back then... am I the only one?

And before you call child services, no, Julian is not getting coscorrones for his birthday. In fact, he got tons of goodies last weekend when we celebrated his birthday.  Last night when we asked him what he wanted for his birthday he said "I want cake!", so cake i guess we have to go out and find some cake!

Anyway, Feliz Cumple to my baby boy <3 These have been the happiest 3 years of my life!

MJ

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

The Busy Bee

Hello all,

So, one of my resolutions for 2013 is to get back to blogging! I've been reading old posts and really miss it. Truth is that, 1. I'm extremely busy!! and 2. I don't think you'll find my busy life interesting. I'm a full time grad student, full time mama to a toddler, I teach Spanish at my university, I work at another university office as an event coordinator and graduate assistant, I still do my crafty business when I can... oh, and yeah, I try to squeeze important stuff (like eating) in between.

What I've been wanting to write about is how I *try* to do it all, how I organize my time and space, and things that make me happy (like finding the perfect cleaning solution for my kitchen floor!).

But will people read?
That is the question!

Either way, new semester starts next week and so far I'm hoping to blog once a week (hopefully more). So if you're interested in reading about the daily life of a student-working mom, stay tunned ;)

MJ

Friday, November 30, 2012

No andaba muerta...

... Ni andaba de parranda!

3 months of researching reduced to color coded pages and post its :P

Grad school + office job + teaching + motherhood = one busy MJ!
I spend every free second studying, researching, reading... not that I'm complaining! I'm loving my student-professor life, even if it's hectic.... but I miss you blog, miss you lots and I hope to be back soon <3 

Monday, August 13, 2012

Have you taken foreign language classes???

In two weeks I will start teaching an elementary Spanish class in my university and I'm very nervous!! I've taught Spanish before, but it was in very different scenarios: two little rich kids in Spain going to a British college, African immigrants in Spain, and one-on-one mentoring. What scares me even more is that I've been there, I've been a college freshman taking a foreign language class just to fulfill a requirement... and it was horrible!! I had two different French professors, both equally bad, that would just sit and lecture off the book for 2 hours. 2 years of French and didn't learn a thing!

I now have an amazing Italian professor that has me speaking and thinking in italiano after just one semester. I see that my Italian professor is way more engaged than my previous foreign language instructors and I'm actually having fun learning the language! I know that everybody has a different learning style, and I would really like to learn different teaching methods. I want my students to leave my class speaking and thinking in SPANISH!!!!

So, the whole purpose of this post is to ask you for advice:
Have you taken a foreign language class? if so, was it a good class or a bad class? why? what activities did you professor use? or what needed improvement?

Any response will be greatly appreciated ;)

MJ


Thursday, July 26, 2012

Doña Elvia

"Curandera" by Carmen Lomas Garza. La virgen en esta pintura es la Virgen de San Juan, de mi pueblo. 

Unas cuantas veces al año, Doña Elvia y su familia se hospedaban en la casa de mis abuelitos y convertían el comedor en un cuarto de curación. Por un lado Don Pedro, su esposo, ponía los brebajes, pociones y hierbas sobre una mesa y se sentaba a un lado desde donde les daba las 'recetas' a la gente. En el centro del comedor, Doña Elvia permanecía sentada, siempre con una cubeta de agua al lado donde la vi desechar espíritus y malas vibras tantas veces. Siempre que llegaban al pueblo desde la ciudad de México se corría la voz, y pronto teníamos una larga fila de personas en la puerta esperando su turno. La mayoría venían por una "limpia" con la esperanza de que sus suerte cambiara. Doña Elvia les bañaba la frente con un aceite que aromatizaba toda la casa y los golpeaba con ramas de pirul mientras decía en voz baja oraciones en un dialecto extraño. Después les pasaba un huevo sobre todo el cuerpo y vaciaba el contenido de éste en un vaso de agua, enseñando a la gente la maldad que había recogido. En ocasiones los huevos tenían pelos, sangre, incluso clavos oxidados; cosas que yo no podía explicarme pues sabia que esos huevos venían de la cocina de mi abuelita.

Las sesiones que me daban más miedo eran cuando venia alguien que decía ser poseído. Doña Elvia se sentaba en su silla y meditaba, sus ojos se volvían blancos y parecía que alguien más tomaba su cuerpo. Poco a poco sobaba a la gente, quitandoles ese mal invisible y aventandolo a la cubeta de agua. Los poseídos gritaban y retorcían mientras la gente al rededor oraba en silencio. En la noche, después de haber trabajado todo el día, Doña Elvia y Don Pedro limpiaban el comedor, re organizaban los aceites y plantas, movían los muebles a su lugar, y Doña Elvia tiraba el agua de su cubeta en el patio. Esto ultimo me preocupaba demasiado pues no entendía porque Doña Elvia dejaba toda esa maldad, todos esos espíritus en el patio de mi abuelita. "No tire el agua ahí!" - le dije un día, temerosa "No ve que después van a venir por nosotros." Doña Elvia se rió, me dio unas palmadas en la cabeza y me dejo ahí, muerta de miedo...