A Depressing October

(This blog is the English translation of this week’s primary blog, which was originally written in Spanish.)

This week I should be blogging about something and unfortunately I don’t think I have much to say. I haven’t done much this month, not with my Spanish studies nor anything else. Most years I love October. The weather’s my favorite, it’s warm and there’s rain, and the sky is this amazing shade of blue, and there’re pumpkin pies, hot chocolate, and Halloween. How could I not love it?

This year, well … there’s a pandemic. I’m not doing anything for Halloween this year, I’m not even giving away candy (I know, it’s so sad, but it’d be a Petri dish full of candy). I can have a pumpkin pie with hot chocolate every day if I want, but nothing feels the same this year. It’s a sad, depressed, and anxious year, and so is each month. And to top it off, the election is coming very soon. Very, very soon. I’m a little scared, and I’m not sure about anything. The only thing I can do is keep going, with Spanish, with work, with everything, and I don’t feel like thinking much. It makes me nervous otherwise.

To tell you the truth, I don’t know what to do. I like to write these blog posts, in English or Spanish, but when there are so many horrible things, I’m not sure if I can write something worthwhile. I feel bad if I write something hollow, something that ignores horrible things to say nothing. Language learning is not a frivolous project, but I don’t have a ton of tips for sticking to a relevant topic every blog. I just want to talk sometimes, but this world messes me up when I talk about it and when I don’t talk about it. The truth is that I’m already a mess without the help of the world, really.

Hope everyone has a great month. Enjoy it, if you can, because everyone deserves that, especially this year. 2020 is an evil year, I think, and the  sooner it’s over the better.

Since I don’t have much to say, I’m going to end it here, a bit short, but honest, because I don’t want to fill this up with insubstantial words. I just want to work on improving my Spanish. Let’s see the numbers for the week.

Tuesday 10/13

• Duolingo: 20 XP earned, ~0 minutes
• Reading: 3% of La Gran Cacería, ~90 minutes
• Watching/Listening: 2 episodes of Kiwillius, ~60 minutes
• Speaking: reading out loud, ~30 minutes

Wednesday 10/14

• Duolingo: 20 XP earned, ~0 minutes
• Reading: 3% of La Gran Cacería, ~90 minutes
• Watching/Listening: 2 episodes of Kiwillius, ~60 minutes
• Speaking: reading out loud, ~30 minutes

Thursday 10/15

• Duolingo: 20 XP earned, ~0 minutes
• Reading: 3% of La Gran Cacería, ~90 minutes
• Watching/Listening: 1 episode of Kiwillius, ~60 minutes
• Speaking: reading out loud, ~30 minutes

Friday 10/16

• Duolingo: 20 XP earned, ~0 minutes
• Reading: 3% of La Gran Cacería, ~90 minutes
• Watching/Listening: 1 episode of Kiwillius, ~60 minutes
• Speaking: reading out loud, ~30 minutes

Saturday 10/17

• Duolingo: 20 XP earned, ~0 minutes
• Reading: 1% of La Gran Cacería, ~30 minutes
• Watching/Listening: 1 episode of Kiwillius, 3 episodes of Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts, ~120 minutes
• Speaking: reading out loud, ~30 minutes

Sunday 10/18

• Duolingo: 20 XP earned, ~0 minutes
• Watching/Listening: 1 episode of Calex MP, ~30 minutes
• Writing: 800 words written, ~60 minutes

Monday 10/19

• Duolingo: 20 XP earned, ~0 minutes
• Reading: 3% of La Gran Cacería, ~90 minutes
• Watching/Listening: 2 episodes of Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts, 1 episode of Kiwillius, ~60 minutes
• Speaking: reading out loud, ~30 minutes

• Total Duolingo: 140 XP, 0 minutes
• Total reading: 1/5 books read, 480 minutes
• Total watching/listening: 8 YouTube episodes and 5 television episodes watched, 450 minutes
• Total writing: 800 words, 60 minutes
• Total speaking: reading out loud, 180 minutes
• Total Time: 16 hours 30 minutes

An ordinary week, at least. I like La Gran Cacería, which follows right after the previous book, with the same characters. It isn’t difficult to enjoy it.

I hadn’t noticed before, but there are new seasons of Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts and Carmen Sandiego on Netflix, and I started watching them this weekend. I’m going to mix them with youtube videos probably, but I want to finish them soon. I think this Kipo season is the last, and I hope it has a worthy ending. I’m going to find out!

There won’t be a main topic next week, and then I’ll be back with a summary of the month. Have a great month, and wash your hands!