And hiding away

Finally. The end of stress (for the time being), the beginning of Holy Week, and a new library card. I checked out parallel translations of Rilke (German and Spanish) to celebrate.

I never feel the need to excuse blog silence--it's my place to play, after all, not work. But I will say this: miraculously, I've discovered an actual café and have spent hours reading and sipping cappuccinos. After a year here, I'm finally beginning to truly feel at home...thanks to favorite haunts.

I'm making great headway in El amor en los tiempos del cólera, and have high hopes of eventually finishing my long-neglected Eco and Cortázar as well. (I've even felt ambitious enough to purchase the Spanish translation of José Saramago's The Cave.) For some reason, I've always found it easier to concentrate in coffee shops (for more reasons than the caffeine!). Libraries are too quiet and home is too distracting, so it's a wonderful, unexpected relief to finally be back to something familiar.

(I adore this Botero, don't you?)