Covid-19 days: #1

Since the begging of the epidemic, I wrote my memoir a few times per week in my other weblog which is in Persian language. 

I was thinking the other day why I don't do that in English?

I live in the Netherlands and this week was the 5th week we worked from home and in a semi-quarantine. I say semi because we can go to the supermarket or for a walk or run or cycle. Some shops are also open but they accept limited customers. 

My husband and I live in a large house (Dutch scale not north American scale obviously) and we have enough space to handle the webex meetings and calls at the same time and do not disturb each others. The situation for colleagues and friends with a few children at home is not very easy since kinds need to attend online classes while never have been in such situations before.

Having breakfast and lunch with my husband every day is a unique experience and I cherish it. He wakes up every day earlier than myself and prepare tea and set the table. 

We normally prepare a few meals (stews) in the weekend but cooking on the day is not also a big problem.

This week we celebrated my 39th birthday together and had a delicious fruit tart.

2020 and a new start

I am not much into the new year resolution. I always believe that every single hour or minute can be a new start of a new decision or life change. This year is the same. 

Last June, we had been visiting beautiful Asia and it was eye-opening to me: how awful is the status of the oceans and open waters! After that every day I am thinking of how to take one small step to help the environment?

1. I love clothes but I am now buying much less. 
2. I have decided to donate my clothes that I don't need anymore to 2nd hand shops instead of throwing them in cloths bins
3. I separate trashes as much as I can: glasses and papers are now carefully separated
4. I have several shopping bags that I re-use for grocery shopping
5. I carpool with my colleagues a few days per week
6. I make sure my car is fully serviced to avoid extra emission

It has been a long time that I did not visit my English blog.

I have been more active in writing my diary in Persian and not in English. It seems that using social media such as Facebook and Instagram is much more attractive and writing a blog is a sort of old fashion habit. Do you agree?

No idea about you but I still feel much safer here since I have less audience (maybe zero) and I tend to write my simple daily life here and there in my Persian blog.

what should I tell next? will come back soon.

How to stay calm?

I found the following video from TED very interesting:

Link

If you are trying to calm down and you need some advice, I highly recommend watching this video.

Shake it

Once in a while your life needs a change: Yes! a massive change! You just need to make up your mind and shake it. No matter how but you need to to do so. On Dec 22nd I made up my mind and have started with the preparation.At least I am doing something :-)

Holiday

We came back from our holiday which was long enough to have a rest, enjoy the sun and read some books.Latin Americans are very friendly and hospitable. This was our second time to visit that part of the world and we liked it very much. Spending 6 to 9 months in dark and rainy weather could be really annoying. Therefore, we decided to run away for 10 days...
In two days most of my colleagues will have time off to spend with their families and here will be quiet to concentrate on reading and writing reports. 

Let's go

We are thinking of going on holiday in a month or so. Somewhere to relax and have fun for a few days. Where we live at the moment is very cloudy and rainy and I need sun to shine and warm up my bones a bit ;-)

Busy mind

I have a very weird feeling these days. My mind is so busy that I hardly can concentrate on anything. I am a bit relaxed but the amount of work I need to do next year seems to be too much and I need to go through all of them alone.

Photography

Humans of NY is one of my favorite pages to follow. This month the photographer is traveling in Pakistan and reports from daily life of people over there. So sweet to see what you have never expected from this country.

My simple life

I have been always a social media girl. Recently, I realized that many things on social media do not make me happy. What I have decided to do is just get rid of all the stuff make me upset or uncomfortable. 

I hate people who show off! and I noticed that many of the photos people post and share on Facebook or Instagram is to show off. Moreover, something like Instagram has no filter, so if someone follows you there, he/she will see any photo you share! The 1st step to get rid of what makes me unhappy was to logout from Instagram on my iphone and later on my PC. I made my privacy stronger on my Facebook (and of course I have logged out of my Facebook account on my mobile last year already!).

I make more time to read books. In addition I spend more time with those friends who care about me and stop with the relationships I see they go nowhere: that simple :-)

I need to start baking again:P

Life has become beautiful again!

Persian food

In the Netherlands that I currently live, food seems not to be the 1st priority of people! Therefore, eating out or finding the ingredients you need to cook a proper dish can be an issue.

Even Persian restaurants are not necessarily good and exciting here! either the location is not fine or the quality of food is not tempting. I hardly would like to invite my non-Iranian friends/colleagues to a Persian restaurant. 

After a long time two of my colleagues (Liz, British and Mia, Australian) asking for introducing Iranian food to them, finally I did it with the help of my new colleague Sally. It went much better than we expected. Taste of Persia is a very tiny restaurant but the food is perfect. Liz and Mia loved their dinner. They even tried our typical butter milk and liked it very much :-)

Immigration

Immigration has pros and cons. You have to come out of your comfort zone and confront many unexpected issues. You'll miss your family, friends and mother land but you'll meet new people (whether you like it or not), new places and learn new things with an exponential rate.

Calory

I have started to write down everything I eat on my "daily book" of a website (Mijn Eetmeter) which calculates the calories I eat per day. Surprisingly I don't eat enough!!! The idea is that I eat 2300 kcal per day. I even have installed the app on my iPhone just not to forget or postpone this issue. It is just a week though :-)

P.S: the website is in Dutch and that's a good practice!

Yellow taxi

Yesterday I watched Taxi-Tehran with my friends in the Hague film house. I liked it! The movie showed some different aspects of Iranian lives.

A sunny day at work

Today is the warmest day of the year so far. Everyone is extremely happy and energetic. I love it when all the female colleagues are dressing up in a totally different style than that is common: very feminine :-) that makes the sunny days more special.

science is fun

In the company I work, we have several regular presentations and scientific discussions in different areas. One of them I normally attend is called science is fun. I have recently been approached to give a talk there as a female scientist who is active in the area of physical science (which is normally male dominant).

Dance

I love to dance. Many years ago, when I was 10 or 11, three of my friends and I started to learn Persian dance. All we had was a video tape and a small TV. we learned the steps while having lots of fun. Still dancing is very joyful for me.

Project

I am in the phase of wrapping up a processing project. I should confess that, it has been a great opportunity to lead a small team.Looking forward to a new challenge :-)

not an early bird any more

During my PhD time, I used to be an early bird starting my work at 7:30 am in the lab. I still wake up early but hardly in the office  before 8:30 am.

World baking day

Today is the world baking day and I have baked an orange cake. The sale proceed will go to MAHAK. :-)