Day 137: Very Chill, Sunny Day in Our Barrio — Dinner with Ventura Pobre and Joao Santos

by Ted · Published May 22, 2019 · Updated May 25, 2019

This was a super chill day.

I was still not feeling great — low energy, sinus pain and rubbing my face raw from constant nose blowing.

Same morning program: late wake up, slow breakfast with kids making fresh OJ, school.

Here’s James manning the juicer. Needless to say he loves the juicing process more than the juice itself.

At school I’ve started letting James write on the iPad Pro with the Apple Pencil. He’s much more likely to be engaged if we’re doing some writing or math on that device. The Apple Pencil feels exactly like a “real” pencil / pen / marker — highly recommend!

After school Willa walked back to her bedroom, got in bed and didn’t move for three hours. She was wiped out by flamenco night.

I had an afternoon call scheduled with my brother so I stayed at the apartment while Margaret and James set out in the neighborhood looking for a flamenco dress for Willa (a birthday request) and a friend to kick the soccer ball. They found both.

Once Willa woke we headed out to meet them in the square next to our apartment. We were both moving at half-speed so we grabbed a table at the adjacent cafe for drinks a snack and some rat-a-tat-cat.

We chilled there until about 6pm, chatting, playing cards and watching James kick the ball around.

We then headed home for a pasta dinner and a couple friend-chats for James. He talked to Deliah and Mika, two buddies from 4b.

I went back out, meeting b-school friend and Madrid native, Ventura Pobre for tapas and dinner. Joao Santos was in town from Lisbon for a conference and joined us. It was really fun to catch up with those guys and get the real scoop on Spain and Portugal from smart, worldly locals.

By the end of the day I felt like I was getting over my cold but somehow was still sneezing and dealing with a runny nose. Ventura mentioned that spring allergies are really bad here in Madrid. It finally occurred to me that I was dealing with a both a cold and my allergies. I was getting over the cold and I went home and took a Claritin, hoping I’ve finally have this behind me.