Unfocused

Do you ever have those days where concentration just escapes you? Today has been one of those days. No matter how hard I’ve tried to focus on the task at hand, my mind continues to wander to unrelated topics. This turns out to be somewhat of a problem when I have 300 + pages of contracts to read and analyze at work.

First I was really tired this morning and thought about having a cup of Ceylon tea. But then I was worried that in order to wake up, I am starting to need little bits of caffeine. So I decided to research Ceylon tea and its caffeine contents. Turns out, it is pretty low (especially when compared to coffee and pop) and they said it would take about 8-10 cups of tea per day to reach what is considered to be the maximum amount of caffeine a person should safely consume. So I decided that my daily cup of tea was just fine. Plus tea has a ton of antioxidants and really, our bodies can’t get enough of those little guys.

Then my mind started to wander onto the topic of my birthday, which happens to be in about 3 weeks. I want to have a birthday party, but I have yet to find the perfect spot. This whole topic got started because I received an email that was promoting two fancy restaurants here in Santiago, Zanzibar and Lamu Lounge. While I would L.O.V.E. to go to either of these places, I’m thinking they are a bit *too* much for a birthday gathering of 15-20ish people. Ideally, I am looking for a bar/restaurant with buena onda, a space to call our own, yummy food (even just the appetizers), great drinks and good music (and perhaps the possibility to dance, although not a requirement). My birthday is on a Friday, so I was thinking starting the fiesta around 9ish, or earlier if we can make a happy hour. Lamu Lounge looks as if it could fulfill that list, but in the reviews I have read, the crowd seems to be 40ish nerds and women on the lookout for young men. Did I mention that it is pricey? Right….so not exactly the best place for a 24th birthday party. At least I don’t think so…any opinions to the contrary are welcome. In fact, any recommendations to places in Providencia, Las Condes, el Centro, and Bellavista are openly sought. I’ve received a few recommendations for places, and visited some of them, but have not found *the* place yet. Here’s a quick rundown of those places:

• Basic Bar-while the parmesan & garlic French fries might be to die for, a sports bar is definitely not the environment I am looking for.
• Bar Ecléctico-great sangria I must say, decent goyosas, and a fun little spot, but waaaayyy too small and smoke-filled for the likes of me (recommended by Katina as well)
• Playback (Pedro de Valdivia)-stopped by this place for someone else’s birthday; it is a karaoke bar and was actually really lively and fun. Happy hour was 2 for 1and the French fries were tasty too. Karaoke book was filled with both Spanish and English songs so there is definitely a variety and the crowd seems to be amusing—lots of all girl groups out for happy hour and not afraid to sing. This is a possibility, but I’m not sure how well the karaoke thing will go over with everyone…and if the rest of the crowd is a miss that evening, it could result as not too fun.
• Barcelona-a Spanish restaurant recommended to me by Katina. Haven’t been there yet, but I’m thinking it is a bit too restaurant-y for what I am looking for. I am def interested in going there, just don’t know when.

I just had an idea, salsa dancing might be fun. Anyone know a good place?

There are a ton of cuico bars in Vitacura that might fit the bill, but I was just hoping to keep the celebration close to where everyone lives. Although one of the micros definitely makes its way up to Vitacura, and was at least running at 1am when we left a different bday party a while back.

I also became somewhat obsessed with what I was going to eat for lunch for some strange reason. Normally I have either brought lunch or already have plans. Today I had neither. I had a craving for kebabs, but I didn’t find any Arab restaurants close to my work. Then I thought about going to Pizza Sí, which I have heard has really yummy pizzas. At as I was trying to think of even more ideas, a light bulb went off—“I’ll go to Unimarc (the grocery store close to my work) and get things for a sandwich. It’ll be much cheaper than buying the same ham & cheese sandwich from any type of convenience store and I’ll get to buy chips if I want.” So me and my genius self went to the grocery store. Low and behold, I am not the only person who thought it would be a good idea to head to Unimarc for lunch. The place was packed. It took me a whole 30 minutes to pick up less than $3.000 (US$6) of food—bread, two slices of turkey breast, two slices of cheese, cracker/chip-like things, Tifany’s candies and a Gatorade. And although much cheaper than a typical lunch in the Tobalaba/El Golf neighborhood, it definitely wasn’t as satisfying as a kebab or pizza would have been.

Throughout the afternoon my focus got a bit better, but not much. The carb overload from lunch took a toll with some sleepiness and that mixed with contracts does not equal fun. But I made it through the day and I still feel as scatterbrained as before....ugf.