It’s a great release from any workday stress and gives me just enough of a break before having to use my brain intensely in German class for learning purposes. Not to mention it gives me enough endorphins and energy to stay awake during the class!

They key is to NOT fall asleep in class...

So I’ve gotten into my Monday and Wednesday routine, and somehow managed to always give myself Saturdays and Sundays off, (will work on that as time goes on,) but I have to say my favorite workout day of the week is Friday. The gym is almost deserted after work – who the hell wants to be pumping iron when there is beer to be drunk? Well, I do!

I find that my workouts are always the best after a long week, when the gym is virtually empty, and I have no pressure or time constraints of where I need to be at any given point in time. I basically have all the time in the world to run, or lift weights, or use the bike, and then to take a half hour or an hour after the workout to sit in the sauna or the “relaxation room”.

I also find I get the most mileage in on Fridays. Since I’m not watching the clock and worrying about how much time I have left until I need to shower and head to my next destination, I can easily give myself more than the usual 30 minutes on the treadmill and even managed to pull off a 50 minute run last week! Of course, I am just getting back into it so I only managed about 4.6 miles from those 50 minutes, but hey – progress is progress, right?

Even though sometimes running feels like this...

Yesterday was another great feat. This has been a particularly trying week for a multitude of reasons, and I was nervous about getting back on the treadmill and braving a run. I told myself if I could only get through 20 minutes, I would still walk away with my head held high and feeling proud that I accomplished something. So once I got moving and remembered how good it felt to burn off all that excess energy I had coursing through me, I managed to run a solid 4.2 miles in 40 minutes. It felt good to be back at my old pace, even if the run itself was a challenge and I kept debating if maybe just stopping now wouldn’t be so bad.

I guess the more I push myself, and the more small goals and milestones I set, the more I have to work up towards – like the girl on the treadmill next to me making my 10 km an hour look like nothing compared to her 14. So my next big milestone will be to hit 5 miles. Not sure when I’ll build up to it, but I’m sure it won’t be more than a week or two of pushing my time down, and sustaining my energy over 50 minutes.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many naked women in my life. No – this is not a high school boy’s ultimate fantasy – this is real, live, naked women with all the curves, and jelly rolls and sometimes tight calves you can think of. Women of all shapes and sizes come to the gym and proudly march around the locker room. Naked. As though they were born for all to see.

Now, I know this is a cultural difference. From the stories I’ve heard of horrified colleagues being called out by security at campgrounds in the U.S. for “public nudity” when trying to change into their swimsuits for a dip in the lake, I can imagine that this is a totally normal experience. And so I, too, try to pretend like it is the most normal, natural thing in the world to shower in a room with 7 other women.

This is how I felt on the first day

But come on, do you need to stretch when you are in the sauna with others? Or do your makeup in the mirror without a towel?

As I said, I am learning to ignore the fact that I think it’s weird everyone is naked and just “go with the flow”. This may take some more adjusting to than I thought, but at least I’m grateful that I belong to a women’s only gym and don’t have to deal with the co-ed showers and saunas. Phew!

I am not the type of person who prides herself on being a strong woman for the sole reason that I am a woman. Sure, I am proud to be a female, and I look up to female leaders…as much as I look up to male leaders. But overall, I enjoy the company of men. I enjoy watching the occasional sweaty guy at the gym busting his ass, (not the ones who try to impress you with how many weights they can lift, but the ones who are getting a good run in after a long day at work, or who are testing their limits in the spin class.)

I never thought I’d join a gym meant only for the X chromosomes of the world, but now that I’m there, I must admit how great it is! Sure you won’t plan to get any dates out of the experience…or maybe in a city as liberal as Berlin, you will! But that’s besides the point. It is nice to be in a locker room that doesn’t stink. Everyone showers after their workout. Everyone cleans up their mess. The machines are well maintained and wiped down after every person touches them.

That’s not to say women don’t smell. Some do, of course. I’m sure I do too on my less-deodorized days. But overall, the atmosphere in the gym is a clean one…without any grunting or groaning to prove a workout’s worth. And it’s nice to be in a room among peers and people you can reasonably challenge yourself against. When you know that you too can do what they are doing. That’s motivation enough!

Yes, We Can!

And by the way, this is my 200th post!! Thanks for all your love and support! And keep reading

My Guilty Pleasure

In college I’d borrow my roommates bike and head down the trail on the Mississippi River. Or, when she wanted to use her own bike, I’d even venture to the gym and spend 30 minutes on the elliptical watching “The Ellen Show” and try some rounds at weights, never fully understanding the impact they had on my body. I lived in New York for 3 years, always paying for the NYSC a few blocks up the road, but only for a few random spurts was I motivated enough to go.

Then suddenly, after I moved to Paraguay I found myself craving exercise. Almost desperate for it. I drove around a few evenings after work with my colleagues to find a decent gym around my house, which I never seemed to be able to find. I couldn’t imagine paying to work out in someone’s sweaty attic with broken down machinery, or to sweat it out in summer heat at a gym that was not fully enclosed. Not to mention a lot of places didn’t seem to have air conditioning or proper ventilation.

So I took to the streets. Literally. Having never run in my life, I put on my sneakers, hid my iPod from sight, and stepped outside of my house in the centro. Feeling nervous and exhilarated – first for having never run, and second for fear of the prejudice of the people I would run past – I hit the pavement in a moderate jog.

I can relate to this

So here I am in Berlin with almost no exercise to my name. Well, I did spend a good part of the month of May and a little bit of June running around the park in Friedrichschain feeling proud. And then there was the 10 day pass to Bikram Yoga which had me feeling invincible when I walked out of the studio. And I guess I can’t discredit the 20 minute bike rides to and from work every day when it wasn’t raining out. But really I spent a good portion of 10 months not focusing on my body or exercise at all.

And so in early December, I joined a gym. And here I am again, trying an old new experiment to get myself back in shape and working towards a healthy lifestyle.

This could be Amanda 2.0 (with a hair cut)

I don’t know when it began. I don’t know how it happened, even, but I do know that I am more excited when I have to sit down and edit a 10 page paper for a colleague on a tight deadline than I am about revising a proposal I’ve memorized after the 10th revision. There is something about taking a piece of writing and making it better.

I have the passionate writer inside of me, and I know this may make me sound like a bit of a nerd, but I find fixing words to be an almost mindless pleasure. Not to say it doesn’t take a tremendous amount of thought or care, but that it comes so naturally that it almost feels like it isn’t such difficult work – just satisfying.

So I’ve decided to try and test the waters, in my mother’s editing footsteps; stock up on English grammar books and “how to proof read for dummies” books, and see where I can find some willing souls to let me test my editing genius to see if it really is a talent I can pursue.

I have to say I always find Botanical Gardens to be exciting. I love plants and nature and so being among specific and oftentimes rare species of plants (usually involving bright, happy, inviting colors) makes me happy. We entered the gardens on a freezing day and quickly realized we would only be venturing to the indoor Holiday Special, rather than attempting a walk around the gardens.

Replica of the GW Bridge

Beautiful Buildings Constructed of All Natural Elements

I think it surpassed both my father’s and my expectations. The scenery was gorgeous and every building, every train track, every teeny tiny crevice was so well designed and thought out. It was really a beautiful experience, and even brought back some memories of the old neighborhood for my dad!

Dad With his First Love - The Former Yankee Stadium!

And in case you don’t have time for a trip down south to the island known as Manhattan, I don’t think you can ask for a better view than seeing the Chrysler Building and the Empire State Building side by side in nature!

Manhattan's Finest!

I would definitely recommend making the trip out there, (thanks for the tip, Mom!) and plan to go visit again next year!

The last year and a half has been quite a ride for me, (and my “shoulders to cry on”), but more than anything it’s given me a completely different view on what work-life is like outside of Corporate America. Now I can’t say for certain if my experiences are specific to working at a Non Profit, or if it has to do with living in Paraguay or Germany, but I have to say despite the stressful days, I’ve never felt like I had so much time before.

I laugh at the former me who spent endless hours in the office working out the fine details of a budget that I just couldn’t seem to get right – that is until the other night I slaved away until 9 PM (9PM!!) working on a budget that I just couldn’t seem to get right. But what was the difference between those two experiences? This time I didn’t feel angry about it! I didn’t mind working one late night to fix a budget for a project I am personally invested in. Especially when I take into consideration the other perks of my job; the (mostly) 8 hour days, the hour-long lunch breaks, the 30 vacation days, the compensation for overtime, the paid-for language classes, and the list goes on. I get to save the world and have a balanced life. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say I hit the jackpot!

The down side, (if there is one,) to all of this working for your passion, is you give up your should-be 6 figure salary, (well, maybe if I had stayed at it a bit longer,) and you find yourself working on (or in my case waiting for) the same thing that should have been done half a year ago! With all the urgency there is to save the world, stop deforestation, and cut back on CO2 emmissions - when working in a Non Profit and generating funding from government entities, you have to learn to pace yourself. Slowly. Because no one else is in a hurry.

As I said, I have all the time in the world now. Time to read, time to meet friends for drinks, time to travel, time to exercise. Who knew all this time existed outside the doors of a Manhattan agency? Now, of course, (without sounding like too much of a complainer,) I just have to find a way to fill it all!

Have any of you had similar experiences? Switching between corporate life and non profit life? Or maybe you’ve stayed within a company and moved abroad? Would love to hear about it!

Like I said...inviting!

I don’t know why, but I couldn’t overlook them and knew that I instantly wanted to eat them. So I went home, and got to chopping.

Chop Chop

Then I sliced up some fresh (although plastic bagged) mozzarella and had a mini balsamic vinegar and Mallorcan olive oil feast!

Yummy Goodness!

The end.

I didn’t know what I was in for. And that’s besides the approximately 15-20 minute line that circles outside the teeny tiny shop of people (im)patiently awaiting their turn to place the perfect order, before the supplies run out. That’s right, supplies can run out! The Doughnut Plant simply locks its doors once the last doughnut is sold, whether it’s 4 PM or noon.

To put it mildly, this place is heaven. Sugary, melt in your mouth, confectionary heaven. They have Peanut Butter and Jelly Doughnuts, Blackberry Marzipan, Blueberry Jelly on the Outside Doughnuts, Carrot Cake, and…well you too can read the menu, but my personal favorite is the Tres Leches. I repeat – Tres Leches. In a doughnut!

Racks of freshly baked heavenly deliciousness

For those of you who have yet to try doughnut perfection, they just opened a location in Chelsea (23rd between 7th and 8th). Go buy some doughnuts, and don’t be shy because just one is not enough, (I promise you will thank me when you open your zipper after the second one glides down!) And while you’re at it, the Chai is also divine, though does take up some doughnut space, for those without an extra stomach.

Welcome back to my next adventure