I’m making an attempt this week to make my weeknotes more of a personal record rather than a performance of how exciting my week is. What I’ve written answers the question I might ask myself seven years from now: what was life like this week?
I went on the road for on-site research on Tuesday, and was delighted by the particular nursing home that we visited. It seems many Dutch healthcare organizations have understood that environments that resemble the real-life environments of patients contribute to their overall wellbeing. The various spaces we saw were tailored to what life must have been like when the elderly clients were younger: a fifties barber shop, a diner-like restaurant. It was endearing. More professionally, I continue to be stunned by the working lives of people in healthcare. Having to balance tight budgets and strict schedules on the one hand and genuinely wanting the best for clients on the other is not an easy feat.
It seems like I did pick up Covid while there.
I’ve begun watching Monarch: Legacy of Monsters and I love my life. The farther I become removed from the humanities major version of myself, the easier it becomes to admit I love monster disaster stories.
I’ve also begun watching the second season of The Morning Show, and two episodes in I understand why Anja urged me to really, really give it a try. Reese Witherspoon making out with Julianna Margulies is not the stuff of dreams I thought I needed, but here we are. Acting, storyline etc. also good.
The Israel-Hamas War continues to rage, which has begun to feel like a weird name for the conflict. I wonder what it means that, when I Google those words, the Wikipedia entry to which I’m directed is
2023 Hamas attack on Israel.
I will never have first-hand experience of what it means to be a Jewish person in the world today, although I’ve been having a second-hand experience that has been leaving me… perturbed. When people discover my partner is Jewish, the tone of the conversation shifts. Not in a pro-Palestinian way, but in the way Jenna Maroney felt the urge to touch Liz Lemon’s hand after learning that Liz had met Oprah on a flight (which, of course, turned out to be a random Black woman).
While I tested negative, I did spend Friday evening and night in bed with a fever and a body that felt as though it had been hit by a truck. Anja did test positive on Sunday, and so now we’re quarantining. March 2020 all over again.
I keep thinking a lot about Osama Bin Laden. About the lack of context given by the journalist who shared parts of his Letter to the American people on social media. How TikTok and X, at least for a moment, were rife with people who were barely born when 9/11 happened, proclaiming support for Bin Laden because he had pro-Palestinian things to say. About the importance of digital literacy in the classroom.
Whenever I’m ill, I bake or cook. I feel bad not doing anything and lying in bed all day, and following a recipe always seems like a good way to pass the time. This week, I made apple crumble custard vlaai. You can take the girl out of Limburg (and thank God for that), but…
