This is my entry to 
I picked topic number 1:
How do you unwind after a hectic day at work? Meditation, a hobby, reading, listening to music, cooking, yoga, gaming, an intimate interlude? Tell us how you relax and unwind and why you feel that method is the most beneficial to you.
I do not always have an unwinding mechanism at hand. There are several things I love to do after a long stressful day; some of them are easier to get than others. Among the things I like to do to relax are: reading, having a snack, watching movies or series, and going for a swim.
I must confess I am not reading much for pleasure lately. I just don't have time and my eyes are usually too tired after my proffreading work to continue reading, even if it is something I like.
I started reading this little fun book, which was a present from an ex-student of mine who is living in Colombia
I have been reading very little daily (probably only one chapter a day), but it's a clever fun book from the YA sub-genre of Children's literature and I recommend it so far.
When it comes to snacks, one of my favorite desserts is ice cream, especially coconut ice cream. There is a lady nearby, who happens to be the mother of that friend who gave me the book, and she prepares delicious desserts.
These are the tetas (breasts), home-made ice cream that come in all flavors, mostly local fruits, but lately they have been making all kinds of fancy and very expensive flavors that include Nutella and Skeaners.
I stick with my favorite, coconut!
This is a sample of the kinds of things she prepares. They are relatively cheap and I love to eat any of those watching a movie or just resting for a while.
Then, there is watching movies or series. I love movies and lately have become fond of quite a few series, even though I rarely watch more than one movie a day or a couple of episodes of whatever series like. I try to go with the critics in choosing the titles, but once in a while I download a popular one, just because everyone is talking about it, only to confirm the old premise.
Here you can see some of the titles I have in the waiting list. Some of these I have already watched. I usually delete the files after watching, just to make room for more.
When I can sleep well, I watch a good movie or series and that's better than any pill. These days, I have been watching the 4th season of Mad Men.
Some movies, like the Lord of the Rings trilogy, I plan to rewatch with 
Last, but not least, swimming. We live by the sea, but we rarely go to the beach. In the last few days we have seen more of it than the whole last year.
This is something we love, my wife especially, but going to the beach requires logistic arrangements we can't always afford. Deep down it is just a matter of going, even if we can't stay long, take food, or have transportation guaranteed, but safety can also be an issue, so it's better when you have a big group to accompany you, like we have had these days.
So, this is basically how I unwind after a long stressful day. Snacks remain the most affordable tool available, which is not always healthy, specially late at night.
Hope you enoyed the ride. How do you guys unwind?
