Vale, es todo pa’ ahora. Venga pues, mira las fotos! No te preocupes, no es todo en castellano! (Don’t worry, it’s not all in Spanish!)
Nuestro apartamento
View from the street
The lobby…
The entranceway… very European!
The middle hallway… tanto espacio!
La sala! (Living room)
El comedor (dining room)
I have excellent flatmates. Felix is from Germany, and he is the efficient, responsible one. Plus he's a computer expert who loves to have a good time. And nice & easy to talk to! Guillermo is super sweet and from Spain. He gives me everything! He gave me a desk, lamp, mirrors, fan, air conditioner, he fixes things… and he cooks for us! Wow! When Felix and I had our first day of Spanish classes, Guillermo was supposed to be on a plane to Madrid for a wedding. But when we came back, we found a note he left on the fridge -- he had cooked us dinner and stored it in Tupperware for us so that all we had to do was heat it up!!! WOW! Who does that??? Spanish guys! And that’s not all -- we have a maid, Diana, que viene cada jueves.
Life in Spain: We eat lunch from 2-4 and dinner at 10. Energy conservation and every type of recycling is HUGE here. Airconditioning is very weak, and is a luxury. Wine & medicine is very cheap. Fresh fruits & vegetables are sold on the street. I´m learning how to use a gas stove and ride public transportation. (The horror!) I’ve got a new Spanish number (area code 34!) and a Spanish bank account. And guess what? Healthcare is completely free here. Whatever you need. No copay!
La Universidad - IESE Business School
The Harvard of Europe
Tan bonita
Tan bonita
Inside
Outside our computer lab. Te lo juro!
Student life: We start classes at 945, at least, the Spanish portion. This is where life is easy, before the business classes start. I´m encountering people with names like Michele (like Michael) from Italy, Heiko from Germany, and Florian from France. Of course, there’s also more familiar names like Elizabeth from Australia. We have a 1.5 hour lunch with plenty of time to socialize... I mean... do work. We get salads, but not the kind in the US. More exotic. The main courses are something like rabbit, fried anchovies, beef, trout, man everything. Oh and dessert: sometimes it’s tiramisu, today it was crèma de Catalana. It’s like having a gourmet lunch everyday, for like 5 Euros. We can buy beer and wine with lunch. Additionally, appropriate dress is emphasized here. No flip flops, shorts, sneakers, tank tops… it’s business casual to class. I love it. Our school operates on Opus Dei, asi que en cada aula hay un crucifix. Outside our computer lab is a model of the Virgin Mary. It´s different, but I like it.
However, attending IESE is not all going to be fun and games. This is just the beginning. Right now I am going out, and coming back at 3AM to do my Spanish homework (flashback to Freshman year at Tulane when I used to do my German homework drunk??) I know it will get almost unbearable at times, and the work load is stupendously high. Hopefully I can keep my sanity…
Well, that’s all for now. Please stay tuned for more updates on life as an MBA candidate. Can’t wait to get my new business cards!
2 comentarios:
Nice, better than Houston for sure.
Nice, better than Houston for sure.
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