Madrid Trip

What can I say about Madrid?

El fin de semana pasado, fue una fiesta en Barcelona, el Merce. Sin embargo, mis amigos y yo fuimos a Madrid. Me fue bien en el viaje, creo que Madrid es un cuidad muy elegante. Tiene mas espacio que Barcelona, es mas limpio tambien, y el servicio en los restuarantes son mucho mas rapido que Barcelona. En todo caso, mis amigos y yo son de acuerdos que nos gusta Madrid mas que Barcelona.

El primer dia, el sabado, tomamos el tren de Barca a Madrid. Nos quedamos en el Hotel Husa, un hotel con cuatro estrellas, pero nos recibieron un descuento. El ambiente era muy agredable. Tomamos tapas en la Plaza Santa Ana y bebimos muchas cervesas. Despues, dormimos una siesta. Por la noche, fuimos a un restaurante llamada "Los Huevos De Lucio" (The Devil's Balls). Los precios eran muy caro, pero un cantante espanol muy conocida nos invitio. Que suerte!!! Se me olvido su nombre, pero creo que se llama "Daniel Martin, el canto de loco..." Pues, en fin, fuimos a unas discotequas con el, y un amigo de Madrid, Nico.

Dani Martin y yo y mi amigo Alejandro en Madrid:


Nico era muy agradable y hablo ingles muy bien. Cuando oyimos una cancion de Flamenco en el club, Nico comienzo a bailar. Estaba muy impresionado con el. Aunque Nico era amable, su novia era un poco... dificil. LOL. Ella me dijo que no podria hablar muy bien espanol porque siempre hable en ingles. Ni hablar! Ella no sabe nada... Solo tenia celos de mi, por alguna razon de no-se-que.

En fin, bailamos hasta las 6 de la manana. Fue temprano para Madrid. El sigiente dia, fuimos a comer unas tapas y bebimos unas copas. Vimos un bar de tango, y visitamos un bar de Jazz. Fue muuuy divertido, el jazz. No queria salir de Madrid. Entonces, el lunes, regresamos a Barcelona...

BOW (Bar of the Week)

Que interesante el dia en Barcelona. Ayer me levante a las 6 de la manana para ir a la oficina de policia para hacer mis hueltas dactiles para el NIE… sorry. English. Yesterday morning I awoke at 6AM to visit the Police Station for fingerprinting for my residence card. After that, I had to go to a gubernatorial office to obtain a letter stating that I can re-enter Spain on my student visa (until I get my residence card) because I need to go to London in a month for a Banking presentation (that’s right, working in a bank is my back-up plan). This process was a bit of an administrative pain in the ass. As the Spanish call it, “Que lio!” or “Que rollo!”

After that I had a nice lunch at IESE. Did you know there is a traditional Spanish dish where it is basically seafood paella dowsed in calamari ink? It is completely black!! Bueno pues… despues de clases de castillano, me fui a casa en el moto de Felix. I absolutely love the feel of traveling in Barca by moto. It makes everything feel uniquely more European. We got home and quickly changed to visit the Roman Ruins museum, in the Gothic area of Barcelona.

It was a fun event. As we toured the stone passageways Marco seemed unimpressed. “In Italy we have tons of these things,” he said. Felix jokingly imitated his Italian accent; it was hilarious. After some Roman wine, we decided to visit a tapas bar en la esquina. Apparently in this Basque establishment, you take the “pinchas” you want and you pay by the number of sticks you have in the end, indicating the number of pinchas you had that night. Well my first thought would be that this is too easy to just throw some sticks out. Alejandro (from Peru) said that I was more Latin than he was…. Many beers later…. We headed out to BOW.



At Bilbao Berria

In IESE we have a tradition called BOW, or Bar of the Week. (We also have another IESE tradition where if a student forgets to log off a common computer, someone sends a mass email from his address saying something inappropriate to the entire student body..) The BOW this week was at OTTO, a dance club downtown. We all arrived around midnight and had a great time. There was samba music playing all night, and despite not knowing samba, Alejandro and I started to dance. Really no one else was dancing in that room but us. So one guy pointed to us and said “South Americans….” Me? Mistaken for a South American? Wow. There were other rooms at the club, mainly those that played hip hop. I had forgotten how to American dance, so I was a little awkward at first, but having lived in New Orleans I picked it up fast. It was a great, great time. I left early with my Spanish flat mate around 3AM. We had class in the morning…

I am excited about tonight. There is another Latin Party at Café Noir and I am excited to dance to more salsa, merengue, bachata & vallenato. It will feel like home again. And tomorrow morning, we leave for Madrid… and will be drinking on the train….

Holidays In Barcelona

Today I woke up to David Bisbal’s “Silencio" on my IPOD stereo… Danced around a bit. Sometimes when I walk through the city my play list surprises me with Tom Jones’ “Secret Agent Man” and by the looks of Barcelona it almost seems hilarious. Most days I hitch a ride on my flat mates’ moto to school (awaiting the precious moment I can buy one to call my own), and when I get to class I struggle to deal with helmet hair. It is all very sexy indeed. But all is well in Barcelona.

A few notes: Spanish bureaucracy sucks! Just give me my forms so I can get a Residence card. And just give me my Residence Card right away without having to go to several police stations to get fingerprinted and city council offices to wait in line all day. And internet guy, please install my wireless because I am not good with following directions and I cannot read Spanish instructions. Plus in America they do it for you… And buses please arrive on time. And Microsoft Office, please magically appear on my computer.

Life in Barcelona isn’t all about parties and holidays. Right. 2 Mondays ago were the birthdays of fellow students Jake from California and Marco di Italia. Jake’s event was at a Jazz Club at Placa Reial. Marco’s was at Café Berlin. Ended up staying up all night and going to a chupito (shot) bar because Barcelona closes down after 6AM. Walked home at sunrise Tuesday morning, a holiday at Barcelona, el dia de la Diada. Slept til 5PM.

Last Saturday attended a housewarming party on Balmes. Place was packed with IESE students like sardines in a can. Could not move. Drank tons. Stephan (from Germany of course) explained how German parties ended up with people stripping and pouring beer on themselves. Ja… ja…

Speaking of Germans and beer, I was supposed to go to Munich this weekend for Oktoberfest. This Monday is another holiday in Barcelona. But since I don't yet have my residence card, I can only leave the country once (and I need to go to London for a banking event). So I took it upon myself to spend this weekend in Madrid with a few IESE compadres. Hey, if I can’t leave the country, might as well party IN it. Viva Espana!

My First Latin Party

I am not going to lie. Adjusting to Spanish life has been hard. I have been quite homesick since I got here with missing my friends at home and longing for the convenience of the States. What was once a 7 minute commute in my car to work now turns into a 1 hour commute to school by bus. Sometimes the bus takes half an hour to arrive. Shitty buses. Well, in a few months I will have a new moto (hopefully red!) Just as soon as I can get my international driver’s licence and Spanish residency card (the bureaucracy here takes so long to process anything…) and my days of public transportation will be limited to taking the metro home trashed at 7AM…

Last Friday was my first Latin party in Barcelona. Before the party was a rugby game between France & Argentina at an Irish bar downtown. But when we arrived at the party at café Noir the sounds of pop vallenato sensation Fanny Lu filled the room. Vallenato! I couldn’t believe it! It finally felt like home. Although it took a while and many beers before people would get up and dance, I’ve found that most European guys dance like Americans! (Albeit, with a bit better rhythm.) Danced some nice merengue songs and simple salsa songs with some South Americans. But then there was one guy who really knew how to dance -- a 17 year old Austrian! The things you find in Barcelona!

Although it has taken me a while to become accustomed to European lifestyle, all I had to do was find a local salsa spot…. (Pales in comparison to Houston though…)

Overview

Bienvenidos a mi nuevo blog de mis experencias en Barcelona. En cuanto a mi: Estudio en IESE Business School, la Universidad de Navarra, tengo dos flatmates de Europa, y deseo montar un negocio algun dia.

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

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!