Fin de Semana

This weekend was a nice, relaxing weekend in Madrid. Soon I'll have my pictures up in Flickr, so you can check them out. (look at the link in the right column of this blog)

On Saturday we made "bocadillos" which are basically Spanish sandwiches. Our bocadillos were pretty simple: bread (celiac or normal) with a Spanish omelette inside. We put everything in a backpack and went to a small chocolate fair inside a shopping center not far from the giant soccer stadium. We thought we could get some chocolate for free but alas, no choco for us.

We then went to "El Retiro" which is a huge park in the center of Madrid. The park is surrounded by pretty iron gates (not the ghetto type, you guys!) and when you are inside, there are plenty of fountains, statues of people I don't know yet but I'm sure Manuel will try to teach me, and a big manmade lake where people can go out on paddleboats.

From El Retiro we walked to my favorite museum, el Museo Reina Sofia (you can see Picasso, Salvador Dali, and more). I love Museo Reina Sofia because it has Pablo Picassos Guernica, among other really cool art. Their temporary exhibitions are usually interesting too, but this one was just plain weird. This painter called Paula Rego has some serious issues, by the looks of what she has painted. I felt like I was in The Shining and I couldn't get out of that exhibition hall fast enough.

I think we left el Museo Reina Sofia around 9pm and walked to the Casa Encendida to watch an ArtFutura documentary on Chiptunes. Basically Chiptunes is a type of techno-like music that is made with old game software (Nintendo, GameBoy, Atari, etc). It was pretty interesting to see that this even exists, although the documentary was way too long. Both of us were falling asleep in the theater.

And the MBA begins

Last week I began my two pre-program courses: Quantitative Analysis and Financial Accounting. Both of these courses lasted one week total, 3 hours per day each.

Schedule:
12pm - 3:00pm - Quantitative Analysis
4.30pm-7:30pm - Financial Accounting
minimum 3 hours studying every night including weekend

The 3pm to 4pm break is my lunch break, as usually in Spain you have lunch around 2pm or so. Since this schedule is so odd, most of the students are chomping on some crackers or have a coffee during the break, and then at lunch we just have enough time to go grab a sandwich somewhere (if we don't have to study for the next class).

I'm really glad that I went to the pre-program class because if I didn't, I would be in tears when I start the MBA. To give you an idea of what we have covered in 5 days, I'll list out some of the basic topics.

Quantitative Analysis: Imagine that you have learned the concepts and all formulas for:
numerical calculus, probability and conditional probability, descriptive and inferential statistics..and then after you learn these you finally learn its application in excel. This does NOT mean, of course, that you can skip memorizing the formulas. Grr. This is stuff that I learned in high school and even then I didn't care for it that much. I feel like we have crammed a year's worth of math into 5 days. In fact, the professor mentioned that the descriptive and inferential statistics would usually be a 6-month class in the university, but since we are MBAs we get it in one class. Lucky us.

Financial Accounting: Much of this is a blur because there was so much, but the end result is that we know how to do accounting from ground up. Basically I became my own Quicken software, balancing the books from each account, then accruing and depreciating whatever was needed, then writing up all financial statements that a company should have: Income Statement, Statement of Retained Earnings, Balance Sheet and Cash Flow Statement. You excited yet? Yeah, me too.

Every day at school was different but the stress was high just because you go through so much information in such little time that you feel it's impossible for anyone to absorb the material. In fact, I barely could sleep that week. I kept having nightmares and tossing/turning due to the stress I guess. (o quizas por comer el embutido por la noche) So even though I feel good about finishing the pre-program course, it also makes me quite worried to find out what the rythm will be during the real courses. I'm preparing myself for barely having a life. Maybe that way I'll be pleasantly surprised!

The Washer Machine

Let me tell you a nice story about our little washer machine. First things first, I must explain how washer machines work in Spain. It's one unit, but I can't really call it a washer/dryer because it's really a washer/centrifuging unit. So imagine the size of your washer machine in the US. Now imagine it is 2/3rds of its size and it is both your washer and your dryer. Now imagine that the normal place for your washing machine is under the kitchen counter. Welcome to Spain. You have just finished your first class: "Lavadora 1A".

So now let's talk about purchasing a washing machine. We purchased the "M6 1000ME" model and what was delivered to us a few days later was the "M6 1001", which looks slightly different. As that was confusing, we decided to discuss this for a bit with the customer service guys at the store. Apparently the store takes whatever model you order and they order it from the manufacturer, who has every right to replace the model with a more current one if they so desire. They so desired. While this is nice that they give you the most up-to-date model, it's quite confusing as the customer when nobody has called you to inform you of this in the first place and you are looking at a different machine already installed in your kitchen.

Oh wait...ours wasn't installed. Oh noooo. The installation guys, who spoke with the worst accent I've ever heard yet (imaginense un tipo re-madrileno que habla con la boca medio abierta) and are asking ME about the plumbing in the apartment. Greaaat. So basically they don't hook up the machine because we need an extra PVC elbow pipe where the drain hose meets the apartment pipe. So the next two days involve going back and forth to a plumbing store to find the right elbow. Now we want to make sure the guys come back to properly install the machine, since that is included in the price. Seems easy but screw them. They're responsible and need to make sure the machine works.

So my friend, the installation guy, comes back. This time he is nicer because we have talked to his boss. I also didn't let him leave until he answered all my questions. You gotta love a small kitchen; it's easy to corner people in. He basically explains to me that he is opening up the valves but no water goes into the machine. Great. Now we need to talk to a plumber and get the landlord to pay for it.

So today I knew that there was a plumber coming to one of the apartments in this complex and I made sure I was home during that general time. The concierge was going to ask him to drop by and help out with our washer machine project. 2 hours later, I realize this plumber never stopped by. I go and talk to Paco, the concierge and so far my best friend, and he is perplexed as to why the plumber hasn't come by at all. So he says, let me lock up and take a look at your washer machine. Well, wouldn't you know it. There was ANOTHER freaking valve above the counter that opens up the washer machine pipes. Paco found it and we tested it all out. YAYYYY I can wash clothes!!!!! I feel like such an ass but that emotion is quickly taken over by a feeling of pure bliss that I don't have to deal with this washer machine's installation anymore! Paco is my saviour!!

Hello. My name is Luca.

I live on the second floor...

Do you remember that song from Suzanne Vega in the 80´s? Yeah who doesn´t. It played endlessly and with hopelessly simple lyrics.

Well....why the heck was I hearing this song and other random songs in English while eating at a restaurant that specializes in cuisine from Galicia!???

La cucaracha la cucaracha

YA NO PUEDE CAMINARRRRR!!!

Our house is about a good 15 minute walk (if you have long legs, a fast gait, and time the intersections well) to get to my school. Mind you I am only 5´4" and don´t yet dare to walk through the intersections because I don´t want to die. Anyway, since I´ve been here, I would say that pretty much every day I have walked to my school and my bank´s branch, which are pretty much right next to each other, and on top of that have been walkng around the whole damn neighborhood to figure out where the best place is to buy X,Y, and Z. Then of course I want to be a tourist and walk to see some interesting things. Sigh - my feetsies are tired.

Last Wednesday I was walking this same route and I saw a few fighter and bomber planes flying above, preparing for an airshow this weekend. This weekend is somewhat similar to our fleet week I guess although Madrid is landlocked so I´m still trying to figure that part out. Anyway, Friday is a national holiday because it celebrates "Hispanic Day". So my first holiday in Spain is all about Spain discovering America. Manuel was surprised to hear from a Norwegian coworker that somehow they found America first. But of course he finally decided that it wasn´t
really that important since they didn´t do anything worthy at the time. I have to admit that he has a good point there.

First weekend in Madrid

Thurs Oct 4
My flight was SF - NY - MAD and it went rather smoothly, if you don´t count the fog on the NY-MAD flight on both the departure and arrival. I got to stay int he plane an extra 2 hours total...1 hour in NYC circling the actual runway and 1 hour in Madrid up in the air circling about. Fun stuff. By the time I passed passport control, got my baggage and passed customs, I was a sweating pig. I only took 2 large suitcases on this trip, so my ¨great thinking¨was to put on 2 sweaters, a tanktop AND a jacket in order to save room in my suitcases for more important things. Good thing I have a smiling boyfriend waiting for me right in my most glorious sweating moment.

Fri Oct 5 and Sat Oct 6
Manu had the day off so we were able to relax, open up my checking account at the bank, unpack more things and talk about how we would fit everything in our apartment. I have to get used to calling it ¨our ¨apartment because I´m so used to it being ¨his¨. In any case, we marked all of the IKEA pages that interested us for further organizing our home and when we went to IKEA (borrowing his dad´s car of course) we actually finished everything within 3 hours. SUCCESS. Two product managers doing this of course means it was well planned out. Sigh...

Friday night I got to meet his parents for the first time. They are both very sweet with distinct personalities. His mom is very cheery and talkative and his dad is a little bit calmer but also loves a good conversation. I think we stayed at their house for a little over 2 hours, talking over wine, tortilla (spanish omelette), Spanish ham (cured ham), and Spanish olives --yum. If they feed me everytime I go there I might have to visit more often!

Sunday Oct 7
In the morning we got up to watch the Formula 1 race that would decide who gets to go to the final F1 championship in Brazil. It was interesting to learn what Manu does for his blog: he watches realtime statistics and the TV at the same time as he writes in his F1 blog. To give you an idea of how popular his blog is, by the end of the race there were more than 100 comments on his blog for that particular race.

Anywhooo - lunch is the biggest meal in Spanish culture and Manuel made us paella for Sunday lunch. Nice thing is he makes paella with more veggies than others do, and I looove veggies!! I´m going to see if I can make it next time and maybe put a California edge to it. Better do this before the masters program begins!!!!