Obama Inauguration Day with my friend, CNN

Being the historic year in which we have elected our first African-American as president, I have to say that it's a bit difficult watching it from overseas. It feels weird to be so connected yet disconnected at the same time.

I'm less connected because I don't get to hear about the excitement or feel it the same way I hear that it exists in the US. I get to hear about Obama parties and people's excitement as if it were a story from far far away.

I'm away from home, and that's that. Voting means walking into a high security embassy to cast your mail-in vote, after having waited in line with others who are there for any embassy/consulate-related reason. No "I voted" stickers. No walking into a school or a library. No voting booths that make it a little bit more private.

BUT...

I'm more connected than I normally would be in my own country because I was forced to investigate even more about each election candidate's plan and views. I didn't receive marketing information about each candidate. I didn't see biased commercials on TV. I attacked my decisions like any student would do....by reading and comparing each plan available online, and evaluating it based on my personal opinion for each subject.

I'm more connected because in Europe (and most non-US countries), they understand how much the US economy and policies affect their well-being. The world was looking for change, not just the US.

And finally - I'm more connected thanks to CNN.com Live. I was able to watch both the elections and the inauguration with the help of this technology. Not only that, they have enabled me to see what friends of mine were online and watching CNN live as well. It's amazing what technology can do to keep people connected.

Crazy Job Description

As I'm now unemployed, I consider myself to be almost at expert level when it comes to reading job descriptions. I have seen all kinds: elaborately detailed job descriptions to those that are so short that you could almost convince me they are really HAIKUs.

But I saw one today that absolutely BLEW MY MIND -- read the English version (translated) :
.....
We offer a bright future in a unique world leader. Help us start by way of mutual selection:

- You are interested in why things happen rather than what is happening.
- You distinguish between what is said and what was meant.
- You realize that in the best companies, the same distance exists between the VP and the trainee, as does between the trainee and The VP.
- You understand the difference between the penny today and the dollar tomorrow.
- Disorder and planning are just that: disorder and planning.
- You can distinguish solemnity from seriousness.
- You know that more happiness comes when you like what you have to do, versus when you do what you like.
- You know that good marketing is more than a good spreadsheet with a brilliant idea.
- You control your frustration continually adjusting expectations and probabilities.
- You can admit that the way to avoid uncertainty is to avoid the risk of success.
- Your favorite colors are conditioned with the intensity of light.

If you identify with what we have here, please send us your professional background.


Does this inspire you? Are you ready to apply for this sect!?

Vacas Gone Wild in Madrid

We went for a long walk downtown today, and to our pleasant surprise ran into the "Cow Parade in Madrid", which has hundreds of cow statues strategically placed across the city. Each has its own sponsor and artist, and they are being auctioned off to benefit specific NGO's.

I just HAD to get a picture with my flamenco-dressed señorita!

It's not a crisis, It's not a crisis...WAAAHHHH!!!

It's all over the damn place..."Recession", "Worst Economy in XX years", "almost depression", "save your money", "housing market nosedives", "unemployment hits all-time high". You can't turn on the tube without hearing something negative about today's economy and it's struggle to get back on its feet.

Yes, I get it. These are bad times. And trust me, I really "get it" considering I am in the unemployed bucket currently.

We are constantly reminded about the difficult economic situation -- on the news, in our job searches, from our friends and families. To make matters worse, I log onto my bank account, and what do I get? A nice little reminder....


Isn't anyone concerned that all of this negative press will create "over-concern" and overly-negative consumer expectations? After all, it is a catch-22. The worse the economy looks or is perceived to look, the less consumers are willing to invest. (think of the depression and how many people ran to the banks to take out their life savings). On the other hand, the economy can't improve unless people are investing. Hence this lovely pop-up window from my bank that urges me, their consumer "Please, have faith in us and don't take out all of your investments. We are still financially sound..."

Metro Madrid Mocks Me?

I never leave home without one of these tickets. It's the Metro Bono ticket that can be used for 10 trips either on the metro or on the bus.

Year upon year, I see this little, yet oh-so-necessary ticket get more and more expensive.

2007: € 6.70

2008: € 7.00 (+ 4.5%)

2009: € 7.40 (+ 5.7%)



The Metro/bus system must be investing in something important, because year over year they keep increasing the ticket price well above Spain's average inflation rate, which is 2.4% according to INE.

Sara's Top 5 for why the bono price keeps rising so aggressively....

1. Why not? People will still buy their basic need - public transportation
2. Madrid metro might be cheaper than other EU subways - let's even out the playing game
3. Madrid metro and downtown buses are planning on going "eco" all the way
4. Madrid metro has to replace all the vandalized tilework on the walls
5. It's as simple as sports - Madrid vs. Barcelona: which transport system can charge more?

FAMA - the best reality show in Spain

I am honored to present to you today my favorite reality show:

FAMA ¡a bailar!

It's a LIVE reality show where this dance school chooses its contestants by individual castings (very similar to American Idol) all over Spain. Then these final contestants are allowed into Fama dance school where they are given a dance partner for all performances and one by one they get eliminated. As the contestants get smaller and smaller, they compete for survival and for the best partner so that they can continue into the very final round.

What do I love? The dancing and the drama. Take a look:

Omar. Not the best dancer, but he definitely brings the drama: He has been hooking up with both Eva and Marisa at the same time.

Eva. AMAZING dancer + drama. She has (had?) a boyfriend who I'm sure watches this live show, yet she keeps going back and forth with Omar. Kissy kissy.

Marisa is also a phenomenal dancer and was first courted by Omar, then held off on the drama. Now I saw some kissy kissy.

Erik just entered as a new contestant. Apparently in the first castings, Marisa and him met and there was "feeling". And he is best friends with Omar....(see above)

Yure is like a truck driver. You should have seen her dancing to classical music style. Truly entertaining. Her partner Jonas is more feminine than she is!



I'm so addicted. Love this show.

Ok, now it really is SNOOOOOOWWWWW

Cibeles Statue in downtown:

I just went out of the house for literally less than 10 minutes, with extra layers of clothing, my fluffy down-like jacket with a hood, and determination. I'm now back at home and I realize that my feet are colder than the hardwood floors in the house. Odd as it may seem, I'm letting the floor warm up my feet.

Here's a picture of the plaza in our neighborhood:

SNOWWWWWW

Real snow!!!

And it snowed for longer than one lousy minute!

Tomorrow it's supposed to be even colder, so we'll see how that goes. I'm kinda scared to go outside. But then again, I'm a wuss.

First Timer's Luck...

My very first slice of roscón and I got the little hidden gift!!!!!!

WOOOHOOOOO!!!!

A little airplane that I have absolutely no use for! YAY!!

Bye Bye Roscones!

Holy Crap they go quick! These photos were taken at a couple of bakeries, within a 4 block radius, in our neighborhood -- around 11am. The bakeries are baking all night to open up on Reyes Magos day at 6am and people who want a recently baked roscón will get up early in the morning to stand in line. So people stand in line no matter when they go to buy the roscón -- the day before or the day of. But you can't have Reyes Magos day without a roscón. It's like Thanksgiving without the turkey.
People standing in line, in about 35 degrees Fahrenheit temperature. Locos.

Roscón de Reyes

Last night we went walking around our neighborhood and every bakery has on display hundreds of the same Christmas cake to celebrate Reyes Magos. You can't imagine the smell - mmmmmmmm!

The cake looks like an oversized donut with dried, sugared fruit. Sometimes they get fancy about it and fill the inside of the cake up with whipped cream or whipped chocolate. But the traditional cake is what you see in the picture, and always with little prizes inside. Manuel tells me that there usually is one "regalo de roscón" and whoever gets it is PENALIZED to have to pay for the damn roscón. That's not a very nice surprise, if you ask me!

Los Reyes Magos

It's almost "Reyes Magos" Day!!!
(Day of the Three Magi)

According to most forms of Christianity, the Magi were the first religious figures to worship Christ, and for this reason the story of the Magi is particularly respected and popular among many Christians. The visit of the Magi is commemorated by Catholics and other Christian churches on the observance of Epiphany, January 6.

If you remember the old testament, each magi came with a gift for the baby Jesus, as follows:

Baltazar: myrrh as a symbol of death (in the middle)
Melchor: frankincense, symbol of priestship (far left)
Gaspar: gold, symbol of kingship on earth (lower right)

Here in Spain, kids tend to receive gifts from the Reyes Magos (not from Santa Claus)!!! They write letters to the magi in hopes that they bring them gifts for having been good boys and girls. It's just like Christmas. January 6th is a national holiday and in the morning the kids open up their gifts that appear magically in the morning.

There is a large parade that is on the eve before, where the three wise men traverse the largest avenue of Madrid on their camels. The parade is just as large as our "Macy's Parade" or Thanksgiving parade. With true Spanish style, it all starts later than what an American would expect. The parade isn't at 12noon but rather at 6pm and these little kids are waiting out in the freezing cold until the Reyes Magos pass by to wave at them!

Each local neighborhood also has a parade, usually a few days before, where the 3 Magi arrive on a float and parade down the streets, throwing candies to the crowds. Here's a picture of our neighborhood's parade. Not nearly as exciting, but it's right in front of our house and we don't have to freeze our butts off to catch a few caramelitos...Yes...We were competing with the five year olds for candy...So what??!!

Don't translate literally...

This basically means "I'm sick and tired of soccer" or "I don't care about soccer" but if you translate it word for word, it really gives you a much nastier, visual image.