Happy New Years!

I don't have much to say this morning as I rush to get ready for a big country feast tonight at a friend's house, just Happy New Years! 

2010 has been a busy year - I already knew before Christmas 2009 I was coming to IE, so the GMAT and applications were over with, but all the preparations started this past January. I finished my three years with the Tampep Association in Torino in May, and went back over to the other side of the pond to visit my family in the States for three months. And then I moved to Madrid! 

2011 will be my IE year, and from the last two months of 2010, I know it will be a good one. Term 1 will finish in February, term 2 in May, then hopefully I'll be off on an internship, I'll come back to term 3 in September, and finish with term 4 and graduate Dec. 16. It's going to go by fast, so before 2011 begins, this is a little reminder to myself to enjoy it! 

See you next year!

happy holidays! break time?

tree in Plaza del Sol

First of all, happy holidays to everyone! The expected thing to say would be that "I can't believe it's already Christmas break," but really I can... time flies, and that's why after taking a mini-break the 24th and 25th I'm back to work! This break, I'm in Italy with my boyfriend, but we'll be going back to Madrid 5 days before school starts back up again and I'd like to have that time free to explore more of the city and maybe take another mini-roadtrip. So, I'm still relaxing by reading non-school books, watching movies at night, and taking long baths, but I'm trying to work it all day long to get more internship applications, finish my part of the group projects due the first days back, and get ahead on reading. So far, sleeping in is putting me a little behind schedule, but it's so nice! 

In the two weeks since I've last written, I've been writing little notes in my notebooks to bring to my blog. My first reflection was on the case method. The school tells us that there are three phases of learning involved with studying the cases:

1. Individual reading and preparation of the case --> initial knowledge gained

2. Group discussion of the case --> additional knowledge gained

3. Class discussion of the case --> maximum knowledge gained

I agree that completing each of these steps gives you additional points of views and knowledge over the concepts covered in each case. My view on the value of the case method includes some other aspects, and for me, the mental knowledge acquisition process goes likes this:

1. Form a logical or intuitive response to the question each cases poses

2. Use the theory in the textbooks or presented in class to support or break-down my initial hypothesis

3. Remember key points of the cases in order to "substitute" actual experience with situations learned that I've never lived through

I find it's easier to remember the theoretical concepts for issues that I've actually experienced, and for those I haven't, some repetition between the different subjects helps to sink in other concepts. For example, we've talked about Maslow's hierarchy of needs now in at least two classes, if I remember correctly in Marketing and Organization Behavior, so despite my relative lack of experience in these two areas, the application of the theory has become very clear thanks to the repetition in different scenarios. 

Other reflections I scribbled down included that reason number 93 I'm luck I had the chance to work for an NGO is that I am flexible and capable of working without strict guidelines spelling out exactly what I need to do. Of course I can follow instructions, but when they're absent I'm not daunted by open limits. And lastly, that people with a "can-do" attitude are very inspiring (the graduated ex-Net Impact leadership!), and I'm going to make sure that I try and project that positivity to my peers as well.

Before I get back to researching, applying, emailing... I want to share some holiday cheer! I'm still learning to take photos with my iPhone so these are a bit buzzy, but here's some scenes of Madrid Christmas lights:

Calle Serrano

Corte Ingles - Calle Serrano

Plaza Chueca

tree at Gran Via

it's a marathon!

Last week, post-long weekend, and this week the homework has piled up, work group deliverables are nearing their deadlines, club management of Net Impact is being handed over... meaning, I am managing my time to the max and finding it hard to schedule some blogging time!

Any quality MBA program will be demanding. Perhaps one down side of the one-year program, however, particularly IE's in which content and credits is not decreased but rather squeezed into 13 months by having a shorter summer break and more hours in the classroom (which in the end is optimal because we're not scrimping on any of any knowledge) is the challenge of information retention. I often feel like I learn mind-opening concepts everyday, but I have to really struggle to retain that information as the next teacher rushes in or as I finish speed-reading one case study and swiftly move on to the next. Tonight, some pricey, but infallibly yummy dulce de leche ice cream is helping me get through another truckload of reading (and yes, I put my MBA skills into practice  at the supermarket by  recognizing my consumer confidence in the brand and its quality, knowing it would make me a happy camper.. make fun of me now).

Nonetheless, general spirits are still high, despite the occasional tensions in my work group and in others' as we move past the getting-to-know-you phase and into the period in which we really need to all contribute, else we waste time or produce below par results.

Despite the time that it takes away from reading and completing exercises, I am really enjoying the few club events I have been to so far as the November 2009 intake prepares to graduate, leave, and pass on leadership roles. The Entrepreneurship club seems like it will be really instrumental in helping those who want to start a business while at IE or immediately after, or even longer down the road, have a smaller community within the IE alumni community, to turn to for resources - both knowledge-wise and for networking. The Operations and Strategy clubs will hopefully provide some insightful events to develop my knowledge on the career paths I'm looking at transitioning into.

So this is the IE MBA - school, extracurriculars, and.... career management. Today I had my first formal meeting with my adviser in Career Services. In the next few days, I will be sending my CV out to a dream employer and will be hoping for the best!

Easing the pain of the workload: amazing Madrid weather (it's been in the 50s! Fahrenheit, 10-15ºC), unending possibilities to explore new restaurants and bars on the weekend with friends, and the long weekend I mentioned in my last post. Thank goodness my boyfriend eventually arrived last Sunday, despite the air traffic controller strike (although he should have arrived Friday), and we were able to escape a bit into the countryside and I had a breather before this pre-Christmas break marathon began. We stayed two nights outside a little town called Zuheros, and one night in Cordoba. Andalusia was beautiful - olive trees for miles and miles. We visited a cave were humans lived back in the Neolithic period and braved torrential rains in Cordoba to see the Mezquita (mosque).

Zuheros seen from above

moments before, a 10-minute roadblock

working with your building materials - Castle of Zuheros

elections and more strikes

Good news or bad news first? Let's go with the good news. This past Thursday, the IE Net Impact club held elections... and I was voted Vice President! Yeah! There is another girl, also from the U.S. who will be co-Vice President. I am really excited to get to know the new team - we will be made up of students from the April and November intakes of the IMBA and from other IE programs, for example, there are several students with leadership positions from the Master in International Relations (MIR). I will be sad , however, to see those who we be graduating in less than two weeks go. This is a link to my self-nomination proposal. There will be lots of updates this year on our progress!

On to the bad, bad news - an air traffic controller strike has paralyzed Spanish air space for the last two days! My boyfriend was supposed to arrive Friday night, yesterday we were supposed to have spent a lovely day in Sevilla, and today I should be at an olive farm in Zuheros, outside of Cordoba! My boyfriend, after having waited in the Torino airport 12 hours Friday (including 2 hours sitting in the airplane), went back Saturday morning for a supposed flight, which of course did not take off, and is returning again to the airport at the moment to hopefully, finally, get on an airplane for Madrid! The worst part is that as soon as I knew he would not be arriving Friday, I tried to call and cancel the hotel for Saturday and change the car reservation to the next day, but they are both going to charge me full price for services I won't have used. I understand they have 24-hour cancellation policies, but given the situation, couldn't you just take the deposit I already paid online and spare me the rest? The Spanish/European/world economy really did not need this mess right now. These 300+/- air traffic controllers have ruined the long weekend for many Spaniards and for many others and cost all of us a lot of money. My Facebook page is full of status updates of IE friends who have missed their flights, canceled their vacations, or are also missing the chance to see a significant other or visiting friend. Some spokesman for the Spanish government has been quoted as saying that these workers have "blackmailed" the citizens of their country. For a more sophisticated analysis of this "aerial crisis" as CNN+ is calling it, here's an article from the New York Times. 

Hopefully the next blog post will include at least a few pictures from Cordoba if my boyfriend makes it here and we still have a rental car waiting for us!

and term 1 (our lives with homework) begins

Since term 1 has started (this past Monday), I've slept a total of probably 17 hours in 4 nights. The excitement and newness is keeping me from getting stressed out, but adjusting to life again with school (vs. work) homework is a process! LOTS of reading.... for all seven of my term 1 core classes: Managerial Economics, Marketing Fundamentals, Entrepreneurial Management, Organizational Behavior, Information Systems, and the numbers classes as I'm calling them (even though all the classes involve numbers), Quantitative Analysis and Financial Accounting. 

I can't say which is my favorite yet (we just started!), but I'm pretty sure I will learn a great deal from all of them. I'm looking forward to getting to know my group mates better, to writing a business plan, to being able to develop strategy using tools I could never have understood before like income statements or human resources frameworks, and to learning - I like being smart!

I think where I'll have to concentrate on managing my stress, more so than with schoolwork, is the job search. It's hard not to compare yourself to others. And, even though Career Services and the students from the previous intakes make you feel positive, like the opportunities are out there and you just have to grab them, internship and job applications add a whole new layer of homework. My short-term strategy: 1. Keep meeting new people. They keep telling us to network for a reason - every day I feel like I meet someone new who worked for a consulting firm or company I'm interested in. 2. Get a million emails sent! This weekend. Now I need to follow up with these people I've met, and with all the Georgetown and IE alums available to me online via alumni databases. Another recurring piece of advice I've heard over and over again at my short time at IE is to ask good questions. If I ever get any of these informational interviews, they'll be my first chance to ask some of those excellent questions to figure out what company fits me...

The during-the-week partying has definitely died down, although tonight I attended a big, important party - Thanksgiving! Ingredient shopping, cooking, and ticket sales took up a bit of my reading time this first week, but I love this holiday, so it was definitely worth it. Two out of the three previous years I was living in Torino, I brought the Thanksgiving experience to my co-workers in Italy. That involved pie baking the weekend before, planning out each night what I could cook ahead of time and where I could store everything in the fridge, reserving at the local butcher shop a turkey (because they had to go out an hunt me one, not a typical thing to sell/buy whole Turkeys in Italy), and taking Thursday off work to complete the masterpiece. Last year in Torino and this year in Madrid I collaborated with a group effort - much more fun, and fewer dishes to cook! This year, I am thankful for many things - the health of everyone in my family, the support of my boyfriend, but most of all, for having had the sense to choose this great 13 month experience at IE and to have met some pretty cool people so far. 

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!

networking

One of our LAUNCH seminars this week was a great presentation by Will Kintish about networking. Again, another very funny, but very instructional IE presentation... He taught us about the six groups you find in any business/social event and which ones we'd have the most success with in approaching. He taught us, seemingly obvious, but highly effective short phrases to "dump" the rambling, boring person or the ignorant, obnoxious person. He challenged us to never again be the wallflowers at a gathering, but rather to go and talk to them all. And of course, we were all instructed to Linkedin it up. 

I was lucky to have that night, and again the next night, two networking events to try out my new skills... The first was a classy dinner with the new U.S. Ambassador to Spain and Andorra Alan D. Solomont thrown jointly by the Georgetown Club of Madrid and the Yale Club. I pointed out to my friend the different groups and we surveyed the situation... At the end of the night, we both got a few business cards, rubbed elbows with the Ambassador, but most importantly, had a fun time talking politics.

The next night was the monthly meeting of Democrats Abroad of Madrid. I had an "ah-hah!" moment as Mr. Kintish would say, when one woman I was talking to mentioned that she was starting to do some independent consulting on corporate social responsibility issues with companies in Spain. Ah-hah! I want to do that! I offered my limited time and resources, and my business card, we'll see what comes of that... 

All in all, as I've said before, I think networking is really important. Sometimes it's fun, and sometimes it seems more like a chore. I'm glad IE helps us with these "soft skills." It's bed time! Two more days of LAUNCH to go!

the next big thing

This weekend IE Business School hosted it's annual Social Responsibility Forum. This year's theme was "Leading to the Next Big Thing," which alludes to the fact that social responsibility is the next big thing, but what it means to each of us individually, or to each company, organization, etc. is currently being designed and experimented with.  It's a two-day event put on by IE's Net Impact chapter. For those who don't know, Net Impact is an organization that promotes social responsibility in business. Nearly every business school, and many other types of university programs, have a local chapter. 

The event started with a great party/fundraiser Thursday night. I had a lot of fun, which made getting up for Friday's LAUNCH program starting at 8:45 a bit of a challenge. Friday the conference started, after brief introductions from the IE community, with guest speaker Reverend Karen Tse. For me, the most important thing she said was in the first two minutes of her 40 minute talk: "May we be reminded of our highest aspirations." I think it's really easy to forget our "highest aspirations" here in business school as we are introduced to new and fascinating topics, career choices, and lifestyles. It was a powerful event for me because it was another reminder to me of my passions, my desire to really make a difference in this world, however cliché that sounds. I did question one thing she said, that a lack of resources is no excuse to not fight for justice and so her organization was able to organize a lot of pro bono volunteers. In my experience, very few NGOs or non-profits manage to do that without dealing with high rates of "NGO burn out" and unreliability in their service provision. I think it's a topic that could be addressed at a future Net Impact event - working for an NGO is a great experience, but I think it would be useful to talk about the realities of day-to-day NGO work and how stressful, tiring, and non-glamorous it can be...

I'm just going to mention a few other bits of wisdom I liked from other speakers Friday and Saturday: Sir Robert Charles Swan, arctic explorer and environmental activist, presented via video from China. I liked his message to be positive and to look for solutions, not problems. Mr. Hanz Reitz, owner of a sustainable farm (my dream!) in India and advisor to Muhammad Yunus, said "don't be afraid to start small" and quoting Yunus, a "charity dollar has one life, a social business dollar is recycled over and over again." 

In one of the panels I attended, there was a social entrepreneur who works against human trafficking in Cambodia. We exchanged information. Hopefully we can get a useful partnership going between her organization and the anti-human trafficking NGO (the Tampep Association) I used to work for in Italy. 

In another panel, Bain and Accenture, two of the consulting firms I have researched for internships, talked about their social responsibility and sustainability initiatives. This was a great opportunity to see beyond their websites and meet the people actually working on these programs. It seems like about half the people I talk to here from notable consulting firms whose website's have "sustainability services" don't think that their offices actually do anything in this field. 

The last panel session I attended of the conference was on this year's BP oil spill. The discussion had an unexpected effect on me, it gave me a reason to go back to the U.S. While I think I'd like to experience Dubai, or China, or go back to Africa or the Middle East, or stay around in Europe for a bit longer, the oil spill talk made me think "I should go back and help get my country on the right track...." I think I should do that eventually, voting is not enough I'm afraid...

a long weekend in Madrid and the first day of LAUNCH

I spent this past weekend in Madrid. Many travelled north and south, but to save my budget and my internship-preparedness I stayed in the city to get some stuff done. I managed to get a few emails out to current students in my intake that previously worked in consulting firms I'm interested in interning for... still have to work on my CV and cover letters, the time is already not sufficient, even with a four day weekend! But, it should be noted what a great resource my fellow IE students are already proving to be. Just hearing their experiences with the consulting firms I'm interested in is very helpful. So besides internship prep, I had a good night out dancing near Plaza del Sol and a great next day with fellow classmates wandering around Retiro Park and attending the free MTV European Music Awards Katy Perry concert Sunday. I feel like I'm starting to make some good friends, and that is always a good feeling!

Today was our first day of the LAUNCH program. The LAUNCH program is the first part of the Accelerate program. The Accelerate program goes on throughout the IE MBA program through mini-workshops on soft-skills but is composed of three two-week periods, one before each term of core classes. So this first Accelerate block, LAUNCH, is about the following elements: creativity and action learning, inspiration and leadership, soft skills, careers, and awareness. I won't go too into detail in order not to ruin the surprise for future intakes, but I think the workshops are fun, a great way to meet more classmates, and IE has brought in some really qualified people to instruct some non-traditional, but useful b-school skills.

the honeymoon phase

Today, our last day of orientation, our last "class" was a presentation given by a few of the November 2009 intake students. One of the students called this phase of our MBA the honeymoon phase - we're just getting to know everyone and everyone seems so nice and pleasant and interesting, the professors seem funny and ingenious, and the schedule is long but fun. The message we heard over and over again this week was that we will be working very hard, and teams are going to have crisis, and we're going to have to need some high quality time management and team building skills for when the "honeymoon phase" wears off. So enjoy the beginning because it's going to get crazy!

Orientation topics have included an introduction to the case management method, an "action learning" exercise on teamwork, a review of the IE ethics code, and a first encounter with the career services department. The whole week has made me very excited for the year to come. I'm most excited about using the learning experience, including both the "hard" and "soft" skills we'll be learning, to figure out how my future career can be compatible with the kind of person I want to be.

They have already started to impress upon us the importance of networking... they even organized an open bar to lubricate social interaction with all 500 or so of our Nov. 2010 peers Wednesday night! I went home "early" at 1a.m. because I had a cold I didn't want to get any worse. An MBA in Madrid specifically is also about enjoying the Madrileña nightlife (which means it's completely normal to return home on the weekends, or even weekdays, at 7a.m.), and the school really encourages us to do so! It's all about balance... So far, it is resulting in a down-to-earth party hard, play hard atmosphere. 

Tonight I went to my first student club event. The Indian Club put on a great party with food and dancing to celebrate Diwali. 

yes

Yes. Yes, I'm very happy I'm at IE. Yes, I have already met a lot of cool people. Yes, I think it's going to be a great year. And yes, I think I'm going to find a great job at the end. Yes, the first day of school was good! Yes! 

First of all, the "new" Segovia campus is gorgeous. It might be new to IE, but the buildings date back to 1218! 

After a much needed coffee hour, the welcome speeches started with Santiago Iñiguez, President of IE University and Dean of IE Business School telling us to be persistent like Christopher Columbus was when he sought financing to sail west because it's a good entrepreneurial skill. He had to leave before the day was over to go back to Madrid because IE was organizing an event to try and find business solutions to the on-going troubles in Haiti. 

Then David Bach, Dean of Programs, gave not only a great speech on many topics, but also a great looking powerpoint. I'm sure I will see many great powerpoints during my year at IE to develop some great photo, color-matching skills :) One thing he noted was the challenge of living between and working with the contradictions of the modern world, for example, increasing globalization but increasing local focus on marketing, consumption, etc. Just what my "glocal eating" website tried to address...  

I don't have time to write about what everyone said, but one thing I wanted to say generally is that I really like how down to earth IE feels. There is no pompous attitude I felt visiting other highly ranked b-schools. I feel like it's going to be a really practical program that's really focused on creating savvy and creative leaders. 

The last presentation of the day was by a 2005 alumni Giovanni Lo Faro. He talked about his experience working for the Modo eyewear company. It was really great to see half of his presentation dedicated to the new eco-friendly line of eyeglasses they have. I feel like corporate social responsibility (CSR) and sustainability issues, what I would like to focus on in my future career, are really also going to be a focus at IE. 

I'm very happy with the first day. I met dozens of new people. I just hope I actually see most of them again! It's going to be a challenging, but fun first year! I'm off to eat and then sleep early - tomorrow we have orientation stuff scheduled from 9am to after midnight! 

being the tour guide in Madrid and Segovia

This weekend my boyfriend visited me for the first time since I have moved to Madrid. A few friends from Torino decided to join him here for the weekend to experience Spain for the first time. I planned a great weekend of activities for them all. I have to say, I'm really good at vacation planning. As soon as I have tickets for somewhere, I buy the guidebook (or if I'm short on cash or decide the whole book isn't necessary, print out the Wikitravel guide), and read it cover to cover at least once. I decide what sights are must-sees, what food I want to eat (this is always a very important part of traveling for me... if you've notice, a lot of the pictures I post are of food!), and what needs to be reserved ahead of time. I don't plan every last minute, otherwise you take out the improvisation and need for laziness in vacations. I just know when museums, etc. are closed, and at what hours to visit to hopefully avoid too much tourist frenzy. I take pleasure in watching my friends enjoy their vacation, love the experience. 

The first place we went that was also new for me was Segovia. I'll be going there again tomorrow for the first "real" day of school, but the schedule is full, and not with sightseeing. Here's the view of the city from the Alcázar (castle):

View of the castle, from the castle:

And a view of the Roman aqueduct and the restaurant Mesón Cándido, where we ate lunch. [picture] This restaurant opened in the 1780s! Each room is gorgeous, full of photos and reliques, wood finishing and tapestried walls. This is a photo of the owner with painter Salvador Dali. Their specialty is cuchinillo,  tender, roast baby pig. 

It is late and I need to put my best foot forward tomorrow. Tomorrow the IE international MBA really starts. Tomorrow I begin the course I started preparing for over two years ago... All the GMAT preparation, emailing of current students, interview nerves... all for a year of MBA that starts tomorrow! Congrats and good luck to myself in taking advantage of every moment!

study break

So the students enrolled in the pre-program were divided up into various groups. Several groups, including mine, had their pre-program courses last week (Oct. 18-22). Others only started this week (Oct.25-28). I’m really glad that mine were last week because that means this week I have had another “break” before starting the MBA! Although I have hardly taken a break…

Monday morning I was up early to join other 50 or so non-EU students at the police station to take our fingerprints for the NIE immigration card. Having the NIE number (although we still have to wait another month to get the actual card) means I could start shopping for my iPhone! I really want an iPhone! For the last 5 years in Europe, I’ve had a simple, pay as you go phone. I decided it was time to upgrade. While I’ve handed over all my data to get the long-awaited Apple merchandise, I still have to wait a week for them to switch my number and get my hands on my new iPhone! Here’s to hoping it goes smoothly…

On Monday I also attended an event at the Casa Arabe where I’m taking bi-weekly Arabic lessons. This event, called “The Tunisian Solar Plan,” was part of the Casa Arabe’s Forum on Economic Events with the Arab world. It was really interesting and motivating. As I listened to the Director of the Tunisian Society of Energy and Gas (STEG) present to potential Spanish investors, I was thinking, yes, this is what I want my transition into the private sector to be – I need to work on issues that are important to me and that stimulate me intellectually. Corporate social responsibility regarding the environment and the increasingly popular green movement are issues that businesses can no longer ignore. A man in the audience from the Spanish bank Santander asked the Tunisian businessman when they would know the outcome of the latest round of bids… probably to know if one of his clients would be getting the job, for example, of building a photovoltaic plant, and thus, his bank would be doing the financing. It’s all about money in the end, but isn’t it great that the money is trying to promote renewable energies?! I learned that between Italy and Tunisia there are underground cables that cross the Mediterranean to supply Europe with Tunisian energy. Fascinating. Tunisia wants to become a leading Arab exporter of renewable energies to Europe… I could go on and on with the interesting facts and numbers I wrote down, ask me if your interested.

On a related note, Wednesday I got my electricity bill from Iberdrola. In each bill, they include a little display of where “my” energy comes from and of how much carbon dioxide they emit. Apparently, in 2009, in the whole “Spanish Electric System” 27.9% of energy produced was from renewable energies. Seems like a rather larger percentage! In the same period (I think, I don’t quite fully understand the little info sheet yet), Iberdrola’s mix of energy included 12.5% renewables. When I have more time, or hopefully for one of my classes, I will be able to look into this further and have more accurate comments and reflections….

I spent the rest of the week going over some of the material we went over in the pre-program. Unfortunately for my studying, but fortunate for my social life, I had three visitors arrive Thursday from Italy, so I’ve been busy with them seeing the city all weekend. Updates on that Monday before school starts!

I’m a little nervous! I’m taking a break from my visitors Monday to catch up reading everything the school has posted online this weekend about our first week. I kind of wish we had all of the information sooner than 5 days before the program starts, but I will manage!

pre-program, check

The pre-program is over. What a week. I now remember what college was like... always not getting enough sleep, and I didn't even go out! And thanks to the two night classes and a study group for Financial Accounting, I missed two Arabic classes and a yoga class... But I knew that would happen when I signed up for those extracurriculars. MBA is the priority.

My first case studies have been completed. I spent at least four hours pouring over just the first one... and while I did finally manage to balance my balance sheet (and yes, I felt like a rock star), I still got a lot of numbers wrong. That's why I was so presently surprised at how easy it was to resolve my doubts and mistakes during our first work group session. We had great group dynamics. Where as I might have spent 20 minutes going over one transaction, in the group, everyone offered their ideas, we all usually liked one more than the others, chose those debits and credits and moved on. It was great! We finished all three cases in record time, albeit with some errors, but hey, this is just the pre-program and we're only just getting our feet wet! Thanks pre-program Group 1 Financial Accounting Group 5 for a great first week. 

The pre-program classes have already started to change the way I think about some of my business ideas, and about what it means to analyze business processes. Financial accounting might not be something I want to do everyday the rest of my life, but I can definitely see the value in understanding it and being able to analyze income statements and cash flows.  

Plaza del Conde del Valle de Suchil

This week I found a great new place to study or read while it's still relatively warm out... a little park not too far from my apartment - Plaza del Conde del Valle de Suchil. It's not Retiro, but it's close and has lots of benches. 

Now off to unpack my box of clothes that has arrived from Italy, clean, make dinner, and start the weekend!

a lot of firsts

So the whirlwind has started! Yesterday was the first day of the pre-program! So far, the teachers are excellent and I really think I'm going to get a lot out of the pre-program. I'm having an easier time understanding the material in Quantitative Analysis than Financial Accounting, but I think so is everyone else. I'm really glad I finished at least half of the online course I paid for with MBA Math. It gave be a good background for understanding a lot of the excel functions and accounting principles we are learning. Yesterday I also bought my first textbook, for €55.80! I'd try to buy the rest used, but since we have not been given a list of the books we will need, I'm a little hesitant to assume that we will be needing all the books the past intake was instructed to get...

I had met some of my classmates already through get-togethers organized online by Facebook, but this was really the first time I was able to meet many of them face to face. Every piece of literature and every IE alum will tell you the same thing - what an international group! In our Financial Accounting class we had to introduce ourselves and people, just in my pre-program group, literally come from all over the world. This diversity of cultures, together with the diversity of experiences, already led to many thought-provoking questions in my first day of classes. I'm excited to get the get-to-know-you phase over and to start making some friends!

This weekend was also the first time I used my new gym membership. I went with Palestra. It's a bit pricey but it's literally 5 seconds from my apartment building, and it's the only gym I could find in a 10 block radius that opens at 7am. I like to get my exercise done in the morning. Getting up is already no fun, so whether I do it at 6:50 or 7:30 makes little difference to me. I might as well get up half an hour earlier to burn some calories and stay healthy, especially because I usually feel like I have a million things to get done in the afternoon... The gym is really nice and it's all-inclusive: my monthly fee covers the cardio machines, muscle toning machines, and all their courses offered like yoga, pilates, tai chi etc. For now I'm just trying to do yoga two nights a week, but I might add tai chi later. I did tai chi for several months when living in Italy and really enjoyed it.

So that's my start at IE! So far, so good. Now, off to finish the reading I need to do!

P.S. My landlord and his father are so cute! They just came to put "prettier" drawer handles in my bathroom and baked for me a Spanish tortilla!

my favorite gelato and a book presentation

I'm still in Italy, and in the past few days I returned to Torino once again to visit my old co-workers. The first stop I made, however, was to my favorite gelateria (ice cream parlor) GROM. Their flavors are so rich and distinct, I believe, because of the high quality products they use. This time I had their crema di Grom (crema or cream ice cream is essentially custard), ricotta con fichi canditi (ricotta cheese with candied figs), and marron glacé (candied chestnuts). Their flavors vary according to what's seasonal in each month of the year. GROM is definitely a business I'd like to study more in depth. From their website:

"The idea is to apply to the artisanal gelato production, a principle common to all the best restaurants in the world: the purchase of absolute top quality raw materials.
With this purpose in mind, at the end of 2002, Guido Martinetti and Federico Grom set out to search the best that agriculture has to offer, from the Langhe to Sicily and Central America. The standards are strict: only fresh seasonal fruit, coming from the best consortia in Italy and from our farm Mura Mura no colorings or artificial additives, Lurisia mountain water for the sorbets and high-quality whole milk for the creams, organic eggs and a selection of the best cocoas and coffees from central America."

They started in Torino and in the last few years have expanded across Italy, to Paris, and even to New York. While they use biodegradable and environmentally friendly products, my question is, with their geographic expansion, how do they make up for the carbon footprint of transporting all these green products?

This is one example of why I think it would be extremely interesting to study supply chain management if I want to be able to consult on corporate social responsibility initiatives.

What else did I do this weekend? I went to the presentation of a very interesting book called Essere Maschi (To Be Males). The event was part of a series of seminars in a conference put on by the group Maschìle Pluràle, an association of men that now has chapters all over Italy. The group formed partly in response to the feminist movement in Italy in the 1980s to help men "find places and instruments to start a research on their identity, on their relations with women and with other men, on their place in the world, on the perception they have inherited from their bodies, and on their sexuality" (translated from their website). The title of this weekend's conference in Torino was "That dark object desire: the male sexual imagination and the issue of prostitution." My former employer, the Tampep Association, was involved in the events because we help victims of human trafficking forced into the European sex trade. The book Essere Maschi by Stefano Ciccone addresses all these issues. It was interesting because during my three years at Tampep we had always sought to involve more the male perspective, especially to help us reach out to the clients of the women we helped. Hopefully this joint event has helped Tampep in laying down the groundwork for future projects. In addition to all I learned about working with the public sector and about project theory, development, and management, I think my time with this NGO will really help me in business. Working as they say "on the grassroots level" really gives one perspective on all the many various stakeholders in social and commercial phenomena and on the importance of detail in implementing any project that aims for social change.

practicing being a businesswoman / fashionista for life

So I'm back in Italy again! Sorry for anyone reading who thought that this was going to be about Spain - I promise, it will be!

This week I've been helping my boyfriend and his brother design some bijoux for their stores. It was fun to see the immediate turn around. I designed 10 or so pins for women's scarves or coats, and five were sold the next morning! Last spring when I visited Madrid to check out neighborhoods, I also helped the bf buy merchandise from the wholesalers south of Sol. I also went with him a month ago to the MACEF trade fair in Milan. He left yesterday for China to stock up on the newest beads and bijoux. 

Watching my boyfriend and his brother start their jewelry businesses from the ground up motivated me in part to apply to business school. Through their eyes I've learned a little bit about the bureaucracy of opening a business in Italy. More fascinating still, I've seen what they pay for earrings or necklaces that I might have bought for 10 times the price or more if I didn't have them to supply me... It's really interesting to enter the world that goes on behind the small business, to see where they get what gets put on the shelf.

Fortunately, I don't like about 1/2 - 3/4 of what my boyfriend sells, so I don't steal too many possible sales from him :) I've learned to head his advice when going with him to buy wholesale: don't get what you like, get what those "boring, fad-following, tacky" teenagers or ladies like, because that's what's in the market, that's what sells, and that's what's paying the bills! So that's why five of my pins sold yesterday, I didn't make anything I'd actually want (I did that this morning hehe), I made designs I thought would sell, and so they did! Of course there are business where that's not the case, but that's not what my boyfriend nor his brother are currently dealing in.

Too bad I don't want to go into jewelry design... it was just diversion for a day for me. My ideal small business would definitely involve food... This weekend, we attended the local chocolate festival, and thank God I can't find the names of the vendors because I'd be way too tempted to seek them out and buy more absolutely amazing chocolate. Believe me, I've had my fill for awhile.

This morning, I delivered some new merchandise to my boyfriend's shop in Genova and sat down for lunch to enjoy some testaroli al pesto. Genova and the Ligurian region in general is famous for its pesto. While I've been to Genova numerous times, bought fresh pesto in the grocery store in Torino, and even made my own, I had never actually had any in a Genovese restaurant. And... the jury (me) likes my own pesto better! That's the way it goes in Italy, the food is always amazing, but everyone has their own little recipe. What I had for lunch today was a little more garlic-y and a little short on the basil for my preferences. Here's a picture of the same dish I made for my family this summer. I was given the testaroli pasta as a gift from my coworkers before leaving Italy. It came from the specialty "slow foods" store Eataly that started in Torino, but now has several locations, including a brand new one in New York. 

Doing touristy things reminds me of the magic and beauty of Italy... it balances out my love/hate relationship for the country. I tell everyone I never want to live here again, but really, as I'm contemplating what to put as my first choice office for 2011 summer internships with consulting firms, Rome is definitely a very close second right now to Madrid. I think with the right, challenging yet rewarding job, I'd be happy establishing myself permanently in either place... as long as I eventually get to buy my Mediterranean farmhouse with a killer garden... and maybe a small vineyard :) Dreams!

quality time and strike time

This week I got to spend some quality time with a friend from college visiting b-schools on this side of the pond. It was nice to have an old friend explore my new life with me... and at my side meeting new friends and classmates! Our best adventure of the week was definitely getting tapas at the Mercado San Miguel. We ate really different things that I haven’t seen elsewhere, like croquets with mussels, smoked sardines, cured tuna, and barnacles! Take a look! I tagged along on her visit to IE. I had visited the campus in April, but never taken the formal tour. It was fun to get a sneak preview of the rooms I’m sure I’ll get to know all too well in the coming months. 

This past week, I’ve also spent some quality time getting to know current IE students from last year’s Nov. intake. I met up with members from IE’s Consulting and Net Impact clubs. One of my first questions to both of them was how much free time they really had. I wanted to judge whether or not I would be able to juggle afternoon yoga classes at the gym I’m considering joining and the cheap Arabic classes I’ve signed up for. As I suspected, they suggested to limit non-MBA activities, because even with out them, nearly all students have a hard time even finishing the required daily reading. I figure I’ll give everything a try up till Christmas, and then I’ll be able to better judge what works for me. Meeting up with both of them also allowed me to ask a bunch of questions on the respective clubs’ activities, and to get an idea of the events they put on and the services they offer. I definitely plan to be involved in both to the best of my abilities. I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again, I really enjoy how all of the IE students and representatives I’ve interacted with so far have been so open to helping new and perspective students. There’s that feeling of “I remember being your shoes.” 

The result of one of my meetings with current students: the birth of THE tapa burger - that's hand mixed burger meat, caramelized onions and pancetta, homemade honey mustard sauce, and a bun with special sauce and melted manchego cheese - credits to Isabelle Chiaradia, Justin Randall, and myself!

On a totally different note, today September 29, 2010 there is a huelga general (general strike) in Spain. It is in response in large part to the austerity measures put in place by the Spanish government since the economic crisis hit. I ventured out around 3pm and didn’t see much more commotion than usual. The stores that close at siesta time were closed, and all the others seemed open as usual. I saw a few more police vans cruising around than usual, and less people going in and out of the metro. All seemed calm except for a brief argument between flag-wavers and police down by the Plaza del Sol (the city center where there are small protests most weekends). Last night when I went out to meet some IE-ers from my intake in Plaza Santa Ana there was a pro-strike concert, and on my way home I saw a parade of protestors, but nothing too rowdy. Apparently there were more protests and riots this morning. Here’s the link to WSJ summary in English of the day. I just hope nothing spills over to tomorrow, because I have to travel early! I feel for both sides of the argument. Austerity measures and disgruntled workers are bad for both the employers’ and employees’ personal and financial lives. Hopefully we’ll have a more in-depth economic analysis of this day in one of our upcoming MBA classes!

beer and tapas belly... and other extracurricular activities

A beer and tapas belly... that is what is going to grow on me if I keep up my lazy version of the Spanish lifestyle! Especially since a lot of the yummy tapas are fried, and especially since I can handle beer a lot better in this dry climate than my drink of choice, a good glass of red wine. This is how it's going to be for me in Madrid - beer (always chilled to perfection) to cool me down in the summer, and red wine (that deserves more international recognition) to heat me up in the winter!

Last night I enjoyed a tour of the local cervecerías (beer joints) in my neighborhood with a new friend. Here's the story... so yesterday I'm out on my balcony collecting my dried sheets from the clothes line and down on the ground floor of my building's courtyard is something speaking some American-accented English! And his face is familiar! It was someone I saw at the Dems Abroad meeting last week. What a small world, he lives in my building! I immediately introduced myself and suggested we go get a drink... but he was off to visit the Casa Arabe. "Casa Arabe? As in, 'House of Arabic?' Are you studying Arabic?" I asked. He was! I studied classical Arabic intensively during my three years of undergrad at Georgetown. When I moved to Italy to work for an NGO, the only lessons available in the city I was in cost more than what I was paying weekly for groceries, and so I had to give it up. Just earlier yesterday afternoon, wanting to take advantage of being in a big, international city, I emailed a few language schools around Madrid to see what they offered. And the perfect solution found me! I went with him to the Casa Arabe, got their matriculation information, and visited the lovely little museum and bookstore. The Casa Arabe is part of a Spain-wide initiative organized by the Agencia Española de Cooperación para el Desarrollo (AECID) (Spanish Agency of Cooperation for Development), part of the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to appreciate and spread the knowledge other cultures. For example, in Madrid there is also a Casa Africa, Casa America, and Casa Asia.

Tomorrow I'm meeting up with a current IE student and one of my main objectives of the encounter will be to determine how much "free" time I'm going to have outside of school. Then I'll be able to determine whether or not, or when, I can fit in gym time for the beer belly issue and Arabic time for my love of languages!

Landing Days, Dems Abroad, and travel

So much has happened since the last time I blogged! I feel like that's going to be the case during most of this MBA experience!

First of all, last Tuesday I attended one of the Landing Days session the Student Office puts on. Useful information was given on cell phone contracts, bank accounts, apartment hunting, and immigration. Since I had already found my studio apartment, I could fill out the immigration form right then and there requesting my NIE. One thing I really like about all these initial orientation activities is that they combine students from all of IE's exchange and master programs so I've been able to meet people also in other programs. 

Later that night, I went to my first Democrats Abroad meeting in Spain. I was previously a member in the Piedmont/Liguria/Valle d'Aosta chapter in Italy, so I decided to check out the Madrid chapter. I like Dems Abroad for a variety of reasons. First of all, the meetings are great for networking. Case in point, I met an IE professor! Second, because while I might not always follow party lines, I enjoy the philosophical discussions and the international nature of the events put on by the organization. At this September meeting, for example, Francisco Fonseca, Director of the European Commission in Spain, gave a speech on the future of EU-US relations post-Lisbon Treaty. 

The rest of the week I dedicated to making my new little apartment home. That means, of course, a trip to the urban sprawl that is IKEA. I'm still researching what internet contract to sign up with once I get my NIE. I think I want something with a little more umph than the company the school promotes - StudentsPhone, offers. 

I spent the weekend in Valencia with my boyfriend. Thank God for low-cost airfare! He can fly from Italy to meet me in Madrid, and many other Spanish towns for next to nothing. Unfortunately, the Joaquin Sabina concert we bought tickets to was cancelled, and it rained a lot. So not a lot of beach time nor Spanish music, but we did get to meet up with one of my boyfriend's childhood friends and so we enjoyed a local's take on the city... and a lot of paella and tapas!

some good news, and some bad news

The most exciting news... after seeing 4 more studios and 2 shared apartments yesterday, I got confirmation from the landlord of the studio I saw two days ago could be mine! My feet hurt so bad from walking all over the city, I was so overjoyed. It's going to be tiny, but I love the area. I love that I'm two minutes away from shops, restaurants and two movie theaters on the north part of the Fuencarral. I love that I can walk to the campus in 25 minutes. I love that I can walk down to Bilbao and Chueca in 15!

Now the bad news... I went to sign for my Caja Madrid account this morning - no problems and great service there. So to fill up my account with my Sallie Mae loan, I needed to cross the street and talk to the people in the IE financial aid and administration offices. While everyone seemed sympathetic of my cause, there's some computer/bank/technology program, and so my money could be transferred today (if I'm lucky)... or Friday. I was hoping that since the school opened my bank account for me with Caja Madrid, that it could have been an automatic procedure to transfer the money arriving from Sallie Mae into the account. Not the case. I understand, I just hope my landlord understands and will be able to wait for the money until Monday. I'm just a bit, ok a lot, bummed because I really wanted to get out of this hostel. Someone was coughing away the other night and I've definitely come down with a cold and a very painful pinched nerve in my neck from carrying around my laptop everywhere.

Besides looking for apartments yesterday, I went to two presentations put on by the Student Office for new students. The first one was about how to access the online services of the library. The second was a bit longer, but very appropriate for nascent MBAers: "The Sustainable Student" a talk given by Geoff Martin, currently a Personal Trainer in Madrid and formerly an MBA student and Strategy Consultant. I liked that he reminded us to make health a priority. I recently read in the Italian edition of the Harvard Business Review an article by HBS Professor Clayton M. Christensen about managing your life and priorities. One of Christensen's main points was to decide your priorities and stick with them, never allow yourself those "just this once" moments, otherwise after the first slip of judgment or surrender to laziness, it only becomes easier to do it a second time. Martin's talk had a similar theme, but pumped us all up about making fitness a high priority if we don't want avoidable health problems in our late 30s. I checked out a gym by my hopefully new apartment yesterday afterward. It's pretty pricey, so I'll have to evaluate that purchase carefully...

Wishing myself luck for a healed neck nerve and for a sympathetic meeting with the landlord in two hours!

que locura!

Que locura (what craziness) would describe well my first two days in Madrid. Last night, my first night here, was a once a year event called Noche en Blanco. What it involved basically was the city of Madrid throwing a huge, night-long party. There were video and music installations everywhere, museums were open all night and free, and according to El País (national newspaper) over 700,000 people filling the downtown streets. It was absolutely gorgeous, so lively, so fun, so creative. 

The other crazy part - the mad apartment seeking going on in the hostel I'm staying in. Everyone here is looking for an apartment, or at least a room in a shared apartment. I decided right from the beginning to just ignore their phone calls, to not stress myself out if they were checking out the same apartments I am. But of course, I'm asking for tips! I saw one place today in a neighborhood I really like near the Quevedo metro stop. Two issues, one more easily resolved than the other. First, another person is also interested, so the guy who showed me the apartment has to see what's up with the person his sister showed the apartment. Second, and not so big of a deal (or at least I'm telling myself that) is that there's no oven or even convection oven... I figure I could buy a small convectional one... We'll see... I have three appointments tomorrow - two more studios and one room.

off to Madrid!

I'm finally off to Madrid today! I have a round trip ticket from Torino, I'll come back to Italy at the end of the month. The goal of these three weeks will be first and foremost to find an apartment, whether its my own or just a room. Other stuff I'll be dealing with in the next few days will be a cell phone contract, making sure all's good with my Caja Madrid account, and starting the NIE immigration documents.

I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed with all the materials put on the IE Blackboard site in the last few weeks, and anxious about the apartment search. How many people should I live with? IE students or other young professionals/students found online? Alone? But now that I'm actually about to take off, it feels better just to be almost in Madrid... These choices are much better made crawling the streets than scraping away my peripheral vision looking at online classifieds on idealista.com day in and out. 

Hopefully my next post will be about my new home!

i'm so lucky

Yesterday I went to Torino to visit my old co-workers at the Tampep Association. As I was taking the train back to Alessandria through the dark, Italian countryside I couldn't help thinking to myself, yet again, how lucky I am.

My choices + coming to Italy various times for various periods over the last five years have given me so many things... friendships that will last a lifetime across continents, a wonderful boyfriend, great travel adventures, a gastronomic education, and an amazingly complex, challenging and dream (at the time) job.

It was so nice to walk into the office where I spent my time nearly everyday over the past three years. It was fun to talk about how in my absence, office politics have stayed more or less the same, about how everyone's lives are going, and about how the work is increasingly complicated...

Working for Tampep involved many difficult situations, we worked mostly with trafficked migrant women who have been forced into prostitution in Europe. The situations we encountered, plus all the other environmental and political disasters of the world kind of made me really doubt at times the goodness of humanity. But it's stories like my co-workers told me yesterday, for example, of the kind man who helped them pull the Association's little van out of a ditch one night when they were doing street outreach work, or the time when a few local fast food chain employees gave us free extra food at the end of the night to pass out the women we met on street, that make me believe again.

I really hope with the super job I find after the MBA that I can give back financially to Tampep, and to similar causes.

last days of freedom!

I'm down to the last days of my pre-Madrid, pre-IE Business School MBA life! This is my last week of playing around in Italy before starting the apartment search Saturday in Madrid! 

In reality, my "IE Business School MBA life" started two years ago around this time when I started studying for the GMAT,  and I never stop bothering my boyfriend with business ideas that I can't wait to try out with IE's supposedly great entrepreneurial resources. We made a mini-trip to the beach this past weekend... chilling out with this view in sight made me think up of a million ways to find work in a nice beach town.

view of Portovenere from Isola Palmaria beach

But then again, how could I choose just one? Beach town, that is. Better to travel the world working first, see many great beaches, and then figure out a time-share plan... Hehe... The key is to dream big, and that's what I plan on doing throughout the MBA! Good luck to me and my future classmates, especially with the upcoming apartment searches!

loans and learning

Today my Sallie Mae loan should be arriving in the coffers of IE. According to Google, the exchange rate is at 1.2714 euros to USD, not too bad. I'm not sure, however, how that digital exchange will all work out between Sallie Mae and IE, I guess I'll just have to see once I get my hands on my Caja Madrid account information. More updates on that later.

During my blitz of meeting up with old friends and spending time with my boyfriend in Italy, I've been reading Lords of Strategy by Walter Kiechel. I have to recommend it anyone like me researching a career in the consulting industry. It gives a really great into to the industry's history and tools of the trade. I'll be taking it along with me to the beach for the next two days, maybe I'll finish it between lying in the sun and the train rides.

vacation in Italy

I'm not quite over the jet lag yet, but I've had a few good days so far in my mini-Italian vacation. I'm staying in my boyfriend's new apartment in Alessandria, basically a mini-Torino. It's got that ex-industrial, northern Italian feel. And thank goodness for all those southern immigrants from FIAT's glory days in the 60s because all the good food I've been eating here so far is from the Bella Napoli restaurant down the road! How I do love frutti di mare (fruits of the sea, i.e. shellfish).

Besides putzing around this little town with my best friend visiting from Paris while the bf works during the day, I've also already had the chance to escape to the country a little. One of my other U.S. expat friends and her Italian husband bought a large cascina (farmhouse) this spring in the Piedmont countryside. I was with them when they signed the papers, and then also after when they sat a little shell shocked at a nearby restaurant drinking a celebratory glass of bubbly. I think they got a great deal - huge, already-possible-to-live-in house, vineyard, fruit trees, profitable hazelnut crop... At the same time one of my Italian co-workers bought a one bedroom apartment for the same price in the city!

Take a look at this backyard!

And take a look at the contents of the goody bag I got to take home!

What does all this have to do with my MBA? Well, just coming back to Italy makes me think about the same things I wrote two posts ago - where do I want to live and when? Do I want to make somewhere in Italy my permanent home? Or Spain? Shouldn't I probably be sending informational interview requests now to firms' offices in these places as a priority over China or Dubai? Yes and no. It's hard starting over in new cities, but I also love jumping into new experiences, languages, cultures... So I'll keep discussing and rehashing this subject for awhile until I figure out what's possible, what's the best for my career, what will allow me to pay off my loans and to have a good quality of living.

putting myself out there

I've been debating whether or not to put this blog out there in the world wide web of search engines. I didn't want this "diary" to be limited because I had to worry about what recruiters or the school would think. But then again, I think it would be interesting to see what comments my writing might provoke, they might even be helpful... So, for now, Google, Yahoo!, Bing I'm letting you loose on my blog diary!

I leave tomorrow for Italy, so I'm going to get back to doing things away from the computer before everyone else comes home. That involves taking in some sun on the hammock, making sure I don't forget how to play the piano, and maybe watching some TV :)