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!

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!

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.

vacation vs. prep time

One thing I am looking forward to when school starts is the non-procrastination option. With a million things to do, and less than a million moments to do them in, one thing a demanding work or school schedule does is force me to work. While I feel like I've been more than productive this summer, I still don't feel my productivity juices flowing at 100%. I am torn between sitting down like a good little girl and starting my applications to consulting firms for internships next summer, finishing my self-imposed online math camp at MBAmath.com, and just sitting around not doing much of anything... oh the luxury of time off.

Today's the first day back to high school for three of my younger siblings, so maybe we can do some homework together tonight...