doing lots of exploring in South Africa

The title of this post is literal and figurative. Literally, myself and the other 15 Emzingo fellows have had a great time travelling the two weekends. 

Two weekends ago we went to the Drakensburg mountain range and stayed at an AMAZING hostel called Amphitheatre Backpackers Lodge outsid of the town of Bergville. We spent Friday night dancing and falling around their wall climbing cave. Saturday we went hiking in the beautiful Royal Natal National Park.

[picture coming soon]

Sunday a group of us took a day trip to Lesotho. More amazing hospitality and mountain scenary there, but unfortunately also poor infrastructure and kids selling rats as meals.

[picture coming soon]

This past weekend we flew also as a group to Cape Town. Our first stop was Robben Island where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for 26 years. I have to say the experience was not as emotional or impactful as I expected. Reading books by or about him has touched me more. The beautiful things we saw included Table Mountain, the Cape of Good Hope, and the seaside at Camps Bay. The trip reminded me how much I love the ocean... and good nightlife! I took a winter dip in the strong waves lapping at the Cape of Good Hope, and went out dancing every night with the fun Emzingoers.

[pictures coming soon]

This weekend, I'm staying in Joburg and hopefully checking out some spots, like art galleries, nightlife, and local nature reserves, I've been too busy to pop by during the work week.

Figuratively, the Emzingo program has continued to bring us on a self-exploring journey of personal development. Tonight we had another session at Wits Business School, this time on personal branding. While we already touched on some of the same subject matter during the Emzingo orientation in Madrid, and even before that, during some of the IE MBA career seminars, being in a focused program with relatively more free time than the normal MBA class week plus Emzingo's focus on getting to know yourself, really lets us fellows have the time to consider and work on the personal development exercises we're given. Before, I'd always appreciate the content taught, but never have time, or maybe even the right mind frame to go back and really work on it. I am slowly developing, pinning down if you will, the adjectives I want to describe myself, my brand, and the core values that I have that need to be present in my future career.

Lastly, my Emzingo consulting partner and I have also been exploring a new assignment! We have scaled back our Cheesekids work to one day a week and are now working the rest of our days with the HUB Johannesburg. Taken from their website:

"We aim to be a modern habitat for social and innovative entrepreneurs, providing opportunities to inspire, support, incubate, learn and collaborate. We serve as an interface between communities and economies, government, business and the non-profit sectors. Our community-based approach and sustainable practices are reflected in our membership, team and the space that we create." 

In addition to working with a really cool, urban, and international organization we are experiencing what it's like to be true consultants, re-scoping projects and managing multiple clients and deliverables. I'm enjoying putting my new MBA skills to practice in the marketing exercise we've been asked to perfirm.

organizational behavior

Organizational behavior, or OB as it's known around here term 1 of the IE IMBA, is a really important subject. How we deal with our relationships by "managing up," out, or down really does have an effect on our motivation to perform. While our cases studies cover people's people management issues in professional work settings, I find the principles applicable to all sorts of group work. Today we delivered an important group presentation on a case about career choices and dealing with frustrating colleagues... and I can't stop thinking of some of my own relationships in terms of the characters we've "met" in our OB cases. I tell myself "I have to be less like Mike, be less cocky and self-assured," or "I have to be less like Lisa, such a big cry baby." The analysis is a little superficial, but the point is that I've managed up and down in my previous job sometimes with success and sometimes with no visible results, but without the vocabulary I'm learning now. Learning these terms, frameworks, and then the strategies of how to actually evaluate and resolve certain types of situations doesn't necessarily make my relationship frustrations less acute, but it definitely gives me more confidence about how to solve them in ways that are neither passive aggressive, nor too abrasive. 

On a different note entirely, good luck to my work group member who has jetted off to London for an internship interview!

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

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!

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!

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!

informational interviews and moving around the world

Today I started my draft email to send out to those lucky industry experts I will be requesting an informational interview with. Oh networking... I think it's actually a really good skill to cultivate, not just for business, but for life in general. Building up one's self confidence by reaching out to the seemingly unreachable, or learning to ask for what you want are not things most people can actually do. I ask myself so many times why I always have to decide on the most difficult and complicated paths... but in the end, I know it's the only way I feel challenged and happy with my life, because I've truly taken advantage of every opportunity I could, even if it's been lonely or demanding.

Within the various consulting firms I'm interested in, as I decide to who or to which country offices I want to make a contact with, I have to ask myself a lot of questions about my future. At first, the MBA seemed like a little breather - I'd have a bit of time to just learn and casually network before I had to decide my whole future. Au contraire! some of these internship applications for next summer are supposedly due before the IE November intake even begins! Even though I already started to outline some of these decisions in my b-school applications, I feel like I have to make so many decisions again too soon!

The first thing that comes to my mind is: I want to keep exploring! 

I am enthralled by China and its huge investments in solar energy and how its and other BRIC countries' development will affect the world economy, and natural environment... and so, how cool would it be to be where it's happening now, work a few years in China - yes please! I took a summer course in Chinese. While we only got through four basic chapters, it's a start! 

I also would love to re-learn Arabic... I was really good, I swear!!, at the end of undergrad. But then I decided to go work for an Italian NGO and I was paying more weekly for Arabic tutoring than for groceries and I had to give it up to survive my professional adventures in Italy. So what about working a few years in the Middle East? Where I could see how the energy industry is changing... But, will these offices even take me if my language skills need major work? 

Or will I want to stay in Spain? I'm afraid of falling in love like I did with Italy (although after actually living in Italy for awhile, and having to deal with their postal system and many other inconveniences, shall we say, I decided I'm only going back on a permanent basis with a much better salary). Spanish was the first foreign language I ever learned. And, I love siestas! My mother's family is from Sicily, and the last few years I've been able to go visit our cousins there in August, and nothing is more delightful than mare, mangiare, dormire, mare e mangiare di nuovo, e dormire di nuovo (translation: seaside, eat, sleep, seaside, eat again, sleep again). Taking a nap after lunch is truly a luxury everyone should experience. Spain's also a big investor in wind and solar energy. And speaking of energy, Madrid is just full of it! I can't wait!

So, I guess that I want to intern in places that I don't want to live in forever - I want to take advantage of the opportunity to move around the globe while I still don't have anything like a house or car to look after. But I do eventually want my own vegetable garden, and a library with room for a piano... in other words, to call a city home and maybe plant some long-term roots. I think ideally I'd like to work in a firm's offices in China, or Spain, or the Middle, or even South America for a few years, and then relocate to their San Fran office and travel out of there around the world. 

Good luck to myself in making this work! The first step in achieving anything is wanting it as my boyfriend says!

i heart Facebook

Some very industrious future classmates of mine started earlier this year a group on Facebook called "IE MBA November 2010 Intake," and I cannot tell you what a resource it has already been. For example, this past Friday afternoon I posted a question on the group wall asking who else was signing up for the SANITAS health care plan. 21 comments and a new post later (all in a 4 day time frame, 2 if you don't count the weekend) we have helped each other to figure out what this service is exactly offering to IE students. 

Similar discussions on scholarship and visa application procedures have been hashed out on other threads. Since the school offices are sometimes overloaded with emails, this Facebook group has definitely become the fastest way to get information on our upcoming MBA program, in my opinion.

The only thing I'm going to be a little hesitant posting advice on is  regarding the apartment search (at least until my abode is secured). I feel like any edge I get on that with my budget is like finding gold! I am very excited to get the apartment hunt over with.

Now, off to read the new forum discussion on summer internships...