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!

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!