Live from the first day of class!!

Enrique Dans - Information Systems

This class looks REALLY interesting and the professor is both fun and well respected in the industry.





- Please excuse the brevity and typos. Posting from my iPhone

The difference between a rut and a grave

“The only difference between a rut and a grave is their dimensions.” - Ellen Glasgow

I am by no means in a rut. Maybe this is because of my outlook, or maybe it is because of the incredible people I have met here who have helped support me. Either way I am quite content still after several difficult events.

I will explain:

So far in Spain I have been robbed twice (this is surprising because I have traveled to 35+ countries and never experienced robbery), I sprained my ankle, I broke the screen of my iPhone, I’ve had my passport and hard drive stolen, I broke my iPhone completely, and remain homeless even today.

I was joking with a friend this afternoon about girls. He mentioned that he was hoping to meet some nice girls soon and I mentioned that I was still on the bottom of Maslow’s Pyramid and I couldn’t even think of these things (for those of you who are unfamiliar with Maslow’s Pyramid, basically it categorizes the ‘needs’ we have as humans beings - from the most basic to the most spiritual). For me, still without a permanent home, good physical health, or easy communication, I am still at the bottom of the pyramid of needs.

So am I in a rut? Well, that depends on perspective I guess. Certainly I have experienced a sequence of unfortunate events. However, the difference for me is that for one reason or another I have found myself surrounded by good people, willing to bend over backwards to help me (and buy me the occasional drink, which also helps!).

I suppose in life we will all face hard times. This is inevitable. But whether we choose to let our hard times determine our outlooks, whether we choose to let them determine our fates, I guess this is the difference between a rut and a grave.

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Opening Ceremonies of IE IMBA 2011

The opening ceremonies of the International MBA program were held today in Segovia, an old Roman outpost about 1.5 hours from Madrid. The IE Business School has in the past years built a full university here called IE University.

The campus is composed of a converted convent (Convent of Santa Cruz la Real) dating back to 1218. It is believed that Columbus came here in order to further his case to the king of Spain for financing his voyage. It is a truly remarkable campus, something like Indiana Jones meets Wall Street. Surrounding the modern, sleek classrooms are ruins many hundreds of years old. Glass cut-aways in the floor expose even more ruins beneath yet uncovered.

We came for the opening ceremonies, held in the cathedral of the former convent. I must say it was a different experience being served beer and wine in such a surrounding. I wonder if the sisters 500 years ago would have approved.

Either way, the best part of the experience was surely meeting many more of my classmates. I am continually impressed by their intelligence, caliber, and good humor. Surely IE will offer us all a great education. But even more certain is that these new relationships, just now forming, will offer us much much more.

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Pundonor

“In Spain, honor is a very real thing. Called pundonor, it means honor, probity, courage, self-respect and pride in one word. Pride is the strongest characteristic of the race and it is a matter of pundonor not to show cowardice. This honor thing is not some fantasy that I am trying to inflict on you… I swear it is true. Honor to a Spaniard, no matter how dishonest, is as real a thing as water, wine, or olive oil.

There is honor among pickpockets and honor among whores. It is simply that the standard differs.” – Hemingway, “Death in the Afternoon”

Within one week in Spain I have been robbed 2 times (maybe more, depending on your definition) and I have several friends too who’ve suffered similar fates.

It is a cultural experience to be robbed in Spain. There is very clearly an ethic here that is without understanding to us foreigners, something like pride but more encompassing. The Spaniards certainly understand that there is fault and injustice in robbery, but their ethic accepts this as a reality of life, nothing to spend time or worry on. This is not right or wrong. This just is…

This time around my thief truly deserves a round of applause. With 5 students all sitting around a table at Starbucks, discussing finance, our bags were never more than 2 inches from our sides. Without any distraction, without even one student standing up to leave, our thief was able to pull a bag away unnoticed by any of us five. Unfortunately for me my passport was within the chosen bag (as I’ve needed it everyday since arriving, for a variety of reasons).

Off to the American consulate, and within we found outstanding service. A new passport was made for me on the spot, with nothing but smiles and apologies for my rough day. I can finally feel my tax dollars hard at work. Among the Spanish police however? Well let’s just say they had lot’s to do that day… a full pack of cigarettes and several pastries were keeping them quite busy. Crime could wait.

Police Report #2

Once again my good friend (and to this point proven hero) Vittorio, from Calabria Italy, was not about to sit back and allow an injustice. He was once again charging to the police (despite our experience in Granada) with a mouthful of judgment on the wrongfulness of the situation. Beyond fighting the good fight for me (as I do not speak good Spanish yet), Vittorio also played the comic, keeping the mood light throughout several challenging events… and why not when life is so short.

So what is the moral of this story?

Well I am not sure there is a moral here (beside always padlock your belongings to yourself in Madrid). But just maybe, to observe these cultural differences, how different people react, and what qualities arise from them; if not a moral, it is at least a lesson… Always keep a good Calabrian near you. Thanks Vittorio!

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Granada the Wrong Way

So this is a good story…

At the end of a great road trip around Andalusia (southern Spain) with some brand new friend here from IE, we arrived in our final stop – Granada. This was the capital of Moorish (Muslim) Spain before Ferdinand and Isabella recaptured the Iberian Peninsula in 1492, thus is lavished in beautiful Muslim architecture.

Coming into town, as always, it was quite obvious we were neither Andalusian nor Spanish. We were rather 2 Indians, 1 Italian, and 1 American, lost and turning roundabouts 2 & 3 times regularly to find the right direction. Lucky for us a “tourism official” driving a scooter flagged us down and offered help (note the not so subtle parenthesis in this sentence).

Our main objective in Granada was to see al Alhambra, a massive Moorish fortress/palace built 600+ years ago. Tickets would be sold out for sure, but we were confident that our foreign charm would allow us admission one way or another if we spent time charming the right people. Manuel Torres Fernandez, the “official”, explained to us on the roadside that the Semana Santa festivities in the town would block our route to the hotel. Offering a map and directions Senior Fernandez showed us the alternate route. As a tourism official, he also offered to secure us tickets first thing in the morning (this was only because he worked very closely with the ticket office and they of course retain limited day-of tickets – surely we were ‘special guests’ right?).

So with 60 euros + tip (and his ID and license plate number as assurance) we were free to roam the narrow alleyways and tapas bars of Granada throughout the night with great confidence we would have tickets to al Alhambra in the morning. Sore feet and several rounds of shots later we were hitting our pillows with thoughts of the majestic al Alhambra dancing in our heads.

Well in the morning, waking up late on the wood floor of our apartment, I was sure to be miserable due to the massive hangover that was to follow me throughout the day. However I’ve been training for days like this since my undergraduate at WSU, so up-and-adam I was off to pick-up our tickets from Senior Fernandez… except for one thing – where the hell was Senior Fernandez?!

He was to bring the tickets to the front desk of our hotel. With a look of confusion the clerk confirmed our fears – Senior Fernandez was AWAL. “Police!!!”

Vitorio (my new Italian friend, and quite a passionate person) was NOT about to be swindled. He charged up to the Police on the street and we traveled to the main station to file a report. Ok, this was a cultural experience x100. The Police were quite busy this particular day smoking cigarettes, eating pastries, and reflecting on the Semana Sante events, thus they were left with little bandwidth to fight crime. I can only imagine how competitive their jobs are.

After filing our report and moving on to visit the city with our remaining hours, Vittorio called to inform the police we would be leaving Granada. The response from the police? “Good, we have more important business to attend to”…

To Manuel Torres Fernandez, the “official”, should you be literate enough to read this blog, we will be retuning to Granada some day soon. We am going to find you (because I have your address) and I'll take much more from you than the 60 euros + tip. See you soon Senior :)

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Palacio Real

Nice to run into stuff like this when out on a jog...


-Excuse the brevity and typos, I'm posting from my iPhone

Pictures from day 2/3 Semana Santa - Sevilla & Cadiz

Beautiful Sevilla Cathedral was not quite what my very catholic Italian friend had desired from a religious experience. After being told to pay an entrance fee for the ability to pray he flipped out and demanded to see the bishop (whom he later visited at his office) and was finally kicked out. Way to stand up for your beliefs Vittorio :)



I was never able to get over these costumes. No good pictures of the processions, but you'd see hundreds together all silently walking through the narrrow streets in Sevilla.

Cadiz is believed to be the oldest city in Europe and was the embarking point for Christopher Columbus.

Maybe a strange addition to this blog, but I found this 'graffiti' in Cadiz to be quite beautiful and creative.

-Excuse the brevity and many typos, I'm posting from my iPhone

Location:Calle Odiel,Seville,Spain

Pictures from Day 1 Santa Samana - Sevilla Holy Week

The main body and minaret of Sevilla Cathedral reminds visitors and faithful of its Moorish (Muslim) past. The Christians built this church on top of the Mosque, I imagine as a powerful signal of the change in power in the Iberian peninsula


One of many beautiful churches


The outfits can be a bit un-nerving for an American, but the hats are intended to bring these kids literally and figuratively closer to god.



These 'floats' are carried in the backs of the faithful. The men carrying them looked truely exhausted when they were releived by more worshipers.

-Excuse the brevity and typos, I'm posting from my iPhone

Location:Calle Odiel,Seville,Spain

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