Spain – mi corazón, my heart

Five years ago this January marked a considerable turning point in my life - a time when for the first time, I left behind familiarity and predictability for uncertainty and the unknown. Leaving friends and family behind in California, I traveled 9,000 miles northeast to embark on what would be the catalyst to my global and intercultural passion. I can remember vividly landing in Barajas Airport outside of Madrid for the first time – it was eerie. Fog and mist obscured my initial views of the country, and added to the slight apprehension I felt. However, once the fog lifted and I arrived into Madrid, for the first time I saw the city to which I would spend the next six months of my life – a city to which I would later fall in love with. Tall buildings lined the hilly streets, impeccably dressed Spaniards bustled about the sidewalks, cafes and bars on every street corner, and beautiful parks graced the small open spaces in between the hustle and bustle of the town.

Characterized by a dichotomy of emotions, the initial few months in Spain bared much resemblance to a foreigner studying abroad for the first time. Enamored with everything Spanish the first month quickly morphed into annoyance with everything Spanish in the second. Once the honeymoon phase ended, and what once I passed off as a quirky charm of the Spanish culture, turned into aggravation and homesickness. Thankfully, I soon realized what an “ass” I was being, and seized this chance as the “opportunity of a lifetime.” To live in Spain, to attend school at a Spanish university, to live with Spanish roommates – it was an amazing opportunity to begin understanding, accepting and ultimately loving the Spanish culture.

From that point on, once I truly began to learn about the Spanish culture, I fell in love with Spain. It is a country of extremes in all senses, and it is a country where past, present, tradition and modernity live side-by-side in a constant battle, characterizing the many different paradoxes of the Spanish culture. It is a country where past eras of dominance and power replaced by hardship and difficult times emblazoned a permanent scar on the soul of the nation and its citizens. Now, Spain is a thriving country, in which many different autonomous regions each with their own unique culture and language add to the diversity and magnificence of this beautiful place.

I have been so fortunate as to travel around many different countries across Europe – but for me, none can compare to Spain. By no means is Spain the most beautiful country in Europe, but it certainly makes up in charm, passion and vivacity what it lacks in beauty. I love the legendary “Spanish pride” that to most is a source of much aggravation, but to me, is a resulting legacy of the past, and a part of the allure and appeal of Spain for the future. Post-graduation, I can only aspire to have my job bring me back to Spain for some time. I’d love to return, live and work in the country to which has captured my heart and soul. Until then however, viva España!!

And then there were three...

Wow, so this last week damn near killed me. With exhaustion setting in, group projects piling up, and finals on the horizon, this last week was insane!!! Thankfully I finished my last final – which happened to take 12hrs and 16 pages, describing a category management strategy for a bicycle retail chain in Canada. Anyway, so with my last final complete, I am actually looking forward to starting next module of classes – 4 new ones, with only “Global Enterprise” continuing on from last module. The new classes = international marketing research, global leadership, global negotiations, and operations management.

So, I hate getting all sentimental, but I can’t believe we only have 3 more modules left (1.5 semesters) until the end of my Thunderbird career. This has truly been one of the best experiences of my life – the friends I’ve made, the lessons I’ve learned, the experience I have had – are all memories that I will take with me and treasure for the rest of my life.

And, determined not to be overshadowed by my first year, these last 2 semesters promise to be filled with countless adventures as well. – starting with my upcoming sojourn to Amman, Jordan at the end of December – where we will be ringing in the new year probably in neighboring Israel, and then off to Jordan for a consulting project….

My mistake…

It’s been awhile since I’ve update my blog – perhaps it’s because I’ve been buried under so much work I can’t even breathe at times! Intensity reigns supreme this semester, short tempers abound – all compounded by the fact that assignments, exams, projects and presentations all seem to come due around the same time. However, it is grad school, so one should expect such levels of stress. I can handle the work load, I can handle the exams – but what I can’t handle is indifferent people who don’t contribute their fair share on group projects. Because then, it never fails, that it is us, who care about our grades and caliber of work, that are indefinitely stuck picking up their slack.

Perhaps it is my mistake for holding my friends at such high standards – shame on me for actually expecting them to care enough about their grades (and their team), to submit quality work at a graduate school level. Honestly, it is almost embarrassing some of the quality of work I have received this semester from other people. Would you honestly turn this in to your employer?! My god people! I think my favorite example to date is someone in my marketing group was tasked with the most simple of assignments, and instead of asking the group for help because he was having issues finding information, he sent us a bunch of irrelevant articles, late of course, with a corresponding note saying “sorry to be late, I drunk too much last night.” Now, that is comedy. Or sad – this guy is graduating from the same program as me, and he can’t even complete one assignment?!

People are ALL busy this semester, and when someone slacks off, it just creates more work for other people. A friend of mine deems these people flackers (f*ing slackers), but I think to put a truly global twist on them I will call them blucks (bloody f*ing slackers). It adds an element of humor to this not so funny situation. I honestly don’t understand why people don’t just get their work done – is it asking too much for quality work?! It is grad school after all – I think being able to write a coherent, logical and compelling paper with minimal grammar and spelling errors is not too much to ask? Or is it? One of my friends this afternoon mentioned that he is not too impressed with the intellect of American girls on campus – well, my friend – I am not too impressed with the quality of work, intellect OR participation of (from) a few groups (that shall remain nameless) on this campus as well.

Are my standards too high? Oh, my mistake – I thought people actually cared about their grades at this top-notch institution. My bad….