Studying in Spain

I came to Spain to do a master in marketing, and even though I love Barcelona, and its culture, it was hard finding a uni in here. First of all, when you are looking into coming to study in Barcelona you need to remember that in here they speak Catalan, yes I know, they also speak Spanish, but they prefer Catalan, and they expect you to learn it. With that said, the official universities have a lot of professors that will speak in Catalan, even when some of the students do not understand it. It is fair, it is their country, their rules, however if you don’t want to learn this language, you are better off going to a private school that will assure you the classes will be given to you in Spanish.

At first, I wanted to learn Catalan, to integrate better, but it is not that easy, plus, during class, it is CRAZY, yes, professors will talk in Spanish, but you can’t do anything about those students that want to speak in Catalan, even when they know you are not understanding. This is one of the problems some other girls from Latin America and I have been going through. At the beginning I thought it was EXTREMELY RUDE on their side, however, I understand now that they do not realize they are doing it, for them it is just normal. It is like when I am in a place where I am supposed to speak in English, but I know someone else in there speaks Spanish, and suddenly I will find myself speaking to him/her in Spanish, without noticing. Anyway, this is just one of the few problems I have been facing over here, especially during class.

It is funny how nowadays people with a master’s degree are just like people with a college degree a few years ago. It is still not a must, but in order to move forward, you need one, otherwise walls start appearing. It is sad though that due to the recession, that high level of education can’t be backed up with some experience at work. When we first started the master, only international students were looking for internships, but every time I find out that more classmates are looking for a job.

I know that a lot of girls study a master after college to give them some more time to live out of their parents until they find the perfect husband, but that is not me. I want a job, I like to work, and I want to. It is true that it is hard to find a job in Spain, but I need to admit its even harder back home, so all I can do for now is to keep looking, and prepare myself on the meantime so that when that opportunity appears, I will be ready for it.

Living in Spain

I said before that I would be moving back to Spain soon, and here I am, living in good old Barca, in a little nice apartment in the heart of the city. I am now living with my amazing boyfriend Mike, and I am extremely happy.

This last couple of weeks, we have been trying to buy everything that the apartment needs, because even though it is a furnished apartment, it doesn’t have everything we need.

The city is just what I remembered, full of people walking on the streets, with this smell of cigarette and coffe that kind of fades with the breeze from the beach, and of course the parties. This time, it was La Mercé, it lasts for around 5 days and it is a festival held in honour of Madre de Deu de la Merce, the Patron Saint of Barcelona.

During this festival, the streets have life day and night; loads of different concerts are held many plazas all over the city. There are parades, fireworks and a lot of fun. It is nice to walk around, and see everything; you can learn so much from different cultures. For example, Mike and I were walking around when we found this little plaza where people (mainly elder ppl) were dancing some traditional steps with some traditional music, and by this I mean stuff that was at least a hundred years old.

This is definitely a fabulous city, full of tradition and fun. It is weird though that I haven’t been out much, but I am hopping to change that soon.

Red bull te da alas

Este domingo se celebró la final del Campeonato del Mundo de 2009 Red Bull Air Race. Es un acontecimiento que reúne a los mejores pilotos del mundo en una competición del motor basada en velocidad, precisión y habilidad.

A los pilotos se les hace un trazado aéreo, que se encuentra a baja altura. Existen pilones de aire que forman las puertas aéreas que les van guiando por el camino a recorrer. La carrera se realiza en 8 ciudades distintas por todo el mundo, siendo en esta ocasión, la ciudad Condal de Barcelona quien alberga la final de dicho evento.

¿El ganador? Paul Bonhomme, del Reino Unido, pero yo no voy a hablar de aviones, o de velocidad, o de muchas otras cosas que si han leído mi blog, sabrán que no soy yo. En realidad yo menciono este evento porque me impactó.

Empezaré porque jamás había visto tanta gente sentada en una playa mirando al cielo. En realidad fue una escena bastante peculiar. No me refiero a la típica escena de las playas de Barcelona en pleno verano, en la que encontrar un lugar dónde tirarte a tomar el sol es imposible, si no a miles de personas sentados en tipo teatro, y pegándose unos a otros para que entraran más.

Debido a esto, planeamos con antelación y preparamos “bocatas” (bocadillos), para no tener que movernos de nuestro sitio una vez estuviéramos ahí.

Pero esto no es todo, lo que más me impactó de esta carrera, fueron los pilotos. Me imagino a adrenalina que corre por sus cuerpos a la hora de realizar esas vueltas, pasar por las puerta, de cuchilla, tipo vuelo, haciéndolo lo más rápido posible y con mucho cuidado de no romper ninguno de los pilones de aire. Que no debe ser tarea fácil, ya que muchos de ellos los rompieron. Admiro lo que hacen, sobre todo por no tener el miedo de hacerlo, por hacer lo que les gusta y ser los mejores en ello.

En realidad, no es red bull quien te da alas, es cada persona que puede lograr lo que se propone. Es sólo cuestión de encontrar ese motivo que te impulsa, ese “red bull” dentro de ti. No existen metas imposibles, las hay algunas más difíciles que otras, pero no imposibles, y es importante que nos demos cuenta que si queremos lograr algo, no importa que tan arriesgado sea, debemos intentarlo. No hay que dejar para mañana lo que puedes hacer hoy y marca tus prioridades. Encuentra esos motivos que te impulsan a lograr tus sueños y deja atrás los miedos.