Egypt in Madrid: Templo de Debod

Whenever people ask where you’ve been in Madrid, they go over all the biggies like Plaza Mayor, the Royal Palace, the nightlife in Sol, etc. I could always check those off their lists, but what kept hanging me up was Templo de Debod. From the little information that I had gathered, it was an Egyptian temple located in a park near Plaza de España. Since I hadn’t been to either, I found the motivation to go see what the hype was all about.

First we found ourselves in Plaza de España where there happen to be a bunch of pretty fountains.

It was an overcast afternoon, but that made for some dramatic pictures!

After a photo shoot in the plaza and getting a little bit confused about where we needed to go next, we arrived at the right part of the Parque del Oeste and found the temple!

It was pretty cool looking, but to be honest, it was much smaller than I expected. Based on the pictures that I’ve seen, it’s better to go at night when it’s all lit up. My favorite part was probably the park area around the temple rather than the temple itself. It’s located in a higher spot of Madrid that lets you see the city all around while being surrounded by trees and plants.

The fountain on the back side of the temple was a favorite for sitting and relaxing on such a hot day.

I particularly enjoyed it.

On the way back to the metro, we saw the sign for a frozen yogurt place that looked adorable and particularly refreshing after being out in the park for a while. All I can say is that we basically found the Razzy Fresh of Spain. It was a glorious, glorious moment. I give you Yoogle.

My Recommendation: If you’d like to recreate this little outing, go later in the day. Walk around Plaza de España and whatever else is around there, get something tasty at Yoogle, then go see the temple after it gets darker out, and you’ll probably love your life.

- Alexa

Business Habits I Am Bringing Back to America.

1. Casual attire in the office.
I love my job because I can wear jeans everyday. I am comfortable and able to get my work done. I don't have to worry about dry cleaning. I think everybody would be happier.


2. Eating lunch together at the office.
We eat lunch together every day and I really like it. I learn so much about what everybody is working on, what they are looking forward to in their personal lives, and best of all, I get to hear a lot of funny stories about from the past.


3. Playing a game of cards after lunch.
At least once a week, we play a round or two of a card game called 'Jungle Speed'. It's fun and it clears the mind before going back to work.


4. Having a leisurely cup of coffee/tea/water/acai berry juice after lunch.
Continuing the after lunch conversation but the conversation usually is a little calmer during coffee as everybody waits for the caffeine to kick in.


5. The occasional ice cream break before quitting time.
A treat for working so hard.


6. Company outings to places people actually like.
Paintball > Picnics


7. More personal relationships between bosses and employees.
I feel like I can talk to my bosses about anything. Rollerblades, traveling, Game of Thrones, Beyoncé.  I think that's really cool and makes me feel less nervous about butchering the Spanish language when I talk to them.


8. Breaks to play with/celebrate the success of a new project.
When a new project is completed, everybody has a new toy for a couple of hours. It's great.


I was really hoping for an even ten but this is a good start.

Random Observations: Business Time in Spain

Since the majority of my time is now spent in an office, I figured that I could make a few educated statements about doing business in Spain for the time being. Here you go.

1. Lunchtime shall be cherished. When I first heard that I got over an hour for lunch, and then that most people eat lunch either in the break room or at a place about two buildings down, I was wondering how all of that time got filled up. In my head, I was thinking, “I could take 20 minutes to eat something quick and get to leave at 5pm instead of 6pm!” Well, that’s not the point. Spain likes to take its lunches at a leisurely pace and forget about work for a while. Given that it’s the biggest meal of the day, it does take some time to get through the several courses that are common to a menú del día, as well. It’s a time to chat about things that aren’t business and enjoy the company of your coworkers (the ones you like, anyway). I routinely see full tables of business people drinking wine, with jackets off, and ties loosened. The only thing that took some getting used to was waiting until 2:30pm to take part in this grand event every day.

Source: barcelonasights.blogspot.com

2. Everything is for everyone. While I’m on the topic of food and weird eating schedules, I should mention that my transition from having lunch at noon to eating at 2:30pm was helped a great deal by what I like to call “the rampant sharing of food” throughout my office. Before the lunch hour comes around, sometimes I’ll have had 3 different people come up to my desk holding out a sleeve of cookies, a bag of crackers, fruit… I’ve even been force-fed ham para picar (to snack on). It seems like people just buy large quantities of snacks assuming that the whole office is going to want some. Obviously, I’m a huge fan of this practice.

Okay, except the ham thing still weirds me out a little bit.

3. Business cards are given out like candy. This is kind of similar in the United States, from what I’ve observed. The thing I noticed here was that they are always exchanged at the beginning of a meeting, whether you really need them or not. During my first week, I went to several appointments with the salespeople, and I probably got 5 or 6 business cards even though I didn’t say a word during the whole meeting! If I’m ever searching for jobs in Spain, I guess I’ll know who to bother first.

This is as professional as I’ve gotten – my Spanish e-mail signature! Looks pretty legit, though, right?

4. Politely ignoring people doesn’t exist. Every time someone arrives at the office in the morning, there’s a chorus of, “Hola, buenos días” and various other greetings. When people leave for lunch, it’s, “Hasta luego. Aprovechen.” Then they come back, and there’s more: “¡Hola, buenas tardes!” Even if I’m just walking through an area, and there’s a couple of people having a conversation, they stop to at least say “hola“. I’m pretty positive that they thought my initial practice of silently smiling in the hallway was weird.

5. “Business casual” has a different definition.The dress code of any given company is dictated by the kind of work it does, just like anywhere. The original guide I was given for what was acceptable to wear at my office was, “you don’t need to wear a suit, but don’t look like you’re going to the beach, either.” Oh… Right. Got it. Then I talked to my boss and he said, “informal”. Hmm. I figured I’d shoot for the ever-popular business casual when packing only to discover that I could pretty much wear whatever I want since the most attention I get is from my computer screen. Even so, Spaniards generally dress better than we do in the U.S., so don’t worry, I haven’t been taking my sweatpants to the office.

This is a combination of two trends I’ve seen on working women that I’m ok with: looser pants that narrow at the bottom (usually in solid colors, black, & khaki) and crazy-patterned pants in general

6. Fun Fact: I was told that if you’re young and hip, you type “e-mail” as “m@il“. Try that one out.

Now you’re all set to be a boss in Spain! Ha, just kidding. I'm only the silly foreign intern. Still working on the "being a boss" part - that's what CBA's for.

- Alexa

Are you ready for some Futbol?!

Today I went to my first professional soccer (futbol) game in Madrid.  The season is technically over so this game was called the Corazon Classic Match.  It was a game where they brought back some of their past players to play.  Still very cool even though I didn't get to see Cristiano Ronaldo ... The tickets we only 10 euro and we bought them two days ago.  Our seat were in what is fondly referred to as the "nose bleed section" but I can't complain because I could still see everything perfectly!!

The players were announced one by one.  You could tell who the real legends were by how crazy the crowd got when their name was called.

Let the 90 minutes of action begin!

Real Madrid was the first to score at about the 15 minute mark.

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL!!!

Another action shot.

Yes, even the Spaniards do the wave.

Un bocadillo de tortilla de Espana. I could literally live off of these things. Bread, eggs, potatoes. What more could you need?

The stadium only served non-alcoholic beer.  Maybe the US should consider this because it made for a lot less rowdy atmosphere but still tons of fun!

Half-time aka get a pic with the field while everyone is getting food and drinks!

Final Score... Real Madrid - 3, Manchester - 2.  

There were lots of vendors outside the stadium selling everything from jerseys to pictures to ... underwear?  What can I say, the Spanish are some of the most passionate sports fans out there. 

Estadio Santiago Bernabeu.  

Such a cool experience!  I am so glad I got to take part in a something that the Spanish are so passionate about.  I will definitely need to find a Real Madrid souvenir before I head back to the good ole U S of A.

Estadio Bernabeu

Just got back from my first fútbol match in Spain! Real Madrid versus Manchester United. Full disclosure it was a game for charity which meant retired players but it was still a really fun atmosphere.

The business acumen that I have developed in CBA made a couple things I saw seem really out of place.

1. You can bring food and drink into the stadium which means there are venders right outside the stadium selling your typical stadium snacks - peanuts, sunflower seeds, chips, and popcorn.

2. There are also venders selling 'official merchandise' all around the stadium. I didn't buy anything [this time] because I was unsure about the authenticity of some of the merchandise but next time I probably will get a scarf or jersey. And the most important thing I noticed,

3. Almost no sponsors on display in the stadium. A gentleman from the Steelers marketing department spoke to my Services Marketing section and told us that the number one money generating line of business was naming rights [Heinz Field] and displaying other advertisements in the stadium. Look at the scoreboard display for Heinz Field:

And at Bernabeu, which is named after a person:

Other than bwin, the primary sponsor of Real Madrid, Coca Cola, Mahou, and the few companies that advertise in the display around the ring, there's nothing. It's so shocking to not be bombarded with ads all the time.

-Rhian

Taking a Stab at Making Tortilla Española

In the United States, we’re influenced more and more by Hispanic culture coming up from the south. Personally, I could eat Mexican food for every meal and be completely content. It’s because of that mindset that I was extremely confused the first time I heard about tortilla in Spain and was given a slice of pretty much a potato, onion, and egg pie. “What’s this? I can’t make quesadillas out of this!” Then I took a bite and forgot about any disapproval I had felt.

Since that first run in with tortilla española, I’ve had about 10 different takes on the recipe, and I’m in love. I mean, we’re coming from the Land of French Fries, so who couldn’t appreciate some oily cooked up potatoes in omelet form? Since we have access to a kitchen, I had to take a crack at one of Spain’s most popular dishes.

Have your class of tinto de verano close by? Then let the cooking begin!

Heat oil, make a layer of sliced potatoes, throw some onions in there, salt it, add more oil, and repeat forever.

Once that mixture’s cooked so that everything’s slightly tender, drain it and let it cool.

Beat some eggs while you wait.

Unfortunately, there’s more waiting involved while you let the potato mix sit in the eggs for about 10 minutes.

Now the fun begins! Throw all that stuff back in the pan with (surprise!) a TON of olive oil.

The most important part: It’s all in the flip.

The results: One solidified and one was just a mess of egg and potato, but both were delicious! I think we needed to use more egg to hold it all together.

If you’d like to accept the challenge of making tortilla, here’s the recipe that we used. They’re really not kidding when they say that you should use that much oil! Thankfully, we tried this out in Spain where olive oil flows like water and is almost as cheap. There will definitely be a second round coming up.

- Alexa