The Big Happening in Spain

After spending New Years Eve on a plane we arrived in Madrid, Spain!  Since the company knew that it would be a rough night, they gave us the morning to recover but we had to meet on Jan 1st at 6pm to board a bus.  It was pretty funny watching the Spanish people come in, some still dressed in the suit they were wearing out and girls with make up on from the night before…we were all in the same boat, not knowing anyone but the partners we worked with in our last project and on the way to the middle of nowhere, Molinaseca, Spain!!

---

---

Wow, what a different life us North Americans live!!

Despite how tired, jet lagged and exhausted everyone was, we had a few hours to get to know everyone as we waited for the bus.  All employees  speak at least Spanish or French and English, Ry and I were the only 2 that didn’t speak another language…until we met Rachel. thank god for Rachel, she was American and she had no languages, so we didn’t feel so bad!  There was another American, Steph, who had just been hired the week before, it was amazing about 20 people from all different parts of the world, we have a girl from Morocco, a few from Spain, France, Italy, Argentina, Poland and Netherlands….it was going to be an interesting few days!

---

We arrived in Molenaseca, a village in Northern Spain, it was around Midnight, we were sooo tired and tomorrow we had to be at the meeting room at 9am…..yet we still had to go out for welcome drinks!!!  This was just the beginning, little did we know what we were in for!  Spanish people love to stay up late, in fact they like to do everything late!

---

Everyday from 9-6 we had intense meetings with speeches from different personalities, like the Ambassador of Ivory Coast and another from Washington,  there were workshops, presentations, group activities…lunch was about 2 hours and then dinner would be at 9:30pm each night!  This was something Ry and I just could not get used to, lunch was a huge meal, always 3 courses, so I guess it is meant to fill you up, but dinner at 9:30pm…we were starving by then!!!  Of course since Spanish people love doing things later. usually it would be about 10:15pm by the time it actually started and then it would go until about midnight, with unlimited wine, and champagne to follow…..this happened EVERY NIGHT!!!!  After dinner you weren’t done yet, everyone moves to the village pub and takes over the place, dancing, drinking usually until around 5-6 in the morning!  When I say everyone, I mean everyone, the first night we were having  drinks with the Ambassador of Cote D’voire (Ivory Coast) at 3am with crazy Europeans dancing while my IT Manager is DJ…and try talking about diplomacy after 15 drinks!!!

---

So in a nutshell the Big Happening was an amazing experience, we learned a tremendous amount about the company we work for, the people we work with and it was a great team bonding experience! In fact, I think it is something more companies should do….Ryan and I both left feeling excited about our career, closer to our HQ and pumped to start selling!

---

---

Madrid, Spain

With all the drama of the BH behind us we were back at HQ with lots of work to do!  Unfortunately we received some bad news, we were no longer going to UAE, as our competition was there, so now we were going to be in meetings trying to get a new destination.

After a week of meetings in Madrid and having to commute by metro, an hour to work everyday, we now realize how lucky we are to have a car in our own city!!

---

Working in Spain is much different than Canada and the rest of Europe, this is what we learned:  Don't show up at 9:30am because everyone is late, the office will open at 9:45am.  Once at the office you must have at least 2 coffees prior to 11 and 3 cigarettes to fit in (I have never seen more chain smokers and caffeine addicts!)  Finally at 2pm you can go for lunch but don't come back for 2 hours because nobody will be here!  After lunch be prepared to work late, you may leave the office around 7pm or 8 or 9pm like we did yesterday! After work go for tapas (light dinner, snacks to share) and hang out at the bar till it closes!   Wow, what a different life us North Americans live!!

---

Finally we received some good news we are on our way to Macedonia.

Macedonia is a country I know nothing about, having only heard the name twice in my life…we have to learn a lot!  The country is very small with only 2 million people, it’s in the centre of Southeast Europe, with Bulgaria about 3 hours away, Greece 2 hours, Romania and Serbia also very close.   The lady at the Embassy told me that Macedonia is known for beautiful women…just perfect….first Philippines and Asian women, now Macedonian women……Ry is in heaven, it’s not fair!

---

Ry and I arrive on Thursday and have a meeting with Minister of Transport on Friday, with more Govt meetings to follow the next week!  Lucky for us we do have a car, so on the weekends we will make the most of it by driving to Bulgaria to visit friends and Ogi, our old driver.  We got news that Nick is in Austria and may come visit, so we are very excited!!!  So if anyone is planning on going to Europe, we will be In Macedonia until April 18th, so COME, we promise you will have a great time!!!!!

---

---