Stormy weekend incomiiiiiing...

Finally the frost that has been affecting Europe is coming into Madrid. Temperatures expected between -7 and max of +5 and snow might fall in Madrid by Sunday!

To all the people thinking..."Bah! I have handled -35 in Saskatoon Canada and it didn't bother me!" ... I AM A BEACH BOY! So, quite curious to see how is life below 0'C ;) Anyway, have to get my boxes ready to move out, hopefully to a nice place (still not found) with other 3 dudes where the House of Baco II shall be created (blink blink!).

Going out tonight will be interesting, specially because the Madrid trainees hub is meeting, myself, Rena from Greece and Marcio from BAZI, so it should be fun!

Next 2 weekends will be spent in PT so recovery should be smooth...

Carpe Diem!

PS - quite a useless post...

Spanish breakfast

9h30 AM... Thursday morning so no gastric issues to report... Birthday in the office... Here it comes again, one of the most "powerful" traditions of spanish breakfast... CHURROS CON CHOCOLATE!

Basically, a very FRIED kind of pastry that should be dipped in very sweet hot chocolate. This definitely goes against every nutricionist's advice on how to start the day... I have tried english, irish, dutch breakfasts/brunches, but this small tradition here is always a challenge for me, specially this early in the morning!

Oh well... Carpe Diem!

A 7 years promise finally fulfilled...

7 years ago I arrived in Rome in the evening of a cold January day, on route to Malta bound to arrive in the following there... A portuguese friend ERASMUS "student" there was waiting for me in Tiburtina station. 13h in Rome was what I had available... When G. my friend realised that, he instantly invited me to a scooter ride through the key landmarks of Rome!! That is how, under close to 0'C temperature, I got my first glimpse of the Vatican, the Colosseum, the Forum or Fontana di Trevi. It was so unforgettable that I promised myself to return, with someone, to fully discover this fantastic city!

7 years later I arrived in Termini station in the evening of a cold January day, got into a cab and obviously got an extra tour than I needed (bastard...10 Euro down the drain...), and arrived to my friend L.'s place, an already 9 year old friendship that started in an AIESEC conference and withstood the test of time :) After catching up and settling all the logistic details it was time to sleep, in order to get an early start in Rome!

10h30... 11h... 12h... 13h30... uuuáááá... Time to wake up! By 15h I was ALREADY in the vatican, checking out St. Peters Cathedral, the dome and, what impressed me the most, the tomb of Pope John Paul II. Walking in the level -1 of the Cathedral, in those hallways full of History, and then testifying the faith of hundreds of people that visit that sacred site, left a mark in me.

The rest of the afternoon was spent wandering literally in the alleys of Rome with no defined course, looking for a nice cafe to stop and write... And I found it... What a staff! 4 potential contenders to the Miss Italy contest!! Jeeeeze... Definitely inspired me to stay and write a bit more than usual while enjoying a smoooooth tiramisú! :)

The next morning I was able to sleep a lit less, until 13h and then I was off again... Nice italian food, monuments and History (walking in the Forum, getting into the Colosseum), a bit of Shopping (...........) a fantastic evening listening to live Jazz, with shhhh shhhh shhhh as supporting artist (...) It was good to spent part of the weekend by myself discovering this city and great to spend the rest of the time catching up with L.

Even if not with someone as I initially planned it, the good things that life has to offer, that we promise ourselves that we will do "one day..." should NOT be aujourned! This weekend was living evidence!

Carpe Diem!

PS - Good luck in the snow... The trendy boots will help ;)

A laugh to start the day!

Obrigado Tino! :)

A three-year-old boy was examining his testicles while taking a bath.
"Mom", he asked, "are these my brains?"
"Not yet," she replied...

Carpe diem!

PS - this wasn't one of my nephews...

Anti-smoking law is here...

“A couple of shadowed figures move discretely out of the building… apparently they have two objects they unsuccessfully try to hide… moments later a spark… two closed hands protecting something in between them… a thin and sleek cloud of smoke erupts… and the tiny orange dot removes any kind of doubt... Suddenly a flashing spotlight is aimed at them, 10 dudes start rappeling down the building wall while choppers control the area!!!

White uniform dude 1 - Everybody be cool this is the SMOKE patrol!
White uniform dude 2 - Any of you fu#$in' pricks move and I'll execute every one of you motherfu$#ers! Got that?”
Madrid 2050

Looking at those poor figures standing outside in -1ºC I sometimes wonder how far are we from the scenario above... It reminds me of those utopia style movies where people couldn't even have physical contact (can't remember the name of Woody Allen's movie...)!! Still, good to see around me in the office that many people are taking the opportunity to quit this not so good habit.

Hopefully "they" will never forbid Haagen Dasz!

Carpe Diem!

Are you with a Joker? (part II)

Greets!

After a couple of days back in Madrid, here's the second half of the article...

"(...) I’m sure that all of you know couples of Queen with Joker and King with Joker or even Joker with Joker. A tip to identify this kind of relationships is to look for couples that have been together for a long time, having a fun and healthy time together for one month, fighting for two months, avoiding each other for three and then getting back together to be fine for one month… If you are one of those who is always complaining to your family and friends about your partner, who enjoys when “your soul mate” goes on a trip because then you have the time to do the things you really want to do or for some weird reason you just can’t remember why you are in the relationship that you are right now, most likely you are going out with a Joker.

There are plenty of reasons why people stay in a relationship with Joker. One of the most important ones is the lack of self-esteem. The world has idealized success in such a way (mostly related to physical appearance and money) that most of us can’t feel that we are Kings or Queens of hearts. In the best of cases we think we are a Jack of hearts but, on second thoughts (and trying to be realistic) we all know that the average is between 5 and 7. And if I believe that I’m a 6 of hearts, then I’m convinced that the Queen (or King) is completely out of my league. Therefore, I just trade off for a Joker.

Another reason to be with a Joker is the fear to be alone. In the search for our King (or Queen) we get to know many people. With some we have long relationships… and sometimes we just stay with someone that we know is not the best choice, but…

And this is an invitation to reflect on the topic:
Is my current relationship what I really want for the rest of my life?
Am I with my partner because; although I know that there might be better people out there, who’s going to look at me?
I’m going to get married because he was the only one that proposed?
Am I going out with my partner because I’m in love?
Before this relationship I was different, I was happy and had more fun… Am I dating a Joker?

I want to clarify that dating a Joker is perfectly acceptable. I have met people that have even married a Joker. It is the price we need to pay if we want to find our Queen (or King) of hearts.What it is not acceptable, in my opinion, is to give up the search and have an eternal relationship where it is evident that one of the two (or both) is a Joker.

Being alone is not good. It is not the ideal state of man. That does not mean, however, that we all need to go out and desperately take the first “opportunity” that comes along. It means that we have to go out for dinner with the 6 the spades, take a coffee with the Jack of clubs and give ourselves the chance to meet the King of diamonds. After all, the King of hearts is not going to fall from the sky and the only way to find him is searching for him.

It is always good to really think about the relationship we are in. My suggestion is that each morning, enjoying the loneliness of your room (where there is no one to lie to) everyone should ask themselves the following question: Am I dating a Joker?

Alfredo Angel Sañudo"

From an unusually quiet night in Madrid, and based on SEVERAL conversations I've had in the past weeks with different people on this topic, I just wanted to pass this challenge to us all in this phase of big decisions. And for the ones still searching, 2006 is a New Year... Let's enjoy it! :)

Carpe Diem!

Are you with a Joker? (part I)

Giving room to my romantic side, here is a great, even maybe inspiring article from a very good colombian friend, Alfredo A. Sanudo, about quests and doubts I hear many of us going through, in these late twenties... Enjoy!

"Some people are alone and are happy that way. Some others are also alone and are suffering, thinking every minute on the arrival of the perfect one. Some others are seeing someone and they are not happy either. This last situation happens because some people are dating a “Joker” instead of being with their King or Queen of hearts.

The process of finding your King or Queen of hearts can’t be confused with something very common in relationships nowadays: Excess of demands. You can tell that you are suffering of “excess of demands” when, as King of hearts, you are looking for a Queen that is pretty, very smart, with beautiful skin, sexy, nice to talk to, tall, that makes me feel special, with black hair, with great sense of humour, someone that my mother likes, who loves kids, with great charisma and tons of money. Although the latest advances in genetics in the future can, maybe, provide customised girlfriend delivery (I don’t want to discuss the ethical and religious aspects of this), right now scientists are far from making those kinds of “dreams” come true and the best they can offer is the possibility of dating two twin sheep.

The search for the Queen of hearts is something related with the perception of relationships, the feelings that are involved when I am with someone else and what I’m really looking for in my partner. It is an easy concept to understand, although difficult to explain. It can summarize as follows:

In a ideal World, each one of us is a King (or Queen) of hearts and lives searching for his/her Queen (of King) of hearts to share many years building up our little (or great) Kingdom. In this ideal world, finding such a Queen (or King) is easy and all we need to do is to live because, at some point in life, this person will show up changing our lives for ever.

Outside this ideal world all of us are Kings of hearts, or at least we have the potential to be one. In addition, I’m convinced that each one has a King or Queen of hearts somewhere waiting for us. Therefore, the difference between an ideal world and our real world is that finding the King (or Queen) is not easy. And consequently, a lot of us give up the search and end up sharing the rest of our days with the 2 of clubs, the 7 of spades or the 5 of diamonds.

Regardless of the card we are going with, our mind (confused between fears, insecurity and temporary physical desire) tricks us… it manages to convinces us, day by day, that the 7 of spades IS our King of hearts, making us sacrifice what we are and what we want in order to maintain the relationship. At the end, we end up with a “Joker”… that plays as-if the Queen (or King) of hearts.

I'm sure that all of you know couples of Queen with Joker and King with Joker or even Joker with Joker. A trip to identify this kind of relationships is..."

To be continued... tomorrow!

Carpe Diem!

Good news (for a change) from the Nintendo generation!

"In my days..." ... "today's kids (something bad)..." etc. We have all been involved right now in this kind of discussions, blaming today's kids of only playing videogames, watching TV and having a lot less real experiences. I must say I was following suit... and then watching the kids see wrestling and crap like that.. ai ai ai...

However, today a young source to-whom-I-promised-not-to-reveal-his-name-unless-in-a-life-or-death-situation gave me some hope in the future, with the following revelation...

"BATE-PÉ" still exists in portuguese schools!! !!! !!!!

Ok... To the non portuguese, this is a mythical "socialization" game (a bit like Sims in today's PCs) where boys and girls get together and challenge/explore interaction male-female. Of course, at the end of the day it is quite harmless, still, girls start practicing the art of dodging guys, and guys, start putting into practice Nash's theories. In lay man terms, approx. 10-12 year old dudes want to kiss 10-12 year old dudettes who pretend not wanting to be kissed (hitting their feet on the floor when they reeeally don't want to!).

Discussing further with my young "source" he started to share with me the scale starting by the innocent numbers... 1- Handshake... 2- Hug ... 3- Kiss on the cheek ... (ok ok, so far so good, these kids today still go step by step) ... 4 - kiss on the mouth (!) ... 5 - French kiss (!!) ... 6 - Loooong french kiss (!!!!) ... oooohhh! Here he stopped to do a CLARIFICATION - these last 2 numbers are not chosen often in playgrounds... ok ok ... so he moved on, straight to the 8, 9 (the 7 is a gap, or he didn't want to tell me :))) etc etc...

And then, the mpdern times and women's emancipation present themselves (even) at "Bate-pé"! When you think things are reaching a limit...
10 - A slap ... 11 - A STRONG slap !!
CLARIFICATION - these are usually chosen by girls and obviously not by boys, because a boy never hits a girl!
12 - a kick ... 13 - a STRONG kick !!! (...)

Well, as we can see this generation of dudes will grow up not only seeing girls hitting their feet on the ground, but also getting slapped. RESPECT!
And regarding the fears about kids and videogames, quoting Jurassic Park, "Nature always finds a way to go around any obstacle and ensure the continuation of the species"

Carpe Diem!

PS - Very HAPPY to realise I have a very open relationship with my "source" even while living in Madrid!