Quick update and thoughts about the future

I promised I would be updating often this blog. However, since I guess there are not many people out there reading it and its main purpose is to keep my written english as fresh as possible while my head correctly structured, I don't give much importance to this discontinuous process. Thus, I might as well just give you a heads up on what has been going on in my live lately, updating it with the highlights up to this moment I am writing, my flatmate in the seat next to me, in a train coming back from Barcelona. Why am I in this train? Well, you will have to wait to the end of the post, since it is chronologically structured and first things come first.

I keep playing basketball in the same team I did last year, some of the band has deserted already, but I stay there, hanging for not long most probably. I am not as excited about it as I was and the motivation of loosing every single game during 2012 does not help much. So I have diversified, playing now what in Spain is known as soccer 7, that is, same thing as standard soccer but with seven players in a smaller field rather than eleven. Central defense or however it is called is my current position and I have to confess that I am greatly enjoying it!

Besides that and all I already summarized in a previous post about traveling, I continue volunteering for Engineers Without Borders in my region. Probably not the typical NGO we are used to see or hear about, but definitely one with character. This character is basically given to the organization by its gross mass of volunteers, who shape the way of getting things done and its unique philosophy. It has been amazing being able to find a group of people with whom one can discuss issues not that common in most daily conversations, and doing so in an atmosphere of trust and most importantly, friendship.

And of course, this year there has been time for the already usual music festivals around Spain. Places like Bilbao, Burriana, Murcia... have been visited by us, always hungry for this kind of events.

Who's asked that? where am I going to spend this New Year's Eve? As some of you might already be aware of, it has kind of become a tradition to spend this particularly festive event out of my hometown (Edinburgh first and Madrid later). Well, because traditions should be kept, this year will not be an exception and we will be witnessing the dropping of the ball at Times Squares in NYC. That is right, we managed to organized an international reunion with the UVM crew this year. I have no doubt it will be awesome sharing adventures with these people again.

So what was I saying first? Ah, yes, that I am in a train back to Pamplona all the way from Barcelona. How so? Well, I have been there to do an exam in order to try and get a place in a MBA program in the US. How did it go? lets say that it didn't go as good as it should have if I plan on obtaining a full scholarship (really in decline now), but the result is still not that bad in order to get admitted in a decent business school. So it is time now for investigating options and go through with whatever looks best.

I will let you know about any further developments!!!

Where I've been so far!

Not as nice as the Scratch Map my brother gave me for my birthday, but a good remainder of how much I have traveled so far, how many countries there are to visit and how crazy I am about this passion of mine.

San Fermin? better with a Free Tour

I guess most of you are familiar with the festivals taking place every July in my hometown, San Fermin.  Probably a bunch of you guys have even experienced the craziness in which the city plunges during this wonderful days. However, my friend and I are part of those people who love to enjoy all dimensions of the festivals (the parades, the traditions, the party, the running of the bulls, the fireworks, the people...).

We believe that people who come to the city looking for this world famous event should not limit themselves to the night life. There is much more to it than just that! So with this in mind, we started two years ago with an initiative that we really enjoy. It is about sharing our love for the city with others and trying to make their stay a little bit more fulfilling.

Easy thought, easy made. We prepared the route we wanted to walk and reviewed the history of the city. The next was just printing some flyers and spreading the word around the various hostels, campings and hotels in the city. The aim of the tour is to briefly explain the history of the main attractions in town at the same time that we get the audience involved in the traditions of the festivals. Besides, some of the tips we give them so they can enjoy it to the fullest are of incalculable value.

So you know, if you are around the city on the days prior to San Fermin, that is, from July the 2nd until the 5th or so, come join us! and remember, it's free!

We even got some media coverage in a local newspaper! So you think you know San Fermines?

Vegetables and t-shirts

As mentioned before, lots of things have been going on around over this period of blog inactivity. Probably one of the most important or exciting ones is the creation of a new company. Four friends joined together, with a common desire for entrepreneurship and an idea in mind. The result, a start-up called El Palillo de Mariano.
Our moto, the new rural modern style.
I won't be talking much about it in this forum, since I prefer to let you explore all its magic through its website, online store, social network accounts, Picassa albums...
Enjoy it! and if you feel like wearing one of this amazing designs, visit us!

Can I have a trip over here?

Needless to say that I love to travel, as I have multiple times mentioned in this very same blog. Since it has been a long time, I now have a bunch of trip adventures I would love to share with all of you in extended detail. However, it would take me forever to write about all my recent travel adventures in such a way. Thus, I have opted for a brief version of it. Here is what I plan on doing, which I hope suits all your expectations. I will list, in this very same post, all the trips, together with a heading that serves as a concentrated summary of what I did, felt and experienced. But of course, because an image expresses more than a thousand words, each of the adventures is accompanied by one of this. Hope you enjoy it!

Guatemala: Experienced all dimensions of a trip.

Iceland: Nature and modern style are not incompatible.

Berlin: The other Germany.

South Korea: Work colleagues can be great travel buddies.

Milwaukee and Chicago: Training, tourism and indignation.

Ibiza: A brother of my friend is also my brother.

Peru: One word, Machu Picchu.

South Africa and Mozambique: First African adventure, pursuing it all my life.

I'm back!!

Well, it has been a long time since I left my last thoughts here in this blog. Lots of things have changed and adventures happened during all this period I have been out of the radar from the bloggers world. And before I am able to get back to me sharing my interests and experiences, I will be trying to briefly sum up what has been going on in my life all this time.

Hope you'll enjoy it!

Binta y la gran idea

I just finished watching a really interesting short movie about the importance of childhood and happiness in the world. The only issue is that the video is in French with Spanish subtitles. Well, at least some of you might be able to understand one or either of them. Enjoy!!

Sweet independence

It's already been two months since I emancipated, moving out from my parent's place and living on my own with a couple of friends (Aitor and Jakub). Well, so far so good, as it is usually said (and now that I have a place to myself, I want to invite any of you who wants to pay me or Pamplona a visit, because there are some extra beds and an incredibly comfortable sofa waiting for you). As I predicted, I have no major problems getting everything done and life is easy. Of course there are plenty more things to worry about, but that is the challenge, and hell yeah! I love challenges.

Overcoming them makes anyone feel amazingly useful and proud of him/herself. Life is full of challenges, because that is the way it should be. If sometime you find yourself with no goal ahead to fulfill or no challenges to get through, then stop, reevaluate, think for a while about what you want in your life, and finally, go for it. This will make you feel better, no doubt.

People find challenges in different places or environments. Whether at work, in sports, with people, in causes... all are valid and must be respected. Everyone is different and so want different things. Nevertheless, people also change with time. What thought to be a challenge in the past can stop being so, due to boredom, lack of interest or simply repetition. That is the exact moment in which you need to come to a halt and reconsider.

Me, I still find challenges in most things in life. However, same way as most people I know, the biggest and usually considered most important ones are work related. Is this the way it should be? or are we giving to much weight to these challenges compared to others? Well, honestly I believe that being at an early working age, as I am myself, we do in fact make this mistake often.

In this line of thought, turning upside down my career in a couple of years time sounds attractive. It would be the moment to go for it, give it a shot, and if it turns out to be a complete disaster, you could never say you did not try.

In the near future, I have challenges non-work related, such as the trip to Guatemala and other good intended projects in Pamplona. But some different challenges and projects for the future are also starting to take shape in my head. You will be hearing about them when the time is ready.

Since this was a pretty intense post, lets reduce the stress with some laughter. Because in Pamplona we also celebrate Halloween!!

Summer is over!!

Hey all there,

Summer is over and with it the nice weather in Pamplona and the unscheduled life. Now, it is time to get back to routine, whole days at the office, followed by either German classes or basketball trainings. However, a huge change in life happened, which will eclipse all these monotonous tasks. Some of you already know, but for those who still wonder what the hell I'm talking about, I moved out from my parents' and I'm now living on my own. Since the beginning of September, Aitor, Jakub (a Polish student in Pamplona) and me, we are all sharing a flat in Pamplona. So far so good. I will be keeping you updated on this new start I just got on.

And well, summer went by. Even though I worked a lot, including late evenings, I also managed to enjoy it and hop on into a few little adventures on the way. I'm pretty sure a summary will do it, no need for details on each trip, specially if some nice and speak-for-themselves pictures accompany, which I don't have with me right now but will upload some time soon.

So first was it was time for San Fermines. Amazing as they always are, and made special this year by the Spanish World Championship. Yeah, that's right, we are soccer World Champions!!! Then the LowCost festival in Benidorm arrived, with bands like Placebo or Editors playing. So much fun with my wonderful friends Rober, Ion, Victor and Iban. Thank you guys. That was pretty much July.

Then August came around and we were off to Mallorca. A yearly tradition my friends from University have. We go off for a week to some place in the coast to enjoy the nice weather and the nightlife. This year it was a success again, but I won't be talking much about it, because what happens in Mallorca, stays in Mallorca, hehe. And after Mallorca, it was time for celebration. Celebrating what you may ask. Well, Emilio and Christine, old friends from Vermont were getting married in Munich, Germany. So there we went, to share that happy and lovely moment with them. The wedding was amazing and pretty different, to say the least, from what I'm used to here in Spain. Probably the fact that the groom was Mexican whereas the bride was German had something to do with it.

Because a friend of mine is crazy and I'm dumb for following him, the last weekend of August, we did puenting, as we call it here, or bungee jumping, as they do in English. So scary but also worth trying it. And after the extreme sport, it was time for another music festival. This time it was the Ebrovision in Miranda de Ebro, a much smaller festival but with great national bands playing and a wonderful atmosphere.

That's been my summer until now. I hope things keep happening and that I stay as active as always, because I love this trying-new-things-and-meeting-new-people thingy (almost as much as I like saying this last word, thingy, hehe).

The Blue Sweater

I just finished reading this book and totally love it. I strongly recommend it and hope you read it, because it's truly inspirational.

Niños de la India

Four lovers of India who felt like they needed to do something joined together and created this organization, Niños de la India. It is one of those I really like, because they do not do things the way traditional aid programs have been doing for years. That is, putting money into a project without paying attention to what the receivers of that particular project thought about it and without considering their ideas.

This is less about aid or helping, as we usually think of it, and more about investing. Investing on people's lives and believing in them. With this program, you can give the starting push to a student, so that he/she can make a living on his/her own. It is not about handing out money blindly, but about giving that particular person an opportunity. An opportunity to create a future for himself, one that he/she has chosen, that he/she likes and more important, that he/she believes in. So if you are eager to help, this can be a really good way of making a difference in someone's life.

http://ninosdelaindia.es/english/

Invictus

After a lot of going and coming, this weekend I stayed in Pamplona. Meeting with some friends for dinner and beer, one night out the other planning not to go out but doing so anyway, a movie on Sunday afternoon... that is, the usual Pamplona style weekend. So I watched a movie today, and I usually don't share movie tastes on the blog, but this one I really liked. I am sure a lot of you had already seen it. Well, I hadn't and I loved it. It is Invictus, and despite being a blockbuster, I think it perfectly depicts some of the reality of South Africa. It is pretty inspiring and although the real life in that country probably is way harder than the movie suggests in the end, we can always use some inspiration, don't we?

The Cove

Astonishing documentary about the dolphin slaughter in Japan, and which points out not only that specific problem, but exposes what a huge damage we are all inflicting to the Earth. I really like when he said, either you are an activist or you are an inactivist. It's not easy, but let's all try to at least be a little more activist in something near us. Then we can start thinking bigger.

BUV Index

Because life is great, and traveling makes it even better, I suggest you check your BUV Index. It takes two minutes and is pretty interesting. It's a pity it's only available in Spanish, but I guess you won't have many problems since it appears to be quite intuitive. I honestly don't know the calcs behind it, but looks pretty accurate to me, hehe.

This is the link:

http://www.buscounviaje.com/indice-buv/paises_visitados

And this is my index (I see it pretty low, so I might have to start organizing another trip soon):

Patient Capitalism

Really interesting talk you can find in TED from Jacqueline Novogratz. I believe it's worth twenty minutes of your time because in order to improve this world we need everyone. And if you have a little more time, I recommend you read her book as well. It's called The Blue Sweater: Bridging the gap between rich and poor in an interconnected world. Give it a shot!

SOS 4.8

Every day that goes by I get more convinced that life is made by people. I mean, meeting new people, seeing really good old friends no seen for long time, chatting with random people in the street, never saying no to meeting someone, trying to see the best part of everyone, learning something from everyone's experiences and background...

I know a lot of you understand what I'm talking about. That excitement you get when you speak with a friend from group 2 (refer to a previous post), or the great feeling that walks you home when going back from meeting someone new that you really enjoyed talking with. So, please, take care of people and never shut anyone off. We are all worth meeting and being listened. Because WE has been, is and will always be more important than I, although a lot of people might have not realized it yet.

And after this deep feeling exposure, let's talk a little bit about an awesome weekend in Murcia we had a week ago. Rober and I took my car on Thursday and drove all the way down to southern Spain in order to attend a promising music festival. It was really cheap (40 euros for two days of festival) considering the magnitude of the bands playing. I'm talking about Franz Ferdinand, Delorean, We are Standard, Love of Lesbian, Dorian, Sunday Drivers, Anni B Sweet, Fatboy Slim and many others.

We stayed in a house in a village next to Murcia, with swimming pool and the whole thing. Really sweeeeeeet!!!! I didn't know anyone before going except for Rober, but after a few hours in that house, we were all like family. I told you, people are meant to be together and interact, it's just how we are. There was a great vibe in that house but also with the neighbors. We had the best ones, five girls from Barcelona, really sociable and ready to meet new people. So we were a perfect match and had a great festival with them.

And now we are back in Pamplona, routine, but already preparing the next adventure. I hope it takes place soon, because life is movement, and if you stop, it will pass you by. So enjoy it!!!!!

Thank you for the drawing Laura, I love it!

Easter vacation

So Easter vacation is over, meaning we have to get back to work again. It is unbelievable how fast time passes when you are on holidays. The positive side of this is that it went really fast because we had a great time and enjoyed ourselves big time. Where? well, I was in need of crossing another country in my world map I have on my bedroom wall, so I flew to Sofia, Bulgaria together with four friends of mine.

Like I usually do, I'm not gonna give a detailed description of what we did because that will be boring for most of you. Just mention that Sofia is not that great to visit, although it seemed to me like a pretty nice city to live in permanently (kinda like Pamplona, not a big tourist attraction, but incredibly comfy). Plus, we had some inside information since two of our classmates from University are over there as Erasmus students. They took us out at night and gave some really good tips about the city and what to do around. Thanks to them we went visit a lovely city called Plovdiv, with a beautiful old town.

Partying was also an important part of this visit and we tried (because it was Easter time and a lot of people was out of town, making the nightlife less active) to go out almost every night. We were dealing with Erasmus students, so staying at home at night is always out of the question. Oh! and the food... the food was so cheap and delicious. And if it came accompanied by a half liter beer to refresh us, better still.

The weekend previous to leaving for Bulgaria, I went to Bilbao to visit some of those really good friends you rarely see, but that when you meet, it feels like there has been no time in between. You know which ones I am referring too, don't you? you meet them after a couple of months (sometimes even years) without talking or seeing each other and there is no awkwardness and feels like you have been together hanging out every day for those couple of months. Well, the point is that in one of those friends' house in Bilbao we met and enjoyed a wonderful weekend of catching up and laughing (really important to help with the daily crap all of us have to put up with). Bilbao was and is still a very important and industrialized city which has been improved greatly in the past years, leaving a really beautiful and worth visiting city.

And that's pretty much it since the last time I wrote here. Let me just give you a couple of hints about what I'll be doing in the next month. I have a week in Iowa, US starting next Sunday. Also a weekend adventure which I cannot talk about yet someplace in Spain and then whatever else has in store the randomness of this life, hehe.

Really interesting reading and a good idea

Quick post to let you know about a really nice book I've read lately. It's called The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind and tells the story of a young boy from Malawi who defying all his village disbelief successes in building a wind mill that generates electricity for his house. I loved it because it starts describing his childhood in Malawi, which was a pretty harsh one and then continues with the different stages of creating the wind mill, taking place during his youth. Plus, it's even more inspiring because William Kamkwamba (that's the guys name) is the same age us me and a lot of you.

The second item I wanted to share with you is a link to a web searcher that I recently got from a really good friend and who is getting more and more concerned into saving the planet. It's a good idea and worth a shot from my point of view. I will just let you judge and decide for yourselves.

ECOSIA

Montana Adventure

Hey there folks!!!

How's 2010 treating you so far. I personally can't complain, since I've got a pretty nice start. Continuing with the awesomeness I was living and that I already told in some way on the previous post, I jumped into a flight and went all the way to Montana, US (work related trip this time, meaning few expenses on my behalf).

Of course Montana is too distant from my home city Pamplona, so it was totally necessary to stop somewhere on the way. And what could be better than Chicago, a city I'd heard beautiful things about and which I'd never visited. So I spent one day on my way to Montana and another one on my way back. Despite traveling alone (as usual when I do it for work reasons) I enjoyed very much and it left a great impression on me. It was cold, so some attractions weren't working yet, but that also meant less tourists, which was kind of nice as well. So I did the usual, Millennium Park (with the giant iron bean), Navy Pier, Hancock Observatory... and I couldn't leave without going to a Bulls game. Being a basketball fan and having grown up looking up to Michael Jordan, I couldn't miss the opportunity to go. It was awesome!!!!!!

In Montana I stayed at Shelby since the wind farm I had to work in for two weeks was fifteen minutes away from this small city. Well, for those of you who have already been in the area, I have little to say. And for those who haven't, let's just say that Montana is ... well, Montana. Maybe some people doesn't enjoy it that much, but you know me and how I usually adapt to the circumstances quickly, making myself comfortable anywhere. This wasn't an exception, and after the first week and the help of some of my students in class we got to know most of the locals and their weird habits. Let's leave it there. The training I had to give went better that I had foreseen, so I left Shelby with a great feeling after the two weeks were over. Plus, during the weekend in between I got to go to Great Falls (the biggest city nearby) and skiing in a Vermont style resort (oh, how it reminded me of the good old times in that wonderful state) called Showdown.

And after my American adventure, back to reality, with all my new responsibilities and a whole lot of work. But really happy with what I get to do and as always, learning a bunch. But you know work is not everything in life, not even close, so enjoying life is a must. One of the greatest pleasures I have discussed in this blog many times is the UVM reunions we try to keep organizing and performing. This time was Helene's turn and so we gathered some of our belongings and set out for Lyon, in France. We were fewer than usual, only four since Miguel couldn't go for working reasons (promotion and trip to China for 5 months) and Torsten couldn't either for monetary ones. Nevertheless, it was amazing to spend three days with these wonderful friends and realize that the magic is still there, making me believe that we can most surely stay pals forever.

Some 2010 action

New Year usually comes with new adventures an events, and 2010 wasn't going to be an exception. A lot of plans are building up with some of them being already mature enough as to consider them final. What am I talking about? Well, let's see...

On Saturday I am leaving for a two weeks adventure in Montana, USA. Yeah, that's right, you didn't misread it, I'm crazy enough as to go over there in February. I believe the average temperature these days might be some twenty or so Celsius below zero. However, I count on my Vermont experience with handling cold, so I am little worried about that. This time is a work related trip, so I guess I won't enjoy it as much.............................not! (Seriously, love the "not" jokes). I think that even though I will have to work and all that stuff, I will really have a great time, or at least try. I promise to tell you everything once I get back.

More plans... oh, yeah, a trip to Lyon in March, which I will let you know how it goes when I get back; a possible but not confirmed Bulgarian adventure during easter; a music festival in Murcia in the end of April; and much more.

Moving on!! (if you watch "Greek" then you probably read this expression with the same intonation I do, copied from the blond girl of ZBZ enemies. But hey, I'm not weird, just different, hehe). I get too excited talking about future plans, so I'm gonna focus on past adventures, which make me feel more nostalgic and emotional than excited. What have I been up to lately?

Some weeks ago I went to Toulouse to visit Pascual, one of our classmates from Uni. So three of us jumped into my brand new Toyota on Friday and drove all the way. It's like four hours, although with the great company felt like minutes, hehe. It was my fourth time in that lovely city and it was heaps of fun (like my aussie friend would say). We never do the same things when we go or enter the same discos, so if feels like going to a new city, specially because I haven't slept in the same house twice. Either the people there move from one place to another or we go to a different person's house each time. Anyway, the thing is that it was awesome (thank you Alex for those hangovers we love so much) and I have to say that one of the best things is getting to visit Pascual, who we so rarely see.

And not this last one but the previous weekend, we, "the concert gang" as we like to be called, hehe, went to Barcelona for an Arctic Monkeys gig. We decided staying the whole weekend in our beloved "Albareda Hostel" was the way to go. So we arrived in Barcelona on Friday evening after a comfortable trip by train and went straight to a friends house. The concert was next day, so we chose Friday to be Razzmatazz night. Wonderful as always. Next day a little bit of tourism and an almost impossible quest: finding an euro6000 atm. Half the city we walked before we encountered one. And as usual, once we found one they were everywhere. Well, I'm gonna go to the point because this is already getting way too long for anyone to read. Plus it's loosing the spark. Saturday night was concert night. Awesome as well, and great sisters we met while waiting for the band to start playing. And after that the night got a bit crazy, I'm not going to lie to you. Nevertheless, that information is only known and will be kept by the people involved. Next time come with us if you want to know more.

And that pretty much all until now. As promised earlier, once I get back from my various trips I'll post something to share the experience and if there is any update in my life I will as well inform you all. For those of you who I don't see very often, Hello!!!!!!