Friday night with Friends (nope...no Chandler)

So it turns out that I am not working all of the time here. I know that you've all seen photos of me outside of the office, but you probably attributed them to wifey's rapidly developing Photoshop mastery. Luckily, my time at the office has yielded more than a few weird images on yesterday's post and a paycheck that might be coming soon. I work with OTHER PEOPLE! These other people also like spending time with people other than themselves. We did get one crazy night with the whole lot of them, but who knew that we had not completely scared them off then?!?

So far the roster of the office has included: Myself, José María (the boss-in Boston), José Luís (the admin assistant), José Chilón, Chema (whose real name is also José María, but is now off at arch. school here in Alicante), Paco (off at arch. school in Pamplona), Cecilia and Ana.

When I interviewed in June, José Chilón was one of three people that I met, and the other two are no longer working here. He is a Peruvian born chico who just moved here in June after two years in Madrid and the previous 16 years in Argentina. Cecilia is his mujer who is a native of Argentina, which can easily be heard in her thick Argentinian accent. The two of them are AWESOME for a few reasons: they are unbelievably nice (actually, most people are here), they have a great understanding of the political struggle of being a non-EU citizen in Spain, their South-American Spanish is MUCH easier to understand than the garbled Alicante version, they are very thrifty in a city full of pricey activities and it is more fun for us newly-weds to hang out with couples. This is why we were so stoked to be invited to dinner with them last night!

restaurant of course! Before you grumble that we're not photographing the storefronts of authentic local places that we'll be taking you to, let me say 6.30€ Where in the world of awesome spanish food did we go? A budget chinesemenú del día....that's all we needed to hear! The food was alright and a total bargain, but the highlight of the evening of 5 straight hours of non-stop conversation in CASTELLANO! That's right! Wifey and I not only held our own, but did a mighty good job of entertaining and understanding. We are still patting each other on the back! What's more is that we did not just talk about coming here, how we don't know Spanish enough and teach about US culture (all common default topics of conversation for foreigners with a limited vocabulary). We just HUNG OUT! That's right! We talked about the weather, buying televisions, horror stories from airlines, maybe a little too much about architecture (sorry Steffa!), college stories, embarrassing moments and things I do that annoy the wifey...that is, we talked about whatever came to mind...that is, we carried on NATURAL CONVERSATION! They even seemed to enjoy it as much as we did!

We got to hear about how José Chilón was once married to a girl that is both Cecilia's cousin and the mother of his brother's children...YIKES! Draw that family tree! We know that they lived in Madrid without TV just long enough to be driven crazy and buy a sweet flatscreen. We shared our feelings on the joys and woes of Spanish culture, and we made probably a million grammatical errors without turning red. All in all...a GREAT night!

Today we've been to our local castle and beach...just because we can!

Hopefully there will be more reports of fun double dates in future issues!

See Paul Work!

First of all, I need to get this out in the open: this blog isn't as fun as my wifey's blog! She has great anecdotal stories of her daily adventures and she presents them with a wit that is all her own. I can't compete with that! My daily adventure is WORK, and the stories I do have are usually presented with way too much background information and all the candor of an IRS audit. I know that you are all looking for a flavor of what life is REALLY like for us, so here it is...me at WORK.

I had already gotten the job when I sent this image to José María. He asked me to participate (from Arizona) in their work for a competition for this enormous University housing project in Zaragoza after my email comments to him made me FAMOUS in the office. (No really...I am immortalized on this site for said comments...look for the "Paul S." and translate/read at your own risk!) He asked me to answer for him the very question that I asked him about his own project, which was "So how does one really move through that building?" I answered him with this diagram which shows circulation in red and social gathering space in orange shining through the translucent white cubes which are the actual dorms. (Since you were all wondering what the HECK this drawing was!...yeah...I know...you're probably still wondering...I tried.) They didn't use this image for the final presentation boards, but it secured me a place in the boss's heart. For this, I was invited EARLY to Alicante.

Actually the above image is the real reason I came to Alicante early. The studio was invited to compete in an exclusive competition for the first of many buildings for a University extension campus here in Alicante. Above is a photo I took of the final "physical model" (as in, not a computer model) which I did not even make a piece of. So this is the answer to your collective question "What do you do all day Paul?" Until this Monday morning I was designing (the initial concept was done before my arrival, but I am given responsibility/freedom to make any developmental design decisions) and drawing floor plans, sections and elevations of this project with two other chicos. I mapped schematic diagrams of mechanical systems, made a gajillion digital models and struggled to understand and communicate these things in my broken spanish. Now isn't that more exciting than surviving an attempted purse-snatching at Pans & Company?!?!? (Actually I WAS there for that!)

These days I'm working on this project. A(nother) competition for subsidized housing projects here in Alicante. We're still working at a conceptual level, but it is SUPER fun! (for someone like me, that is) The orientation and up-down movement of the volumes respond to solar orientation and beachy views, while everything else is to grab as much developable space as zoning will permit. I would totally live in them, except the neighborhood is less dense (aren't I the urbanism junkie?) and a bit far from the city center. My boss is in Boston watching the World Series right now, so things are a bit relaxed around the studio. He will be in Boston until mid-November as he tries to arrange a year long sabbatical for 2008-2009. WooHoo! Party at work! (Actually he is not such a bad guy to have around.)

Still to come....me hanging out with FAMOUS (to me) architects and ceaseless stories of language blunders!

Spain is not Kansas

A coworker asked me on Friday, "How close is Arizona to Kansas?" This caused much laughter and the repetition of the phrase:"This is not Kansas." (This is the translation that they were given for The Wizard of Oz.) It turns out that they are right.

Truthfully, this is not that much of a shock to me, and it should not be for you. However, since I can already hear you all clamoring, "Tell us what exactly makes Alicante all that different from Topeka" I will indulge you with a few examples.

Finally! This is my OFFICE!

1- The Spanish work day

Have you all heard of the siesta? Of course you have! Here is how it works for me:

9:30am - I arrive at work, and everyone else shows up within the next 10-15 minutes.
11:30am - I leave with everyone at the office to a nearby café for our daily 30 minute breakfast break
12:00pm - Back at the office
2:30pm - I leave the office for my 2hr lunch break.
4:30pm - After eating, hanging around the house, walking on the beach or taking a brief nap, I get back to the office.
8:30pm-9pm - The evenings in the office usually fly by, and usually end in a mad dash to complete some drawing, email or graphic before leaving. So the end of the work day is anywhere from 8:30pm until the time that such a task is finished.

I have heard that not everyone enjoys the breakfast break that we do, and schedules obviously vary between offices. Being architects (that is, a hard-working bunch) we tend to work later than many, and this is no different than Kansas. I neither love nor hate this schedule. The day surprisingly goes by much quicker with the multiple breaks, but should an 8.5hr workday really end at 8:30pm? I often find myself walking back to work from lunch at 5pm (If it is one of many late-lunch days) realizing that if I were at a typical job in the USA I would be walking the other direction. One reason not to hate the schedule is that it aligns quite well with the Spanish meal schedule.

Wifey wants me to mention that she does cook (not always salads), but how amazing did this look?!?!

2 - The Spanish meal schedule
8-8:30am - I wake up
10am-12pm - Typical breakfast time
2-4pm - Typical lunch time
8-11pm - Typical dinner time
11:30pm-12:30am - Bedtime

Much like the work schedule, there is much to love and hate about the meal schedule. Pros: I usually have a granola bar or bowl 'o' cereal when I wake up, so my typical Spanish breakfast (media tostada con tomate: half a toasted baguette with finely diced tomato and olive oil) that I have at 11:30 is a perfect snack. Lunch is big and relaxed (and wifey is always fixing something delicious). Cons: Dinner is too close to bedtime. Afternoons tend to be very unproductive. I eat too much (but that's a problem anywhere or anytime).

3 - Nomenclature
"I'll have that to you by...I'll call or see you in...Meet me in the office in...
...the morning" - anytime from 8:30am-1pm
...the afternoon" - certainly no earlier than 4pm and as late as 7pm
...the evening" - after 9pm

These definitions are not TERRIBLY different than Kanasas, but are punctuated by the fact that one is seldom given any specific time-frame. As with all things Spanish, everything is skewed a little later (as with the arrival of our visas). When I first arrived, this took some getting-used-to. I was always asked to meet with someone "in the afternoon," and all further inquiries (eg "What hour would be best?") were met with shrugging shoulders.

Next issue will be past the basics and on to what I've been up to lately!

It begins....(maybe)

I am in Alicante. (see below)

For all but one of those unfortunate enough to be reading this: you are not.

Because I am in Alicante (ie. far far away) and do not have as many opportunities to ramble for hours on end about things that few people care about, I will reluctantly attempt the internet equivalent. Aren't you all SO EXCITED?

I have grand visions for this venture. I will soon be making a million changes to my template so that you will all marvel at my design chops and internet wizadry and content so amazing that you will beg for it to be published as a coffee-table-book. Then again, I might stop caring after a week and you will probably prefer to look at the baby photos, viral videos and other amazing blogs that currently satisfy your needs.

I DO plan to put tons of geeky architecture and other non-what-ive-been-up-to-lately content on here, (if I actually make any more posts after this gem) so consider yourselves warned!