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!

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!