Heavy weeks
I have had pretty busy weeks, that is the reason i have not updated the blog. But here we go now!
Barcelona
After years of dreaming, planning, scheduling, fixing, finally I had the opportunity to go back to Barcelona (‘back’, because once I was there for a few hours, when I was 10 years old). I was so curious to see and explore this city, after talking everybody talking about it, and as I happen not to remember how it is from 15 years ago (and in any case it must have changed a lot in 15 years).
So, driven by the determination of wanting to finally see the city, I happened to go there alone (long story) and arriving on a Saturday afternoon at 2 pm, and flying back at 7am the next day. Short stay, but on the other hand I did not even have to book a hotel room, as I just stayed the night out :)
I had wandered around the city (ramblas, port, the strange skyscraper, the Sagrada Familia, the Gaudi houses, etc..)
I was very amazed to realize how ‘Mediterranean’ the city was. It really reminded me to Naples and Lisbon, but I did not expect that certain parts of the city would be that much underdeveloped and neglected, not cared about. It was really ugly, dirty, and I had the feeling of unsafety. Also, the people were cold, way too strange (much more like French than Spanish, to be honest!). I had the most expensive caffè in my life: 3 euros, in a bar (not an exclusive restaurant, it was a bar!). The metro system is chaotic, which is really disturbing.
Anyways, in the evening time, I was quite happy because for an unexpected luck I got to see a Barcelona match (I would have never thought I could be that lucky that they happen to play at home, and on Saturday, and I could get tickets) so I went to the stadium to see the match… It was really disappointing! The stadium is not that impressive, does not have a real character. There were 67 thousand people, but they did not create a great atmosphere, there was not too much of supporting! But, going back to prior the match: I was wandering around in the zone of the stadium, looking for the stadium, and by chance I arrived to the hotel where the Barcelona players were staying, and in that moment they were getting on the bus, so I saw the Barcelona players from 2 meters!!! Wow :)
After the match I met up Sara (ex Bocconi student, working in Switzerland now) and her brother. They happened to be in Barcelona for the weekend so went out together. It was a really great night, enjoyed it a lot actually.
The bottom point: I was not that impressed… I really prefer Madrid!
Some photos
CEMS Annual Events
After 17 years the CEMS Annual Events returned to Milan (Cems is the ‘Community of European Management Schools and Companies, www.cems.org). Sure, since Bocconi was hosting the event, it was imperative that everything go smooth, after all we are talking about our reputation. And, as CEMS is an international program, they decided to let the staff of the International Relations organize it. Great, some extra work! Especially because we are talking about a 6 days event with more or less 50 events in 30 venues, with 2.200 participants from Europe ! After coming back from Barcelona, I was already exhausted, but I had no idea what waited for me. Stress, no breaks, no lunches… Worked more overtime than normal working hours! And what is more, I was even going out almost every day. For instance, on Friday, I was already quite tired after the difficult week, and I worked 15 hours, but right after work I still went for drinks, went home to sleep only 3 hours and went to work for 19 hours on the next day: Saturday.
But I enjoyed it. I enjoyed organizing and having more responsibility and autonomy and making real decisions.
The even was a success, although I was disappointed on the Italian mentality. Eventhough I told everybody months ago that we would have no taxes at 2 am on a Saturday night in Milan, and we should organize for shuttles, nobody really cared. Of course there were no taxes, people walked for hours in the cold or waited for hours for the taxi in the cold (and rain of course). And what is the Italian reaction? Well, anyways we are not responsible for getting them home… yeah, whatever.
I had a very personal experience during the event too. Unfortunately I got reconfirmed my opinion of one of my ex host countries.. It is a pity how people behave in certain situations, not having any respect for the others.. I learnt my lesson though!
GG
