Birds

And this is an adorable one :), makes you laugh!

Cookies

To all those tough and sweet cookies out there...

Porto, S. João and beach

It's sunny and warm here in Porto! WOW! Extremely unusual! We can almost go to the beach!!!Shame I have a bit of a cold, otherwise I wouldn't think twice about laying on the sand and getting a real suntan, instead one that comes out of a bottle in Madrid and gives me the illusion I can survive another summer without the beach.

Anyhow, maybe we'll go for a coffee at one of my favourite spots in Porto: Praia da Luz to watch the sunset over the ocean and hear the seagulls above us, while listening very cool chillout music. This is the Porto I love. On the above link, you can also see nice views of my city and also of the bars on the renovated Gaia docks overlooking Porto's Ribeira and the most beautiful bridge in the world.

Tonight Porto is celebrating it's patron, St John and preparations are being finalised for another sleepness night, where about 1 million people will enjoy the occasion by walking on the city and... hitting each other on the head with plastic hammers. It's a very strange and unique night over here and the rule is to have fun and to get drunk, always in a group. When we were younger, we used to gather around 2o+ and lined up and hand in hand walk miles until dawn. Why holding hands? Because of the 1 million people on the narrow streets of our city. People get lost, especially if attacked by another "torture" - the smelly garlic. This thing causes you to run uncontrollably until you are safe from this variety of garlic that stinks and makes you wanna kill the person behind it. Yes, this is also very exotic and very Porto, hit the cute girls with garlics and hammers and all laugh... I know, it doesn't make any sense, but that's why it is so pure and fun.

VIVA O PORTO, carago! Or better, more real: BIBÓ PORTO, carago!!!

Faringitis or really sore throat

Went to the doctor who told me I had a strep throat, although the name in spanish is more serious - faringitis!
My dear throat today has been aching, making itself hard to swallow and generally giving me a bad time. So much, that I left work early to come home, had a power nap (quite deep, apparentely, drugged as I was with the pills people kept giving me) and then off to the doctor.
I am home on my stripped pyjamas, wearing a soft woolie cardigan and a scarf, although it's 27c outside. You can imagine how I feel. The problem is that we are driving to Portugal on Friday and I must feel fine, as it's something like 7 hours drive and basically the lady here driving. I'm skipping the summer party of work - oh, what a shame, dear! - so I must feel great by then! Going home for the weekend, especially if I'm driving, is always a mega operation, as everything goes so quickly and there's no time to relax, between catching up with the folks, friends and basically adapting to your old small bed... But driving this time has a purpose, go and fetch mum and dad for them to take care of us until my holidays at the end of July.
The word makes me smile just writing it :), feel better already, yes sir!

Fiesta Ibizenca

On Friday we went to a birthday party, by the swimming pool on this very nice house. As we arrived, we got shocked: everyone was wearing white, from head to toe. Obviously, everyone noticed how we broke the rules, by not abiding to the strict and implicit code. Yes, implicit because the invitation didn't refer to white garments, but to Ibiza. How on Earth should we have known that a Fiesta Ibizenca means White? Well, we were the obvious rebels, even though we were foreign, but that didn't help us being forgiven, the stares of the guys with white moccasin shoes and white transparent trousers didn't fool us, they were totally pissed off at us. We didn't have to embarrass ourselves :)

This is Blythe

In one of the magazines which is our customer for the paper we do, more specifically called Tendencias Fashionmag, in there there was an article about a new reinvented tendency: the Blythe dolls, which are nice dolls with big heads and that were commercialised in the States back in the seventies. They weren't a big success for their strange unproportional form and they were pulled out. Now they are back as collectibles and their price on eBay can reach 1,500€.

I find them the cuttest thing, and so did the Japanese toy maker Takara which is now making more of these dolls, destined to a grown-ups as collectibles.

The things you learn! :)

It's hot!

Guys, going to the gym in a hot day like this is a bit of a torture I know, but this is just the beginning of some hot 3 months, when breathing fresh air is a commodity and a haven. My bichinho is equipped with AC, and damn right too! It shouldn't even be an option, but a special mandatory requirement to have AC standard here in Madrid. Everywhere! My apartment doesn't have one of those big AC machines hanging on a window, but luckily I really do not need it, as we are facing north, i.e., the sun sets on our left, so we never really have it straight on our faces boiling the room... It can even get a bit chilly (and this is my best kept secret, as this adds value to any house in this city!).

I don't even know what is worse, to be freezing in your office all day, sneezing all your 8 hour long workday, or to come out to the heat of the street and be totally cooked in quick mode... Hmmmm....

Sea nostalgia...

And my swimming pool is officially open for the next 3 months! With today's temperature at 32c is it definitely good news!

Although I was on 'holiday' 4 days of the previous week and supposedly went to Portugal, I must tell my boss I need more holidays of the true kind, i.e., lying on the beach all day, have a Coke on the beach bar to have a rest from all that sun exposure, swim a bit, dry up and slowly get back home, shower, dress up all nice and tanned for dinner and drinks until dawn... Then, start this process again until you get tired.

Oh yes, I COULD DO THAT RIGHT NOW! (I even see all blue, blue like the sea...it's a serious case of tiredness and boredom!)

The brainwash

I'm back. I was supposed to be brainwashed by now, but I survived the process.

What a weird business going on there...

Anyways, went to the hotel on Sunday, met my room mate, lovely and sweet Idil.

Met the other boys (we were only 2 girls) and spend a nice afternoon together, having some tapas. We were from Portugal, Turkey, Canada, Brazil, Belgium, UK and Spain.

We didn't know much about the job, we were all eyes and ears. We were all there for the adventure. We didn't know what the job was exactly about.

To summarize it, they send teams of 3 people (a girl and 2 boys) to mainly underdeveloped countries in order to sell advertising in the country report that these teams will help elaborate. They are sent for a minimum period of 3 months and their goal is to sell as many pages as possible. How? By trying their utmost best to sell advertising space on their report which might be published on the medium they work with, so it might be The Economist, The New York Times, The Independent, The Daily Telegraph, etc etc.

These are valid country branding, in the sense that their goal is to attract foreign investment and help consolidate a good image of a country. But it's more appearances than we think, as if I can't have the company, whose CEO my 'journalist' just interviewed for an hour, to buy an ad in this report, his comments aren't going to be published, meaning that if they don't give us money, we aren't taking him into consideration, saying quite the contrary during the whole meeting. The prices of these ads are absolutely incredible, and we must convince these top leaders to sign the contrat on the spot. This in Africa, for instance.

They said, indirectly, of course, that I was to use my feminine charms and that was why I was there (I felt cheated and on a very machist environment). And although the team is comprised always of 3, it is always the role of the girl to sell and the boys to pretend they are journalists and photographers for all these famous publications. And the money we get is supposedely transferred from an offshore bank account.

In a nutshell, the whole thing stunk but I've learnt how to do a presentation of 20 mins, memorise all that, present myself impecably, watch my gestures and body language, maintain eye contact, smile, chit chat, boost people's egos, get them to trust me... I can't say these are bad, I really enjoyed these. It's just on what they are used that made me feel a bit bitter. Like interviewing Mr Taha, who is one of the architects of war in Sudan, or the dictator of Congo. All of this with a smile, saying he is so incredible and we must have a nice photo of him in my paper which reaches the right audiences for him to get the foreign investment he deserves.

It's against my morality. This is not selling a physical thing, it's selling an idea, selling an utopia for the price of one too. It's being really pushy, really annoying but with a smile and a hand on his arm. I know all sales have that component of persuasion, but this is really low, it's making people believe they are so special they must be part of the editorial, but if they can't see the point of also being in the advertising side of it, then they are totally dispensable.

And as I'm not like that, I can't get my enthusiasm felt if I don't feel it myself, they told me I didn't have that commercial profile they were looking for. To tell you the truth, I was happy I didn't have the profile of person they wanted...

The selective training 1

Yeah, I didn't mention that the training starts Monday! Yes, already!

Today I must focus: have a presentation to prepare as homework for the training.

Three topics to go through, no notes, no powerpoints, no slides. Just me and THEM!

My opinion is that this will take place first thing on Monday morning, for them to see what we do well and not so well and start from there. Yes, the job involves plenty of presentations to very important audiences and we all must sound professional and convinving.

If I don't get picked, at least I've learnt tactics and strategies. It's 3 official days for training, whilst still being evaluated, then the 4th day is for the ones that passed their criteria and did well generally. Thursday will be the decisive day, when you know that your life as you know it is about to change. If you are over by Wednesday, then your life is supposed to remain the same as it is now.... I'll let you know. Please keep your fingers crossed!