Landed on Monday night in Madrid, in a downpour. Ah well, the show must go on. Poor me.
Before I could catch my breath my friend Lucia and her boyfriend were whisking me away to meet more friends at a tapas bar (don’t say that too loud in English in mixed company). Within a couple of hours of arrival I was happily munching on tapas and sipping a glass of great red wine, laughing and joking and soaking up every second.
If you don’t know, tapas are small appetizers of every shape, size, color, and flavor. The story goes that eons ago the king of Spain was out hunting on a windy day and a servant brought him a glass of wine with a piece of bread and a small bit of food on top. When the king asked why the “tapa” (cover) the servant replied that he didn’t want his majesty to get anything in his drink, so the tapa protected the wine from dirt and bugs. The king loved it and tapas are now a very important part of Spanish cuisinie.
But, I digress. After tapas we went to Lucia’s apartment to have some of my favorite food with some of my favorite people. The Descalzo family (translation: “barefoot” family — seriously!) is my Madrileño family. When I am in Madrid they insist on providing a room and great food. Felix, the Papa, cook, and Maestro of the Bota, had dinner waiting when we arrived at 10pm. Felix had prepared one of my very favorite Spanish foods — tortilla de patatas, and he handed me the bota when I walked in the door. A bota is a leather wine skin that requires a particular technique to drink from, unless, of course, you don’t mind wearing your wine on your shirt. Felix taught me to drink wine from a bota a few years ago.
Practicing my bota technique with the family has become something of a tradition. Maria Luisa, Lucia’s mom, is an amazingly warm and wonderful person who never met a stranger. Miguel, Lucia’s brother, is my music buddy. Somehow we started exchanging CDs a few years ago and my music collection has benefited immensely from his good taste and generosity. Not to mention that he’s just plain cool. And Lucia, well, Lucia came to study English with me only a few days after I had returned to the US from a 4 month stint in Spain. She was my salvation and has become a close friend. I don’t want to bore you with too many details, so tomorrow I’ll add a couple of photos so you can see for yourself.
Work couldn’t have been further from my mind, but the next day I flew to Alicante where I stayed with our “Spanish daughter” Irene in her college apartment. I knew with college kids there would be a good Internet connection, but I also remember how college kids live, so I wasn’t all that excited about staying in Alicante until Irene finished her exams this week. To my surprise the apartment wasn’t all that bad, but the sink was full of dishes. And the bathroom? Well, let’s just say I decided that it wouldn’t kill me to wait 24 hours for a shower…
So, back to the subject of work. I was able to connect to the Internet right away, but my excitement over my Vonage V-Phone faded in less than 5 minutes. I hooked everything up, including the fancy headset that I had purchased just for this trip, and called home to test my new toy. “Hello? Hello? Are you there? The line is buzzing so loud I can’t hear you.” I tested it several other times and there was just no way it was going to work. So my first technical challenge was to get telephone coverage that wouldn’t cost my clients a penny, yet wouldn’t drain my own bank account. I’ve discovered that Skype offers a service that allows people to call me from a regular telephone, so I intend to test that tomorrow and I’ll report back. My advice is to steer clear of Vonage’s V-phone.
I’m really happy to report that working from Spain has so far been a snap. When I started my business I gathered as much information as possible about working virtually. Some of the information came through the Virtual Training Program at AssistU, and I picked up other tips from reading books and talking to other VAs. I think the single best source of information for me is David Allen’s book Getting Things Done. In order to work effectively away from my office I only have to carry my laptop and an individual folder for each client that has about 5 sheets of notes in each one. For each client I have a secure file on my computer that has all of the information that I need. It’s amazing to me that I really do have everything I need at my fingertips.
We interrupt this really boring post to bring you something a little more interesting (well, to me it is, at least). It is 4am in Dénia and we just walked in the door. Irene, her mother Chelo, her friend Anita, and I went to La Sidreria, one of my very favorite tapas bars, at 10pm, the typical dinner time here. While we were munching on incredible goodies, the owner of the bar/restaurant, Javier, came by to say hello and to tell us about his upcoming 2 year excursion through South America and the US. He is a friend of Chelo’s and I’ve met him before, so I invited him to stop in Colorado for a visit. In turn he gave me a t-shirt from his restaurant. Then Irene’s friend, Nelson showed up and took us out to party. We danced until 3:30am which, in Spanish time, is actually pretty early to call it a night. But Irene was tired and asked me to make an excuse that I have to work in the morning so that she could save her reputation and still go home to sleep.
The reason that I tell you this story is because it is very indicatave of the culture here, and why I love it so much. It doesn’t matter one twit that I’m a grandmother. Nobody cares how old you are or where you’re from. In fact, Anita, who is 19, shouted in my ear, above the roaring music, “Denise, you dance like a Spaniard. I wish I could dance like you.” I almost fell over laughing. It’s like being on a different planet. Here you can be yourself, without fear of judgment or ridicule. It doesn’t mean that I wear mini-skirts or act half my age. I just like to dance. And in the Spanish-speaking world, that is simply normal. What a gift it is to be in this exciting, passionate place.
And, by the way, after 4 days of rain, the sun is finally shining. What more could I ask?
