Manual de supervivencia d'un expatriat

Amb l'any que portem exiliats als USA hem anat trobant diverses maneres de sentir-nos com a casa. I no ho dic nomes pel fet que cuinem truites de patates, pa amb tomaquet o fideua. Avui la tecnologia permet que, tot i estar a 6.000 km de distancia, poguem seguir veient los Serrano o fins i tot trucar a casa gratis. Aixi que he decidit a compartir aquestos recursos amb vosaltres, a veure si aixi us animeu a exiliar-vos tambe una temporadeta. Comencem:

Televisio i pel.licules:

- Des dels EUA hem seguit l'espectacle politic de Catalunya i Espanya a traves del Polonia. No puc esperar a que tornin a comencar de nou!

- Tambe podeu seguir les emissions dels canals de Televisio de Catalunya en directe. Aixo si que es collonut!

- I si voleu estar informats, aqui teniu la ultima edicio del Telenoticies, i fragments d'altres programes informatius.

- Per ultim, una web per mirar pel.licules i series gratis. Una mica engorros el tema dels pop-ups pero millor aixo que res!

Musica:

- Gran invent, de lo millor que he vist fins ara. Es el Rockola, una especie de Pandora en espanyol i que es pot accedir des de tot arreu, sense restriccions territorials (de moment) com passa en altres webs americanes. I lo millor, amb molta musica espanyola i estacions pre-fixades que estan molt be. Us recomano "La Gramola" i com no podia ser d'atra manera "El Chiringuito". Ja em direu.

- I per als que voleu estar al tanto del que sona a la radio, us passo el link al player de Cadena 100. Es de les emissores que mes m'agraden, tot i que es repeteixen una mica.

Premsa:

- El meu preferit, sobretot per "La Contra" es La Vanguardia.

- I per veure l'atre cara de la moneda (cosa molt recomanable) us passo el link d'El Mundo.

- Un altre diari que m'agrada molt es El Confidencial. Una mica catastrofistes pero va be llegir-lo de tant en quant. Especialment interessant es la seccio d'economia, anomenada cotizalia.

- I com a bonus track, i nomes per a persones amants de les emocions fortes, Libertad Digital, el diari d'en Federico Jimenez Losantos. Important, no deixeu que els nens llegeixin aquest diari sense supervisio paterna :)

Comunicacions:

- Un altre dels grans invents de la epoca. Quan ho descobriu, passareu de l'skype i invents semblants. VoipBuster permet trucar a telefons fixos espanyols de manera totalment gratuita, i a mobils de manera molt barata. I el millor de tot es que et permet associar el teu telefon mobil i fer les trucades gratuites des del teu telefon, sense necessitat d'un ordinador i d'internet. Impresionant!

Doncs be, gracies a totes aquestes webs, avui estar lluny de casa ja no es el que era! Gracies internet!

Summer Internship

I am now in the middle of my internship which has exceeded my already high expectations. Marriott is such a great company to work for, people are really nice and my job is very interesting. I have joined a department of about 20 people, all MBAs, responsible for evaluating deals of new properties to manage or franchise and potential new hotel development projects. We prepare pro-formas and perform financial analyses, so as you can imagine, lots of excels every day! We also get to know the projects very well, which is a great mean to understand the economics of a hotel. Life at Marriott is awesome, we have a gym in the basement which is very convenient and I am out of the office at 5:30. The only negative part is the commuting, but I don’t regret living in the downtown. And commuting can also be surprising: One day I was at the metro, 8AM in the morning, and a guy I did not know approaches me and asks me in Spanish “Are you Quim Cristia?” After my dose of Lost and Heroes this summer, I am very sensitive to abnormal events, so my brain started thinking what the hell that was. I realized the train was moving, so it was not Hiro Nakamura stopping the time and delivering me a key message to save the world. Not, in fact he was an old colleague from MedGroup although we never worked together and I did barely remember him.

Life in DC is great! There are lots of things to do and lots of terraces to hang out. I have known some of Thomas Ferede’s friends that are in town and I am discovering the city with my new Spanish friend. And the most important, Sofia, Ariana and I spent the fourth of July together and saw the fireworks in DC. It was great to see them again (see picture below) and we will certainly do more things together. So I am looking forward to the second half of my internship!

4th of July dinner with Sofia and Ariana

The fireworks!

Happy Hour at the Park with Andrew, Leticia and co.

Tequila tasting in downtown

Happy hour with some of Thomas' friends

Around DC with Fernando, the misterious guy from MedGroup :)