Guiri Guide to Madrid

Co-founding Guiri Guide writer, Stephanie, is saying her good byes to Madrid.

We will miss her!

Tomorrow, December 16th, IE will hold its graduation ceremonies for its November 2009 intake MBA class. Now Stephanie and her husband will return to The States to take the next step in their lives.

Throughout the past year we’ve all enjoyed Stephanie’s advice and personal insight on Madrid. As a jazz enthusiast and Huertas expert, she always opened up a side of Madrid that we were all too unfamiliar with.

Stephanie is leaving behind a city she loves filled with many life long friends…I don’t think she’ll be able to stay away forever…at least we hope not.

As for Guiri Guide, well it remains our ongoing quest to provide you with constant and thorough insight for your transition to Madrid. Keep with us, as we continually provide you with new fresh information and recommendations for your reading (and experiencing) enjoyment.

Hasta Luego, Stephanie!  Buena Suerte!

We had lived in Houston for 6 years, had purchased a house and accumulated two [large] Rhodesian Ridgebacks. We were quite settled.  As the economy was crumbling all around the world – Houston was lucky enough to not feel the effects as severely.  So the question was often raised – why go now when you have a home, two terrific jobs and dogs?  The answer was simple – it was time for a life change.

A few years ago my husband, Will and I made the decision to up and move to Argentina after a fantastic holiday in Buenos Aires.  I was all for it – yearning for my lost days of living abroad.  We planned our adventure in great detail and soon began the saving and transition process out of Houston, TX.  As the months of preparation progressed Will began to think about business school, and so that research began and the decision was made for him to apply.  Long story short – our Argentina plans are foiled by two level-headed minds who felt that perhaps a MBA might be the preferred option as opposed gallivanting around Argentina for a year.  I am not saying either option is “better” but the decision was final – and here we are.

As Will narrowed his search to International MBA options we agreed that a true international experience was going to come from a foreign program.  I also recognized that as soon as Europe became an option again…it just simply needed to happen.  There were 1000 reasons why we selected Madrid. Obviously, as Americans, perfecting our Spanish would benefit us indefinitely.  Will and I have traveled extensively throughout Europe, including Spain, however we simply didn’t know Spain [the real Spain] and we were curious.  Also, IE is no shabby program either.

By the time the Argentina plan was nixed we had accumulated a substantial amount of understanding and information on what to do and what to expect from a couple of solid sources (namely this blog and book – Moving to Argentina).  Research for our move to Madrid did not turn up the same information.  While there are an array of Expat websites which can aid in guiding you to the proper addresses and phone numbers of what you need, there still lacks a more personal level of information to help you with the every day occurences both for fun and necessity.

We are now 4 months into our time here in Madrid and I finally feel as though I can move freely and comfortably. Seeing as how Will and I selected IE in January of 2009 – that makes for one full year of logistics, efforts, failures, …as well as an array of successes. But it doesn’t have to be this way for others…

At this point I feel poised and ready for the year ahead and all the excitement that will most certainly accompany….but most of all…I’m ready to share.

~Courtney

[oh and for you dog lovers out there…my girls are temporarily with my parents in San Diego…enjoying the better weather, more walks, and their new step-brother, Prado]

When my boyfriend decided to do his MBA at IE in Madrid I have to admit I wasn’t jumping for joy. I wasn’t totally desolate either, but if the choice had been mine, I would have been in Paris for a while longer. To be fair I understood why he wanted to go to the business school he chose, and pretty much anyone that knew Madrid in any way told me I’d love it. And I embrace change, I hunt it out. I’m social too and I could move my job. Besides, when I had moved to Paris from London I had had no friends (or boyfriend), no job and barely any French, and that had worked out wonderfully.

We were both really busy pre-move with so much to sort that we decided it was best for John to go down to Madrid for a day and find an apartment (ok maybe I was just a tad pushy on this point). He wanted to be near school and I wanted to be relatively central, have an office and a place for people to come and stay. He wasn’t vastly impressed with the apartments (now I know why and I have no idea how an entire nation can have such bad taste in decor!) but found a spacious 3-bed apartment just 10mins walk from the school. The owner was retired and lived in the Canaries. Lovely.

One of the best things about the move was that we both had a week off to drive our van, laden with all our worldly possessions, from Paris to Madrid. What a great road trip. We stayed with friends in the Dordogne, stopped for tapas and a wander on the beach in San Sebastian and ate Lechazo (lamb) in Lerma before arriving in Madrid. The only downfall was that John (who was the only Spanish speaker between us) had to go back to Paris for a few weeks to work. The business school had a month’s beginners Spanish course so it made sense for me to stick with the original plan, plus I heard that a lot of people meet through the Spanish classes.

So we arrived at the apartment. I smiled through gritted teeth – the owner was 80 years old? …no sh*t! The apartment looked (and smelt) like an 80 year olds apartment. The owner agreed it was filthy and agreed to get a cleaner ion the next day. Given that we therefore couldn’t unpack, that left us the afternoon to go and explore. Being productive we got me a mobile phone and John called the internet company to ensure that they would be coming with the promised wifi during the week (essential for me to work). We had dinner and then decided we wanted to crash, in our new home, with a film I had on my laptop. Only my laptop was nowhere in sight. The only place it could have been taken from was the hallway when we were moving in – so either a neighbour or (more likely) the doorman pinched it. Lesson number one: if it’s not tied down, it’s gone, so keep things close.

The next day my boyfriend left. I had no laptop, no internet, no Spanish, and no friends! I admit it, I cried (and this is a rare occurence)

Jodie Hopperton, welcome to Madrid (I promise this story gets better)