ALASTAIR + LALEINIA

Another long MBA second year weekend and we headed to Bilbao in northern Spain for the night marathon - well, the half at least. We decided to rent a campervan again since we enjoyed it so much last time, and got on the road. Since I hate toll roads, I think we took the more scenic approach which led us by the Pyrenees (the toll road probably had the same view) and we stopped in Pamplona for the night. We didn't see anything there to be honest and left pretty quickly the next day to get to Bilbao. We walked around the city a little bit and went to the expo to pick up my bib and all that, and ended up doing a little expo shopping! Lain and I got some new shoes for a great price, so we are really happy about that. Bilbao itself was really cool (once we found somewhere to park a campervan), it is really hilly around the city and straddles a river. There are quite a few cool landmarks that I'd be running by the next day. We really enjoyed walking around and stopping at a ...

You have no idea how good it feels to be back. We've been longing for this time; we even listened to Michael Buble "Home" dozens of times! We flew from London, and that was a nightmare. We woke up so early to get to the airport and we were supposed to get back by 11, but there was a problem with our airplane and we had to switch planes. It took almost 3 hours extra, but we eventually made it. We were greeted by my parents; they arrived a day or two earlier. It's been nice to get back into the swing of things. Alastair has a stress-free year. He already has a job offer, so no interviews, and he only has class from Monday-Wednesday. So we get longer weekends and way more family time! We took advantage of the weather and spent our time at the beach. Alastair would go for runs while Emre and I rode next to him on my new bike (I love it!) and we would finish off with a swim in the sea. Our favorite place to go is Castelldefels. There were fewer waves and it was very ...

We're celebrating our last 20's birthdays by going on trip. Since Alastair's fell on a weekend, he found some flights to Mallorca. We haven't explored too much of Spain, especially getting out of Catalunya. We had an early flight; Emre watched Paw Patrol and Alastair and I listened to music. We were making each other laugh so hard, I felt like such an immature child. But it was a good way to start our vacation on the right foot! It was a short flight, only 30 minutes of flying. We quickly got our car and made our way to the mountains. I was expecting Mallorca to be very tropical, flat, and filled with palm trees. It wasn't what I imagined! There are mountains, very rustic and outdoorsy! The only annoyance were all the cyclists. Like, a ridiculous amount! At first, it was really cool to see a herd of cyclists. After passing a dozen of them, I was over it. Everywhere we drove, especially going up the mountain, cyclists were there. We passed hundreds, I'm not ...

As much as we've traveled since we arrived at school, we really haven't done much in Spain at all. Well, we took advantage of some great weather to visit Montserrat in a Saturday. Montserrat is not far at all from Barcelona, about one hour max on the train. That is if you get it right! Our journey there was eventful, and it ended up taking closer to three hours to get there! First, we got to the train station in Barcelona and had to sprint down the stairs to get on the train before the doors closed. Well, just as I (Alastair) jumped through the doors, they closed with Lain and Emre on the outside. An awkward look out the window ensued, and the train left the station. No biggie, I thought, it'll put us back a bit but I'll sort this out. I grabbed my phone to call Lain to plan and no answer. Lain's phone was in my backpack! I sat on the train hoping that they would just sit and wait at the platform for me to get back. Well, after a frantic dash through the Cataluny...

So far so good here in Barcelona! First off it is hard to believe that it is finally here after so many years of waiting and debating. One month in, I'm so glad that we decided to leave our comforts, paycheck, home, etc to come to Spain. School has been fun, I've got a great team and the courses and workload are challenging. The campus is great and I'm really enjoying my classes and professors. All is well with school. One thing to note is that the evening right before I started school, Emre bit my lip! He bit it hard, hard enough to draw blood and make it look like I had a cold sore for the first day of classes. Thanks Emre. Ah well, I decided to laugh it off, but it sucked! Outside of school, here are some of my Barcelona highlights so far: Bunkers del Carmen One of the first place we went when we arrived in Barcelona. I won't go into the history of the place but safe to say the views of the city are great. We took a bus almost all the way to the t...

It's been a little over a month in our new situation! It's been challenging but great! I've been posting every day on my Instagram, which I'll compile into a book after the two years. A lot is left out, but it's been a nice way to remember the little things. I guess I should start with the flight to Barcelona.  We were so excited for Emre to wake up so we could tell him that today was the day! We have been preparing him for months, telling him that we were going on an airplane and that we were going to live in Barcelona where everyone speaks Spanish. We were so excited, we even  wa nted to record it! So Alastair started to wake him up while I recorded, but he just wouldn't wake up. He kept on tossing and turning, Alastair picked him up, but he just ended up falling back asleep. I envisioned it to be more exciting, like Christmas morning, but it was anticlimactic! Once he woke up, he was more excited, I just wasn 't able to record it. I should als...

Laleinia and I cannot believe how blessed we are. After interviewing last week in New York City, we found out that we were accepted to IESE in Barcelona, Spain! Not only do we feel that the school is the best fit for me, it also happens to be one of the best business schools in the world! In fact, the Economist currently ranks IESE at #5 in their list of top MBA programs. Also, I will be able to earn a bilingual MBA! But wait, it gets better. I have been accepted into the Young Talent Program, which means that I have been pre-admitted to the program that starts in 2016. I will work for the next two years before going off to Spain. This means that we can earn some money and get immigration sorted out before we leave. I was a little worried about leaving the US for an MBA program while still a permanent resident, since immigration is so tedious. But this way, I will get my citizenship before heading off to school! Of course, Laleinia is very happy about it all. It is so ...