Yesterday we were all invited to an event the business class organized. We were meeting with two LDS expats - one working for Pepsico and the other the President of Miele (high-end domestic appliances mainly in Europe.) It was the first business related thing I have done in such a long time. Jenny and I had flashbacks to the NYC trip we had in November. Our meeting was held at the Pepsico office in Madrid. I wish I remembered their names but they told us just about everything about working and living abroad. Topics ranged from what their typical work day is like to the struggles marriages must endure when moving to a foreign country. The American was head of HR in Spain and emphasized that the transition was definitely not easy seeing as Pepsico at the time was not well-established in Europe. As I have been here, I would say it definitely does not have the same presence as Coke does here. But I was fascinated to learn about all the companies Pepsi has ownership of. They told us how they've needed to not only learn the languages better but also adapt to the cultures in order to be successful. In Spain, employees have more of a group-mentality apparently and need to be followed up with in order to have a productive floor. It was really fun to listen to their experiences and compare them to my time here in Spain. Although very different, listening to them really emphasized to me that the possibilities are truly endless of where you could end up. It definitely got my mind running again regarding the various paths I'm interested in taking.
After the meeting, a group of us headed into Madrid to find something to do. We figure it is coming down to the last few weeks and there is so much left to still see and revisit. We wanted to go to the garbage hotel and realized that closed at the end of January - that was a bit of a disappointment. We then thought to go to the blind museum - all of its exhibits can be felt and touched. We played a little game of blindfolding one another and having the person guess what they're touching. My favorite part was going into the room filled with Spanish monument models and being able to say that I've been to every one except for two. It was incredible we could be like "Oh look and remember we took a picture here by this door? And we walked through here..." It is such a bitter-sweet realization. I was so happy talking about all these fun memories, but it also is a major indicator that the trip is soon coming to an end. But we have made a schedule and a list of all the things we are going to do on each day so we will be kept busy until the very last minute.
Sorting out the logistics of going home was extremely time-consuming and stressful for me! My program ends the 31st of March and I am flying out that day to Rome and will be touring Italy until the 5th. Then I'll be flying to London to visit my family and will head home on the 11th. I know it's going to go by so incredibly fast. I've also had to think about doing Spring semester at school, what classes I'm taking, my flight out to school and getting wisdom teeth out before that but it's all trivial. Clearly, my idea of a to-do list has seriously minimized while being away this semester. All in all, I have mixed feelings. I am excited to go home and see family and friends but then again why would I be excited to leave all of this? If the two were combined then there would be no problems. It's the dilemma I face having found a love for Spain and traveling abroad.
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