Inked: Regine

Hey Regine, don't worry~ I don't think of you exactly as a Rhino! ;)

As you may have noticed, I experienced a huge backlog in terms of posts for this blog... and it mostly had to do with this piece of work above. Most projects take me anywhere from 40 minutes to 1 hour to complete. But with the piece above, I was stuck. For days.

I managed to make the letterings for "Regine" perfectly. Unfortunately though... I couldn't put my finger on what shape or animal it was. If you look at it, there were 2 humps on top of the name... and I couldn't think of any animal that had such. I thought of using a camel... and ultimately extending the humps even further. But the problem I had there was that I wouldn't have enough decent space for the head & neck. That's why I was stuck.

The epiphany came to me last night... when I remembered this safari video I saw. Then suddenly, BAM~ the puzzle was solved! It took me a while to put together because I've never drawn a rhinoceros before. Anyway, it was a tough piece of work. But how fitting isn't it~ coz rhinos are tough too. Just like my sister (Go Regine!)!

IE Networking Cocktail

"Ambassadors" Desh and Lisa welcome you to the IE Networking cocktail! lol

The IE IMBA Office put together this simple cocktail event along Serrano 99~ on one of IE's green lawns. The objective of this event was to allow students from the April and November intakes to get to know each other. Personally I thought it was cool for them to do so. But considering it was on a Tuesday / a school night, I wasn't entirely sure if a lot of people will turn up. Regardless, I went anyway.

The event started at 730pm. I went there at 745pm... with a little hesitation. Knowing how things work here in Spain, I know that parties usually start at a much later time. But in my mind, well, I thought I'd just go early anyway. I figured there would be others like me who would classify the evening as a school night and would come early / leave early. Walking up to Serrano 99 felt weird... I honestly felt as if I was the only person that was going to be there.

Well, turns out it wasn't the case (phew)! Fortunately a small crowd of about 25 people had already gathered at the place. All the tables still had food (mini burgers, jamon serrano sandwiches and other stuff) and the bar was completely intact! Interestingly as well, the school hired 2 performers to play some Portugese music in the background. Pretty cool!

Wine, sangria, beer, soft drinks and water~ all on the house (our tuition probably paid for it too, come think of it)!

I can honestly say I don't know almost everyone in this photo

During the course of the cocktail party, I had a chat with my classmate Shalabh on how we should be using this opportunity to meet people from other sections or intakes.

He had a pretty valid point... in 2 weeks, it'd be the summer break. We'd be away for 3 weeks... and by the time that we'd be back in September, we'd be piled up with lotsa work. A presentation after another, report after report. And immediately after that, exams. And after that, another round of Change modules.

Term 2 would go by so fast... and it essentially meant that we'd find ourselves almost half-way through the MBA program already. I took what he said into mind... and decided I better meet more people TODAY (unlike my previous post title, it's now "Better Now than Later").

The boys from the IMBA program meet an alumni from the MIM '09

So there~ I took the initiative to have a chat with people I didn't know. I met Unoma Eke from Lagos from A2. I learned that her surname apparently meant "Day" in her language. Pretty interesting factoid! Likewise, during that span of time, Lisa, Desh and I thought of coming up with an A1 Term 1 Awards Night for our class. In many ways, it's one of those activities that would help foster a better bond amongst all members of our class. And... well... it should be a good last attempt of having fun as a group before things get immensely busy after the break.

No, it's not the start of a heated argument. Just Peter and Tiago talkin'~

On my way out of the venue I thanked the IMBA team who organized this event. I usually find these school-initiated opportunities genuinely good and I appreciated that they did something like this. Honestly, it's possible for them not to have done anything. But they did~ and it's all in the spirit of allowing us to increase our network despite the rigors and hectic schedules of the MBA program.

Dinner at La Tulipe

Montaña and KS smile for the camera!

This officially marks the 2nd time I've met my Term 2 work group. I've always believed that sharing a meal is one of the (effective) ways in which one can reinforce bonds within a group. And so, we decided to have a group dinner at La Tulipe, located along Calle Serrano 110. La Tulipe was recommended by Svenja, who has had other similar good experiences eating at that place (same for me too~ I ate there once with my Global Village Bollywood dance group).

Svenja looks fresh n full of energy after a gym workout!

We ordered a number of items to share. People got steak tartar and this other salad while I ended up ordering a Burrata (which is a type of fresh Italian cheese, made from mozzarella and cream, if I'm not mistaken) that also went with some greens. It was pretty cool, actually. But of all things ordered, I especially loved Sterling's choice~ which was the Entrecote con patatas al tomillo. It was capital D-elicious! It was something he first encountered when he was living in Argentina... and I must say, it was a pretty tasty piece of steak! We ended up ordering another one to share!

KS catches up in terms of drinks... while Sterling... is in deep in thought.

As with all social gatherings, having some wine helps. We ended up ordering 3 bottles of wine to share! And ultimately, this dinner allowed us to get to know each other a better. I was fascinated to learn more about KS that night hehe. And of course, that includes lotsa tidbits about my other group members too.

Giovanna & Montaña~ as colorful as their dresses!

We ended sometime around 1am... I think. On my way home, I bought some food and water to neutralize the alcohol I took in that night. I was planning to write my Marketing paper that night. Well, it didn't work, apparently. Even with all the lights on & stuff, wine made me sleep like a baby. And so, yes~ I ended up writing efficiently in the morning... together with reading through the Innovation & Technology Management case & watching the accompanying video in record time!

Anyways, I'm certain we'll likely have many more dinners or hangouts like this. Got a pretty cool group~ so it'll be fun for sure!

Inked: Lina

A Cheetah looking far~

I figured the next ink-work I should do should be for my parents. There are many reasons why I've opted to choose a cheetah this time 'round (interestingly, it's also my first time attempting such). If you notice the stamps on the right, I had to practice a number of times before marking my work. I was worried of ruining the entire piece if I over-stamped / smudged / under-stamped it. 2 down this week, many more to go!

Better Late than Never

The panicked residents of Salamanca: Michael, Anar and John!

This post is a couple days late~ but I thought it's still worth posting considering it's an interesting quirk that happened here. Not everyday do you actually see almost everyone on the streets as if there was a street party going on. We had this fire drill at IE and it seemed fascinating to see the usually barren streets of Maria de Molina thriving with students. Anyway, here's a few photos of the madness that ensued on the streets:

Prof. Rumschisky assessing what's going on across the street~

As with all MBA events... chatting happens in any part of the street. It's all fair game!

This is how packed Maria de Molina would look like if it were more of a shopping street like Gran Via!

Really looks like some parade happening, eh?

Compared to the other posts on my blog, this probably has the most people contained in a couple of still frames.

The exercise practically ate up 30-35 mins of our first Marketing Management class... but it didn't take long for everyone to return to their respective classrooms and seats.

Anyway, that's pretty much for this piece of news~

Inked: Spain

The sitting bull

One of the personal objectives I had set for myself was to do an exhibit here in Madrid... featuring, well, these things (above). It's a style I started decades ago~ back in my university years. How it works is that I write a name first... then work out from there a general shape. From there, I try to figure out what it's going to be. During lunch, I bought a blank notebook today to get started once more. My plan is to make one, at least once a week.

Today's piece was different of all the items I've made. It was the first time I tried to do a name of a place... and somehow I already knew I was either doing a bear or a bull. In this case, I thought a bull was more appropriate, considering the on-going San Fermin running-of-the-bulls festivals here in Spain. I also opted for something visually different as well... as most imagery of bulls we have seem to represent power, rage... or some sort of strong force. I felt like doing the opposite; I thought of a bull at rest... sitting down... or perhaps looking defeated (I think of the bulls at the stadium after it has been stabbed / poked by the matadors~ but look, no spears nor blood here).

I kept the top of its head blank... as if to signify a clear mind. Or perhaps a lack of thoughts. Or a disconnect between the mind and the heart. The rest... I would leave other people to interpret on their own (but of course, only I know the real meaning of certain placements of shapes. Trivia-wise: there are 6 things of significance that aren't apparent but implied in the image). Anyway, that's it... on to other more important stuff for the week!

Sometimes I...

Yes, it's actually possible for me to spell my name on a keyboard without lifting a finger~ 

Interesting piece of trivia, isn't it?

Well, this week I've had to rearrange the order of these letters a number of times to remind me to stay positive (2-1-4-3 or I'M OK). I had one of the most life-changing things happen to me last week... which I would classify as one of the most important and expensive lessons I've learned in this MBA program (not saying what exactly). But in a nutshell, it's been a tough week on a personal note.

Honestly speaking, I've also lost the desire to write. In the past, writing helps keep my brain active. But these days... I just feel like going blank (not entirely the best scenario when you're in an environment that requires you to think critically). So it's been tough maintaining a balance. There's been a number of interesting highlights that happened just the past week.... but again, somehow I care less about writing about it.

I've found it quite difficult to sleep these past few nights... and YouTube has once again become one of my best friends. I opted to listen to one of my favorite Korean singers, Kim Yeon Woo... and came across this song from the soundtrack of a drama series called Bad Guy (나쁜남자). I really like his voice and the way he sings. More importantly, I like the lyrics of his songs a lot. Anyway, here's a clip of that song that caught my attention (there are a lot of these websites that translate his lyrics~ so just look it up):



For those who know... how befitting, is it not?

Amazingly, in grad school, I've found that weeks somehow go by quickly. Major events happen every week... and somehow, due to the intensity of how things happen here, you'd somehow forget what happened the week prior. Not for me though. And not this time...

But that said, last week also marked the start of Term 2. And as with all things, it also signaled for a fresh start. That was probably the only optimistic thing I could think of. And so, I'll likely try to keep writing... even with just short snapshots or what not.

Final Term 1 Group Presentation

Thank you Term 1 group mates~  (Photo c/o Rachel Wilson)

Last Friday I had the pleasure of working with my Term 1 work group for one last time... for Strategy class. We presented to the class our analysis for Samsung Electronics, more specifically its IT & Mobile Communications division. While we had already submitted our final presentation and report the previous Wednesday, we could only present on Friday due to time constraints.

That's my group right there! (Photos compiled by Ghazal Jabr)

During one of our meetings, I expressed to the group that I was getting bored of our presentation formats... and I wondered whether they would be willing to entertain one of these crazy ideas that lingered in my head.

Most presentations followed a typical format... and so I wanted to try something a bit different. And so, I suggested doing something like a TV show.

I found a royalty-free news intro clip on the Internet and put together a microphone visual with a "IE Business News" label on it and had it printed across the street. The group then thought of creating a large Samsung TV screen visual from cardboard that would serve as our offline set. Fortunately, everyone was pretty game with the idea and created their own TV personalities.

Anar acted like a natural field correspondent, often touching his "earpiece" while delivering the news. Carolina represented your vibrant news anchor in sunny, outdoor locations. Luis, one the other hand, delivered his part with much gusto and confidence~ it was perfect! Rachel transformed into "Dr. Thomas", as she always brought in with her a credible image (She's just so articulate and structured! And yes, the English accent helps too!).

3D TV Indeed! (Photo c/o Carolina)

But of course, the best performance was Stefano's... who brilliantly came up with the idea of bringing an umbrella as a prop! It was completely hilarious~ and his concerted Italian hand gestures made him the star of our program!

The presentation was very well-received! And I guess it wouldn't have been possible had it not been for very willing (and risk-taking) group mates! It was a good way to end the term~ and I'm very thankful for the wonderful experience of working with all of them.

With my new work group for Term 2, I'm very optimistic of the things we'll all be doing together. But that said, I also know that my previous group mates are going to other groups as well... thus making competition much harder! It'll be an interesting experience indeed.

Skydiving in Spain!

My new Facebook profile photo~ haha! Thanks so much Marcelo & Christine for convincing me to take the jump!!

Two weeks before the end of Term 1, Marcelo Schneider created an event on Facebook for skydiving. Apparently, he and his wife are both avid skydivers... and they thought it would be a good way to relieve post-exam stress by jumping off a plane! I was really hesitant to do it...as I get immense butterflies in my stomach on roller coasters and other physics-infused attractions. My last stint at the reverse bungee GMAX at Clarke Quay was hard to stomach. But then again... I knew I would not have this opportunity knocking on my door often. And, since this MBA program was all about transformation / getting out of my comfort zone, what the heck. And so I signed up!

Eager? Anxious? It was everyone's first time!

Call time was at 1pm in front of the IE Library (where Global Village was held). I was supposed to come in 10 minutes early but I forgot my camera battery back home. Fortunately, I still made it in time. I saw Elliot in the scene first... followed by Tiago, then Jan, Prasad... and so on.

We ended up waiting for an hour for Marcelo, Christine and Morten - our designated drivers for the day! They rented cars from Respiro, a car-sharing service in Madrid (very similar to Zipcars~ a case study we discussed for our Entrepreneurial Management class). Waiting was fun... as we all exchanged thoughts on what we thought was gonna happen... obviously there was no single expert in the group. We were all doing this jump for the first time!

Here comes the cavalry!

For every car that passed through, we were thinking it was them! Hehe, we joked that they may have run out of cars to borrow.. and so they would've had to resort to renting any of the Jaguars, BMWs and other luxury cars that passed through that road!

Anyway, Marcelo, Morten and Christine finally came and soon we were packing ourselves into the cars~ eager for the adventure that lay ahead! Woohoo! I joined car #1~ which included Morten, Majo, Lisa, and KS!

That was a mega-large cardboard silhouette of a bull along the outskirts of Madrid. I am truly in Spain!

Marcelo poses for the camera (or rather gestures we should photograph him) as our vehicle overtakes theirs!

The venue was a 40-minute drive out of Madrid... towards the direction of Toledo, actually. The car ride felt a lot like a road trip actually... with music pulsating inside the car and funny discussions going on inside! It's been a while since I've been inside a car (I mean, except taxis of course) and it's good to listen to music your friends enjoy as you travel to a destination!

We're getting near! Majo *high-fives* the air!

Before I knew it, we were there. While there wasn't exactly that sign that indicated such, you would know by the planes hovering through your head and.... well, the parachutes in the sky!

It was exciting! But of course, at this stage the reality of the matter had still not set in... I was still enjoying the collective enthusiasm that people have as they reach their destination (as with all road trips)! We entered through a dusty road covered by trees. At the end of the road was the airport!

Drop zone! Actually, at first... I thought it was some golf putting greens... and since I had never sky-dived before, I didn't know what that green patch was really meant for. Haha... in the next hour I would soon KNOW! lol

After parking our cars, we went through a path outlined by a wire fence and a pavement. Beyond the fence was an open field... with a distinctively green patch. On top of that patch, there were people with parachutes. In my mind, I thought they were receiving their training on how to pack their parachutes there. Haha... and so I thought!

Somebody stepped on some paint!

The concrete pavement we walked on had these blue & red footsteps~ which was meant to (I suppose) guide people to where the skydive center was. My eyes were still fixated with what the people were doing with their parachutes and so I ended up at the end of the group.

It was pretty sunny that day (like the sun was directly above your head)~ but it wasn't as hot as what I was normally exposed to back in Singapore or the Philippines. It squinted quite a bit while walking... but in the near distance I could see structures made from recycled steel containers painted in grey... as well as blue & red (ah! The skydive center's company colors)! The place had this reddish cafeteria area... the administrative office, the hangar and of course a runway for all its planes. There were a bunch of people there... and they all looked like seasoned skydivers (they had this look like "yeah, I just jumped off a plane"). Of course, they also had these skydiving t-shirts on! Que cool!

Touch down... and people are told by Christine & Marcelo to wait a couple of minutes as they talk with management~ 

Marcelo and Christine got everyone settled in and spoke to the staff at the vicinity. We are asked to chill first while they talked to them. Minutes later, they came back with stacks of paper (which were liability-indemnity forms... in case things go wrong) and someone from the skydive center to explain the costs of getting photos or a video of your skydive. I was personally entertained listening to the guy... because he was very convincing in explaining to us that it's better to get a video (you would actually have a better reference point as you fall from the sky via the video). In the end, all of us decided to get both photos & the DVD... and Hannah magically secures a bargain for a 15 euro discount (nice one)!

The skydive center would then process all these documents into their systems... and we had free time once more. Below are some photos of us... well, waiting! :p

What?! Really? Well, places like this are all about safety-first! So it only makes sense to ensure we don't drink & d(r)ive! 

"Now sign here" (The exact same words Johnny Blaze was told before becoming the Ghost Rider)~

The boss explaining why you should get a video! And Zsofia... concentrating....

Me realizing at this point what I got myself into!

Danella, you need to pay royalties for that shot (just as I did for Ostap's)~ time to talk to my manager! lol

Very cool wall art for the recycled steel containers that now serve as office spaces!

Super Jan~ this guy partied at Gabana til 7am and manages to make it hangover-free today (or so I think)

Angels that fell from heaven? Well, not yet. Zsofia, Hanna, Danella, Majo & Lisa smile for the camera!

At this point, Marcelo tells us that the management office has finally finished coding in our forms and that it's now time to pay the balance of the deposit! The entire fee for the skydive was 210 euros~ not bad considering the experience you'd get out of it. There were essentially 2 lines~ one for cash payment and another for credit cards. I was short by 70 bucks (didn't bring enough cash for the extra services) but luckily Elliot covered me for the moment. Soon, we'd wait again... but people were slowly getting called out for the first jump!

Look at how bored & uninterested people here look when parting away from their money... 

...and how pumped up and happy they are minutes after! Time to go skydiving~yeah!!! Simply hilarious!

Marcelo C focuses on.... no, not that! The instructor said to tilt your head and hold on to the harness (really)!

Tiago and his enormous.... muscles! Obvious, isn't it?

Marcelo (Canales), Tiago, Christine and Marcelo (Schneider) were the first group of people to jump together. In my mind, I thought everyone was required to put on a jump suit for the dive... but apparently not. In Tiago's case, he was just given the harness to wear.

The staff actually strap you on extremely tightly~ so tight that it's virtually impossible to walk straight. What was funny about these harnesses though was that... somehow... a big bulge would emerge from all the straps wrapping around your body. It was funny as hell~ and Tiago was pretty embarrassed too!

I told myself... I'm totally getting a jumpsuit (and as per the main photo above... apparently I didn't get one). You can just imagine (or rather, don't~) how embarrassed I felt too later on.

Minutes later, these 4 would board a mini plane and disappear into the air!

Soon, it was my turn to get strapped! My tandem partner was Steve (He's the guy who was actually checking his iPad on that photo of Marcelo C above staring at the photo). Steve was really bad-ass: Bald head, goatee, big muscular build (Wait! Sounds like Stone Cold Steve Austin)~ but wait, he also had tons of tattoos too! He didn't ask me if I wanted a jumpsuit... he just gave me the harness to put on. Of course obedient me timidly complied~ lol. He would later instruct me to tilt my head, hold the harness, etc. just as Marcelo & Tiago were instructed.

For this trip, I was sharing this experience with Basil from Saudi Arabia and Prasad from India! We waited for another 15 minutes before we were called in... here we gooooo!

My ride a.k.a. the plane I'll be pushed from at 13,000 ft!

Steve dragging my ass down to the runway... making sure I don't escape lol

There were 10 of us packed into that small plane! 3 of us, our 3 tandem partners and the 3 photographers who were capturing our descent to earth (and of course the pilot)! I honestly didn't expect it to be that crowded inside... but we fit. All of us! Prasad and I were seated by the bench while Basil was seated right by the door. From the looks of it, he was gonna be jumping first!

As we lifted off the runway and were soon flying in the air, I could feel every gust of wind that went by the plane (hello~ it was a micro-mini plane). As I've taken many flights before, I was used to seeing the view from above. No big deal.

And it just keeps getting higher... and higher... and higher!

Well, that was until they decided to open the door half-way! I was like... WTF! The plane was small... and now you had this feeling that you'd fall any minute (and yes, the plane took these drops every now and then). Of course, when I thought that we were already too high... I was advised that we're just at 3,280 feet (and we were jumping at 12,000 feet). What?!

Every now and then I would look around people's faces to gain some confidence. The 6 other people with me on the plane were seasoned skydivers and they looked totally zen. That helped. But then... whenever I looked at Prasad, he would be taking deep breaths. Great~ now I feel doomed!

Interestingly, every time we reached a new altitude, a siren would wail out. Shoot shoot shoot... we were getting closer to 12,000 feet! And soon... the inevitable came.

Suddenly, the pilot shut off the engine. A guy opens the door... and Basil was being prepped for his jump (well, prepped wasn't the word.. He really didn't have a choice... his tandem partner was essentially moving him towards the door~ in pretty much the same fashion I will also be moved). Seconds later, this was what I saw:

They literally dropped out of the plane like a discarded rag doll! And in a split second... they were out of sight!

I was next. I was freaking out a bit. But my biggest worry was not exactly the free fall... I was more worried about breathing. Quick flashback why:

Me last November... on my birthday (Thanks Sohyun~ *high five*)!

I've actually tried indoor skydiving before. Sentosa had this million-dollar wind tunnel~ which technically simulated free fall from skydiving. It was an awesome birthday gift from my fiancee! The main problem I had there was that there was so much air it was difficult to breathe. Like really!

On my first try inside the tunnel, I panicked because I couldn't breathe (5 seconds in I couldn't take it). And so I asked to be taken out right away. But of course, it was because I was nervous and tense that I forgot to breathe properly. So true enough, later I managed to complete a couple more minutes inside the tunnel and stabilize myself in mid-air.

So going back~ I was worried about the amount of air outside. But I was telling myself that Marcelo advised me that wind tunnels, for some reason, have a lot more air than usual (because, well, it is contained in a finite space). And so, by the time I was out the door of the plane, I felt an immense surge of air! Shoot~ this was it... and it was hard to breathe once again! But... as with all things, I was telling myself to relax and consciously concentrate on my breathing. Of course, by the time I completed figuring this out in my head~ my tandem partner Steve pushed us out of the plane already!! So much for mental preparation!!

"By the way Steve, I think we should........... Whoaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!"

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!"

*At this point I realized it was pointless to freak out... I had no choice but keep falling*

I

It was hilarious! Honestly, I fell so fast I actually didn't feel like I was falling. Like... in no time, I was suddenly experiencing wind resistance just like I did in the wind tunnel (As it turns out, we were falling 1000 feet for every 5 seconds. And, since I was also heavier than the typical skydiver~ our fall was actually very very very accelerated)!

Shortly after, the photographer appeared. Honestly it was quite a consoling feeling to know that you're not diving to earth alone~ that there were actually 2 people with you as you descended. Because she had the camera strapped to her helmet, I was really conscious about how I look. So naturally I smiled as much as I can! But of course, with the amount of wind resistance going through, my face was all distorted! It was damn funny! 

Interestingly enough, what the boss said at the skydive center was true. It was good that we actually had another person with us... as they really served a point of reference that we were indeed falling. Despite falling at 200 ft per second, you really wouldn't notice it (the ground is soooooo far away that you can't notice that you're actually falling). So there were times we were below her... or above... or within the same level.

Check out the distortion on my face! That's how fast we were going!!!!

It was quite tough to maneuver around during free fall... so the best actions I could do in mid-air was to pretend I was swimming or just give some thumbs up signs! And... just like that, it was already time to deploy our parachute!

In an instant, Paula~ my photographer disappeared below us. By the time my parachute by fully deployed, I was just floating around, with my legs just dangling below.

During this extended period of time, I was appreciating the view I had. Nobody ever told me about the great views you'll experience while on parachute~ and I really felt I got a bonus out of this experience. It was really really really cool. During the descent, I had a good chat with Steve about his experience doing these kind of things.

King's Landing (Game of Thrones)~ lol... totally the opposite actually!

Landing was a funny experience. On our way down, Steve was telling me because I was a bit heavier than the typical skydiver, we were gonna land VERY FAST. He advised me to raise my legs as high as I can when we're about to reach land. That way, we'll have a smoother landing as we hit the greens (aaaaah~ so that's what it was for)!

SPLAT! It was ALMOST a smooth landing!!! Hahahaha

As it turns out, we were descending so fast that we missed the target by around 6 inches. As a result, I landed butt-first on the dirt~ and we later slid through the green zone. It was a semi-rough landing... but not as bad as I expected. We created like a mini dirt storm during our entrance back to earth. Honestly speaking, I did taste some dirt on my way down! It was hilarious!!!

We look so funny here! It's as if  we were scientists that had test tubes explode on our faces!

It was an awesome adrenalin rush after... and more importantly, I guess a sense of achievement. That I've finally done this! Skydiving~ check!

By the time I returned to base camp, a few other people were still waiting for their turns. While others, were waiting for their photos & videos of their jump. 

Marcelo chats with Majo & Danela by the pool (not in the photo lol)~

The group originally planned to go swimming after skydiving. There was actually a swimming pool / community complex right beside the skydiving center. Of course, since I already saw the pool from the air, I didn't need to ask directions on how to get there. In many ways, I felt like I had a real-life version of Google Maps in my brain!

Marcelo, Tiago, Majo and Danela already had a head-start at the pool area. I changed to shorts and sandals and laid out a towel to lie down on (no swimming for me). Soon, others would follow and we hung around for a while to just chill... and share stories about our recent adventure in the air!

These two ladies take a dip in the pool!

KS is like... "Dude...."

People watching videos taken from Marcelo & Christine's GOPRO cameras! It contained really really funny footage!!!  

I

It was a fantastic experience! If given a chance I wouldn't mind doing it again actually... and personally, I think roller coasters are scarier (like seriously?). The drive home was relaxed... and by the time we reached Madrid we were all exhausted. Some people decided to go out... but for me, I was done for the day.

I appreciated being able to do something like this in life (just like being in the ring with a bull or dancing on-stage). And perhaps it's because we have such diverse people in this MBA program that I'm able to experience such things. I've enjoyed the friendships I've had today and I'll definitely look back at these memories with a smile on my face. When I got home, I shared a photo of my jump with my Mom. She must've thought I was crazy.... but hopefully after she reads the rest of this blog and what I've come to appreciate in the process about myself and in others around me, hopefully she'll reconsider haha.

Anyway, an awesome conclusion to Term 1. I look forward to what the future brings.... and of course, seeing what the compiled videos of everyone looks like!!!