A Calgary-Italian Xmas Dinner Experience!

Comments coming up soo, at least you can see the pictures!

Xmas Dinner 2004 - At the DePaoli's, Calgary (Canada)

Comments, coming up soon... I think I still have some lemoncello in my bloodstream, so I better write up something tomorrow. I managed to post the picture though :)



MERRY XMAS EVERYONE!
FELIZ NAVIDAD PARA TODO EL MUNDO!

Driving in the Canadian prairies...

After 22 hours of flight (including the photo taking of the Golden Bridge) I safely arrived in Calgary. My very good friend Cheryl, whom I have known since 1996, picked me up at the airport and drove me to her home. Her family is sooo cool. An Italian-Canadian family, with lots in common with mine.
Needless it is Canada, it is December, it is cold... however there is not that much snow (GOD listened to my prayers!) Came in, said hi to everyone and caught up with her for a while.
Anyway, I woke up today and we had some quick lunch because I had to go for some ULTIMATE WESTERN CANADIAN experience:
- recycling (VERY environmentally conscious city, see pictures)
- going to visit Dooley, Cheryl's horse, in their farm (see pictures)
- had some relaxing time at a coffee shop (my favourite: Second Cup, and I bought the great CinnaMints!)
- came back home for a fully home made cooked Xmas Dinner. (another posting will retell more about it) and then relaxed watching TV.
A GREAT first day in Canada.
Everything is a beautiful DEJA VU and it feels very weird and nice at the same time, being here after 4 years! I wondered if my soul ever left Canada to begin with. I think it did not.



Details: I had two fleece jackets, and a scarf, and yet I froze! I cannot even imagine in Edmonton, where the temperature will be -30 degrees! See? These are the moments when we might think: 'Singapore is not that bad after all, lah!'

Flying over the Golden Bridge

On my way to Canada and after my thinking session at Tokyo's International Airport, I had a quick change of planes in San Francisco, beautiful American city. Just before arriving, the air attendant started talking to us all passengers. We were all half asleep and well fed, sort of surviving in our seats. We were all anxiously and secretly waiting for the lights to turn on and hear the magical 'CLING' sound that allows you to stand up, stretch your legs and get your ass outta the plane as fast as you can, trying to see if some of the passengers in first class forgot any of their complimentary flying sets (or is it just me doing this?)

Anyway, there she was talking about San Francisco:

'...and for those who have never been here I am sure you at least have seen some of the pictures or postcards of the city. Let me tell you that those postcards were taken in days like today, when the sun shines and warms up the entire place. For those passengers seated on the right side you will be lucky enough to have a breathtaking view of the Golden Gate Bridge. Pay attention to the reflection of the rays of sun on the iron of the bridge and you will understand why we call it Golden Gate. And there it is!'
I was so excited I was going to be able to finally take a picture of such a famous landmark. I took my camera out of my bag, turned it on, opened the window-that had been closed for the entire flight, focused the lens and this is the picture I took:



Breathtaking?! Reflection of the golden rays?! MY ASS!! BITCH! I would like to take your breath away by choking you for a couple of minutes!! She did not tell that the ones seated ON the wing were going to be able to see jack shit of the Golden Gate, San Francisco and its hills. (On a more positive side, I was able to count the bolts on the wing of the plane: 147 to be exact. Sad, VERY sad!)

Thinking, in Tokyo...

Thinking...
It is a bit cold.
I am at Tokyo International Airport waiting for my connection flight to San Francisco.
I am on my way to Canada.



It is this time of the year again, where all my thoughts come together and push to come out on a sort of evaluation of the year.
Perfect timing. As I grab a cup of green tea (to blend with the enviromnet) I head to the United Airlines lounge to sit and write this posting.

I used to do this back in Mar del Plata, city where I attended University, sitting in front of the ocean (it is amazing how soothing it could be) and reviewing all the facts and events of my life that year. Great excercise, by the way.
2004? Well, a weird one.
- I started off the year finishing a semi-relationship.
- I got accepted for a job in the Asia Pacific Regional Office of a multinational company, leader of the market in an industry I had no idea about.
- I changed the focus of my career path from Marketing and Hospitality to Human Resources.
- I have new wonderful friends from all over the world (again) and I proudly stayed in touch with my other friends as well.
- After living by myself for a while, I have flat mates again. (two amazing individualswith whom I share these moments of my current life)
- I visited 6 new countries, and I have lost track now, but I have been to over 20 of those by now.
- I just got an offer of an interesting contract for 2005.
- My sister graduated!
- A dream is coming true: coming back to Canada with all it includes... meeting my beloved Canada MC Team 2000-2001; meeting Cheryl, and Donna, and Da again, and so many other good friends.
This year cannot end in a higher note and I am very thankful for that. Very.

Two nights ago we played a game with friends where we asked questions to each other and one of them was if we could recall a moment of extreme happiness in our lives and I did not doubt, not even for a second: DEC 19th, 2000. 7.30 PM. Toronto. Walking towards the store that was embroiling our names on our team shirts. Xmas music in the street and it magically started to snow. It was a moment where I realized how far I had come in my life. The most amazing thing is I also thought of how far I could go. And I did not have an answer. I did not.

Thinking...
It is a bit cold.
I am at Tokyo International Airport waiting for my connection flight to San Francisco.
I am on my way to Canada.

This feels pretty freaking happy too, you know?

Thinking...
Thinking...

Let's play Pictionary!

What does this mean?. Guess!



This is one of my favourite games EVER. It calls for your creativity and invention to express yourself without words. Tough task, but not imposible. TODAY in the office I had to focus really hard to accomplish my to do list, systematically prepared and prioritized to have that fulfillment feeling when you finish your day and you cross all the tasks. AH! Orgasmic sensations, if any!.

Anyway, if you had to guess what this drawing means, what would you say?

I will give you hints:
- I am very impatient
- I work in an office environment
- I leave the office at around 5.30 or 6.00 PM
- Loke you, I have an ass (not a "donkey", but a "butt")
- I will spend Xmas in Canada
- I will fly to Calgary in three days

Any idea? Any guess?

OK, here's the resolution:



Did you get it right?. OK, your turn now...

Much better, and with 2 visas!

Hola!
First of all thank you very much for all of you who after reading my previous posting sent me some lines or talked to me. Much better now, the Canadian Embassy and the American Embassy stopped giving me hard time and granted me permssion to enter into their respective territories. Some have suggested to me, as a sign of revenge, to pee in any given corner at LA airport or Canadian park-public place. After some minutes of really believeing that was a go0d way of getting back to US or Canada and their immigration policies, I realised the cleaning personnel of the airport or public places has nothing to do with their national government paranoia, and therefore I decided to stay put. Leave the past behind, lah!. I will simply enjoy a GREAT vacation time with my beloved AIESEC Canada National Team 00-01. It has been 4 years since we last saw each other and it will be awesome-weird to see them all again at one shot in Canada.
The plan: Canadian National Conference for 6 days and then... Calgary, Edmonton, Maybe some Jasper, Banff and Lake Louis for a while, maybe skiing... yeah, it will be great and I cannot wait for it to be WED!!!

White Xmas Party in Singapore!

Yes, you read it right! WHITE XMAS PARTY in Singapore. It is hard to believe that in a country where the temperature at 7.30 AM is already 27C degrees you can have a White Xmas. Well, if you ask people to show up dressed in WHITE and then your spray them with glitter... it might be more possible.
That's what we did. We wanted to celebrate the end of the year with AIESECers and Friends in Singapore. We "zenned" El Palacio (our apartment) all white, got white & silver baloons, play the groovy music and got ready for the fun. 40 people showed up and we managed to fit them all: livigroom, kitchen, rooms and hall. El Palacio esta de fiesta!
We also said "BUH BYE!" to Zul, who is returning to Dubai after some months of internship in this island.
Thank you all for coming and have a great 2005!



You can find more pictures on http://homepage.mac.com/veraceline/AIESEC_Singapore
Password : greene

Note: If there was an award "Hosts of the Year" we would most certainly get it! We rock dudes! :)

Pearls in life...

I once sat in a beach in Durban, Southafrica. I was not contemplating the sunrise, it was the other way round. A momentum, you know. One of those "I will always remember this" type of moments. I was watching the dolphins dancing with the waves and playing with the golden reflections of the sun in the water, when a friend came and sat by my side. (A little hangovered after some random room party)
We had one of those conversations. And at some moment he told me: "You know Nacho, I think life is like a pearl necklace. There is this string that connects all these quasi perfect beads and it all closses at the end. If you take a REALLY close look at the perls you will see they are not perfect at all but they were randomly picked to be there and they all need each other to form the necklace. So is life. There are many moments that will be like pearls, one after the other, and there will be a common thread that will connect them. You might find some of those moments quite unusual and you might wonder why they happen and why they are as such. However, you will see that it all closes at the end" (I have to admit, quite a nice analogy for a semi drunk dude)
Why do I remember this at 2 AM on a THU morning-night lying on my bed, not being able to sleep?. I do not know, really! Althouhg, I know God gave many good qualities in life (fow which I am extremely thankful) but unfortunatelly He has not touched me with the gift of patience... and I simply want to know NOW HOW THE FUCK the ridiculously crappy day I had today fits in this life of mine!!!!
Seriously, crappy as not many other days in my life. And I am a positive dude, if I am telling you my day was crappy, believe me: it was!
Note: for the record I am still positive, I believe in challenges being there to be overcome, and all that, but COME ON... IT IS ALOMOST CHRISTMAS! Gimme a break! (Thanks for reading my e-Catharsis.)



(And if I take a closer look at the pearls in the picture I can almost see how the little bstards laugh at me! I should go to bed and try to sleep, this crankyness is not good!)

Proud & Happy. MY sister just graduated!

I am as proud and happy as a big brother can be for her sister getting her degree as an English Teacher after 5 years of sacrifice, hard study and passion for what she was doing. Not only did she get her degree, but also got it with the best marks of her class! (and she is MY sister!)

Every time I think of her I cannot avoid but to think of her as when we were kids, this little cute girl that would come to me and hug me with a big smile and sweet voice asking me: "Vamos a jugar, Nacho?" (Let's play, Nacho?) And you would melt, you would die out of love. How could you possibly turn down such an invitation, right?

I see her today and she has become this incredibly strong and gorgeous woman, who will not take NO for an answer and will work hard for what she wants. Honest and loving, caring and sweet. The more I say, the more it seems I am describing my mother, who I am also sure is looking at us from Heaven. Happy, very happy for her kids. A happy proud angel.

She is my sister and she became an English teacher today! I am very proud of her. I wish I was there in Argentina with you in this moment to give you a big hug and a kiss and let you know in person how proud I am of you and how much I love you. Congratulations Cecilia! . FELICITACIONES!

Te quiero mucho, bombon!



This collage has pictures from her when she was 5 years old (MY GOD! SO CUTE!), her Prom Night finishing HighSchool with my dad Titi, an award ceremony two years ago and some collage of us a couple or years back in time. (And YES, this is a message to all the random people that pass by my desk and stare at me with relatively big eyes: I AM crying in my desk, SO WHAT!?)

Can they get any smaller?

It was funny this morning when I received an email with this picture from a friend of mine. Not only did he became a father 3 months ago, now he also has a dog. (Hello, meet Ricardo - I cannot believe he named the dog Ricardo!) Anyway, when I saw the picture I immediately focused on the little eyes and how they resemble the traditional Asian features. Also remember the jokes we make to Teresita, etc.)

And I thought to myself: "NO, Nacho. Asian eyes can never get that small. Don't be ridiculous!" - and continued with my ridiculously long expense claim in an Excel Spreadsheet that ironically, made my eyes go THAT small.

Luckily, I left the office right on time and went to a private function to see the movie ALEXANDER from OLIVER STONE. (As I previously shared with our Hungarian friend Gitti: I liked the movie, I did not love it! But totally recommendable) We had some great finger food items (with real cheese, real chicken, real cream) and drinks before the function in a mini networking event.

WE came into the projection room, that judging by the temperature it was more like a huge freezer with cushioned seats (we are sort of preserved for a couple of years after 3 hours of movie in there) and we comfortably sat ready to enjoy the movie, despite some last minute phone calls some people received with their weird and loud ring tone (remind me of telling you about the bitch in our office with the most annoying and loud ring tone ever since the mission impossible one was created!). Back to the story, movie started, great! Half way through the movie I just did what I usually do in the cinemas (no, it is not making out, farting or throwing bubble gum to the people in the front) I simply turned to see people's expressions (note: if you have never done it, do it the next time you go to the movies. Seriously, you do not know what you are missing, then you tell me). I turned and took a look. FLASH!!! There I SAW and I COULD NOT AVOID LAUGHING!

SMALL EYES!!!! They were SMALLER than usual!!!!! A mix of stoned and hypnotized crowd staring at the big screen... almost drooling on their chests, dazzled by the bright colours and somewhat violent scenes. CRAZY! Then I realized that I might have looked the same if someone from the front seats had turned and looked at us in the back. But the difference is: I CANNOT SEE MYSELF. Moreover, during the rest of the movie I could not concentrate on the great battles Alexander had or the amazing features of the movie, but the cute and drooling small eyed crowd at my back instead!

Guys... Girls... never underestimate how small they can get! YOU NEVER KNOW!

As Indian as the Tenduri Chicken...

...or the restaurant two blocks away from our office, where dude literally grabs you from the arm and pulls you into the local, sits you in the table, and if you allowed him, he might even order for you and feed you with shameless friendlieness. Krishnalekha Chaudhuri, OUR beloved Krishna, quite a young woman, thirsty of stars, with dreams of freedom and love, and of course momentaneous obsesions as we all Librian have. The obsession of the moment: Australia.

Adapting to Singapore was not an issue to her. We arrived prety much at the same time and we decided to go for Chinese lessons, on Fridays after work from 7 to 9.30 PM (WHAT THE FREAKING HELL we were thinking when we chose that time I still cannot figure out. COME ON! After a whole week of work and ready to go out to party, there we were listening to our fun teacher Michelle, smiling to us with her big uneven smile and I SWEAR to God I just whished these classes had come with subtitles because we got only 10% of the whole lesson each time.
Yes, we gave up on our Chinese. Of course, what did you expect from us!? We are now attending the gym. OK let's say we subscribed to it and paid a whole year membership, that for a Librian is at least sort of enough (and Devrim can join us in this situation).

We could talk much more about her, but bottom-line is we love her. And to quote one of her favourite movies (no, it is not Monsoon Wedding) We all love her "just the way she is"

Cada vez que veo te vas,
cada vez que te busco no estas...

PreXmas in El Palacio

After some retarded shopping (not referring to us but to the other thousand locals at IKEA walking with no freaking coordination, against each other, and to their own and OUR detriment CARRING A TROLLEY!!! OH MY GOD!!!! The concept of urban massacre becoming a reality) anyway, we came back home to El Palacio to dressed it "Xmassy".

Under my perspective I think we did a pretty muy buen job. (Take a look at the pic) Blue, Silver and Transparent is the theme and we are ready to go for a special Xmas.

In a country with a media of 30C degrees (sorry for all of those who work in Fahrenheit, I will not make the conversion for you this time, but believe me it is FREAKING hot) we cannot experience a White Xmas, unless that by white you meant you were gonna drink pina colada all night long or eat dim sum, etc. which it is obvious not the case.

We invited some trainees over and we had some chill night with cool music and interesting conversations about Cultural differences, Technological gadgets, Multiracial attractiveness and some random Indian conception of marriage and relationships (Krishna enlightened us with her insights on the topic, not that she has been in those situations, but she hears lots of stories here and there)

Merry Pre Xmas for everyone!!

Sunday Morning... you gotta love them!

... if you lived with us, in EL PALACIO!

Here we are, 12.30, half asleep, half awake, lying on the sofa, random talking, eating dried mangoes from the Philippines. (let us not talk about our "bed hair styles", although we would blend in the street with the crazy spikey haired dudes, and sometimes dudettes!)
- Teresa wants some meat, Devrim and I cannot avoid the dirty thinking and she still naively asks: "What? Why? I do not get it!" .For the record she named her teddy bear BJ. SEE!!?? you thought the same too, right?
- Devrim messing Teresa's hair with one hand and with the other checking people's blogs. Maybe thinking of some work related issue and probably also how he would like to be in the pool at this same moment, but too lazy of a Sunday morning to move our asses out of the sofa.
- A CD called "BIG, 19 hits in one super value album" playing in the background. As you might have altready realized cannot be that good. Cannot, lah! But it makes some noise in the room while we talk nonsense and have fun.
- Our mobiles have rung a couple of times and we could have not cared less.
- Still deciding if we are going for dim sum or IKEA meatballs (and we buy some Xmas decorations at the same time)

Thanks guys for sharing these moments, my life in Singapore would be soooo diferent without you here. Definitely something I will remember forever. Sunday mornings at El Palacio, I love them!

A chill, random and friendly experience that only few shared (with pankaces, but we ran out of the mix to prepare them so we gotta leave to eat something before we faint. Chau chau!).

See, these are us: Random people in random shots!

DHL AP Regional Training - Another project that became a reality!

When I applied for my current position one of the things that I really liked (besides the company, the salary, the location and the other interns I already knew, of course) was the possibility I would have to apply all my years of AIESEC experience into the corporate world, contributing to both the company and AIESEC. Perfect!

Bla.. bla... bla... time passed by and it has been almost 10 months since I arrived in Singapore on a freaking hot February morning. Two weeks ago, I had the great pleasure to see one of my idea/projects becoming a reality: A DHL Asia Pacific Interns Training. We flew all interns to Singapore for a two day professional training plus a weekend retreat for teambuilding and relaxing.

Trainees originally from India, Poland, New Zealand, Hungary, Turkey/USA (you all know who I am talking about here, right?), Kyrgyzstan, Slovakia, Finland and Argentina getting together for this program. Needless to say it was very cool and we all learnt, participated and have fun.

What iss next? What next idea will become a reality?. We will se, we will see.

A Gala Dinner – “A Night Around The World”

Some of us interns participated in the organization of the Annual Dinner and Dance of the Regional Office. QUITE A FLASHY event to say the least! 8 meal course at The Fullerton Hotel of Singapore, live performances, professional MC, splendid lucky draws and much more. The theme of the night: A Night Around The World. Suggested dress code: any national tipical dress, from cowboy, to japanese kimono, to Mexican sombrero or Egiptian farmer :)

RECORD attendance of 450 people! We were in the middle of them, all 11 AP interns plus Pilli in one of the loudest and funniest tables of the night. We had a blast, a classy and stylish blast. We also had some photo shooting sessions with Cecilia Tam, Lars Voedisch and Stephen Gitonga (and Mrs.), former AIESEC Interns, now permanent employees of DHL.

A Night Around The World: a night to remember. Check it out...

DHL AP Interns Having fun

After two days of professional training and input giving about our internship program, our company treated us with a weekend at the Shangri La in Singapore. Relaxing and teambuilding was the task. So we had to go to the spa, swimming pool, gym, eat the buffet breakfast and dinner, etc. It is hard to be a trainee, you know?

I am a squiggle (mixed with a triangle!)

...and it does not feel odd at all, you know?

What is this?. Back to January 2000, I was the President of AIESEC in Argentina and we were in our National Conference, there was this "external" (as we use to call in AIESEC those human beings who belong to the real world, they are not actual delegates, they dress more formal, and do not know any of the 1000 accronyms we abuse and overuse). This "external" offered to volunteer and train us on some interpersonal relationship skills. Of course, we accepted. These are topics highly appreciated by this interesting crowd we are when in University. How to relate to ohers? How am I? How to get laid the fastest? and so on...

Anyway, we were introduced to the concept of PSYCHOGEOMETRICS, (what? Where?. What have you been smoking up?) SHUSH!... let me finish! It is a theory developed by Ph.D. Susan Dellinger (who wisely made an obcene ammount of money with this theory). Psychogeometrics (The Science Of Understanding People, And The Art Of Communicating With Them) Which of these five geometric shapes do you think most accurately reflects your personality? Circle, Square, Rectangle, Triangle or Squiggle? According to Dr. Susan Dellinger, your choice indicates a distinctive personality type. Every person has a "preferred SHAPE". Once you know your SHAPE, you will be able to know more about yourself and how to beter interact with others.

AIESEC in Singapore has asked some of us trainees to help them with some training in their upcoming National Leadership Development Seminar (by the way starting this WED!!!) and I decided I would like to undust some of my old training materials and pulled out this concept of psychogeometrics again. Are you intrigued? Would you like to see what shape are you?

Take the test (click here) have fun and go crazy meeting people and relating to them.

FengShui? My ass! Ameba's Club forever!

Hola gente!

9.45 PM and still in the office. Quite a loser on a Friday night. Am I not? The strange thing is I am not being pushed to stay here, I am here because... just because. It is like this inertia that I have developed once you pass 6.30: "well you might as well stay a bit longer". And "longer" means different things for people (let's not get into the old statement "size does not matter" that is for another blog posting, ok?)

Anyway, after 6.30 everything feels the same. Unless you start drooling on your keyboard, and then you realize that it is past midnight, you haven't eaten and your eyes are starting to get this reddish glow and square shape. SEXY! Even the usual losers like you have left, which automatically turns you in the looserest of them all!

Funny enough, I work in the HR department; my boss is this amazing Canadian guy that makes sure we leave on time (he certainly did not do a good job today, did he?); and I am usually the first one leaving the office on time. Or I used to be. FLASH! I had a realization moment: "That's it: I am becoming an ameba. Yes, this asexual (let's not go there), shapeless, wiggly wandering being, floating here and there with a disturbing aura of tranquility and pleasant stress."

Three days ago my friend & flat mate Devrim got me a present from Hong Kong: Lillian Too's Little Book of Feng Shui At Work (Interesting writer to laugh at and take seriously at the same time. Long title for a book, short text, great help to harmonize your working place and desk). Page 74: "...wear Green when you need confidence. Personal Feng Shui starts with the cut and the colour of the clothes you wear as well as how you wear them..."

My question to Lilianita here is: What the hell should I wear tonight to feel a little like a person who was not such a loser so as to stay until 9.45 at the office doing miscellaneous random tasks so Monday would feel more relieved?

Security guard just came in and naively asks: Working late?
Nacho: No. Preparing a barbecue, you moron! Cannot you see I am still freaking sitting here!!??
(OK, That's a lie. I did not answer that. But I thought of answering something similar)
- No. Just finishing some emails and going home. Thanks. - I answered politely and with a smile

For those ones interested in the book, here's a picture of the useful miniature. Nos vemos in the next posting. I am going out to have some drinks! Today mi nombre es SCREWDRIVER!
And for the record, I am not the last one leaving the office.

What if...

...opportunities REALLY knocked on your door only once?. What if it was true that we only have ONE chance to strike it big? Moreover... what is to "strike it big" anyway? I am in a crossroads. Another one in my life. A crossroads where all these questions, the same ones that were once quite nonsense and silly, have now became crucial and extremely relevant. Am I getting too old? Am I loosing the ability to "Go for it" without thinking too much?

What's next? What if...?

Here I am sitting; with a cup of coffee on my desk unsuccessfully trying to focus on what I should be doing, but thinking on what I should do instead. I wish the curly steam could give me some hint. I know it does not tell you the future (I have drunk many cups in the past with the hope that my future steps would be written in a mysterious script or symbol at the bottom of the coffee cup. It has not worked. It has never worked)

It is funny, whether you believe in it or not, but life has this concept of Karma and it is applicable to everything, even OPORTUNITIES. Decisions are decisions and opportunities are never lost for someone will always take the one you just let pass right by you.

Bottom-line is: to be grateful for at least having options, having opportunities and having the ability to make decisions… and that is much more than what some people can say about them.

What's next?