music makes the people come together

Thank you, Madonna, for the ever-appropriate song lyrics!

Two weeks ago, UPV's architecture school celebrated a week of culture. I wasn't really aware of what was going on, but through a friend I found out that there was a piano in the school of architecture, free for anyone to play. So on Friday afternoon, I managed to find this piano at the end of a long hallway. There were two girls there and I found out that one of them, Belen, was the organizer of it all! It was great to see her passion for bringing music to UPV and she told me a little about the challenges she went through. She also designed this great poster that has a figure playing the piano with the caption: "Tócame, soy tuyo." (If you don't get it, it's a double-meaning since it means "Play me, I'm yours".)  Anyways they had to leave shortly after, so I started playing by myself, and after fifteen minutes another girl came to listen and we started chatting. Music really was a starting point for conversation, and we chatted for quite awhile. I found out that the entire week, passers-by were drawn to the piano as if it were a magnet. It was also pleasant just to chat with a stranger and have a glimpse into her world- she sings in a band, has always wanted to play piano, studies architecture because she used to spend hours drawing, and is going to Graz on Erasmus next year. Later some of her classmates arrived (with Amstel in hand, of course) and we sat around discussing music and architecture and taking turns playing the piano as well. Both the other guy playing and I were extremely rusty, but it didn't matter at all. All in all, I couldn't have asked for a better Friday afternoon.

So that same weekend, Valencia was celebrating the Día de la Virgen de los Desamparados (Lady of the Foresaken) or Día de Mare de Deus (Mother of God). The biggest event is on Sunday, when they bring out the statue of the Virgen and huge crowds form near the Cathedral in an attempt to touch her. That sounds weird, but it's the best way I can describe the event. On Saturday night, I went with a friend to the Plaza de la Virgen where there was traditional dance and music. Unfortunately the fireworks were cancelled but we did see the concert from the Banda de Valencia. The first part was nice, classical music, but nothing spectacular. The most special part was in the last 5 minutes in which they played a song that was something like the national anthem of Valencia. (Here is a link to the song I'm referring to, and the better part is around minute 10 and 11.) The entire crowd was singing with tons of enthusiasm and emotion. Just another reminder of how important music is, whether you're sharing your love of an instrument or celebrating your cultural heritage.

tesis/tesina/trabajo fin de máster/proyecto final... and London!

As that September deadline slowly creeps up, I have finally established a topic and started working on my master's thesis. Despite having been exposed to so many new ideas and such a wide variety of fields in the master, it was extremely difficult to find a project that satisfied my criteria: interesting, do-able by September, and useful in some way. I'll have to admit that at first, my biggest concern was the timing and being able to submit the thesis by the September deadline. I talked to A, one of the professors of the master, and I started doing research on the topic of cost projections for electricity generation in California. The problem? The topic was extremely open-ended and was purely for my own benefit; my (supposedly 300) hours spent would not contribute the slightest to any current project nor any future project. I understand that a master's thesis is not nearly as extensive as a doctoral thesis, and I'm not trying to make any huge steps for mankind while writing it, but it would be nice to know that my work has an application outside of my own education. When I expressed these concerns to A, he told me with all frankness that the only other people (other than the two of us) who would read my thesis would be the three professors on the master's defense 'tribunal.' 

This brings me to the second part of the post title. Last week, I found out that I was selected to receive a scholarship to attend USE Efficiency Summer School, a university energy efficiency course that is held annually. There are 11 participating universities from around the EU and each sends three students to the course; during the course, teams are formed to perform energy audits and, of course, the idea is that bringing together students from different cultural and academic backgrounds will allow for knowledge exchange and so-on. Last year, the course was held in Valencia and this year, it will be held in London to coincide with the Olympics! The details are still a bit fuzzy, but before the course the three of us from UPV will put together an energy audit and during the course, we will also perform an energy audit of an Olympic building or facility. Needless to say, I am extremely thankful for this opportunity and I really plan to make the most of the course! (I should also mention that the two groups who received the highest grades on the energy audit project were interviewed for the scholarship to 'test' their English. Since there are students from all over participating in the course it is conducted in English, and a big part in taking full advantage of the course is being able to communicate well in English. Luckily I scored a 9.5 out of 10 on that part.)

So you're probably wondering what these two unrelated topics have to do with each other. I ended up changing my thesis topic and working with a different professor C on a completely different project both of which are related to the energy efficiency topic of London. My new project is developing a methodology for the measurement and verification after an energy audit is performed (for example, how do you measure the savings after you install energy-saving lightbulbs? it doesn't just improve your electricity bill but also your air-conditioning bill since it produces less sensible heat.) as well as the results of demand response improvements (what are the savings on cost and emissions if you run your washing machine in off-peak hours -in the night for example- rather than in peak hours?). Part of the project is also making a proposal for developing an organization and course that would be analogous to USE Efficiency but for UC Berkeley, where my advisor is collaborating. Anyways, this topic is much more interesting and I do enjoy the fact that a) my work is useful in the very immediate future and b) being a native Californian and also having studied in California, I can provide some unique insights and experiences. Furthermore, my thesis work will help me in London and I'm sure I'll also pick up ideas there as well. 

Looks like it's all starting to come together.

Rotary Barcelona Pedralbes & Rotary Berlin Kurfürstendamm

I really need to catch up on my meeting attendance posts!


During my travels in April I was able to visit two Rotary clubs: first Rotary Barcelona Pedralbes and then Rotary Berlin Kurfürstendamm. When I visited Barcelona Pedralbes, it was the Thursday before Easter weekend and they didn't have a regular meeting. Instead they hosted just a casual lunch because so many members were out of town. I introduced myself to the members who were present, and since they didn't have the club banner they promised to mail it to me!


The Berlin Kurfürstendamm meeting was quite busy and much more similar to the meetings that I had attended in the U.S. because of the nametags, attendance sheet, and lunch payments (I haven't yet witnessed any of these Rotary institutions in Spain yet). The speaker's presentation was on mergers and acquisitions... at the beginning I attempted to understand the few German words that jumped out to me but after 15 minutes I just tuned it out (I probably would have done it if I was listening to a speech on mergers and acquisitions in English as well). The definite highlight of the meeting was meeting Berliners and hearing their personal stories about what Berlin was like before the wall came down. As I have already expressed (profusely), Berlin has such a rich culture, and its recent history ensures that it is an ever-evolving city.

Rotary Barcelona Pedralbes

The fancy Kempinski Hotel in Berlin where Kurfürstendamm has their meetings 

Flag exchange with the President of Berlin Kurfürstendamm

controversy and crisis in Spain

So... what exactly has been happening in Spain these days? I'm not sure how well-known these recent headlines are outside of Spain, but there's been plenty of controversy to go around.

First there was the 13-year-old grandson of the royal family who accidentally shot himself in the foot. Here's the kicker: it's illegal for 13-year-olds to handle shotguns like that. The royal family made some kind of statement like "he was cleaning the weapon." 

In the same week, the Rey went on an expensive elephant hunting trip in Africa (amidst all the internal and external problems that Spain's been having- demonstrations, cuts in the public sector, expropriations going on in Argentina) and broke his hip. The kicker (for me at least)? Rey Juan Carlos is the honorary president of the Worldlife Wildlife Fund in Spain. After the flood of criticism, he finally came out and apologized with a few simple lines: "Lo siento mucho, me he equivocado. No volverá a ocurrir" (I'm sorry, I made a mistake. It won't happen again.) Of course, this set off tons of spoofs, caricatures, etc. online saying "Oops, I killed a person! Sorry, it won't happen again."

To read more about the Rey, click here and to read more about the crisis, click here.

And with Tuesday being the Workers' Day, of course there were demonstrations that now seem to be protesting anything and everything related to the crisis. Sometimes people ask me how it is in the U.S. and if people talk about the economic recession and I try to tell them the truth- yes, there is a recession and many economic deficits and spending cuts but it's not a topic that's nearly as discussed in Spain. Not a day goes by that I do not hear something about la crisis. The worst part is the people here seem to have lost all trust in their government and hope that things will improve. Criticizing the corrupt politicians and complaining about the budget cuts has turned into a daily sport. 

On the bright side, the sun is shining and a good fiesta is never lacking here.

Andalucian puente

At the end of an epic April of many university holidays and trips, I went to Andalucia: first to the Feria de Abril in Sevilla and then to Granada.

The Feria is a big 'fair' that originated from horse trading. (In more modern times, it's more about dancing Sevillanas, showing off your feria dress, and drinking Manzanilla). The main part of th fair is composed of 'casetas' which have dancing, music, food and drinks. The majority of the casetas are private and you need some kind of connection to get in. Basically, a group of people (could be a company, university, labor union, public institution or just some friends) hire a bar for their own caseta where they can enjoy a good fiesta with their friends.  There are a few public casetas, some put on by neighborhoods in Sevilla and others by the political parties.

As for the Feria dress, the majority of the girls are dressed in flamenco dresses, with a hair comb, flower, huge earrings, and shawl. Each one is quite costly and the fashion does evolve, although it's difficult to tell for a foreigner which trends are newer or older. 

I was lucky enough to borrow my friend Kirstie's second feria dress, since she had bought two dresses second-hand from her boss. We were invited to the caseta of her (other) boss' family and it was great to have a local experience and see the Sevillanas being danced by Sevillanos. (The Sevillana is a type of flamenco that has many complicated steps. It's quite different from the very soulful, sorrowful flamenco dances.) Afterward, Kirstie and her friends left because they had had such a long day after work and I met up with another friend Begona, who took me to two more casetas. Without local connections, I think you could still have a good time at the Feria but it's so much more fun to be able to check out different private casetas!

Here's the PP caseta (PP is basically the conservative party)... true to its nature, it was luxurious, bougie, and was more of a 5-star restaurant with waiter service than a bar. Everybody was sitting down and eating and nobody was dancing! (Kind of defeats the purpose of feria, I thought). 

PSOE, the more liberal party, seemed like a pretty ordinary caseta. And then there was the communist party´s caseta, which is known to have a great party. And as expected, they had cheaper food and drinks (and even communist paraphanelia).

 After my two days of Feria, I headed to Granada by train. I met up with Jamie, a former Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar who is currently getting a Master's in Public Health in Granada, as well as Vicki, a Rotarian who is extremely passionate about her involvement in the community and who has been extremely supportive of all of the Ambassadorial Scholars. It was great to catch up with both of them and quite flattering that Vicki used her frequent flier miles to take a crazy flight to visit us from Los Angeles! Despite some cold rainy weather, we still had a good time in Granada, visiting El Albaicín (the old Moorish quarter famous for its white houses) and La Alhambra.


With Jamie, we had a nice Master-comparing session... her program is well-organized but she feels that the students aren't so motivated as many of them already have careers. I actually feel the complete opposite about my program! The organization is lacking, we don't get much support, and it can be a huge pain to find the right perosn to get help from, but the students are quite motivated and passionate about our subjects especially when they see the immediate applications of what we're learning. I also learned some interesting facts from her and what she is passionate about- how epidemiologic studies can be used to increase funding for public health. For one, there hasn't been a single public campaign to combat obesity that has been successful. And, in all countries in the world, obesity is increasing (just at different rates). It's so difficult to judge how today's policies will affect society in the future but that's why Jamie is interested in using the epidemiologic studies to increase the necessary funding for disease prevention, which will improve the quality of life now and decrease the costs in the future.


Catching up with Vicki, both Jamie and I were extremely moved by her updates on her work in the community. Vicki is the most dedicated Rotarian I know, to a wide range of causes... promoting peace with young people, the Ambassadorial Scholarship, Youth Exchanges, mentorships, and peace within the community. Lately she's become extremely involved as a mentor for a troubled teen. I won't get into the details, but Vicki has gone way beyond the call of duty as a support-system, teacher, mentor, and friend for this young man. I think in some way, Vicki has become a mentor for all of the Ambassadorial Scholars and she is truly passionate and dedicated to what she believes in.

Berlin, zu bist so wunderbar!

I could go on for years about how amazing Berlin is, but here's the Sparknotes version. I fell in love when I visited almost 2 years ago, when I was working in Stuttgart. Along with my friends, I saw all of the major sights... the Dom (cathedral), Museum Island, Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, Tacheles, East Side Gallery (a part of the Berlin wall that is now covered by murals), the Tiergarten and even the huge Sunday flea market (pretty amazing considering we had 48 hours, and almost half a day was spent watching the World Cup match). Anyways, when I found out recently that my friend Max from UCLA was doing an internship in Berlin, it was the perfect opportunity to see him and revisit the city!


Some of my favorite parts of Berlin:


*History is everywhere. There are hundreds of official monuments, big and small, to the victims of WWII. Each person has their own experiences and stories of life before the wall came down. At the Rotary Club meeting, a Rotarian told me that after all the years after the second world war, he still kept in touch with one of the American soldiers who used to play soccer with him. The gratitude and emotion he felt is still very much alive and even though the soldier is now dead, he keeps in contact with his son who lives in Orange County. I think all Americans need a reminder that American soldiers abroad are not just the ones who make news headlines and have conflicts with local people; however, I think it's a shame that the reputation has changed drastically in one man's lifetime.


*Street art is everywhere.  I really enjoy the fact that it's so interactive and always evolving. Some pieces are critical, others are sarcastic, some make you think, and others are just fun.

*Meeting cool people and crazies on public transport. Berlin is an extremely young city, and I never expected that Wednesday night on the U-Bahn would be so busy with partiers. We met some locals- I can't remember their names but the girl is a quarter Chinese, a quarter Thai, and half German while her boyfriend is half Sudanese and half Spanish. And of course, both are 100% Berliner.




*Döner kebap: Arguably the best döner is found in Berlin, where restaurants and stands are found on every street and corner of the city! Here I am at Mustafa's, which is really famous (the line was 15-20 minutes long)

*The strong sense of community: This is Özman's treehouse, which was constructed on a small piece of East Berlin that remained on the West Berlin side of the wall. This area was useless for either side and, in that time, basically the end of the world. Özman was a Turkish immigrant built his own house and garden in that space. After the wall came down, he was able to keep the house thanks to the help of the neighboring church and according to Berliners, he's extremely friendly and waves to all the passersby when he's working or chilling in the garden.

*Not far away, there's beautiful forest, lakes, and palaces in Potsdam (aka the Versailles of Germany). It was still a bit grey when I went but there were some hints of spring. It's a perfect place to go jogging or biking in summertime!

some tourism in Valencia... ruins, monasteries, Port Saplaya

The past couple of weekends, my friends and I visited some tourist attractions in Valencia that we had overlooked in the past but are definitely worth visiting. We started off at the Museo de la Ciudad where there was an exhibit on traditional Valencian dress and its evolution. Then there was the Archaeological Center which explained the 1st Roman Valencia.



Oh yeah, we also ran into Juan Carlos Ferrero, a pro tennis player who won the French Open. He had been jogging in the city center.


We climbed the Torres de Serrano, one of the two city gates that are still standing.


Also hit up the Palacio de la Duquesa de Dos Aguas and saw its overwhelming display of wealth and overly decorated Baroque rooms.


Yesterday I went with Diego and Hannah to Monasterio San Miguel de los Reyes. Started as a monastery, then was abandoned and turned into a prison (used in the 19th and 20th centuries), and is now an academic library. It's very beautiful and I feel a special connection to it because I feel like I "discovered" it while jogging in October.




Since we were kiiind of in the area, we rode our bikes further up to Port Saplaya, known for its colorful houses and canals.






SO, even though Valencia isn't as famous as some other tourist destinations in Spain, there is still a lot of history and so much left to see for me!