Hopefully I should a couple of more little articles coming in this weekend.... SADLY i just finished my last day at the paper... gosh... i think I am going to cry.... I loved it too much... sniff..........right now I am about to fall asleep on my desk so I will write about my feelings of longing when I am in a better state of alert....
cheers
Friday, August 31, 2007
Monday, August 27, 2007
The Journalistic profession:
The perks of late hours, extreme doses of caffeine and excentric coworkers is no news to those who wish to persue the profession. Yet it is one thing to hear about it, and another to actually inmerse yourself in it. With that in mind, I can sum up the mission of reporters: to give readers a new perspective on an issue, by inmersing them on whatever subject the article is dealing with. It is allowing them to see the world through the eyes of someone else, for the time it takes to read 1000 words. In the end the job is a public service; it is not for money but for the sake of spreading knowledge and truth. Yes it sounds noble and great, and it is indeed. Some newspapers are bullshit, I know, but El Pais is as good as it gets.
I loved my internship, in spite of feeling inexperienced, foreign and downright lost most of the time, I can honestly say that I have learned more in a month working at this newspaper than the two years I have been in school. Then again, that tends to be the case in this profession.
This is my last week, and you know, that time to start preparing the answers to the questions my parents will surely ask like....
Did I learn anything?
Is this really what I want to do?
Am I any good?
Did I make any good connections?
Did I gain a lot of weight?
Well, to answer these questions in order and controlling my chain of thoughts (that tends to be hard for me) I will do them by order, you know, like a sixt grade research paper.
1. Did I learn anything... well, I think I already answered that question. Between crazy people camping out in front of Ikea, seeing the president of Spain, running in downtown Madrid in search of a computer, adopted dogs, eathquake-affected peruvians crying, monkeys spitting at fotographers, urbanization laws in the city of madrid, the obsolete notion of press conferences, bullshit politicians, crazy editors, agencies, a complete metro system, chinese thermometers, an awesome layout program, Indian dances, crazy journalists, time diferences, exagerated health complaints, retina problems.... well, I think I learned. I learned a lot, probably too much, and I will have a bitter feeling when I look back to these days and I realize I didnt take as much advantage of them as I could have. Did it give me confidence? Hell yes, I could not work in a better place... my only problem? I def was not ready for it, and I could have given a better-lasting impression if I had done this a year from now, or after college. I have a feeling I will come back though.
2. Is it really what I want to do... well... it's too hard to decide right now. Writing, definetely, not even an option. Journalism, no doubt about it. A huge, daily newspaper, well... that might change. Although I absolutely love it; I love the rush, I love the adrenaline, I love the writing, I HATE the hours. I cannot get to my house at 11 p.m ever day... it is too absurd for me. Maybe I can get used to it, maybe I can learn to wake up early in the morning and take advantage of the day in a diferent manner.... well, I guess I still have time to think about it. :)
3. I still dont know if I am any good... I dont think I would be the best judge of that. I just know that I try and that I get edited a lot and eventually published... if that is any good? Well awesome. If not, well... I am still going to do it. So sorry for those who read newspapers.
4. Connections... I dont know. I am socially akward... but I will do my best to keep in touch at least with the editors that I met to make sure they remember me in the future.
5. Weight... yes. For those of you who know me and thought I could never be fat well.... I am. I cant fit in the clothes I brought and that is a problem because i have no money nor space in my bag to get bigger clothes... ill just stop eating I guess.
Anyways, I needed to write. I realized that this language-learning thing is complicated... it's like a balance that can only have certain things on each side of it, and the weight gets shifted from one side to the other. The more I know english, the less I know spanish, and vice versa. French will just completely kill the balance but, oh well. I am not planning on writing profesionally in that language.
Finally, to whomever reads all of this, you deserve a prize. Let me know of your accomplishment and I will see that you are rewarded.
Cheers
The perks of late hours, extreme doses of caffeine and excentric coworkers is no news to those who wish to persue the profession. Yet it is one thing to hear about it, and another to actually inmerse yourself in it. With that in mind, I can sum up the mission of reporters: to give readers a new perspective on an issue, by inmersing them on whatever subject the article is dealing with. It is allowing them to see the world through the eyes of someone else, for the time it takes to read 1000 words. In the end the job is a public service; it is not for money but for the sake of spreading knowledge and truth. Yes it sounds noble and great, and it is indeed. Some newspapers are bullshit, I know, but El Pais is as good as it gets.
I loved my internship, in spite of feeling inexperienced, foreign and downright lost most of the time, I can honestly say that I have learned more in a month working at this newspaper than the two years I have been in school. Then again, that tends to be the case in this profession.
This is my last week, and you know, that time to start preparing the answers to the questions my parents will surely ask like....
Did I learn anything?
Is this really what I want to do?
Am I any good?
Did I make any good connections?
Did I gain a lot of weight?
Well, to answer these questions in order and controlling my chain of thoughts (that tends to be hard for me) I will do them by order, you know, like a sixt grade research paper.
1. Did I learn anything... well, I think I already answered that question. Between crazy people camping out in front of Ikea, seeing the president of Spain, running in downtown Madrid in search of a computer, adopted dogs, eathquake-affected peruvians crying, monkeys spitting at fotographers, urbanization laws in the city of madrid, the obsolete notion of press conferences, bullshit politicians, crazy editors, agencies, a complete metro system, chinese thermometers, an awesome layout program, Indian dances, crazy journalists, time diferences, exagerated health complaints, retina problems.... well, I think I learned. I learned a lot, probably too much, and I will have a bitter feeling when I look back to these days and I realize I didnt take as much advantage of them as I could have. Did it give me confidence? Hell yes, I could not work in a better place... my only problem? I def was not ready for it, and I could have given a better-lasting impression if I had done this a year from now, or after college. I have a feeling I will come back though.
2. Is it really what I want to do... well... it's too hard to decide right now. Writing, definetely, not even an option. Journalism, no doubt about it. A huge, daily newspaper, well... that might change. Although I absolutely love it; I love the rush, I love the adrenaline, I love the writing, I HATE the hours. I cannot get to my house at 11 p.m ever day... it is too absurd for me. Maybe I can get used to it, maybe I can learn to wake up early in the morning and take advantage of the day in a diferent manner.... well, I guess I still have time to think about it. :)
3. I still dont know if I am any good... I dont think I would be the best judge of that. I just know that I try and that I get edited a lot and eventually published... if that is any good? Well awesome. If not, well... I am still going to do it. So sorry for those who read newspapers.
4. Connections... I dont know. I am socially akward... but I will do my best to keep in touch at least with the editors that I met to make sure they remember me in the future.
5. Weight... yes. For those of you who know me and thought I could never be fat well.... I am. I cant fit in the clothes I brought and that is a problem because i have no money nor space in my bag to get bigger clothes... ill just stop eating I guess.
Anyways, I needed to write. I realized that this language-learning thing is complicated... it's like a balance that can only have certain things on each side of it, and the weight gets shifted from one side to the other. The more I know english, the less I know spanish, and vice versa. French will just completely kill the balance but, oh well. I am not planning on writing profesionally in that language.
Finally, to whomever reads all of this, you deserve a prize. Let me know of your accomplishment and I will see that you are rewarded.
Cheers
It has been a while
Ok so I oficially suck as a blogger... I def am not a blogger btw, this is just a way to keep some of you updated on my crap and to not have to send 20 the different links to the people who want to read my articles.
The reason for my lack of writing is not my lack of articles... it is just my lack of time. Yes, I have to take advantage of the fact that here I can actually write the same word three times in one sentence and noone will change it for a pretty synonym...
As for the newspaper, last week I was invited to the land of international section... that made me happy, althought the time diference made for some very angry people in Mexico who did not want to be disturbed at 6 a.m by some journalist from Spain... who does't even have the decency of sporting a Spanish accent... "are you aregentinian?" "sure, argentinian will do" jajajaja good stuff... sooo here are the two links to my articles... or well, the articles I slightly contributed to but I still get my name on them.
the hurricane one
the earthquake one
the modernist houses one
the photo gallery one
yes.... andrea is getting a nice portafolio here... although the days in which I have nothing to do get depressing as hell.... to me boredom=depression.
The reason for my lack of writing is not my lack of articles... it is just my lack of time. Yes, I have to take advantage of the fact that here I can actually write the same word three times in one sentence and noone will change it for a pretty synonym...
As for the newspaper, last week I was invited to the land of international section... that made me happy, althought the time diference made for some very angry people in Mexico who did not want to be disturbed at 6 a.m by some journalist from Spain... who does't even have the decency of sporting a Spanish accent... "are you aregentinian?" "sure, argentinian will do" jajajaja good stuff... sooo here are the two links to my articles... or well, the articles I slightly contributed to but I still get my name on them.
the hurricane one
the earthquake one
the modernist houses one
the photo gallery one
yes.... andrea is getting a nice portafolio here... although the days in which I have nothing to do get depressing as hell.... to me boredom=depression.
Friday, August 17, 2007
Indians and dogs
Wohoooo ok so the good thing about writing about not-so-serious stuff is that my articles always have pictures.... and that just makes them more apealing... yes, people think like that. My article that got published yesterday was about the Indian celebration of the 60th anniversary of their independence from Great Britain... I was sitting in Plaza Mayor up to 12:00 a.m. trying to send the article that was too short originally, then I sent it to the wrong email, then I ran out of battery... jesus christ that was crazy.... and then I had to write an article on abandoned dogs and the people who adopt them... pretty dramatic I must say. So sorry if they are not that interesting to you, but hey, at least they have pretty pictures.
Indian one
dog one
there you go. Read them, be happy, be proud, and really admire the photographers.
Indian one
dog one
there you go. Read them, be happy, be proud, and really admire the photographers.
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Monday, August 13, 2007
i like to stare at people in the metro
but dont tell anyone... seriously, cause i claim to hate it... actually, i did, but it is fun to make up stories of people... who they are and where they are going and if they are secretly planning on stabbing me to steal my money. anyways... fun weekend, fun days... it should be a fun month... these past two weeks have gone bye too fast... i like my internship waaay too much... I really feel like I need to come back and do my master's degree at the newspaper's school, cause I feel like it's the place where I have to be.... lol i havent even been working there for two weeks and I already feel this way... jesus christ, i need to stop my tendency with quick infatuation... aaaanyways i went to an amusement park here in madrid... it caught my attention to see kids at 1 a.m in this park... and by kids i mean 3 year olds and babies..... spanish people are different, but i see the point. Why not have your baby have your same sleeping schedule? that way they wont wake u up at 5 am screaming for food.... makes sense!! well and today I had dinner with my father's gay friends who are AWESOME and took me to an AWESOME place... i know.. i am also awed at my extense vocabulary :) I should have an article going out tomorrow so I will keep you posted on that...anywaaaaays im tired. good night.
Friday, August 10, 2007
Clean up; you never know when you may have a polish girl sleeping over
I know I should explain the title of the entry.... and write a detailed description of my wild and crazy adventures but seriously, I am too hung-over, I am still at work, (almost ten, people) and I havent eaten anything all freaking day... thank god that I went out last night and because of that I have no desire whatsoever of going out again.... i just want to sleeeeeeeep and well, eat first... i dont know what i would eat though.... ok let me see if my article is online today... yes it is!! I am one really happy camper.... you see, that was fun. Today, not that fun. I get too edited, my editor made me sit with a copy editor for like half an hour and she meticulously took apart my precious little artcile and re-arranged it in a way that makes me feel like a fraud by putting my name on the top, simply because it barely resembles what I originally wrote. Dude, I dont know if it is my lack of Spanish or lack of reporting or what, but this is awful!!! But I guess I knew this... by no means was I expecting to just breeze through this and just magically become in two days the writer and reporter that I want to be.... but this is the big league dude... the biggest... this is as high as I can get... and I feel like maybe I jumped to quickly into something that I am def not ready for... on the other hand it is an awesome experience, I am getting published in this amazing newspaper, and there is no way I wont get hired in another spanish-speaking newspaper after this... I just want to learn... actually.... i really do! hopefully the continuous slaps on the face will simply help as a way to becoming what I want to become... to build a thick shell... dude, I am young... (yes, you are the dude) I am oh so young! What I am realizing though is that this initial thrill of reporting may wear away quickly with the long hours and the continuous starvation.... I shall see where it takes me... for now, it is painful, it is hard, but I am as content as I could ever be.
Wednesday, August 08, 2007
San Cayetano and his awesome flowers
Ok so yesterday I encountered what people call religious mania... or supersticious mob... ok maybe there is nota word for it but seriously, this was funny. It so happens that August is the month for saint adoration in Madrid, and I was sent to cover this parade of San Cayetano that was going on downtown... very pretty, very cute, but old people get scary when it comes to adoring figurines... tradition says that at the end of the parade, you have to get a flower from the saints statue which has a bunch of them installed in its altar, so you are assured to have work during the year. Well, this tradition that sounds pretty gets pretty animalistic as people jump over the crowd to try to get one of these miracle flowers. Very cute... anyways, this time the article showed up in the newspaper but not on the Web page, contraty to yesterday. So you cant read it... I know, you are sad... you were really begging for an article on San Cayetano.... but oh well, I cant really help you....... lol........ have a good one.
update:
Im stupid and I found the link to my tiny tiny article... here it goes
update:
Im stupid and I found the link to my tiny tiny article... here it goes
Tuesday, August 07, 2007
pretty pissed
so ok... my article was on the Web page but not on the actual newspaper!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! yes, Andrea is pissed.... apparently a huge fire happened at around 11 when I had already left the newsroom.... dude.. what can be more important than people camping out in front of an Ikea??? pfff.... yes you are right.... NOTHING!!! these people have no sense of newsworthiness...... lol
I wont know you read my blog unless you leave a comment
I dont care if you leave one or not... just stop telling me that you read this through other ways like facebook or msn or email... that is the point of this.... to avoid all the other ones!
UUUUU look!!! Another one, but an actual one! I wrote a decent sized article on my own people!!! Ok I got suuuper edited but hey... I am here to learn right?.... this is what happens when all the journalists are on vacation!! LOL
http://www.elpais.com/articulo/madrid/dias/cola/muebles/gratis/elpepuespmad/20070807elpmad_8/Tes
Hope it continues this way people!!! Ok I havent writen since Saturday... the weekend was a little slow... well I am by myself here and barely know anyone. On Saturday I slept most of the day because of the extreme exhaustion I had... I know... it had been three days... that's the same thing my father told me, but oh well. I was very very tired... not used to this working thing... at night I went out to eat with a british couple I met... super nice people!!! although we were equally lost when it came to choosing a good Spanish restaurant and then decent sized Spanish food... lol we had a good time... we went to the gay area in Madrid and it seemed pretty cool actually. On Sunday I started by going to El Prado museum, of which I only saw a third, because I am giving myself the liberty of seeing it by parts. Usually you would only have a day or so to see the museum so when you are already tired you cannot help but paying more attention to whatever scattered benches you find that to the paintings you are looking at. Since I stop at every single one, read the little description, and then stare, leaning my head to the right til the point where the painting doesn't make sense anymore I decided to visit it several times and see and pay attention to every single corner. Yes, I am a geek, but that is one of the reasons why most of you love me. Anyways, then I walked around downtown, saw La Plaza Mayor, La Gran Via, etc etc. I ate lunch at this quaint little restaurant in the corner of the plaza and saw this American guy go insane not sure for what reason... I couldn't help but laugh as I saw him yell at the top of his lungs to this waiter that 2 seconds ago he had tried to beat up... I tend to laugh in unlikely situations... anyways THE BEST PAELLA OF MY LIFE!!! It was awesome... if I ever remember the name of the place I will recomend it to you.
Well, it is now time for me to go to work....
Cheers my friends,
UUUUU look!!! Another one, but an actual one! I wrote a decent sized article on my own people!!! Ok I got suuuper edited but hey... I am here to learn right?.... this is what happens when all the journalists are on vacation!! LOL
http://www.elpais.com/articulo/madrid/dias/cola/muebles/gratis/elpepuespmad/20070807elpmad_8/Tes
Hope it continues this way people!!! Ok I havent writen since Saturday... the weekend was a little slow... well I am by myself here and barely know anyone. On Saturday I slept most of the day because of the extreme exhaustion I had... I know... it had been three days... that's the same thing my father told me, but oh well. I was very very tired... not used to this working thing... at night I went out to eat with a british couple I met... super nice people!!! although we were equally lost when it came to choosing a good Spanish restaurant and then decent sized Spanish food... lol we had a good time... we went to the gay area in Madrid and it seemed pretty cool actually. On Sunday I started by going to El Prado museum, of which I only saw a third, because I am giving myself the liberty of seeing it by parts. Usually you would only have a day or so to see the museum so when you are already tired you cannot help but paying more attention to whatever scattered benches you find that to the paintings you are looking at. Since I stop at every single one, read the little description, and then stare, leaning my head to the right til the point where the painting doesn't make sense anymore I decided to visit it several times and see and pay attention to every single corner. Yes, I am a geek, but that is one of the reasons why most of you love me. Anyways, then I walked around downtown, saw La Plaza Mayor, La Gran Via, etc etc. I ate lunch at this quaint little restaurant in the corner of the plaza and saw this American guy go insane not sure for what reason... I couldn't help but laugh as I saw him yell at the top of his lungs to this waiter that 2 seconds ago he had tried to beat up... I tend to laugh in unlikely situations... anyways THE BEST PAELLA OF MY LIFE!!! It was awesome... if I ever remember the name of the place I will recomend it to you.
Well, it is now time for me to go to work....
Cheers my friends,
Saturday, August 04, 2007
another one
waaaaaaaaaa i thought this was just going to be a little thing in a bigger article but CHECK IT OUT!!!!!! wohoooooo i got another one.... ok people, i'm too freaking excited
http://www.elpais.com/articulo/madrid/Bogota/Colombia/puente/llegar/paradas/TransMilenio/elpepuespmad/20070804elpmad_7/Tes
http://www.elpais.com/articulo/madrid/Bogota/Colombia/puente/llegar/paradas/TransMilenio/elpepuespmad/20070804elpmad_7/Tes
Article bitches
Check it ouuuuuuuuttttttttttttttt Andrea gets her name in El Pais after three days of being there.... HELL YEAH!!!!! oh and let me tell you the story about the picture.... the boy I interviewed, Dawid, had taken well, some of the first pictures with the president. I dont know why on this earth I asked him to email them to me, cause welk duh we have pro photographers and this pictures were posed and what not... i dont know why i did it... well the fact is the photographer didnt go to the outside pool and we def needed a picture of the outside pool!! and this kid did send me his pictures so.... voila!!!! andrea saved the day!!!!! the polish kid ended up in the newspaper and I ended up with some points cause i got the freakin picture they were missing....... YAY!!!!!!
http://www.elpais.com/articulo/madrid/Mama/paso/presidente/elpepuespmad/20070804elpmad_2/Tes
http://www.elpais.com/articulo/madrid/Mama/paso/presidente/elpepuespmad/20070804elpmad_2/Tes
Friday, August 03, 2007
My editor ( a woman) has truly hairy armpits
yes she doooooes......... between that chic, european, underarm hairstyle and the thick-ass Spanish accent (and by that I mean Spanish from Spain that is sometimes incomprehensible to my Colombian head) its really hard to concentrate on whatever it is she is saying. So until now, my boss thinks I am stupid. Hey, at least I got to do something today! After my first day of desperation because the only person who knew I would be doing an internship here is on vacation (together with half of the journalists), I am actually being somehow acknowledged and co-wrote an article today!!! Yayyy and I got to see Spain's president of Government (and yes that is the title cause the country has a monarchy) I went to a salt water pool in a small town in the outskirts of Madrid... it was cool cause I got to lay out and go to the pool as I interviewed the people that were there. I went with another girl (ok she´s 28 but I swear she looks 22) and her boyfriend who tagged along... they are both italian and the best looking people I have met yet. I think I'm in the wrong country ;) jiji aaaanyways it was awesome... I even got harassed by one of the president's security guys... lol... cause the official press conference was inside and our colleague had already been in there... anywaaays it was fun. I am oficially black because of how much I tanned so yeah... change of race for me... anyways I had to come back, type-up the story with the italian girl and its almost 9:00 p.m and I am still waiting for it to be layed out so I can go hooome and then out. YAY! UUUU i also helped with another article and that was fun.... I hope this keeps going... cause I feel that it is going to be an awesome and stressful month. Ooooo today I woke up and found a broken vase... and a broken statue... in the apartment where I am staying. Ooo ok I live with a friend of my parents. One of those proper colombian ladies that would kill herself before having a man in her house that wears white socks... anyways i thought I might get blammed for all this braking of stuff but then I saw her shoes next to the stuff... and I laughed my ass off... the woman had gotten back home drunk and broken everything in her path... hilarious. Dudddeeee its nine and I'm still here.... ok I think I'm going to limit my bloggin by writing in Spanish.....pffffff
Cheers
Cheers
Wednesday, August 01, 2007
random
Look look! My dad is in a picture in the newspaper that I started working on today.... coincidence? maaaaaaaaybe
http://www.elpais.com/articulo/sociedad/Grupo/PRISA/culmina/compra/mayor/cadena/radio/Chile/elpepuint/20070801elpepisoc_12/Tes
http://www.elpais.com/articulo/sociedad/Grupo/PRISA/culmina/compra/mayor/cadena/radio/Chile/elpepuint/20070801elpepisoc_12/Tes
First time in a long time (Now from Madrid)
Well... this idea of daily blogging went straight out the window the moment I decided to stop writing for a little over a year... inconsistency! That is my curse and I have learned to live with it. I am starting a new phase of my life though, something most people would call an adventure. In one sentence and to sum-it-up nicely, after completing a month of an internship in Madrid (where I am at right this second) I will continue to live a semester in Paris... now this could be scary, yes, but I am assuming that nothing is scarier than living alone in the US so it should all be a breeze.
I am going to copy paste a blog entry I made yesterday...
"I arrived on Sunday, super jetlaged but that wore off just fine, ready for my month-long adventure. I don't think I have ever travelled by myself, and lived completely by myself, in my 20 years of age, but it is bound to be an experience to remember. I happened to arrive in the hottest month of the year, and also the time when most Madrileños go off on vacations. The exodus is quite big and the city is as empty as it gets. Since I start work tomorrow (pretty nervous about that) I decided to do some exploring around my area today, as well as getting to know the metro system and what not. Thank God I know Spanish because that does take a lot of pressure of simply walking around aimleslly... the highlight of my day though was the Van Gogh exposition at the Thyssen museum... for those of you who are going to Madrid or simply passing by, please make sure to check it out. It is only 5 euros and definetely worth your time. The paintings are a selection of the artist's last paintings after leaving the mental asylum and before killing himself. He was staying at a French village not too far away from Paris, and painted more than one painting a day during this short period of time... as if though he knew very clearly that his days were numbered!! anyways.. the collection is captivating and I truly recomend it. For now, I can say I dont know anything or anyone in Madrid, so if you have any suggestions please, do not hesistate in giving them to me! I would be more than happy to do something not that conventional.
Cheers"
Well right now I am actually at my office... bored as hell!! I have had nothing to do all day but read every newspaper on earth and well... re-start my blogging.... sooo I am sure I will be posting this somewhere... for whomever is interested in reading it... for now I will limit myself to gossip on newspaper life and the eventual reporting that I expect to be doing... anytime now...
I am going to copy paste a blog entry I made yesterday...
"I arrived on Sunday, super jetlaged but that wore off just fine, ready for my month-long adventure. I don't think I have ever travelled by myself, and lived completely by myself, in my 20 years of age, but it is bound to be an experience to remember. I happened to arrive in the hottest month of the year, and also the time when most Madrileños go off on vacations. The exodus is quite big and the city is as empty as it gets. Since I start work tomorrow (pretty nervous about that) I decided to do some exploring around my area today, as well as getting to know the metro system and what not. Thank God I know Spanish because that does take a lot of pressure of simply walking around aimleslly... the highlight of my day though was the Van Gogh exposition at the Thyssen museum... for those of you who are going to Madrid or simply passing by, please make sure to check it out. It is only 5 euros and definetely worth your time. The paintings are a selection of the artist's last paintings after leaving the mental asylum and before killing himself. He was staying at a French village not too far away from Paris, and painted more than one painting a day during this short period of time... as if though he knew very clearly that his days were numbered!! anyways.. the collection is captivating and I truly recomend it. For now, I can say I dont know anything or anyone in Madrid, so if you have any suggestions please, do not hesistate in giving them to me! I would be more than happy to do something not that conventional.
Cheers"
Well right now I am actually at my office... bored as hell!! I have had nothing to do all day but read every newspaper on earth and well... re-start my blogging.... sooo I am sure I will be posting this somewhere... for whomever is interested in reading it... for now I will limit myself to gossip on newspaper life and the eventual reporting that I expect to be doing... anytime now...
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