Back to the future

I'm back in Seville and hopefully back to the future. I finally took the new job in Seville, my fourth job since last september when I finished the Cambridge MBA. It might sound a bit weird all that changes, but when you know the details I think it all makes sense and in fact I'm very happy with my career progression since then.

The last move was not easy. I was very happy in Madrid in a new and very interesting position and in a great work athmosphere. But at the same time the new offer I received back in Sevilla was a challenging managerial position with lots of international exposure.

So I did what I normally do when I go running at a new place, I took the tougher route. I took the new job, left the flat I recently rented in Madrid, rented a house in Sevilla, and moved, again. That was the 1st of July. I've been quite busy since then. In fact I'm still at the office now, something quite unusual for a friday afternoon in Seville, in summer. But overall I'm very happy with the new job.

Miriam and the kids are also happy with the change. Now we live in a bigger house and near family and friends.

I will tell you more another day.

And from Madrid to?

When I wrote my previous post on my way to Madrid about a month ago I coudn't imagine I would have to take another big decision a few weeks later. On May 16 I was graduating in Cambridge and I was happy to tell all my friends about my new job in Madrid. But a few days later back in Madrid I received a call from Sevilla in what turned to be another job offer, a very interesting job offer 15 minutes walking from my flat.

My head started spinning and in fact is still spinning since then. Both jobs are cool, both jobs are well paid, both jobs involve a challenge and an opportunity, both would allow me to learn and grow my network of contacts, and of course both involve risks and have their downsides.

And the result is a tide. One is near home, but the fact is that I have already rented out my flat in Sevilla and a flat in Madrid, so now I have a home in Madrid but not in Sevilla. One is in a new city and a new administration, but with some old colleagues and bosses. The other one is in my home city, almost same administration but with new bosses and colleagues. One involves working in a team that has been working well and smoothly for years, the other means facing a group that has seen three managers in the last couple of years.

I have to take many things into account: a school for Diego, a nursery for Leo, a University and/or a job for Miriam, my parents and sister, my in laws, expenses, weather, friends, running, entrepreneurship opportunities, mid and long term plans, stability, loyalty, work-life balance, fun, stress, etcetera.

I hope to make the final decision this weekend... and never ever feel I took the wrong path.

Sevilla-Cambridge-Sevilla-Madrid

If you expect an MBA to make your life easier you are mistaken. It will certainly make your life more exciting, dynamic, full of opportunities, but full of challenges too, and challenges have to be difficult to be real challenges. Anyway, we like challeges, don't we? That's why we are MBAs.

Well. All this argument is just to say I've got a new job and and I'm on a train right now moving to Madrid. As you may know or suspect I work in the public sector. I prefer not to give too much details. But basically I'm switching from the regional to the central government. And I'm really happy with the offer (offers) I've got in the last few months, probably none of them possible without the MBA.

Maybe from some of you moving city for the third time in less than two years is not that a big thing, but for me, married with you little kids, it's quite a feat. Moreover because two of these moves have been out of Sevilla, the best place in the world to live.

But I know I can always come back to Sevilla. Actually my plan is going to my parent's place one weekend a month.

What keeps me busy now is finding a flat in Madrid and renting mine in Sevilla. A handicap is that prices are much higher in Madrid and this is not a good season for renting my flat. The advantages are that it's a good moment to rent in Madrid, and I hope to find a nice place in a cool area. Renting gives you the opportunity of living where you can't buy.

We also have to find a school for Diego and a nursery for Leo, and Miriam will apply to Universidad Autónoma de Madrid to be trained to be an English teacher.

So I will have lots of stories to tell to my colleagues in two weeks when we meet for Graduation. I'm really exited about that.

Let's keep it alive

We have decided to keep this blog alive. The MBA is over but I still have to graduate and above all the Cambridge MBA is one year that will last you a lifetime.

Also a blog is a great way to keep family and friends up to date and to keep a diary too.

I didn't want to lose the MBA archive, as I have received many messages of MBA candidates who find it useful. That's another motivation to keep posting. Current students and alumni were of much help during my pre-MBA and I'm happy to be useful for new candidates now.

As you can see I have changed the "theme" and title to adapt to our new reality. I always talk about "we" or "our" because I believe my MBA wouldn't have been possible without the support of my wife and the joy provided by my kids.

I still plan to publish a few "retrospective" posts to tell you about the end of the MBA, the IP, our holidays, readapting home, jobs and so on.

Also, and I hope sooner than later, I'll start here a series of posts about the MBAs who come to visit us in Sevilla. Who's going to be the first?

Last day at home

It's weird but for us "home" is not Sevilla anymore, is Cambridge. We are going to miss this city and our little flat. Somebody told me the other day that Cambridge is addictive, and I think it's true. It's a truly nice well-rounded city, especially for families. 

But tomorrow we are leaving for a week of holiday in Brittany (France) and then to our home in Spain, in Sevilla. 

Of course I'm looking forward to see some sun, family, friends, good food, and above all, I need to start working because unfortunately money doesn't grow on trees, not even in rainy Britain. 

Anyway, this is a picture of us at our porche. 

Grantchester

Today we finally made it to the Orchard!

I had walked to Grantchester with mum and dad when Paco was in Paris for his MBAT but after stopping to see friends on the way it was too late to make it to the Tea Rooms. This time I went with the MBA ladies.

Well, we didn't have the same glorious weather we had when my parents were here, but it didn't rain, we got some sunshine and we certainly had lots of fun and ate en excellent tea!

Meanwhile the kids loved climbing up the trees, including Diego who decided that the best way to do it was barefoot!

Here go a few pictures:

At the zoo

Today we finally made it to Linton zoo. We had planned the expedition for Diego's birthday in March and had to give up on the idea because it snowed, but this morning we woke up and the day was perfect so even though Paco had an appointment in the afternoon we decided to make the most of the time we had.

We walked to the bus station and hopped on the first bus going to Linton, a small village on the outskirts of Cambridge, it was strange to realize how little we've been out of town in this year we've been without a car. The countryside is very flat but pretty, as is Linton with the traditional thatched cottages etc. From the bus stop it's 10' walk along a quiet road to the zoo.

We had a quick lunch and then started the rounds: the zoo is quite small but has some pic-nic areas, playgrounds and a bouncy castle so it's fun for the kids.

Diego loved the zebras and the tiger, but was annoyed with the lions who did nothing but sleep. He was also very taken by the enormous tortoises and tried feeding them stones! Luckily he couldn't get quite close enough!

We also saw monkeys, parrots and a giant rabbit.

However what Leo enjoyed the most was dropping his bib out of the buggy and watching mum, dad or Diego picking it up. "Isn't that fun!?!"

When the sun shines

One of the funniest things of Cambridge in particular and the UK and other "cold" countries in general is that as soon as the sun shines everyones goes out and sits in the sun.

That has always been a quite funny thing for somebody like me who comes from Sevilla, where the sun shines over 300 days a year and people actually runs away from sun.

But now I live in Cambridge, I endured snow the day Spring begun, and now I also act like a leezard and go out as soon as I spot some sunshine.

That's exactly what we did the other day. It was still cold and the grass in the park was wet, but we decided to have a picnic.

and Leo?

All this talk about Diego and no news of Leonardo? that can't be right!

Especially since he's been making lots of progress lately: he can almost sit by himself (we prop him up with a few cushions still), he loves hopping around in his baby bouncer and he's started on solids and can hold his sippy cup all alone. But the best thing of all is that he's a real smiler and has a lovely laugh... especially when Diego's doing anything even vaguely funny: he obviously adores his brother.

Here go a couple of pictures:

Diego's birthday

On the 24th of March Diego had his second birthday and since it was Easter Monday we decided we would spend the day as a family and have a party with some friends later. The original idea was to take him to Linton Zoo but after Sunday's snowfall we thought it would be better to change plans...

It turned out to be a good idea: on Monday I made a cake and then we just relaxed while Diego enjoyed opening and playing with his presents at his own pace (veeeeery slowly!). Nicola and Martin and Carlo also popped in to say hello and have a slice of cake and we had lots of phonecalls from friends and family (you can see Diego talking to one of them in the pictures below).

We also went out for a short walk in the park and Diego loved stomping on what remained of other children's snowmen!

Today we had a party with some of the other MBA families in Links House's garden house which was kindly offered to us by the wardens so the kids would have more room to mess around in. It was good fun and Diego had lots of lovely presents.

Thanks to all of you far and near for contributing to our bundle of happy memories!

El más difícil todavía: con tres cucharas

Diego sigue superándose a sí mismo a la hora de comer. Ya os habíamos contando su técnica para sujetar el tenedor con una mano y comer con la otra.

Pues el otro día inventó algo nuevo. Cómo comerse dos platos de chícharos con tres cucharas. Me remito a las imágenes.

Geoffrey's birthday

As I said in my previous post we went to Italy for the weekend to join all the Allen family in Geoffrey's 60th birthday. For the ones who don't know it, Geoffrey is my father in law.

It was a fantastic family event because for the first time in a long time all Miriam's brothers and sisters (6 in total) got together with their partners and kids. So as you can see in the picture, we were 32: the 2 grandparents, the 12 parents, the 17 kids plus aunty Elizabeth, Geoffrey's sister.

The venue was the Cascina Colombara, a farmhouse near Pavia where most of Miriam's brothers and sisters live. It was a great idea because there was lots of space and things to do for the kids.

Weather was lovely and I even had the opportunity to see my friend Tommaso, a great marathon runner that I met while training near the cascina a few years ago.

A pity Diego was a bit poorely and wasn't in the mood for too much playing. Anyway, he got there one of his favourites toys, the tractor you can see in the picture and that he now carries everywhere. Thanks to the Gibbons for the present!

Just mummy and Leonardo... and the pool!

This week-end will be an unusual one for me since Daddy and Diego left yesterday afternoon to go to Spain: Paco to deal with some business there and Diego visiting his grandparents.

That leaves Leo and me and I decided we should spend this time doing something nice. Yesterday afternoon was spent happily browsing a couple of bookshops.
This morning I took Leo to the swimming pool for the first time! for obvious reasons there are no photos of the event but it was a very successful expedition. The pool is very well organized for kids, with family changing rooms and changing tables all over so you can put baby down a moment if you need to (never unattended!) and the water is really warm... I don't know what the exact temperature was but it was rather like stepping into a bath and Leo loved it... and let's hope he'll sleep better for it tonight!!

A trip to Ely

This week we decided we should make the most of the little free time we have as a family so seeing it was a lovely sunny day - even though freezing cold - we took a train to Ely to have a look at the famous Cathedral and walk around a bit.

Diego obviously enjoyed the train bit! He's really into anything that moves now: buses, trains, lorries (or lollies!!), cars, bikes... you name it! And we also have to mention that he's become quite a walker, he only needs a bit of encouragement and he'll go quite a long way on his own two little legs.

Paco and I admired the Cathedral: it's quite amazing especially if you consider that it's practically in the middle of nowhere! It was also nice to have time to chat over a meal.

And Leo... well, I think what he enjoyed the most was sleeping all wrapped up in his buggy!



Interior of Ely Cathedral



The stained glass windows reflected on the columns




Diego running to catch up with us!

Happy family Pérez-Allen!

Yesterday we had a photographic session with the kids and once more we had to give up without one decent photo of both of them laughing! Here is a selection:

The Gibbons

This weekend we had a swift visit from the Gibbons: David, Rachel, Daniela, Laura, Thomas and Amy. It was lovely to see them.

David spent here thee years (?) reading for his Phd at St. John's College and keeps very good memories from the city. We even went to visit his tutor, a Professor of Italian now almost retired but that irradiates energy and is in extraordinary good shape for his age.

Dani and Laura have grown a lot, and also Thomas. I didn't know Amy. She looks like David (and Dani) and seems to be a very good girl. I can't believe I already have... how many? 17 nieces? Something like that...

Pictures of Diego and Leonardo

People keep asking us to upload more pictures of the kids. Here they are.

Yes, they are growing very fast. Leonardo is already 6kg and Diego who knows.

Time is flying. We are almost halfway through the course.

A dos cucharas

Diego sigue inventando nuevas técnicas para llevarse la comida a la boca.

Hoy nos enseña cómo comerse un yogur a dos cucharas.

Niño, ¿tu qué quieres ser de mayor?

Pensábamos que Diego iba para cocinero, o para futbolista, pero a medida que pasa el tiempo parece que la cosa se va complicando.



















Conductor, como su tío Juan...



















Manager, como sus tíos Matthew y Césare...



















Amo de casa, como sus abuelas Lola y Judith...



















Músico, como sus tíos Simon y Stephen



















O agricultor, como su bisabuelo José...

Di nuovo a casa... e il periodo pre-natalizio

Eccoci di nuovo qui a Cambridge e dopo tante parole a vuoto ("il nostro blog trilingue bla, bla, bla...) ecco finalmente un post in italiano!

In realtà non so neanche bene da dove cominciare: è passato ormai un mese dall'ultimo aggiornamento ed è stato un mese pieno, ma proverò a raccontare un po'alla volta cosa abbiamo combinato ultimamente!

A metà dicembre più o meno Paco ha finito le lezioni e gran parte del lavoro più urgente quindi, pur dedicando sempre varie ore al giorno allo studio, ha avuto più tempo per stare con noi. Abbiamo approfittato per fare qualche giro in centro a caccia di regalini per la famiglia, prendere un caffè solo noi o con degli amici o invitare gente a casa.


Un giorno siamo andati a visitare Girton College, il suo college che io non avevo ancora visto...dato che non si trova in centro ma appunto a Girton, un paesino fuori. L'edificio è molto pittoresco e gli addobbi natalizi creavano proprio una bella atmosfera... sembrava di tornare un po' indietro nel tempo, una sensazione ricorrente qui a Cambridge. Faceva però taaanto freddo e visto che a quel punto i due pargoli dormivano abbiamo approfittato per pranzare e chiacchierare tranquillamente in un caffè, giusto per completare una bella giornata in famiglia... e per provarlo, ecco qualche foto:



















In questi giorni poi abbiamo approfittato anche per fare altre cose che rimandavamo da tempo... come tagliare i capelli a Diego... ancora un po' e gli facevamo il codino! Ecco quindi il papà parrucchiere e il bellissimo modello con taglio quasi militare!!