Buenos Dias!
The conference is progressing well. It is somewhat of a challenge being a single gal amongst the 50 year old male European business men. I really try to mingle and make connections – but it is hard and a bit isolating. I had a great conversation last night with the only other gal here from a financial services company – she’s with Behemoth National Bank somewhat of a competitor to my company but when one is starved for meaningful conversation, even George Bush might be fun to talk to. I’m certainly not comparing her to Bushie.
My friends at home joke about my boring job – it’s security but not in the stand-in-the-way-of-a-bullet kind of way – it’s a lot of meetings, writing and research. I’m excited by the myriad of possibilities within this industry, and as a woman I feel like a jr. pioneer. However, yesterday I may have found the topic that puts even me to sleep – “Light Boundary Protection using Fibre-Optic Sensors.” (yes, that’s fibre not fiber we are in Europe.) The topic overview read:
This presentation shows how such technology may be used to provide land or sea-based boundary protection, and presents the results obtained from research and current trends.
During the speech which included graphical representations of seaports with the giant ropes with sensors attached, and graphs comparing these sensors to normal sensors I was inventing new and unique ways to end my life. There is a giant crystal chandelier overhead and I thought that if I threw the bottle of water on my table at it, that it might maybe crash down upon my head and stop the speaker from talking – if I was lucky.
Then it occurred to me that if I unplug my power adapter and put one end of the cord in my mouth and plug the other end into the European socket without the adapter that the electrical shock might be enough to keep me awake.
After the day blissfully ended we headed to our social event which was held at the Poble Espanyole. PE was built in 1929 for the World Exposition to showcase the varied architectures styles across Spain. The area park is approximately 1 ½ football fields in diameter and is designed to look like a small Spanish village all centered upon a square. Each building emulates a real building somewhere in Spain and within each of the facades is a restaurant or shop featuring crafts targeted at the tourist. The shops were fun and I must admit I did succumb to the Spanish tile shop – but managed to skirt the scary painted clown mask shop. *shiver* Abandoning all sense of pride, I pulled out the camera and took a series of shots that if they turn out will be great. At one point in the park I noticed a man and his daughter who was dragging a jump rope. When told by her dad to step it up, she tied the rope around her waist and in doing so accidentally hiked the back end of her skirt up revealing her little girl panties. Once the rope was secured, they went on their way. I couldn't resist taking a photo of the little girl with her big burly dad and her bum hanging out. I confessed my voyeuristic shot to one of my colleagues and he laughed and admitted he took one too.
We were given a private tour of the park and then taken to the “monastery” at the top of the hill for a reception of dinner, cocktails, and handsome singing Spanish men in short pants. We dined outside under orange trees near a bubbling fountain. The “monastery” overlooked the city and as the sun went down the city came to life. It was a beautiful summer night with no wind and if every night in Spain was like that I’d move here tomorrow. I’m sure my enjoyment of the evening had NOTHING to do with the free flowing champagne and plates of cheese and jamon (that’s cured ham to you and me.)
Today is the last full day in the sessions, and tomorrow is a half day. I’ve got my afternoon mapped out. I’ll navigate the subway to the Ramblas for a walking tour of some Gaudi buildings and shopping. I also intend to seek out the apartment we’ve rented for our return trip in October – which will decrease any anxiety for the solo return trip.
The current presenter is discussing the complex and exciting topic of absorbing radio frequency signals – seriously: dallenback layer and circuit analog Jaumann RAM. Holy shit – I’ve got no idea what this guy is talking about. I guarantee, someone in the room does and will ask this horrifically smart man a question, but it won’t be me. To research the FSS analysis and design try this link: www.ofcom.org.uk Ooh, now he’s talking frequency absorbing paints and coatings. I’m titillated – architectural coatings really get me going!
That’s probably enough for now.
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