Today Laura and I called add agencies in San Sebastian looking to find out how the internet market was faring here. We didn't have much luck with any... we'll try again another day.
We also went to the mayor's office. Laura wanted to meet the mayor and let him know what she was doing, including him in the research loop. We met his secretary at the door to the office. She asked us what our business was with an air of suspicion. Laura explained herself, and the woman said she would introduce us to the minister of culture in an hour. We left to visit the sports complex to see if we wanted to belong. They had a swimming pool, squash courts, saunas, weightrooms etc, but it seems too expensive right now. Maybe later.
So we headed back to the mayor's office to meet the minister of culture. Jose Mari. He was a short balding man with a warm smile that he displayed as he shook our hands. In the course of the introduction it was mentioned that he had a daughter that attended school in Reno. As it turns out the daughter, Edurne, is someone Laura met and befriended while she was making trips to Reno to consult with the Basque studies department. Wow, what a small world, and the exclaimations went around the room.
Once the introductions with Jose Mari were finished, the secretary rushed off to find more people for us to meet. She was invirgorated now, all smiles and warmth. What had previously been cold reserve was now inviting hospitality. She talked for what seem almost an hour with Laura as she introduced various members of the staff. At one point Laura had to leave to meet someone else, leaving me alone with the secretary. We ended up talking about employment and the job climate currently. She was not optimistic about prospects, but engaged me with much gusto.
When Laura returned we finished up with pleasantries and said our goodbyes. The secretary mentioned that she was going to talk to some people for me to try to find out some job information.
It was kind of a long way to from her initial cold rudeness.
It got me thinking about networks. Almost everywhere we go, people require special stamps, certifications etc. If you ever have to return a piece of merchandise in the states, but don't actually have the warranty information, it's fine, because everyone knows what the warrenty is. I mean, hell, it's a Sony, and it's less than a year old. They know the warranty. Not here. I tried to get my Walkman fixed/replaced, but didn't have the offical warranty from Sony. It was a no go, until we pleaded our case with someone who knew someone. He said he would help us. It was a network, having nothing to do with an implied aggreement between me and Sony... interesting huh? Laura had talked with Lore about job opportunities. One of the first things she asked for was proof that I had worked at the Super Bowl. I mean, in the States people just don't ask for stuff like that. You can either do the job or you can't. If they have doubts about your credibility they can call your references. People here are less ready to do business, unless you have some kind of pedigree.
Laura and I speculate that it has something to do with the kind of people that came over as immigrants, those that were fed up with business as usual, the disenfranchised, the poor, the huddled masses, those without access to the old world network. The hated that system, so they left theirs open. It's just so apparent here. We have contacts here, but anything outside of those contacts ends up being a chore beyond belief.
Keyword for entry one of this jounal is Networks.