stardustchild.blogg.se

 

One of those spontaneous adventure-lusting ideas came to my mind last fall.

I think it was in the end of October while walking barefoot, dressed in tanktop and colorful harempants on the streets in the harbour of Labadee, Jamaica. In the sun, drinking Mojitos and smelling all of the scents coming from the different restaurants, shops and the neighborhood not far away.

I'm a world traveler, not that I know what qualifications that are required to call myself that, other than the fact that I I crave new places and experiences all the time. Sixteen countries so far, and counting - some places I've been to more, and some places I've traveled around. However, a world traveler who's always looking to find more reasons or/and excuses to travel and explore the world.

Basically everything that I study or work with are things where I gain experience that I can take with me wherever I go. I'm young, but even so, I've worked with a lot of different things. Food and serving in restaurants, events and festivals, amusement parks, preschool caretaking, babysitting, lecturing, filmmaking, photography and so on. I've studied musical theatre, dramatical theatre and state of the arts, filmmaking, travelguiding and now - how to be a bartender. 

 

 

But I had never been to Spain. Didn't really have much knowledge other than my interest for mediterranean food, south European art and spanish music - which to many, may seem alot, but for me, awakened even more curiosity.

So, when one of my many teenage dreams suddenly appered as a real possibility, I went around European Bartender Schools website to realize there were over 25 destinations that I could choose from.

To be honest, I can't really remember why Madrid felt more attractive than Barcelona or any other city I hadn't been to. Despite what did, I'm happy it did.

 

Because with help from EBS, I ended up in a fresh hostel, in the middle of scents, music and arts only twenty minutes away from a school that gives me so much intense learning and new experiences that I've barely had the time to miss home. I share my room and my days with people from Iceland, England, Germany, The Netherlands, Finland, Honduras, Colombia, Switzerland and further on. We learn from eachother and together we share both old and new experiences.

 

Also, and must I add three exclamation points, F I N A L L Y ! ! ! an instructor (in the picture below) who actually uses everyones different preconditions as a valid ground for learning. Since we're not all primarily speaking english, there's always focus on the fact that everyone understands the rules, conditions and theory whether it's about flair, freepour, practical bar training or master class-wise. Of course everyone knows their english, but studying in a different language with completely new terms and expressions isn't always a walk in the park.
However, with both humor, tough love, showing off own, proffessional skills and adapting to the class different levels of learning at different paces - Ramiro will surely make even uncordinated and clumsy me throw bottles over my head and make mean mojitos for the rest of my days.

 

For someone who usually finds a new interest and instead of going further with that after a while, finds another one again - it surely feels strange to want this to be a part of my life further on and not only temporary, as much as I've been wanting to make art in different ways. Or, well, it DID feel strange until I started realizing bartending is a very fine and interesting art form adapted to the more employable ways of working with aesthetics.

I also feel very safe with EBS employment system MatchStaff that actually gives you the opportunity of applying for jobs all over the world with recommendations from instructors or past employers.

 

Also, the course isn't all about school. You actually "only" spend six hours a day at the actual place, then you could either study or have som rest at the hostel, get to know your classmates, try cocktails at the local bars, take a walk on the charming streets of old Madrid or practise flair in the park. EBS Madrid also offers different events like cocktailrounds at different bar, Speakeasy nights and other exciting activities to give you the most out of the experience for reasonable prices.

 

 

I'm only a week and a half into my twentyeight days long International Bartender course and even though there is two and a half week and big exams left that is hard not to stress about, I already feel confident in the fact that bartending will continue to be a big interest and part of my life from now on. 

Even though I won't be able to do the Mixology course that EBS offers this time, I'm surely coming back for it in the summer or fall. Also I realize that there are so many opportunities of learning and becoming a part of the community that EBS is. Possibilities of growing global tastebuds and keep adding to the art of taste experiences.

 

So I'm happy Jamaica made me feel serious about this dream, I'm happy for being so curious and full of wanderlust that it brought me all the way to Madrid.

 

 

Either contact me so I can tell you more or head over to http://www.barschool.net/ find some more information about schools, different courses, fees and so on.