"Hail Cesar!"
by Jake Schario
A stadium is packed with thousands of Greek basketball fans, screaming since an hour before tip off, faces painted and dressed completely in blue, with only 500 Spanish fans in a stadium of thousands, and the defense is all over you for the entire game. Don’t forget to mention that this game is for the European Basketball Championship.
“I was very nervous,” said Cesar Rioja. “Those fans were crazy, after the game they threw rocks at our bus!”
Cesar scored 23 points in that victory nearly 20 years ago for the Spanish Junior National team, launching his four year professional basketball career as a shooting guard in Spain. No longer a hardwood star, he can now be found on the Saint Louis, Madrid campus, in the Student Life Office. Standing two meters tall he can easily be spotted on the move, always on the look out for a student who wants to get involved in one sport or another. Our athletic director since 1999, our school now offers 19 different sports compared to only three when he started.
“When I started we only had soccer, basketball, and volleyball,” Cesar said. “Now we offer so much more, like tennis, golf, and the hiking club.”
Cesar – like many students who came to SLU- took a very unique path before he found himself as our athletic director. After college he worked as a physical education teacher and managed a local gym chain. But, as I mentioned above, before that he played professional basketball here in Spain for Estudiantes and Fuenlabrada for four years.
While playing on a team for his neighborhood school here in Madrid, Cesar’s skills caught the eye of a scout for the Estudiantes basketball team, which happens to be one of Spain’s better basketball clubs. The scout then talked with Cesar’s parents, offering their son the chance to study and play at Estudiantes’ high school.
Cesar recalled that day saying, “My parents turned to me and said, ‘Cesar, you are 14 years old, make a decision.’”
Of course, he chose to attend the school, where he had class from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., followed by basketball practice from 5 to 8:30 p.m., five days a week. Weekends he didn’t rest either, traveling to games all over Spain. And even during school breaks like Christmas, Easter, and summer, Cesar hooped even more with the Spanish Junior National Basketball team roaming all over Europe.
“I had only 10 days at the end of July to the beginning of August where I didn’t play basketball,” Cesar said of his high school days.
At 18, Cesar was good enough to play for Estudiantes’ first team, and went on to compete in the Asociación de Clubes de Baloncesto (ACB) for four years; traveling all over Spain and Europe every week during the season, and all the while studying at university.
While he enjoyed his life, there were a few times – trying to juggle his studies at Complutense while playing a high level of basketball - that he ran into obstacles.
“One time I had an exam on a day when we were traveling outside of Spain,” Cesar said. “But my professor wouldn’t let me take it on another day, saying it was my problem, not his.”
At that time, playing in the Spanish ACB was nothing at all like playing professionally in the NBA. Cesar spoke about the travel conditions and cited a time when his team traveled to Sevilla, and the team’s luggage was lost. The team had to look for jerseys at a local sports shop, and ended up playing the game in the opposing team’s alternate jerseys.
After four years playing in the ACB, Cesar moved on from basketball, ending his career with Fuenlabrada. Finished with university, he felt he needed work experience to be a professional in a different sector before it was too late. And in 1999, he handed his resume to SLU-Madrid and joined the staff.
“Like now I’m 37,” he said. “And if all my professional experience was playing basketball, who would hire me?”
During his tenure we have seen the athletic department grow considerably. It once offered only three intramural sports, but now boasts 19 sports through the university and other off campus organizations.
Still, Cesar hopes for even more growth. Demand plays a large part in how fast and how much growth occurs. There’s no doubt students want to play, but everything else Madrid offers often draws more interest from our students. Even though he would love to see everyone who wanted to participate come out, Cesar wouldn’t have it any other way, citing the uniqueness of SLU-Madrid as what urged him to accept the job. He loves how the student body is made up of 66 different nationalities and how they are all here in an exciting city like Madrid.
So if there’s anyone looking to join any sport, Cesar invites you to stop by his office in Padre Rubio. “If any student wants to compete seriously, we can refer them to a team to tryout.”
Chris Travers, for example, who came to SLU-Madrid just last semester, was looking for a team to join and found Cesar to be extremely helpful. “I came looking to play soccer because I had played my whole life,” he said. “So I went to Ceasr and immediately he laid out several options for me.”
Every week there are various intramural activities run by SLU. Each Saturday at 5 p.m. the university reserves a field for students to play pick up games at Parque Canal de Isabel II on Paseo San Francisco de Sales as well as reserving space for basketball and volleyball every Friday from 3 to 5 p.m. at Polideportivo Triangulo de Oro at metro Valdeacederas and golf at the driving range at Parque Canal de Isabel II.
Cesar obviously loves sports and aims to transfer his enthusiasm to the whole student body, recommending anyone come out no matter their skill level. “Sports are good to keep your mind fresh,” he said. “If your mind is fresh, you can do anything, even if your body is tired. But if your mind is tired it doesn’t matter, you can’t do anything.”
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"Rubi Bonita"
by Gema Hurtado
Rubi does her best to serve at least 100 coffees each morning to teachers and students who, coins in hand, rush into the cafeteria and shout out their orders.
“I want my coffee with milk,” says an American student who does not even try to speak in Spanish. “El mio que no lleve mucha leche,” says a Marrocan student with a perfect Spanish accent.
Rubi keeps calm even though she realizes that she has a long line of impatient students who desperately need their coffees to stay awake in class.
“Que tál, Edison?” says Rubi to one student, while delivering a tea “with more milk than tea” to a blond student. Rubi tries to please everybody with her perfect white smile while she serves more and more coffees. She knows at least half of the names of the students and teachers who stop by the cafeteria every day. “I like people to forget about their routines,” says Rubi while opening the fridge in order to get a coke out for one student. “I know people are busy thinking about their midterms and projects when they come to the cafeteria to grab a croissant, a coffee or a coke, but I like to talk to them so they can forget about all their worries for several minutes.”
Her name says it all; Rubi is the jewel of the cafeteria.
She is the person who stands behind the buffet, everyday, serving up to 500 meals per week, who cleans all the tables and mops the floor at five p.m. sharp every single day. Rubi is the kind of person who puts everything she has got into her job and a woman who takes the time to give a smile to every single person who crosses her path. She is known on campus for her efficient and thorough work in the cafeteria.
Many students see her and think of her fondly. “I love going to the cafeteria every day and finding Rubi behind the buffet,” says Natalia Rebolledo, a permanent student who maintains a close friendship with Rubi. “She makes my day, because she is always smiling and worrying about my midterms and quizzes.”
Many people on campus know her on a superficial level, but what students and professors might not know is that her full name is Rubilinda Diz, that she was born and raised in Colombia and how much she enjoys traveling. She is hoping to expand her knowledge of English so she can get closer to the native speakers on campus, and her dream is also to speak French fluently one day. By constantly asking the Moroccan students how to say “good morning,” “good bye” and “how are you” in French, her dream is slowly but surely becoming a reality. This way she can keep her mind busy while serving the daily menu.
“I just want to learn French,” says Rubi. “So when I travel to France during the summer I can get by on my own around the country.”
Traveling is what she likes most. Her passion for the activity comes from her religion. Being part of the Mormon Church allowed her to travel around her country - from Medellin to Pereira and Gali - for a year and a half. But her trips were not for her own pleasure. Her objective as a missionary for the Mormon Church was to help others.
“I taught the Gospel of our Church to those who need help in their lives,” says Rubi, looking somehow nostalgic and sad. “We helped people who were alone or single mothers who needed a hand with their household chores, always teaching them God’s word.”
“People are always thinking about themselves,” says Rubi, her expression becoming serious. “We should care more about those who are going through rough times and share our time with them.”
Her experiences working as a volunteer changed her way of life and she fell in love with traveling - making her constantly crave a new adventure. After so many trips and places visited, Rubi thought it was the right time to expand her list of “places that I have visited” and to live a whole new experience far away from home.
Rubi left her hometown, Cartagena, twelve years ago when she decided to come to Spain to work in Valencia looking after an elderly man. “A friend of mine told me about the opportunity to live in Spain for a year,” says Rubi, mopping the floor. “I could not reject the opportunity to live a new experience.”
After spending the year in Valencia, she realized she was not ready to go back home. What she didn’t know was that she was going to settle in a country far away from her family and from her roots. “I was happy back at home,” says Rubi, serving a coffee.
(She interrupts her recollections to scream “huevoooos” and then continues.)
“But I am an adventurous woman; I thought it was not a bad idea to start a new life in a different country, and now I am happy here too.” While she was happy in Valencia, there was no Mormon Church there, so she decided to move to Madrid so she could attend Mass every Sunday. “I didn’t even think twice about moving to Madrid,” says Rubi. “I just said to myself, ‘another experience is coming.’” It didn’t take long for her to establish a new life in Madrid. She found a job very quickly and she was soon happy in Madrid.
She has had more than six jobs in the twelve years she has lived in Spain. She took care of children but she quickly quit because it wasn’t well paid, cleaned and mopped floors at the airport for three years during summer seasons, worked at Vodafone as a teleoperator for several months, worked in Julian Romea’s Vips for four years which for her, was the worst job ever. “I am a multi-employed woman,” says Rubi laughing, “I have a fast capacity to adapt myself to a new culture or a job and I hardly ever complain. I am ready to work even if I don’t like the job.”
Even though her work takes up much of her free time, Rubi always takes some spare time to dedicate to herself and to her passion for reading books. “I love reading novels,” says Rubi moving her hands around. “Even if I don’t have much time to read during the day I definitely find at least several minutes a day to read; even if it’s on my way to work on the Metro.”
Rubi says that her daily routine is not very interesting, as she gets up very early every day to be on time at work at 8 a.m. By the time she arrives back home she does not want to do anything else apart from rest and maybe hang out with her friends. “I have had a herniated disc for a bit more than a year,” says Rubi touching the lower part of her back. “It limits me a lot because it is very painful and I am very tired.”
But nothing stops her. If her back causes her pain she rests and takes longer naps than usual, but she always has the energy to do the household chores such as ironing, hanging up clothes or doing the wash, and still manages to have time to go clubbing with her friends and spend her puentes and holidays in France. “I love Rubi,” says Nada Eldib, a SLU-Madrid student, grinning from ear to ear. “[She] is the funniest person I know.”
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"MISSIFU the black cat"
by Michael Dawson
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"MISSIFU the black cat"
by Michael Dawson
Many a SLUser has crossed paths with Missifu, the unofficial mascot of SLU- Madrid. This black, finely-aged feline has been a proud member of our campus now for many, many years. Some faculty members recall seeing the black cat as early as 2000. Her real name is, of course, unknown. The bedeles have named her ‘Missifu’, which in Spanish is just the general term for a cat; much like ‘Tomcat’ is in English. She ambled onto campus one day looking for food and lots of mimo (pampering). It was here she found a welcoming community that has grown quite fond of her. Staff and faculty have all seen her before and the bedeles feed the feline on a daily basis.
The black cat does appear to be a mature animal, sporting tufts of grey hair all throughout her coat and a nasty nick on her left ear, probably the result of an encounter with a Suffolk or San Pablo CEU cat. She isn’t shy at all and has grown accustomed to receiving attention from members of our institution. Give her a pat and she’ll yowl back in response or plop on the ground exposing her large black belly beckoning you for a tummy rub.
Missifu is quite the active kitty on campus and makes her rounds regularly. You can often find her on the hood of a faculty or staff car early in the morning, soaking the heat up from a recently turned off engine. Seeing her amble about the front of admissions encouraging students to give her a quick rub and then capriciously scampering away to the back lawn is not an uncommon sight. Missifu has been seen at the entrance of the library directly in front of the door on cold mornings forcing students to hop over her. Odd characters like Missifu are what make our university memorable and many students remember this feline to be a part of their experience while studying at SLU Madrid.
The black cat does appear to be a mature animal, sporting tufts of grey hair all throughout her coat and a nasty nick on her left ear, probably the result of an encounter with a Suffolk or San Pablo CEU cat. She isn’t shy at all and has grown accustomed to receiving attention from members of our institution. Give her a pat and she’ll yowl back in response or plop on the ground exposing her large black belly beckoning you for a tummy rub.
Missifu is quite the active kitty on campus and makes her rounds regularly. You can often find her on the hood of a faculty or staff car early in the morning, soaking the heat up from a recently turned off engine. Seeing her amble about the front of admissions encouraging students to give her a quick rub and then capriciously scampering away to the back lawn is not an uncommon sight. Missifu has been seen at the entrance of the library directly in front of the door on cold mornings forcing students to hop over her. Odd characters like Missifu are what make our university memorable and many students remember this feline to be a part of their experience while studying at SLU Madrid.
Keep your eyes peeled!
