Change of plans

Hi everyone, after a long, tiring day, I was finally able to book my ticket. I am leaving to Philadelphia today at 1pm, and to Spain next Saturday. I will write more from the States. Hugs!

:( :( :(

ok I am not happy right now. i have been trying to change my flight for the past 6 hours, with no luck :( i have to return to Philadelphia to take care of some green card-related issues, and it seems that no one is able to help me because i have a paper ticket! back to the stone age... anyway, wish me luck :(

Trip to Teotihuacan

The Latest 24 Hours in Mexico City

An amazingly vibrant city!

Abrazos desde la Ciudad de Mexico!

Hello my darlings, I was planning to write a few lines but a man named Sa'ur who works at this Bar / Internet Cafe came to chat with me (ha! :)) so I will have to leave the pleasure of sharing with you my experiences in Mexico City for another time. I don't have much access to Internet, but I will upload pictures as soon as I arrive in Madrid next week. You will LOVE the pictures! In one of them, I am operating an aweinspiring machine which squeezes fresh mango and yummmm it makes the best juice in the world. hahahahaha I miss everyone a lot and I hope you are still reading my blogs :)

A fun weekend in Merida!

Wharton Alumni Reception

Hola amores, I have just returned from the Wharton alumni reception, and it is close to midnight! Our schedule is crazy, only now I am starting to study. Hugs and kisses!

PHOTO 1: The 6 girls (among 11 men!) in the Spanish track ;)

PHOTO 2: Our group joined by several Wharton alumni

Visita al Museo de Historia Mexicana

Yesterday we visited the Museum of Mexican History and saw the special exhibition of marine fossils. Monterrey, although presently a mountaineous city, used to be a large sea in prehistoric times; this is the reason why marine fossils have been discovered in the area.

Our guide was not quite adequate, rushing us through the exhibits and barely outlining the historical context. We had fortunately studied the history of Mexico at EGADE, which helped keep us focused and unfrustrated during the visit.

We dined again at Las Monjitas, and then went on to a Latin club to release our energies.

Today I was supposed to go with the group to Zacatecas, a colonial city 6 hours away from Monterrey, but my stomach is not feeling well, so I prefered to stay in the dorm and have some rest. Looking forward to the trip to Merida next weekend! Hugs!

Antes de olvidarme los detalles de la visita

We have just returned from dinner with the president and founder of EGADE, a Wharton PhD alumn. I am amazed by the quality of the Wharton grads! To mention one detail about Dr. Gomez, he worked as a consultant for more than 100 companies in 40 countries! And I set right next to him at lunch and then again at dinner! He is PHENOMENAL, a wealth of information and a master in the philosophy of business. Just like my beloved father :)

We discussed many issues, including his interest in developing businesses centered on innovation. His goal is to develop the Mexican export market to such an extent that one day we will see "designed in Mexico" instead of "manufactured in Mexico."

He also discussed extensively the difference between knowing (being able to describe) and understanding (being able to reason and make inferences and analyses.) It was extremely interesting, because due to his formation as an engineer, he explained outputs (results, outcomes) as functions of inputs (knowledge, skills, enthusiasm, etc.) Four of my classmates and myself will be working on a consulting project for one of the emerging companies that I mentioned above, we are all so excited to have the unique opportunity to work with him!

Our Trip to the Vitro Plant

Today we visited Vitroflex, a subsidiary of the Vitro corporation - one of the largest manufacturers and exporters of automotive glass in the world. A team of engineers introduced us to all of the different processes through which windshields are made. The amount of work and level of technology that are needed to produce windshields is simply incredible! Gigantic robots maneuver the glass - moving it, cutting it, washing it, bending it, painting it, inserting the plastic piece, removing all air, etc etc. The centrifuges that are used to bring the glass to perfect transparency look like time bombs. What can I say? I would not feel at ease working around so much machinery. I think I prefer an office job - at least I would not risk having a piece of equipment explode 5 meters away :)

We also saw first hand the result of what it means to rely to a very large extent on one buyer (in this case, GM). One of the main machineries in the plant has been idle for the past year, and it is operating at low energy consumption in order to avoid equipment damages that would be extremely costly to fix. I hope GM will overcome its difficulties, because it was rather heartbreaking to see such a gigantesque piece of equipment being unproductive for this long.

It was an interesting visit, we learned a lot about Vitroflex's operations, which are the core of their business. We also met a Wharton alumn and found out that the chairman of the Vitro corporation is also a Wharton grad. I felt proud :) :)

My classmate Garrett's account of our first day in Monterrey

I couldn't have said it better, although I enjoy Monterrey a bit more than Garrett does :)

Muy buenos días from the economically less lucky half of North America. About half of the Spanish track has arrived in Monterrey. Fortunately most of us have managed to escape significant plane delays and there was no attempted terrorist bombing at Philadelphia International Airport (of course, why would there be?)

We arrived at our stylish dorms and found it way nicer than anything I remember from my undergraduate university days. It has a gym, pool hall, movie theater in the basement, large screen TV´s on every floor, and even a large contingent of American undergraduate students living here for the summer. It also comes with the rather antiquated rule of separating girls and boys in different parts of the building. Also you can’t bring alcohol into the building.

Monterrey seems like a decidedly unspectacular city. If I didn’t know I might think that I was stuck somewhere in the southwestern United States. Being the culturally adventurous people that we are, however, we decided to leave fully embrace Monterrey’s culture and promptly made our first shopping experience in-country at the nearest 7-11 convenience store. Then we ate our first lunch in-country at that most typical of Mexican restaurants, El Pollo Loco. That means “The Crazy Chicken” for 2 people in Lauder who can’t speak Spanishb. It tastes real good.

Nuestro primer dia en Monterrey

Hello my dear friends, it is past midnight and our first day of adventures has come to an end. We had a fabulous time getting to know EGADE and the mountaineous city of Monterrey. Our day started with a trip to the graduate school of business (EGADE), which is part of the prestigious Instituto Tecnologico de Monterrey. We were introduced to various administrators who will be assisting us during our 3-week stay. The director welcomed us with the proverbial Latin American warmth . His visit was supposed to last only five minutes, because he was receiving a group of European accreditors who were re-evaluating the standing of the school (currently ranked #7 in the world). He spoke with much pride about the long tradition of "Tec de Monterrey" and his welcome address extended to close to one hour. It was a delight meeting him and learning about the vision that has transformed EGADE into a success on a global scale.

We were also introduced to Ben, our very special professor of Spanish grammar, who was flown from Wharton especially to pour grammar into our brains. He is FANTASTIC, and I cannot wait to have our first class tomorrow! We were divided into two groups, according to the results of our language proficiency tests. I will be joining the advanced group - we'll be in for a ride but I am sure I will love every minute of it! :)

The orientation continued with a campus tour, followed by a city tour. Among cheers and laughter, a bus took us to the oldest church in Monterrey. Located at high altitude, this church is of historic significance to the people of Monterrey, as it played an important role during the Mexican Revolution. The views from atop the mountain are breathtaking! We were unable to visit the museum inside because the building is currently being restaurated. As this freed up some of our time, we decided to walk up the mountain, to a plateau which offers an amazing panoramic view of the city of Monterrey. Here we are, admiring the awe-inspiring sights!

At 5:30pm we returned to the residence halls, only to get ready for dinner downtown. At the suggestion of our country director who accompanied us, we went to a traditional Mexican place called "Las Monjitas" ("The Little Nuns"), where food is served by ladies dressed as nuns. Here are two of my classmates, Daniel and Rafael, in a rare display of religious zeal :)

After dinner, some us us returned to the dormitories, and others (including myself) went on to visit the gorgeous fountains in the center of Monterrey. It had been raining earlier, and I had to make sure I would not slip on my high heels (sic! :)) so I hang on to my classmate Diogo, who very gently offered to assist me. :)

As we were walking back, we heard guitars playing in a bar and so we ended up spending the remainder of the evening enjoying drinks and listening to fun loving Mexicans playing Karaoke. I sang along, even if it was my first time hearing those songs! I had a blast! :) Looking forward to tomorrow! hugsssss

Gettin ready to leave to Mexico

Hi everyone, I had a super busy week but exams are finally over! Not sure how well I did, but I tried my best. I am getting ready to leave to Mexico tomorrow, so my blog will start becoming more exciting! Hugs!