Parque Hundido

Happy Monday everyone,

Last Sunday, me and my roommate Marta decided to take a ride to Parque Hundido, using the Mexico City Metrobus (which I do believe to be more efficient than DC's). Below are some pictures from our trip, along with some captions.



This garden clock is actually quite famous ( I remember seeing a picture of it in a Spanish textbook back in middle school).



The way the park is set up is that you walk along a certain colored route and see some replicas of ruins from that respective civilization. We just kind of walked around and took pictures though.







There were a lot of activities for children at the park. In addition to a playground, there were craft stands all throughout the park. I almost stopped to paint a little stature, but just decided to walk around and enjoy the view.

I know this was a quick post, but I decided to keep this one short as I have several others that I am working on. Until next time!!!

Ciudadela

Hola!

Due to the distance of finals and a three-day (in my case, four) day weekend, I had the chance to go exploring with my friends around the city. Saturday, we went to a market called Ciudadela. The market sold arts, crafts and clothing, and just about everything there was made by hand. Below are pictures of some of the different things I saw.













Outside of the marketplace there were different events going on. All around the plaza, there were different groups dancing to different music. You could go from one group dancing salsa to another group a few feet away dancing to big band. Although I didn't join any of the groups, it was still a lot of fun watching everyone. One of the things I've noticed is how dancing is treated very differently here than in America. Back in America, guys just don't dance (and I've been told, in Europe as well) because of it's implications. Here, however, it seems as though it's considered odd if a guy doesn't know how to dance. I'm not sure if I've mentioned this before, but in my salsa classes there are always more guys than girls learning how to dance. Therefore, I spend about 25-30 percent of the class dancing by myself. Just an observation, so now below are some more pictures of the plaza where we were.









Stay tuned for my next post...

Interesting People

Hello again,

As I mentioned, there was more to my Saturday than what I included in my previous post. During our journey around the city, we came across two very friendly people...

The first was a woman, probably late twenties, who overheard Sasha and I talking in English at one of the stands. As we began to walk away, she came running after us and began to talk to Sasha. After a minute, they both come up to me and Sasha simply says that she wants me to give her English lessons. I have to admit that it was a little weird that this woman would just ask a stranger for lessons, but she continued explaining to us that she can read well, but has no one to practice speaking with. She then takes out a piece of paper and pen and asks for us to write down our phone numbers and e-mail addresses so she can contact us.

The second encounter took place on the metro back home. Someone was selling bubbles (the kind that don't pop) on our car, so Sasha and I decided to buy some. The woman standing next to us saw us joking around, and asked where Sasha was from (at first, she thought I was showing him around). We explained to her that we were both exchange students from Russia and the United States respectively. Her eyes lit up: apparently her daughter always wanted to study in the united States. She went on to ask us about grade requirements to study at our Universities, and how we liked Mexico City.

So, we go to get off at our station and she followed us off, and wanted to know if we could give her our e-mails and phone numbers!!! Before we know it, she pulls out her cell phone to call her daughter. Even though she had no credit left on her phone, she was quick to explain to us that we had about ten seconds to talk to her and ask for her e-mail as well. It was kinda funny; she woman first yells "tu correo!" and then hands the phone to Sasha. not knowing what to say, he hands the phone to me, where I hear a quick "who is this?" before the phone dies. Even though we didn't get her address, the woman said that we could get together one weekend. Her family owns a house outside of the city and told us that they could take us out there to experience life outside of the city. We finally managed to go our separate way, where immediately Sasha and I ran out of the station before someone else asked us for our contact info.

One side note: During our initial discussion the woman asked if we had to pay to attend our home universities. I was honest and told her that we do have to pay, and immediately she said never mind. Apparently her family could not afford to send their daughter to the US. Although I explained to her that there are scholarships available to students, she still said it was unlikely it would be enough. Little things like that make you really appreciate the opportunities that you have the fortune to have, and to take advantage of them while you can.

A Very Random Saturday

Hello everyone!!

Like I said in my last post, I am ready to catch-up on my lack of posts. This past Saturday, my friends Julia, Sasha and I went to see the play Oedipus Rex. It was interesting, the play was filled with chanting and tribal-like dancing with painted sheets.


After that we went out for lunch where I discovered a new combination of foods that is quite tasty: salsa and eggs! Luckily the salsa wasn't too hot, unlike the salsa they serve as appetizers.
Following lunch, Sasha and went to go sight-seeing in the City Center. Although we both have been there before, there is so much to see and do that we didn't mind going back. When we got off the metro, we came across a small comic book convention, so we decided to go check it out (for only 5 pesos a ticket, why not?). Below is a picture of the poster outside of the convention (forgot my camera, so all of these pics were taken from my blackberry):




Although the place wasn't huge, we still had a great time. Sasha ended up buying a SpiderMan comic book and I found an original Japanese version of Pokemon Gold (for the very high price of 150 pesos, how could I pass it up?)

After the convention, we headed off to the city center. I took these next two pictures on the way there. The first is a picture of one of the few skyscrapers in Mexico Ciy. One of the greatest differences I noticed between New York and Mexico City is how they are laid out. New York, especially Manhattan, has taller buildings but is more condensed. Mexico CIty, on the other hand, doesn't have many skyscrapers but is far more spread out. The second is a picture of another building we passed on the way (I believe it is an opera house).

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After quite a bit of walking, we finally got to the city center. There we did... more walking. It really is a great place to go, there are always stores to walk through, especially used book stores, and street vendors selling souvenirs (if you want to see more pictures, look up in my past posts about the city center). Even more so, now that we are approaching the holiday season all of the stores were all decorated from Navidad. I took the picture below just for fun.



We also got to see the rehearsal for El Evento de las Luces, which is supposed to take place November 11. Since I have class Thursday nights I probably won't be able to see it, but you never know. At least we got to see the rehearsal!

In addition to all the sightseeing, we came across some very interesting people. That, however, will have to wait for another post...

Long Time No Post

Hi everyone!

I know it has been a long time since my last post. October was certainly a busy month work wise. My group project presentation total is now 11, with about half of them just in October. I also had three exams, two of them in one weekend (to make it even more exciting, I decided to get sick the day they began). In case anyone is interested, here is a brief review of what's going on in my classes:

• Administracion Internacional- We are continuing our reading of the book The Ascent of Money, which recounts the financial history of the world, from the origins of debit and credit to the establishment of the stock and bond market all the way up to the current financial crisis. If this sounds interesting to anyone, I highly recommend you pick it up, or feel free to drop me a line for more info. We were supposed to have our second exam based on the book, but he has decided to change it into a paper (I have no complaints!).
  
• Mercadotecnia Ambiental- Despite the fact that this class is supposed to be about marketing, it's really about approaching environmental issues as any other business problem, and business can improve both their balance sheets and the environment at the same time (impossible? I think not). We are currently working on our final project for the semester, which is to chose a company, investigate their environmental efforts, and apply it to what we have learned throughout this semester. Our group has chosen Apple, and I am responsible for investigating their manufacturing processes and supply chain relations.
  
• Mercadotecnia de Servicios- Similar to my other marketing class, we are currently working on our semester long project. In our group is my friend Sasha, and our friend Beto from Mexico. We had to come up with our own service concept and develop a full marketing plan based on what we have learned throughout the whole semester. We have decided on a newspaper in the native language Nahuatl, given that there are millions of Mexicans who still speak this language today. We feel that this would help preserve Mexico's pre-columbian heritage.
  
• Administracion de Operaciones- For the first half of October we concentrated on designing graphs to see if manufacturing processes are under statistical control, meaning that they stay within predetermined limits set my the company. It actually isn't as bad as it sounds once you get all of the formulas. Since then, we have learned how to locate the optimal location for a new facility within a distribution network, and are currently working on linear programming (despite the name, there is actually no computer programming involved). All it really is is determining the optimal solution given a certain amount of limits. For example, which combination of products A and B should be produced given a fixed amount of raw material to maximize profits?
  

Despite the work, I am still having a great time here. I haven't had a chance to do too much new sight-seeing, but that will all change this month. In addition to posts showing the places I have been, I also have some general posts just relating to life here in Mexico City. I already have several post ideas and will spread them out over the next six weeks. Stay tuned!!!