T -6:00 hours

It is almost one am here and my taxi will pick me up at five sharp to go to the airport. I am very much looking forward to going home - not so much looking forward to the 21 hours of travelling I have ahead of me. Monterrey --> Atlanta [5 hours waiting] Atlanta --> Paris [9 hour flight and 2 hours waiting] Paris -->Arlanda. Well well, as long as we don´t make a dip in the atlantic I will not complain.

The last three days have been crazy. Me and Magda resigned the contract at our apartment because of... well a shitty place with too many malfunctions to be honest, so I do not really have a place to stay when I come back. But since my internship is in San Pedro ( the neighbouring town) we will live there. We have seen a couple of apartments - really nice, but have yet to decide. Another small adventure for me. But I am not too concerned; it usually works out in this country.

Ok, three hours nap and then up and about. Next report will probably be from Sthlm; a special treat for my non-swedish followers :)

Au revoir Monterrey!

Los Cabos with all its splendor

So now it has been done; Los Cabos san Lucas have been experienced. It really was a great weekend for us; blue pacific ocean, sun, hot tub at night and all the americans your little heart could desire in San Lucas. One interesting event (out of a few) was how mexican time really affects you. As I am sure you know by now, I have complained slightly about how mexicans handle time; i.e. by a very polychronic approach. Well in Los Cabos it was our turn. We spent the entire weekend without noticing the time difference of -1 hour. We totally forgot to set our clocks, and hence spent the entire weekend literally on a different time than the locals. And nothing alerted us of the difference, simply because time is fluid in Mexico. We learned about our mistake however when we were going to the movies and tried force our way into the cinema one hour earlier than it was supposed to start. Slightly embarrassing. But besides that incident it was a great weekend. And now I can add bathing in the pacific to my list.

Our hotel and me & Magda at lunch

The beach in San Lucas

Coming home to Monterrey however was not as fun. Our apartment has many flaws, one being the lack of heating. The air conditioner is supposed to also function as a heater, but that is not the case. So it is about 12 degrees inside; much colder than outside temperatures. We do not like that at all, but then again I am leaving in two days so who cares. Two days mostly filled with packing, sorting and waiting. But tw pieces of interesting news I have to share:

1. I ran 5k in 18:28 today, new personal best!

2. I got 98 and 100/100 as grades in my Venture Capital and Cross Cultural Management classes respectively. Woohaaa!

Now I will get dressed for bed; socks, long-sleeved t-shirt and pyjama-pants. Silly but necessary not to freeze to death.

Saludos!

All over and done... Now Los Cabos!

So the inactivity present on my blog is in no way a reflection of my general way of life. The last weeks(s) have been crazy - not only because of school. All exams are now over and done; school is officially out!

So just to give a fast recap; the Juan Gabriel concert was really good; the man sings with a voice smooth as sawdust mixed with whiskey, and his face has been nipped and tucked more times than Cher but he is an entertainer for sure! What a healthy dose of mexican culture that was!

I also managed to get food poisoning last weekend and was totally decked for 24 hours. I blame old lasagna, others blame the neat Vodka I was drinking. Let´s just call it a tie shall we?

Two written exams and four projects has also been written the last week or so. Somewhere in the vicinity of 50-60 pages in total for our professors to feast upon. I have to say it has been a little demanding from time to time (like the Service project which me, Magda and Saana finished at 8:45 in the morning..) as well as trying to cram everything I learned in Service Management class into ONE conceptual model of own design on the final exam. But all in all I think I performed very well. I am after all a good student.

So after exams comes relaxation. In about two hours I am off to the airport for some leisure-time in Los Cabos. Los Cabos is on the pacific coast just where the Sea of Cortez meats the pacific. You will find me either by the pool, or in the bar. I deserve it!

And finally, our campus has put up a lot of really pretty x-mas decorations as I will show you. The only weird one is the one where it apears one angel is assassinating the other. Exactly what were they thinking...?

Hasta pronto!

Reaching the end of the line

Little less than two weeks left in school and boy can you tell. Ofcourse it is partly my own fault for not working with projects more frequently throughout the semester, but there´s crazy much to do. Interestingly enough I don´t feel particularly stressed out about it. But lately there has been almost only school.

Temperatures has alos been going up and down - two days with quite cold weather and today sunny and warm. But just in case, Me and Magda have booked a four day retreat to Los Cabos on the pacific 3rd of december - just to et a hint of a tan before going home fro christmas. It will be nice, we hand in our final paper, off to the airport and olé; drinks on the beach two and a half hours later!

Tonight I´m going to a concert with a mexican artist Juan Miguel. He´s like a old ousehold anme artist in mexico, kind of like the Julio Iglesias type. I am really looking forward to it, a healthy dose of mexican musical culture. I´ll report tomorrow.

Now...back to Service Management project.

X /J

Friday DD-dinner & Mountain climbing

You remember i wrote about our dinner with or fellow double degree students Tom and Steven a few weeks ago? Well, this friday it was our turn to host the reciprocal dinner. Magda and I invited them, along with their roomie Thibaut, our neighbor Ole and his girlfriend Sofie as well as our roomie Genesis to this very sophisticated soirée. We made pasta with blue-cheese sauce, sautéed champignons with sunflower seeds and parsley and a salad. And of course baguette. As you can see, it all looked very nice. However, I would not really consider it to be such a sophisticated dinner as much as an excuse to meet, drink and get ready for the nights events. The only sophistication came from the classical music we played during eating (mutually agreed to be the standard for all upcoming events). On my behalf though, the drinking was limited to one glass of wine, much dependent on the pills my doctor ordered me to keep popping for a week. But it does look delicious doesn´t it??

Dinner buffet and Genesis & Magda

Saturday I went with a my friend Erick outside of Monterrey to go hiking. I have so been missing nature, and I was glad when such an option arose. We went to La Caballo thirty minutes from here; a national park from which most of the drinking water for Monterey is collected through watersheds, waterfalls and streams. It was so beautiful and nice; you hike alongside the stream up the mountain. This time of year there is not so much water in the stream so you do not get all that wet, but other times you have to climb up the waterfalls. We met a group of mexicans who were climbing up the fall and then jumping (!) down into the basin formed by the constant stream of water. Loco I say; not only is the water around ten degrees, but the basin looked smaller than a hot-tub. I looked like such a fun experience though, and I am so going back when there is more water. Maybe then I will not be on antibiotics and more free to get cold. The evening was spent Bbq-ing at Ericks house together with his friend Anna and Magda. Just what you need after a good day of hiking; a Carne asada :)

Me surrounded by nature and Erick climbing the side of one of the waterfalls

Hasta Luego J

A little Cemex, a little infection..

Ok, start with todays visit to the doctor. I have been having this sore throat/loss of voice now for a couple of days. That in combination with light fever and cough (and Magdas loving nagging) finally made me go see the campus doctor. When the doctors immediate response after looking down your throat is a sharp inhale, then you know its not good. And it wasn´t. I have a severe throat and tonsil infection. "Why did you wait three days before seeing a doctor, he asks me. What am I supposed to answer; "Im Swedish and do not believe in bothering a doctor unless I think I might be terminal??? I mumbled something about having to much to do (which is not a lie) and he answered by prescribing me no less than four different drugs. So here I am with my new-found friends Celestamine, Nimesulida, Amoxicilina and Tempra; better get to know them good because they will be around for a week, 1-3 times a day!

Now the other news. I had the meeting at Cemex Wednesday regarding my thesis. They have very nice office premises in San Pedro; the neighbouring city integrated with Monterrey, not too far from EGADE. I think it all went well, our contact seemed eager to get us on board and both me and Magda got offered very interesting and challenging projects. So with a little luck, I will be working on a project regarding cultural adaption with the communications department starting in january. How awesome wouldn´t that be???

J

Oh what a party

Halloween is celebrated more methodically here than at home. Atleats when it comes to dressing out. I am not a big fan of dressing out - dressing up and dressing off is fine but there is something about costumes that just feels like alot of effort. So naturally when saturday came, neithe rme nor Magda had anything to wear. We are however quick-fixers, and Magda came up with a brilliant theme; french young dandy with governess. I think it worked, what do you think?

Maybe not much of a disguise but it did work. I got a lot of positive feedback from people in the club ( including two indecent proposals and a few ass-pinches) so something was obviously working for me. What did not work I noticed during the latter part of the evening (which ended at eight am sunday) was my voice. Somehow amidst all the fun and games I lost it! So for two days now I have sounded like a castrated Beaver. Its not good and I do not want to go to a doctor. Magda has a box of happy-pills, aka the medicine box, in which I hope to find some remedy. So mother, this is the reason I have not called home as usual.

Other exciting news; on wednesday we have a meeting at Cemex regarding our thesis. I am a little nervous about that one, I really want it to work out because the project offered is so interesting and the merits of working for them... The project would involve analysing their global communications strategies with focus on Cross-cultural behavior. So interesting and challenging! More details will follow ex-meeting, but keep a finger crossed.

Now I will round off the evening with my fourth cup of honey herbal tea. Pray to god it will help since I have a presentation in Venture Capital tomorrow!

/J

A day that started bad but ended good

What a day it has been. And I am not just referring to the weather which incidently has been splendid. Kind of like a really nice early august day back in Scandinavia - clear blue skies and about 27 degrees. No I mean the way it started and then ended. Curious?

I was supposed to be in school at 9am for a meeting with Dr. Olivia, our programme director and also (most likelly) my supervisor for my thesis regarding aforementioned thesis. At 8:52 am Ole, a fellow Danish double degree student calls me, asking why I am not downstairs ten minutes ago like agreed. Crap I say, frantically trying to get ready, find something for breakfast and pack my bag at the same time. At 9:02 am I am downstairs, sellery-stick and drinking yoghurt in hand (the only breakfast avaliable 'to-go') waiving for a cab. Ole and I make it for 9:20am. Extremely apologetic we arrive at Dr. Olivias office where she cheerfully responds; 'no problem, I would have been here all morning'. Thank god for mexican polychronism! After that, it was two and a half hours of meeting, quick lunch and then groupwork. Pretty normal day. The good news was delivered after dinner time. Curious again?

Well, it is not in the box yet, but I got an offer from Cemex regarding a thesis-project. Quite the demanding task, but spot on for what I am interested in. It is a project within Cross-cultural management with international scope and scale. The details have not been properly worked out yet but damn it seems exciting! So keep your fingers crossed for this one; bigger feather in my mexican sombrero would be hard pressed to find.

I will leave you with picturesque proof of what a splendid day it was. The view is from my bedroom window.

So long, J

Just another rainy monday

The weekend went by in a flash - just like it usually does. I did a fair mix of studying and partying. Life is settled into patterns; school, workout, spanish, homework, a party or two... I´m not sure if it´s a good thing or not. The apt is still causing us headaches - internet was gone for a week and we still have other things promised to us missing. It is so tiresome.

The city itself is also experiencing mishaps. Yesterday at ten - boom and the lights went out in the entire neighborhood. My first real blackout! I made three important discoveries;

1. Thank god my computer has a fair battery - it gave me some light.

2. Always have candles and a lighter close by.

3. Mexicans (in my building anyway) react to a blackout like lemurs on guard; they gather around and makes noises.

Today´s most exciting event was picking up my new mexican mastercard. I chose a ridiculous motive that turned out to be quite cool. It´s like Nemo - but in gold and with a frown. What do you think??

I shall call him fishy, he shall be mine and he shall be my fishy. Oh and btw; no need to try any online purchasing - I have deleted and changed digits. Clever.

Now I will recouperate from the days workout session by listening to the sweet voice of Annika Lantz. Thank you Swedish public service for podcasting!

Oh yes, it is raining today. Just like the headline says.

Chiao!

New record & dinner with the Belgians

So no internet yet... crap. Here I am at starbucks on campus enjoying a frappuchino and using the internet.

Two fun things yesterday: first I set a new personal record on the 5k-distance; 19:53 min! Awesome, finally under 20, that calles for celebration! I decided to go to the CEMEX-seminar tomorrow, so celebrations will be on hold until the weekend.

But we did celebrate (sorto of) yesterday when invited by our fellow double degree friends from Belgium, Steven and Tom, for dinner at their place. The culinarian experience was pasta with shrimps, tomato and silantro, then banana-split for dessert. Great evening with alot of wine (that turned into whiskey that turned into rum..) card games and semi-filosofical discussions.

I am about to go with Saana for lunch here at campus, then I will pick up my mexican bank-card. It wil be so pretty, I chose a goldfish as motive! I will photo it and upload asap.

Enjoy your day/night! J

Tuesday is when the weekend begins!

Yes it is true; last class for this week starts in 20 min.! 3 hours of Venture Capital with Bert & Ernie and then I am done. Well I do have an optional CEMS seminar on friday but I have not yet decided what to do about that. Maybe I should also point out that the weekend approach is only in regards to classes - I have more than enough schoolwork to do for the upcoming days.

Speaking of aforementioned work, my mid-term in cross-cultural communicaitons went just fine yesterday. I am so glad that I spent saturday going through all neccessary articles and lecture notes since Sunday proved to be anything but a study day. I was supposed to be good and stay in saturday evening, I had even gone to 7-eleven to buy chips for a movie and then early bed. But somehow the promises of Bacardí drinks and a nice pre-party seemed too good to pass. My rationale was something like; one drink doesn´t matter. The problem arose when one drink turned into four and the pre-party turned into club-hopping (who ever thought they´d have gogo-dancers in showercabins in Monterrey??). But I will not complain; it sure was a great night on the town, and a little headache is a small price to pay for it.

Our internet is still not working btw; which is why I am corresponding very sporadically. Our janitor has told us it should be fixed by today. Obvously in mexican that means we might have internet for the weekend. If the f***ing telecompany is not on permanent siesta that is.

J

Saturday

I am dong two very important things at the same time here; laundry and using the internet. We have been without this necessity of the modern man (I am of course talking about internet) for two days now and it is striking how handicapped you feel. It is a bit silly; not that much has happened but it is the inate feeling that something MIGHT have happened that is deeply disturbing. Facebook, msn, skype, gmail, swedish news, world news, study resources gossip - there is so much you are not in touch with when 'off the grid'. So I decided to kill two birds with one shot and go to the lavandería. They offer both functioning and free internet. So whilst my whites (hopefully without a red sock in it!) and colours are swirling around in their machines, I can comfortably sit back and absorb all internet has to offer. And as it turns out... not that much has happened.

Oh, I just want to add; mexicans make a hell of alot of noise when they party. Our neighbours had a drunken feast last night and not until 5 in the morning did they stop. Neither did they care about closing their door, not throwing chairs (!) around in the hallway or refraining from knocking on our door from time to time. My response? Put in earplugs and hope that they will burn in hell.

J

Rainy Friday

So it is friday again. can not believe how fast time passes by; in eight weeks I wil be back home i Sthlm! Passing of time is not all good; it also means that exams are sneaking up to haunt us. I think I have that very well under control. Monday will be my second exam; mid-term in Cross-cultural communication. So take a guess as to what I will be doing this weekend :) But right now I am in Starbucks at our campus, using the wlan and having a frappuchino. The internet in our building went down yesterday and so far no connection. Very annoying but I guess good in the light of studying. No internet = no facebook, e-mails or news = no distractions! I have to sit here for some time though, it recently started raining (quite heavily) and I´m just wearing t-shirt, shorts and sneakers. Crap. Well I guess its better than the snow I have learnt you have in Sweden.

Next update when the internet is back :)

Chiao!

Basterds sin Gloria es un película muy buen!

Yes, tonight was movie-night and Tarantinos latest was the preferred choice. We had a long day in school (10:00am - 20:0 pm) so we decided to round things off with a movie. And just because we felt like we deserved it, we went for the VIP cinema. Basically you pay double the price for a comfy leather chair (foldable legrest) higher elevation in between rows, comfortably temperated room and the optoin to have a waiter bring you whatever you want (almost). Me and Ole gave serious thought as to order a couple of cervezas but thought the better of it. I setlled for ice tea and m&m´s. The movie was good (awesome ending) but tricky for us. We asked whether the movie would be in english: 'la idioma es inglés?' and ofcourse it was. The problem however (and those of you who have ssen it knows) is that most of the movie is in french or german. I can hardly read spanish, my french is limited to 'voulevouz...' and my german has not been practized since Berlin 01´with Ann and Issa. A linguistical mishmash in other words. Nonetheless, I got most of it and liked it.

Speaking of languages, me and Magda have finally started with spanish classes. We have a wonderful private teacher who will come to our house three hours a week to teach us extranjeros this beautiful language. And we do need those lessons; I am getting tired of talking like an infant with a speech impediment. So keep yor fingers crossed for fast improvement!

Buenos diaz! /J

Depraved wekeend

Sorry for not writing more this week, shame on me. It has indeed been a good one; fair amount of academic work and a very short week (class cancelled on thursday so weekend started tue evening). We have also managed to get all of the papers needed for the visa process in order and even applied for a mexican bank account. Add to that the first week of living together with our new mexican roomie Genesis who is a very sweet and friendly girl. All good in other words.

The weekend have been mostly about partying. I´ve had a slow start when it comes to going out, but made sure to make up for some of it. Three days straight with fun nights, new people and places has set a new standard for the upcoming months. For instance, friday started with drinks at ten and ended in a pool at eleven on saturday. Quite fun as you can imagine. It has however left me somewhat sleep-deprivated, but I expect to be able to make that up during the week.

Oh and just to clarify for any family member reading; don´t worry, I still take school very seriously and am an exemplary student :)

J

Glorious Yucatán!

I am sorry for not writing anything during my trip, instead now you have to bare with me in one long post. But in my defence we have been very busy during the past days, and when you have the caribbean outside your window, who needs internet? In any case; short description of my trip:

Tue 29 Sept: We left Monterrey at three flying with VivaAerobus. Yes, it would be the mexican equivalent to Ryan Air. First stop was Merida in the middle of Yucatán. We chose it because of the cultural heritage ans proximity to mayan ruins. Because no trip is complete without a little culture on the side. Nice little hotel with pool and a pictoresque city. We made a small tour before dinner and then went by horse-carriage (royal indeed) around town. Fun and just enought excitement for one first day!

Wed 30 Sept: After a few hours by the pool we went on a guided tour to Oxmal - a mayan ruin city two hours outside of Merida. It is nothing short of imporessive the way they constructed these rather magnificent buildings all those years ago. We enjoyed it very much, even though the tour almost killed us by heatstroke. In the evening we saw a strange lightshow in the ruins, describing the indians praying for water. None came and thanks for that!

Thu 1 Oct: At nine in the morning we took the bus to Cancun. It is a four hour bus ride and was quite like travelling in a dairytruck - it could not have been more than 17 degrees in the bus. So ironic when it is almost 40 degrees outside and you are sitting theres hivering with cold.. The irony however was lost on most mexicans who seemed to be very happy with the cold. In Cancun we checked in to the 'Park Royal All inclusive' in the middle of the hotel-strip. Very fortunate with great location, good facilites and a nice beach, we immediately took a shine to the place. All Inclusive is just that, which is why we spent the better part of the afternoon and evening eating and drinking.

Fri 2 Oct: The morning was spent by the pool. At one we went on a 'djungle tour' where we went by jetski through the lagoon to a reef fore snorkeling. It was so much fun jetskiing, I need to get me one of those! Snorkeling was awesome; not the best reef but good enough with lots of fish and anemonies (think 'Finding Nemo'). We made it back to the hotel in time for more food and a nice evening swim in the ocean.

Sat 3 Oct. Our last day in Cancun. Since we needed to check out at noon and our flight was not until ten pm, we decided to go to Isla Mujeres outside of Puerto Juarez. There we visited a turtle farm and looked a the nice turtles. Amazing animals and quite majestic. They had two turtles that was more than fifty years old, quite impressive. Then we hitched a ride around the island with two girls from Tijuana. They had rented a golf-cart and took us all the way rund the island to the north beach. There, Me and Magda really squeezed the last out of the holiday, all buttered up with hawaiian tropic sun oil. Then we went back to collect our bags and on to the airport. All in all a really great holiday. And the most important thing; I have an impressive tan for only four days and alot of activities. I like it!

Now it is back to Monterrey and back to school. Eight more weeks before I come home for christmas. Not that long - times flies when you are buried in schoolwork.

Hasta luego Amigos!

Late night packing

Well, not so much anymore since I am done but anyways.. Wow, I have never travelled this light ever! I swear; my bag weighs in at not even seven kilos. FOR FIVE DAYS! Granted, the heaviest pice of clothing I am bringing are my flipflops, but still a personal victory I have to say. I will however be heavily relying on the hotels to sponsor my personal hygiene by providing soap, shampoo, towels etcetera. Looking forward to this trip, it will be fun to get out of town. And the weather forecast is actually looking good; sun and around 35 degrees, atleast for two of the days. BTW; saw on msn that tomorrows forecast for Stockholm is 17/3 degrees. haha, suckers!

But just to be clear; ths will not be a drunken booz-vacation; firstly Magda is on antibiotics and cannot drink. Secondly, we are planning both to see the aztec pyramids and to be cultural 'in general', thirdly we want to visit the sea turtles at Isla Las Muejeres. And finally, WE DO NOT WANT TO MISS VALUABLE TIME BY THE POOL!!

I will try to keep you guys updated, I am sure there will be internet connection in Yucatan. Or will it...?

Bon voyage (to me) /J

Cancun, here I come!

Yes all my darlings back home i cold cold sweden, you heard me! First project done and apt looking like it is going to work out. So what does one do? Book a trip to Cancun ofcourse! Me and Magda are leaving Tuesday, first for Merida on the Cancun peninsula. It is supposedly a cultural city with alot of heritage from the spaniards. Two nights there for some culture (and relaxing by the pool). Then it is on to the hotel strip and the fine beaches facing the Caribbean sea. We have two nights at an All inclusive resort which I am perticularly looking forward to. Feels so tacky, so american so...wonderful! They are supposed to have a swim-up bar, I will try to document how that goes. Anyhow, here´s a photo of our resort:

Looks kind f nice eh?? The name says it all; Park Royal Cancun. Let´s just pray there will be sun (please please please!) and that all of our online-booking with low-price airlines and discount websites will proove to work. Otherwise I will just have to make my living as a waitor in Cancun...

Whate else. Oh, yesterday we (Magda, Allan and me) went to Elizas farewell party. Eliza we met while living at the hostel and now she is going back home. So after a nice dinner and a few beers, we went out to dance salsa. I whish my hips and feet would have been quicker, it is so much fun! Much to my joy I saw what I believe to be salsa-classes being offered at the gym when I went there this morning. I am seriously contemplating wheter or not to sign up for classes. What do guys think?

Tomorrow I have to do laundry (ergh) and pre-pack for my trip. We are flying super budget, meaning that you are only allowed one carry-on. How am I going to manage that; I can´t even pack for school without forgetting something important!

I will let you know how it goes.. Hasta luego /J

One project down, many many to go

Even though the title might indicate slight resignation, let me assure you that is not the case. More a solemn reflection of how the rest of my trimester is going to look: project after project.. All good though!

We finished our presentation around 2am monday night, and after four hours of sleep it was time for school and time to deliver! We (me, Magda and Saana) were prepped and ready, delivering a (according to me, two germans and a few of the italians and frenchies) really good presentation. So again, nice to have that one done. The rest of the day offered tropical sideways raining and a very confusing lecture in venture capital. Our two professors, one man and a lady, are a mix between Bert & Ernie, the turtle & the hare and Bill och Bull (Swedish book-reference, FYI). I can not get a grip on what their outline for the course is. So far we have had three presentations of articles and not a single word about VC, its origin, models, themes, companies or anything else you actually would like to know. I am hoping next lecture will provide me with some knowledge beyond 'the necessity of using a stapler when handing in more than one paper'(apparently a major concern of Dr. Card who spent 20 min on the subject).

Today i slept in and worked out. I improved my running from last time (no wonder really) and did 5k in 22 flat. The reason was not so much determination as a misconception; I thought I was running like crazy but getting nowhere. Not surprising since the machine was set on english miles and not kilometres...

I also did some reading for tomorrows class as well as updating my CV, resume, and researching future work/thesis prospects. I am feeling a bit stressed out about that already for some reason. I do not understand why I have the notion of being less than desirable as potential employee, and subsequently not finding a job. I do have the most important qualifications; wits and looks. Eh, I´m sure it will be fine; I´ll just sleep on it and pray on it :)

Oh by the way, you guys suck at commenting (Siim excluded); how am I supposed to know if anyone actually CARES about me if you don´t say so?? Shape up! :)

Service management all in my head

Yesterday and today have not been very fun day to be frank. Well in a sense since I have been doing a lot of studying and studying at EGADE is fun, but then again spending your weekend working on a presentation is seldom the most awesome way to spend it. However, we are close to finishing up and I think it will be a good one. I did manage to squeeze in a movie yesterday, we needed the break. It was a new one with Eva Mendez, called something 'russian roulette' and was pretty good. Today my break was supposed to be another ten or so laps at Téc Stadium, but it was closed so I ended up doing two very asymetrical laps around campus feeling like an idiot. Atleast I got some exercise which is good.

Tonight we watched the 61st Emmys while eating dinner. God it was boring. Then some final editing and off to bed :)

Chiao /J

Tired but airconditioned

Yetserday was yet another glorious day in school. We had the very interesting course 'Sustainability & Development', basically about how a business impacts the environment and how this factor should become more important in firm´s decisions and way of thinking. This is one of those courses that has the potential of actually affecting you and to challenge your concepts of life and work. Take for instance the fact that the US has around 6 percent of the world´s oil reserves but uses 25 percent of the oil produced in the world. Or the fact that 4 billion people in the world live off less than 2 dollars a day. And here I go complaining about not getting a desk to my room (which I have gotten) or that the airconditioning is not working properly (which it does now since the janitor stopped by). Interesting class as you might understand, but it made me feel like bad person for my way of consuming, spending, not recycling and my affluent way of living in general. Naturally I had to do some retail-threapy in order to feel better about myself :)

I also went for a run yesterday - the first one since I got here. I went down to Téc stadium and used their tracks. It was not my best run - 4k in 21:34, but atleast it was nice to start. had Saana as company and we are planning to become sporty spices from now on. Might also take up tennis with Allan and Frederic, let´s see about that...

Today I have been in school despite not having any classes, working on our case project in Service Management. We have to prepare 1 1/2 hour lecture based on Service management in bottom of the pyramid-markets until tuesday. A little bit stressed seeing as how it is alot and we only have three days left. But I am sure it will be just fine.

Tonight we went again to Téc staduim, not for a run, but to watch American Football. I have never seen it before and it was quite difficult to understand. The guys line up; throw the ball backwards (!) and then crash into oneanother. Sometimes someone really fast gets the ball, breaks left or right and runs like Forrest Gump. As I said; complicated. But the experience was fun and the cheerleaders and team mascot was even more fun!

Since it is back to projectwork tomorrow, no partying tonight. Off to bed and a (fairly) early start! God natt /J

Oh what a party(ies?)

First off all; it has been 42 degrees outside today and we still do not have a functioning airconditioning. How do all of you think that makes me feel?????!

Yesterday was independence day in Mexico and that means a wee bit of partying. It sure was fun and the selection of potential parties was abundant. First stop was San Pedro as my new friend Marce was kind enough to invite to a fiesta. We enjoyed good food, company and drinks (and even managed to run into another swede!) before moving on to a more rustic party in the neighbourhood around campus. By more rustic, I mean a house filled with 19-22 year old students, beer-cags, mexican liveband (and a harmonica-playing guy in a corner) and some interesting remarks about us being gringos. Noth the best party I´ve been to, but I did find myself a sombrero as you can see.

Don Joñathan del Blanco

Being the only gringos, we felt it was time to move on again. Together with two friends of Saana, we went to another house party, this time with many of our fellow international students. When that party died out, the few ones left in the party spirits went to a club next to school for some mariatchi-band music and Reggaeton-beats. The evening ended at six when I finally rested my head on the pillow. Ofcourse I woke up again at nine, thinking I had mistaken a sauna for my bedroom, but it turned out it was my room afterall...

Pedro, Magda, Tove, Me, Saana, Fernando

Today have done laundry plus finished some of the many articles I have to read for school. The only thing left to do (besides re-hydrating for the 40th time today) is a COLD shower and preparations for tomorrow´s classes. It´s going to be a good day I´m sure!

/J

Challenged by EGADE

Now I see what business school is really all about. I have to admit I thought this semester was going to be a walk in the park, or atleast not more than loose jogging, but it became instantly clear that will not be the case. After todays classes (which by the way ends at 9:30 pm) I felt like I had been hit by a hurricane of cases, papers, presentations and reading materials. BUT - and this is the important part, I feel challenged not discouraged. Challenged by one of the world´s leading business schools is, I guess, a good thing. Another good thing is that I will have to work harder than before but then again probably learning more from this first trimester than from an entire year at CBS. Eat that Copenhagen.

Studying aside, it is also independence day here in Mexico. That means that tonight people celebrate, get drunk, party and slack off tomorrow. We foreigners are not going to disagree with that, and do our best to get into the celebration spirit. I´m not entirely sure what will happen tonight but I do know it is going to be good.

I´ll report tomorrow :) Hasta luego /J

Hot day at school..

..and I am ofcourse referring to the weather! Today it has been 40 degrees and clear blur skies. A shame we could not use the day sunbathing but had to be in school. No really, it was quite alright, I enjoyed school and are pleased to finally be on with it. We did however find time to lunch at the large mall close to school. With close I mean only a fifteen minutes deathmarch along the highway. There, we found these two interesting features:

It seems as though christmas starts early in Mexico, and that their idea of santa and frosty the snowman is somewhat different from ours, atleast looking at the colour palette. It also showes that they reallt have a sense of humour when it comes to naming stores.

Tonight, me and Magda have had a deep and meaningful conversation together with our new friend Saana basically about the meaning of life after school as a business graduate. The outcome was a mix of depressing corporate cultures sucking the life out of you and positive challenges with idealist features, plus one or two religious experiences. We agreed on continuing that very rewarding discussion another time. Now it is sleepy-time!

/J

Dead Piñata

We are closing up on the end of the weekend and with that the more or less official end of my sumer brake. Tomorrow at 10 am I will be in Cross-cultural comunication class in room 220 (if anyone feel like dropping by). But the weekend has not been all aout school, we managed to do a little bit for partying as well.

Saturday offered a meeting with our realtors that was a progress however not a completion of our turbulent search for a contract. Enough about that, you all know about it by now. In the evening we were invited to Öyvind, a former CBS graduate now in the middle of his internship here in Monterrey, for a birthday celebration. The four current CBS-students (me, Magda, Allan and Ole) ventured to yet a new part of this strange city and a fun evening. The best part by far was the killing of the piñata. I have already showed you pictures of some of the different piñatas you can buy (snow-white still being my favourite for a good bashing) but the cartoon up for sentencing was... Kakmonstret! Below you can se first all four of us parading with the poor fellow, and secondly the miserable remains. It was ugly but it was fun!

When our thirst for cartoon death had been quenched, we went to a party for all internaitonal students at Art in Barrio Antiguo. It was more of a mingling session than a flat out party (even though some ventured into the dark side after a while) but fun to meet so many of my fellow students. I am looking forward to many new acquantaincies. The evening ended, as should be, with a mexican hot-dog and then a fun cab ride home to our hood.

Today I met with my appointed mexican buddy, Marce. A very charming, fun and interesting mexican girl who took valuable time out of her day to meet up for a frappuchino and talk. Not only was it a very fun meeting, it was also a perfect day for a frappuchino with around 35 degrees outside. Then again it was time for the weekly shopping. It is strange how you go to the supermarket in a good mood and end up leaving it hours later, wallet much lighter and mood strikingly bad from hunger and annoyance. Magda and I quickly agreed that Soriana, the supermarket, is the devils work aimed at stripping us of cash, willpower, time and spirit. Luckily we only need to go there once (or maybe twice) a week.

Now it is time for bed. Our airconditioning seems to have given up its last breath (go figure) so it will be a hot night. Unfortunately not in the pleasant way.

Bueno noches, J

Birthday-boy

Firstly, thank you all that sent me happy whishes for my birthday; it makes me feel very appreciated and most of all not forgotten way on the other side of the globe. Gracias!

The day started with me making coffee on the bed for Magda who was a little more tired than me (that´s a first) . We had a meeting at EGADE with our programme director regarding our courses. It turned out that we will have all five electives this semester (!) and focus completely on thesis and internship next year. This is actualy good news since we have plenty of time to finish it. On the other hand it is somewhat stressful since I need to organize all of that while having a more than ful workload in school. But again; I a very motivated for this so I wil cope just fine. For those who are interested; the five courses are:
1. Doing business in Mexico
2. Cross-cultural comunication
3. Service Management
4. Venture Capital
5. Leadership & Sustainability. Does it sound exciting??

After the meeting and signing up for the classes, we wnt to the internaitonal office to get their help with our living situation. It is not going as planned with changed and stalled contracts, broken things and money not being shifted correctly. Me and Magda are not sure how to figure it out so we asked the people wit experience. The agreed to support us, so hopefully with some mexican institutional backing (all of you business students too familiar with institutional theory knows what I´m talking about) we will work it out. Keep finger crossed :)

The rest of my birthday was celebrated with traditional mexican taco-dinner together with Allan and Magda, then the three of us went to the movies. 42 pesos for a movie is a good deal. Especialy if you spent it on a shitty rom-com starring Katherine Heigl. But it was great fun anyways.

Oh, and finaly some good news; I talked wit Delta and I will be getting around 250 USD in reinbursement for my delayed luggage. I am rooting for a hefty appreciation of the dollar in the following months :)

Now birthday-boy will get some much deserved sleep. Hasta luego /J

EGADE...for real.

It has been a long and eventful day, but I am really tired so it wil be a short post tonight.

School started today with introduction day. As usual, alot of information you already knew and slideshows with pretty pictures. The fun part was obviously meeting new people. And it seems like there are many very fun ones. I have heard that we are somewhere around 100 international students at the masters level, CEMS-students not included. Many Italians, french people, some germans and all scandinavian countries are represented. I also met a Belgian and a Dutch guy. So on the whole I really think it is going to be a great semester. Not all of these students are staying an entire year, most are on a three month exchange, so a fresh batch should arrive after christmas (if I for some reason want new company). I will get some pictures of the school to post so you can see what a charmingly wierd building it is.

After the introduction speaches, Me and Magda was invited by our realtor to go looking for new furniture for us and the other apartments. With us was another swedish girl who also had Cecilia as a realtor. I previously told you that mexicans loves cars, and Cecilia was no exception riding in the Lincoln Navigator. I have always considered those cars too big - despite the fact that I secretly covets for a Range Rover, but my god was the comfort-level high in that monster or what?? She drove us to see a really nice town called Santiago (which FYI also is the town mentioned in the book '100 years of solitude' by Garcia Marquez) and showed us how a 'real' mexican town looks. Too bad I forgot my camera. Then we went for 'real' mexican tacos at Taco Mario. So all in all an eventful day and evening.

Now it is almost 11:40 pm here so in mexican time I am still just 25. I did notice that some of you busy beavers back in europe (and other parts of the world, thank you) already congratulated me to becoming 26. Even though I´d preffer to stay 25, I humbly thank you for your kind thoughts. The rest of you that has yet not congratulated me have another 24 hours (mexican time) to do so before I condemn you to the third level in Dante´s Inferno.

Clock is ticking... :) /J

A 'normal' day

I am glad to say that today we have pushed most of our worries regarding the apartment aside and just had a nice day. We started with Home Depot at noon. Together with Magda and Allan we visited this bleak copy of K-Rauta, Bauhaus and a little IKEA. Suffice to say it was not that good. I did however find myself a reading lamp as well as a lamp for my desk. No adapter thought, so still just one adapter in the house for all our european plugs.

Next stop was S*Mart with a break for lunch. We ate at this fish restaurant Magda insisted we try. It was actually very good; fried fish with bacon and melted cheese on top is better than you would think. The place itself was decorated in the same style as the doors I posted a picture of a couple of days ago. Festive to say the least.

fish with bacon & cheese...Mmmmm

Then it was grocery-shopping at S*Mart, and after yet another marathon shopping exerience, we relaxed with a donut. Again, I can not help but to point out the splendor (and potential death-trap) that is called 'mixed donuts, only 3 pesos'. But then again you need to regain some strength after fighting your way through a mexican supermarket.

A shelf filled with spam.

Now, me and Magda have cleaned the apartment and are taking a little siesta. We are going to meet up some friends for drinks at a bar called La Rambla later tonight and need to rest in order to look pretty. Well, I always look pretty but just another excuse to read my tremendeously exciting book, Cathedral by the Sea.

Recharging batteries is only 3 pesos

Hasta pronto /J

Apartment apocalypse

As have already written, we have had some problems with our apartment. Yet another problem that surfaced during the weekend was one with our mexican friend Esteban. Basically he could not really afford to live with us and we had to talk to our landlord about him moving out. The problem though is that me and Magda lent him the money for the deposit and the first months rent. Now we are doing our best to get that money back from our landlord who is not very happy. It is a good thing we haven´t signed a contract yet because then it would have become an even more difficult ordeal. Throughout the weekend poor Magda has not had a proper door to her room, nor access to her bathroom. Besides those obvious discomforts a few other small things has not been working the way we were promised. So as you can see, when we needed to deal with all of this today, it got pretty apocalyptic. I will not bore you with more details of our day but lets just say it looks like most of the things are under control now. But I am getting really fed up with the 'mañana' attitude as well as all the hassle. Come on, just fix the damned door(s)!!!

My only excursion today was to the laundromat. It wasn´t exactly my idea of afternoon fun, but atleast it was better than sitting at home waiting for the overly-friendly janitor. I finished three machines for me and Magda (yes we have not washed since we arrived, dirty pigs we are) so now my rom smells of fresh laundry. I kind of like it. Tomorrow we will get up early and do important stuf like re-bandage Magdas foot at the hospital, shop for a desklamp, more hangers and an adapter for the electrical cords. I am really looking forward to it; I need an eventful day!!!

/J

Funny photos and more troubles

As you might have figured out from my previous post, the activity today has been fairly limited. Its been one of thos nice days wehere you are just tired and don´t really want to do anything. However I did venture out for a short walk and can present you with two interesting findings; One is a poster outside a restaurant, the other is changing rooms in a store. Kind of fun eh??

We were also hoping for the janitor to show up today, even though he outstays his welcome everytime. We have three rather acute problems that needs his attention;

1) Magdas bathroom door has locked itself and she can subsequently not use her bathroom

2) The plumming is really bad with virtually no drainage at all. So everything involving water needs to be done i small portions

3) accidently during last nights pre-party, Magda´s door broke loose from its hinges and now stands leaned against the wall. Poor girl´s had a fair share of bad karma recently. We expect thing to change the upcoming week though! I just hope I don´t get hit with the leftover bad karma...

Now we are going to watch the game between Mexico and Costa Rica in soccer; apparently a huge thing here in Mexico. /J

Night on the town makes Jonathan tired

Seeing as how it was friday, it was time to hit the town to see what Monterrey could offer. Again as the perfect host(s), Me and Magda decided to have the mandatory pre-party at our place. We made good drinks using our new blender and had a really good time. Eliza brought her friend Jonathan (what a nice name, wouldn´t you agree??), and Ole and Allan showed up representing denmark. Together we finished off..well since this blog is family-orientated, lets not go into details but just settle for alot.

All warmed up we went to a club in barrio Antiguo called MANAUS. Now that was an interesting club! It was kind of a mix between a house club with reggaeton-music, Wallman´s salonger and a circus. Now I mean this in the sense that they had both a DJ (actually two I think) and a live band with singers and performers putting on a show and singing covers on stage now and then. Then from time to time there was a little bit of acrobatics, usually involving ropes or rings above the stage. All in all a very fun club! We stayed very late and finished off with a mexican hot-dog outside. Both me and Allan agreed that it was the best hot-dog ever! You got fried onions, bacon sprinkles, chips, mayonnaise, mustard and ketchup on top of a red sausage wrapped in bacon. Divine!! Unfortunately I did not bring my camera so I can not show you any of the events from last night. Perhaps that is for the best =)

Today I am on the couch watching Oudin vs. Sharapova in US open and I am not planning on doing much else. Except maybe clean a little.

/J

FYI...

...I have activated the comment-function now, so please feel free to do so! =)

Poor weather and restless souls

As you might have figured out by now, our apartment has some flaws. One of them is the internet, which is why I have been out of touch for a couple of days. We also noticed that the plumbing is somewhat off so we have added that to the 'to-do-list' for Jore the Janitor. He by the way really likes us now; he´s here evry night, even the nights we lie and say we are not supposed to be at the apt!

But in all honesty, the last couple of days have been rather boring. It is raining and the weather is bad, so we just sit inside and then go shopping. Poor Magda still has her orthopedic shoe and cruch. But on the plus side, every larger food store has there own wheelchairs, sometime even the electrical ones! We have had quite a few laughs going shopping as you might understand. And as you can see, Magda likes it.

My to-to-list for today is:

- Using the internet while I can

- Buy a reading lamp

- Buy an adapter for the electricity (how stupid of me not to think of that before leaving!)

- Lunch with Magda and Allan

- Maybe a movie

- Authentic mexican party tonight at Barrío Antiguo (old quarter) with margharita´s and daiquiris at our place first. We thought about getting one of the piñatas you see in the picture but we´ll save it for our real house-warming. Wouldn´t it be fun beating the crap out of snow-white??

Chiao /J

So I just thought I should report that the strange janitor was here this evening again and did a few things. This time he did not over-extend his stay by drinking our beers, but just did what he was supposed to. So you can all relax, all lights are again working (including the crazy one in the fridge) as well as the hot water and most of the other small irritating problems. Thank god for that; another cold shower and I would develope a kidney infection within days.

Another crazy thing; the Téc campus has animals in it! Seriosuly, there are ducks, peacocks and even deer grazing the campus lawns. How wierd is that??? I was more chocked by facing a deer on the campus lawn than the deer (as you can see from the picture).. And keep in mind that the campus is in the middle of Monterrey, not in the countryside. I guess it is good if your hunter-gene suddenly kicks in..

Now it is 00:50 am and subsequently time for me to sleep. Had a really nice night; Magda made fajitas with chicken, beans, vegetables and cheese (of course). Allan (another CBS student) joined for dinner and then our new-found french friends Sebastian and Celina joined for a cerveza. Life is pretty decent.

God natt/god morgon! /J

So today we lost all ligh in the livingroom/kitchen when a circuit burned out. Add to that the lack of hot water and you get somewhat...annoyed. I like the place; it is nice according to mexican standards, but I hate that there is always something wrong. Feels like you are constantly being hastled. So we have an extensive list of thing that needs to be taken care of before any contract will be signed. There, that about that.

Just finished a little siesta after yet another day of grocery-shopping. This time we went to S*mart (haha clever name!). A few things about mexican food:

1) they eat a lot of cheese. Quesadillas (very good), papas (potatoes), tortillas...everything is covered with cheese. I like cheese but not on everything.

2) They like pastries and doughnuts alot. The selection is very good and the prices as well. One doughnut for 3-4 pesos, yo te quiero!

3) They have fairly cheap food with alot of variety. S*mart, Walmart, Soríana; all supermercados with everything you need. Los problemos; no small stores around the corner. For that you are left with 7-eleven or the mexican equivalent oxxo.

4) They do not only sell food in the supermarkets; each one has their own pharmacy. You might need prescription for the heavy stuff (I say might because it is somewhat unclear) but the 'over-the-counter' selection is very good. I have not yet done alot of pharmacy-shopping but I am almost looking forward to feeling a little bit sick.

Yesterday I cooked lintle soup with vegetarian tortillas (including cheese) and today Magda is making chili con carne sin carne con pollo (can you figure that one out eh??). For desert; giant watermelon and ofcourse cervezas.

/J

Again with the shopping

I slept very well in my new bed in my new room. Well, not entirley true since I had nightmares but I figure that´s what happens in a new place. I was somehow a part of a war against terminators... Wonder what I did during the day that inspired to such dreams...

Just spent another day buying stuff. Esteban took us to the local market and boy was it local. It is difficult to describe but I guess anyone who has ever been to a Chinese or Thai market or bazaar in the Middle East knows what I mean. Dead whole animals mixed with local crap and cheap stuff. In this one there was also alot of madonna-figures and other religious artdefacts.

Then it was off for yet another round of shopping. Today we bought blender, pots and pans, more food and other usefule things like soap, antiseptics, rum and ofcourse many cervezas. On the stove we have a soup cooking, me and Magda are kicking back with a beer waiting for Esteban and Eliza to get back from Walmart, then it is Margharita-time!

Río Pánuco 2185, Departemento 422, Col. Roma

..is my new address! Yesterday was crazy with getting everything fixed before moving in. We were supposed to meet at the apt at 6 pm to get the keyes and to sign our contracts. That did not happen for three reasons;

first, it started to rain. And I don´t mean 'light-autumn-drizzle-that-you-laugh-and-dance-around-in', I mean hardcore tropical raining. Apparently when it does rain here, that is the kind we get. That made everything take a liiiitle more time, especially with traffic.

Secondly; we spent almost three hours (!) at Walmart finding everything we might need for the place. Bedding, cleaning, food, staple groceries, towels, kitchenware, you name it. I spent about 1300 pesos on my stuff, and then another 300 pesos on mutual things. We looked like boat refugees running accross the parking lot (well Magda does not run with her foot, she limpses but you get the picture) towards Estebans small but adorable fiat and try to pack four shopping carts filled with stuff. We did make it and then went back to the hostel to get a cab for our actual luggage.

Thirdly there is this thing called mexican time. Basically it means that if you say you meet at six, no one shows up before 6:30. I find myself having alot of problems with that because I hate to be late and I hate people that are late (fifteen minutes exempted of course) but here it is all good. Apparently. But even the mexicans was a little bit angry with us when we showed up one and a half hours late with a taxi full of suitcases and a fiat stuffed with walmart bags. But who cares, we now have an apartment! Things that are not working:
- my toilet
- magdas shower faucet
- water preassure in the kitchen
- one pair of blinds.
As you can see only minor details =)

Oh, i did get my second piece of luggage yesterday. That was the good news. The bad news is that the bag obviously had been left out in Atlanta rain and all my clothes subsequently was wet. Me no likey. Me complainy to Delta and will settle for nothing less than money. Or an upgrade to business on my flight home. I´ll let you know what happens.

Hasta pronto!

Monterrey in six days...

So here I am, at the breakfast table last day at the hostel. I have been asked about possibilities to share a little of my life (thank you for being interested) and again thought it best to do so in a blog. Being an international student, obviously I need to do so in english. Perhaps in a month or two, I´ll be able to write in spanish... Whishful thinking.. In any case; feel free to comment in any preffered language.

So, what have I been up to. Shortly, these days have been all about two things; finding an apartment and finding my luggage. I instantly knew something was going to go wrong with my flight - two airlines and three routes, and surprise surprise, I find myself alone in Monterrey with my bags still in Atlanta. One ventured on a trip to Detroit with AA and made it back thursday, but the other one is still at large in Atlanta. Perhaps he found employemnt at Coca-Cola? In any case I am seriously annoyed since my charger for cellphone and camera, hygiene products and most of my clothes are gone. Seeing as how it is sunday, let us all pray for the safe return of my bag please!

Finding an apartment has been a struggle but finally it seems to have worked out. I will be moving in with Magdalena (from CBS) and Esteban (local really nice Mexican) in a three bedroom apt above Téc de Monterrey. He speaks basically no english so we see it as an extreme crash-course in spanish. But I am confident it is going to be just fine, aren´t we all a little linguistically confused now and then? I will write more about the apt as soon as we move in (which we will by 6pm tonight)

Monterrey as a city is warm and filled with cars. I am not kidding, everyone has a car. The entrance to EGADE (our business school) is throught the garage (!). You get by fine as a pedestrian in the city center but otherwise you need to take a taxi. Luckily taxis are quite cheap. The temperaturesvary between 25 degrees to almost fourty. It is however not too bad becaus the heat is dry. The drawback is that you get really dehydrated and subsequently we drink ALOT of water.

So, have there been any adventures as of yet you might wonder. Indeed it has.
Two days ago we (me and Magda) was invited by our host here at the hostel, José Juan, and two new acquantancies from the hostel to go to a club outside Monterrey called Woodstock Plaza. It is situated about fifteen minutes outside the city and is a big, partialy outside club, with live bands and 60´s 70´s memerobilia, like the beatles in neonlights. The band for the evening was called 'Mysterious ways' and was an U2 coverband from Austin Texas. Not quite like the originals, especially not since I saw U2 live at Ullevi about four weeks ago, but I do admire their spirit. The club itself was super fun and we had a great time.

Yesterday we also had our first run-in with the Mexican healtcare system since Magda, very unfortunately, fractured her big toe while jumping into the pool. Accidents do happen, the staff at the hospital was very nice and experienced, the painkillers are strong so it could have been worse. Not too much fun having to walk with a bandaged toe in a special orthopedic shoe for a month though...

Ok, now I really have written too much. From now on I will try to follow the advice of my teacher in Business Administration; he said that for the written exams not to over-extend ourselves with writing but to 'KISS' - Keep It Short Sweetheart.

/JZ