Bolivia

After lots of travel to the same places, I got to spend a week enjoying a new country -- Bolivia. As usual, I was there for work and only had a few opportunities to explore, but it was nice nonetheless. Here are some initial impressions:

Bolivia is a very poor country by economic terms, but it still has a little of everything you could want and is very rich in cultural terms. Everyone is very much enamored with Evo Morales (the current pres) for his efforts to respect indigenous culture into his development plan and policies. There is a lot of mysticism that survived the spanish colonization and even Bolivian Catholicism is a unique breed. We spent most of the week planning collaborations and learning about ethics, but got to learn a little about Bolivia's culture, history and politics in the process.

Although we spent most of the week in a hotel in La Paz (the high altitude kept us from doing too much moving around), we did get to spend two days in Copacabana on the edge of lake Titicaca. I had seen the lake from the Peruvian side, but had a noteably bad experience, so it was nice to go again and have a great time. Again, we spent most of the time in a hotel, but did get an hour for shopping and a short, early-morning mountain climbing expedition.

Overall, it was a nice, relaxing trip with some good market shopping thrown in. I ended up having to buy a second bag to bring back the few goodies I bought. Also, to make it a real experience, I got sick the last few days and was grateful to make it back to my bed in Mexico. I probably won't be going to Bolivia anytime soon, but I'm glad I got to go and highly recommend it. If you go, though, try to go light on the Llama meat and Quinua juice.

I didn't bring my camera with me to Bolivia, so I am waiting on some of the beautiful pictures to post. In the meantime, I will post someone else's picture of Copacabana from the mountain that I climbed:

Ding

I'm not sure where the word came from or why admissions411 decided to use it for bschool admissions, but it seems appropriate enough. Aparently Stanford doesn't love me. Sigh. Three more schools to go....

On that note, I think it's funny that UMD, a school whose tagline is "Leaders for the Digital Economy" is MAILING admissions letters. That's about as low-tech as you can get. Needless to say, though Jan 15 was the announce date, I am still waiting for my letter.

As for Ross, they love me, but not enough to give me money :(. Maybe they'll change their minds or I'll strike it rich between now and the fall

Oops

I've been so trapped in my Mexico bubble, that I didn't realize that Carnival is happening the week before my trip to Brazil in February. I found out an hour after I confirmed my tickets. I'll be there just about a week overall, but will make sure to spend the weekend before and after at the beach :)

For now, I'm packing for my Bolivia trip this Friday. Pictures to come....

Business Week Forums

If you ever want some easy entertainment, stalk the business week forums. People are a bit high strung. On the other hand, if you're applying to business schools, you should by all means avoid the BW forums because they will drive you crazy.

Off to a good start

So I'm back in Mexico, still a bit disoriented from a few week's vacation and an inhuman amount of work to do. Nevertheless (a word I just reintroduced to my vocab), it has been a good start so far:

First, I got lots of family time over the holidays.
Second, I am headed to Bolivia Jan 19-27(new country to visit), I get to spend a little over a week in Sao Paulo, Br at the end of Feb, and in the meantime will likely get a tour of the south of Mexico -- Oaxaca, Chiapas and the Yucatan Peninsula, all sponsored by work (of course that means I have to work, too, but still) and
Third, I just got an early, unexpected acceptance to Ross, UMI business school for class of 2009! I'm still trying to process it 'cause it's late at night and I wasn't expecting a response until Monday, but last I checked it was my first choice, so it's great to hear from them first. I should hear from UMD by monday, too, and will hear from the rest of my schools over the next few weeks. Now I just have to hope the Mexican mail system comes through for all the admissions info.

Hope this keeps up over 2007! In the meantime, I've got to keep working on my resolutions.

Beginning 2007

Hope you had a great end to 2006 and that you're starting off 2007 right!

After a relaxing week with the family over Christmas, I ended 2006 with a relaxing week in IN. 2007 began in Chicago, IL with my first-ever club NYE party (open bar, party favors, dinner and dancing). It was nice to see every happy, and my new gold shoes were very appropriate for starting off a new year. Here's a quick peek:



Looking back, I can't really remember where I lost track of 2006. The last few years all blend together and it's hard to beleive I've been in Mexico for over a year now and that I have less than a year left. I'm getting excited (and nervous), though, thinking about all the new things I'll do and learn, people I'll meet, and ways I'll change this year. Within a month, I should hear back from b-schools and can start planning a new chapter in my life. Who knows, though, so much could happen in the next month even. Stay tuned....