Decisions, Decisions

I just faxed in my enrollment form to University of Michigan, Stephen M. Ross school of business. It feels nice to have that decision down. Now I can move on to looking for housing in Ann Arbor. Anybody have friends there?

Sightseeing

It's been a loooong week, but a great chance to see some of the south of Mexico with work footing the bill. Unfortunately, I didn't have any time to see the towns we stopped through. I did manage to take one day at the end to see Palenque's majestic mayan ruins. I had heard so much about them that I had to see for myself. I put some pictures below, but if you want more, visit my Snapfish album. You'll have to log in, but if you have any problems, let me know.

So, I started out monday evening by bus (this whole week's been long bus rides) from Mexico city to Oaxaca, Oaxaca (8 hours), arriving just about midnight. We had a whirlwind day of meetings before leaving again at 6pm for San Cristobal, Chiapas (12 hours). We got in bright and early, checked into a hotel to leave our stuff, and went straight to Guaquitepec, a community in the nearby mountains (4 hours away). From there, we went to Ocosingo (2 hours) and made it back just around 11pm to San Cristobal (2 hours). The next day, our meetings were all in San Cristobal, supposedly one of the most beautiful cities in Mexico, so I was looking forward to exploring the mix of colonial and indigenous (mostly Maya) culture. Unfortunately, since our meetings kept getting pushed back, we only had time for a 30 minute brisk walk from the center back to the bus station. Here's a quick glipse of the cathedral:


We left just around 6pm for Merida and arrived bright and early (14 hours later), just in time to freshen up before our 9am meeting. This time I made sure to take some time to see the center, even if was just an hour. Since we didn't manage to get reasonable plane tickets in time, I bought bus tickets for that same night. Unfortunately, I didn't realize it was a long weekend for Merida residents. Almost all the buses were full and I was lucky to get a spot leaving at 7pm, just when the second night of Carnival was starting. I didn't get to see any of the celebrations, but I did get the idea with the air of excitement around preparations and the last-minute street closings all over. I almost didn't make my bus because no taxis could get through and with all the people (especially kids in costumes) walking around the streets between me and the terminal. I made it, though, and took off on an 8 hour bus to Palenque, Chiapas.

Palenque was well worth the trip. I got in around 3am, found a hotel, and prepared for my last and only rest day before heading back to mexico city. Though known for its Mayan ruins set in the jungle (supposedly the best, second only to Tikal in Guatemala), I grabbed a day tour that also took me to two nearby waterfalls: Misol- Ha and Agua Azul (wasn't so blue that day). Though they weren't their finest that cloudy day, it was a beautiful, relaxing tour.

Final Round

I have officially heard from all of my schools and am now trying to make the decision between debt and more debt as I weight the benefits of University of Maryland, Michigan and North Carolina to make a decision soon.

As I wait to hear about scholarship options from Maryland and North Carolina, I am trying to figure out how much I would need to be offered from MD and NC to sway my choice from Michigan. Taking 10k in loans could make a huge difference over 100k, but they say bschool's an investment and in the long run the money won't matter. Any insights?

Social Entrepreneurs

It ocurred to me after spending a few hours trying to explain what I do, that many people have no idea what a Social Entrepreneur is. There's lots of fun literature out there, but here's a nice post by Roshan to give you a brief idea. You can, of course, visit Ashoka's website for more examples.

Smints

I have decided that I am addicted to Smints (www.smints.com). No other mints seems to cut it and, now that I am having trouble finding them, I find myself particularly obsessed.

When I discovered Smints a few years ago, they were readily available in any drug store. Soon, though, they became scarce and soon I couldn't find them anymore. I had begun to give up when, to my surprise, I found them in Mexico (though a bit expensive). Until a few months ago, I could walk into any supermarket, drugstore, 7-11 and find them. Now, though, I am finding myself in the same deficit as before. To my dismay, I learned that the company that makes Smints was recently bought by the company that makes Mentos. Hopefully the corporate takeover is just stalling distribution, but I'm crossing my fingers that my beloved mints don't get phased out for good.