April Bonds

Mod 1 Finals are OVER!!!

My finals are over for this Mod!  Yea!!!

I can't believe I arrived in Argentina 7 weeks ago....  My how time flies.

My fellow Georgetown McDonough MBA students that are back in D.C. have another couple of weeks until their Mod is over.  I have received many confused comments from them this week over why I have finals already.  It has made some fun conversations with my friends back home.

I am traveling around Argentina this week since we have next week off.  I will travel to Cordoba, Puerto de Iguazu, and Punta del Este, Uruguay.  Others from our class head to Patagonia, Machu Piccu in Peru, and various places throughout Argentina, Uruguay, and the Caribbean.

So excited to have the week off and start traveling! 

 

La Presidenta en Los Estados Unidos

What an interesting week to be in Argentina and to be a Georgetown University student!

This past week, Argentinian President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner traveled to the U.S. for 3 days of meetings and conferences.  One of those days was spent in Washington D.C. at the Georgetown University campus inaugurating the new “Catedral Argentina” within the School of Foreign Service.

Needless to say, the trip didn’t go well for La Presidenta.  I don’t think I have read a single article that claims her trip a success.  Even students from my class who are loyal supporters have criticized her for the trip.  I won’t go into much detail about all the different ways in which the President received criticism.  However, I have included a few links to some articles in English for you to read.  I have also attached the links to the speeches and Q&A sessions at both Georgetown and Harvard Universities if you speak Spanish.

Day 1:  Argument over inflation with Christine Lagarde

Day 2:  Awkward responses and questions oninflation at Georgetown

 

Day 3:  More awkwardness at Harvard

 

 

President Kirchner’s policy choices are a daily topic at IAE.  As MBAs, we learn about how economic policies affect a country’s competitiveness and how they affect businesses. 

The daily discussion at IAE is inflation and the “Blue Dollar.”  The Blue Dollar has come about because macroeconomic decisions of the President and her administration have created a black market demand for dollars that differs from that on the open market.  For example, today the national exchange rate for Dollars was 4.7.  In this “blue market,” dollars can be exchanged at 6.15.  The market is called the blue market because the government is aware that people are exchanging dollars in this manner but not actively pursuing policies to correct the imbalance.   This imbalance means that Argentinians are hoarding dollars, they can’t use their pesos abroad, and businesses engaged in international trade are at a disadvantage.

To live with this economic decision everyday and to discuss its implications in real time has added a new level of learning to this study abroad experience.  It also helps me understand one of the reasons why President Kirchner had such an unsuccessful trip to the U.S.  

What to Do over a Long Weekend?

One of the best parts of IAE is the size of the class – 60 people.  You really get to know people and spend a lot of time together.  

One of the best parts of Buenos Aires/Argentina is the asado. 

When the weather finally starts to change from rainy winter to beautiful spring, the combination of the two makes for a really fun and long afternoon. 

After a long week of classes and after the Operations Management class’s tour of the Toyota factory, it was decided that a couple of students would do an asado at one of the student’s houses.  

I arrived shortly after the festivities began and had to fight my way to get to the grill for food.  It was that good.  Grilled pork and beef tenderloins with chimichurri and choripan (French loaf wrapped around a piece of chorizo).  YUMMY!

Gabo, a full-time student from Peru, serves as DJ at all our functions so needless to say…. We danced.  And danced a lot.  We even had a repeat of some of the crazy dances from the talent show a couple of weeks earlier.  

 

 

I left early (at midnight after we started eating/dancing/drinking at 1:00 that afternoon) because the next day I was leaving for Rosario with a big group of students. 

We were able to travel this weekend to Rosario because two weeks ago President Kirchner declared a new holiday on Monday.  Yes, you read that correctly “a new holiday.”  Apparently, that happens all the time here especially when popularity numbers decline for politicians. 

 

Rosario was wonderful!  The city is located on the Parana River and has lovely beaches to relax on.  The river is lined with restaurants, outdoor cafes, and parks so we spent most of our time not exploring the historical buildings of the city but rather relaxing in the sun.  It was also really nice to eat fish from the Parana River.  YUMMY! 

 

 

 

For me, the best part of the trip was the friendships that I developed with some of the South American students.  Many of the people that we traveled with I didn’t know very well until this weekend.  Now, I consider them close friends.  They also became some of the first people with whom I was confortable enough to speak Spanish with. 

 

We are now back from the long weekend, and I gearing up for the week ahead.  Finals are approaching so I need to start focusing on my studies!

Buena Vista Social Club

I love to dance.  I especially love to dance to Latin music.  Merengue.  Bachata.  Salsa.  Cumbia.  Doesn’t matter to me.  I love it all.

So when fellow exchange student Jenny suggested that a group of students to go hear the Buena Vista Social Club play in Buenos Aires, I was 100% in!  So were 20 other students from IAE...

For those that have never heard of Buena Vista Social Club, it was originally a club for Cuban musicians to play that has now become a group that strives to promote the music from the club.  Many of the musicians that are a part of BVSC played at the original club before its closing.  Read more about the Buena Vista Social Club here.  I also recommend watching the Oscar nominated documentary on the group.  It is amazing!!!

The night was incredible.  The music fantastic.  Eliades Ochoa was charming.  And we danced. 

 

The highlight of the evening was when all the people in the audience, fed up with sitting throughout the concert, overpowered the security and began dancing on stage, in their seats, and in the aisles.

 

A Different Way to Do A MBA

After being in Argentina for almost 3 weeks, I am finally settling into the way of life here.  Classes have officially been in full swing for 2 weeks, and I am starting to know this interesting group of MBAs at IAE, Universidad de Austral.  My friends keep asking me to post photo on Facebook for them to see, but unfortunately, I haven't done anything out of the ordinary to take photos.  It's mainly been running errands, going to the grocery store, and trying to avoid being lost.

As I sit on campus this morning, it gives me a chance to tell you about how different this program is from Georgetown McDonough's MBA.  Having the opportunity to experience a different MBA program further helps me appreciate McDonough but also helps me expand how I interact with classmates and how I learn.

The first difference between the two schools is the size.  My class at Georgetown is about 260 students.  The class here is just over 50 without the exchange students.  My cohort (the group of 60 classmates with whom I take the core classes) is larger than this group of students.

Also, because of the amount of credits that are transferable from IAE to Georgetown, I am currently only taking 2 classes.  This week, I have one class on Monday and one class today.  The rest of the week is free.  Next mod, I will take 4 classes, but they have very few contact hours and will meet fewer times than the classes I am currently enrolled in.  

The class schedule is also different every week.  Many of the professors do consulting throughout Latin America so they may only have 1-3 weeks available for teaching.  So all the classes for that course may be consolidated into a short or long amount of time, depending on the professor's schedule.  

Classes are 3.5 hours long, compared to the typical full-time class of 90 minutes at Georgetown.  However, the 3.5 hours does go by quickly because the professors don't actually lecture all that much, we break into our study teams during class time, and we do take at least one coffee break per class. 

At both schools, I have a study team with whom I work with on group projects, but the teams here are larger.  We are currently 7 people.  My largest team at Georgetown for core classes was 5.  Ironically, I always seem to be assigned to groups of people with very strong and very vocal opinions, and the same goes for my study team here at IAE.  I think karma may be trying to teach me something...

I mentioned above that the professors don't lecture much.  In fact, the most time a professor has spent lecturing in any of my classes has been about 15-20 minutes.  There are two reasons for this:  1) Class partipation is grading more heavily here than at Georgetown.  Class participation is 30-40% of your overall grade. 2) Every class uses a case to teach the theories for the day.

Georgetown's teaching methods are heavily case based as well, but usually, the professors use the cases as a way to gage what we have learned in lectures or to apply a certain theory.  IAE actually publishes its own cases, focused on Latin American companies, and the cases are used 100% as tools by which to teach concepts.  The cases are usually in multiple sections so that we build on the theory as the class period continues.

Because case discussion is such an integral part of your grade, a lot of time is spent in class to allow students to comment.  This is one area of class that I find particularly amusing.  Apparently, when the school term began here in January 2012, discussions would become quite loud and heated debates especially for the classes taught in Spanish.  Because the arguments were so severe, they had to "teach" the students how to comment properly in class.  So now, almost every comment begins with "In my opinion," "I might be incorrect," or "I am sorry for having to disagree with you."  It has become the truest example of low context societies I have ever seen.  

There are so many differences between Georgetown McDonough's MBA structure and IAE's stucture.  However, I think this change will only enhance my ability to move from one culture to another.  

And if anything else, it sure will help me have more free time to explore and travel Argentina while I am here....

 

Always Be Prepared For Something to Go Wrong!

I have lived abroad most of my adult life.  I first traveled abroad at 19 to live in France for a summer.  Since then, I have lived in Costa Rica, Mexico, and most recently England.  Not to mention the countless vacations abroad I took at least once a year.

However, each time I move to a new location (as I have done this week) I have to remind myself of this, "Always be prepared for something to wrong your first week in a new place."

Well, this trip to Buenos Aires, Argentina is no different...

For example, as I am writing this, I am in bed with a fever of well over 100 degrees and no voice.  This is the best I have felt in 5 days.  Yes, this is a wonderful way to start my trip.

Sean (a fellow Georgetown MBA) and I arrived to Buenos Aires early Friday morning and quickly fell asleep so Friday was wasted.  We tried to get the long list of items we needed for our apartment on Saturday, only to find that all the stores close at 2:00 on Saturday.  We went out Saturday night with some of our new IAE Business School classmates so Sunday was wasted.

For those of you that have never traveled much in Latin America, dinner is not usually until 10:00, and there is no point in stepping in a bar before 12:00.  And let me tell ya, Buenos Aires is known for its night life as they continue "partying" until 6 or 7 o'clock the next morning!

We tried to get to school on Monday only to find that the campus was much more difficult to get to than we thought and over 1 hour away.  Then we found out that the buses were not running on Monday because it was a holiday.  

I woke up Tuesday very ill, and that's when I remembered my mantra.  Classes were supposed to start that day for me, but needless to say, it didn't happen.

This week, many of my classmates are leaving for their exchange semesters in foreign countries.  Georgetown McDonough has 7 students studying abroad this fall in London, Paris, Barcelona and Buenos Aires.  We also have an exchange student from Paris joining the class in Washington D.C.

To each of us moving to a new country for the next 4 months, don't forget.... Something will go wrong, but it is how you handle and survive the first weeks in a new country that will set the tone for the rest of the trip!

P.S. You will have to wait for me to answer how I like Argentina!  Next week, I hope to be on my feet and ready to explore the glories of this beautiful country and learn from my incredible new international classmates at the Universidad Austral.

Home Sweet Home!

I can't believe this 7 weeks is over.  

How much I saw!  How much I learned!  How much I wish I'd done!

I arrived home yesterday afternoon, stopped by Taco Casa (my favorite restaurant, like Taco Bell only 10,000x better) in my hometown, and then passed out until early the this morning when the chiropractor showed up to fix the crick in my back from sleeping on a dorm bed for 7 weeks.  

Initially, I planned to stay in London a couple extra days.  There is still a lot to see and do in that amazing city and a lot of Olympics left to see.   Wow!  I can't believe how much the Olympics have dictated my life the past week.  

However, I had to change my plans once I realized that I only had one week before leaving again to study abroad this Fall in Buenos Aires, Argentina.  I probably won't even unpack.  Just wash the dirty clothes, add some more, and pack another suitcase since I will be gone for 4 months this time.

I am very excited because tomorrow I fly to Colorado with my mom and dad to see my sister, brother-in-law, nieces, and brand new baby nephew.  The day I left to Europe my sister had a baby.  I knew the little bugger would come once I left!  I can't wait to see him finally and play with my adorable nieces.  Being an MBA is hard on families.  I don't always have the time during the day when my nieces are awake nor the time to fly to Colorado to see them as often as I would like.  So trips like these are very special.  My family is used to me being abroad, but it still is hard when I have such stinkin' cute little ones in my life.

I wanted to take some time to reflect on the past 7 weeks.  This program has taught me so much about myself, Europe, England, and being an MBA.  Not everything is good, but not all of it is bad.  Just lessons learned.  Vlad Babich, our management science professor last spring, always encouraged us to reflect on the spreadsheets that we created in his class and think about what we had learned or would do differently to improve.  This is me taking Vlad's advice and reflecting on how to improve for the future:

1).  I am surprised by how much I enjoyed the political science classes that I took this summer.  Because the Euro Crisis is so prevelant in the news, it was very easy to take a political topic and break it down from a business mindset.  One of the things I love about Georgetown is that it doesn't ignore government and politic's effect on business.  This summer, it was fun to evaluate the reverse.  

2).  In every class, from comparative politics to private equity, the Euro Crisis and the changes it forces could not be ignored.  I had the opportunity to write 3 papers on the subject.  It amazes me how much I learned.

3).  I wish I had done an internship along with this program.  I wouldn't trade this program for an internship anyday, but I wish my schedule would have worked so that I could do both.  One of my classmates did it, and I believe he gained so much more of an edge (albeit he is very tired now) over my classmates and me.  

4). I learned how to debate and discuss.  Being forced to write 2000 words on a subject and then have people criticize each word, comma, and phrase teaches you how to defend your idea and the importance of clarity, not only with what you say but also how you say it.  

5).  While my friends did presentation and presentation and slide deck after slide deck, I did research after research and wrote paper after paper.  I learned how important the research stage is.  I have to take my time researching, but once I have research adequately, I am a quick writer.  I wrote 2000 words in less than 4 hours and 3800 in less than 10 hours.  I am very proud of the work I did this summer.

6).  At every stage of this MBA journey, what I learned and the skills I take away are nothing compared to the relationships and friendships built along the way.  My last night in Oxford I stayed up until 6:30 a.m. talking with some of my MBA classmates and other program attendees.  Those heart-to-heart conversations are the greatest gift I take away from the program.

There it is... 7 weeks boiled down into a few lines.  I look through the over 600 photos I took during this time and realize that they don't show half of what this experience was actually like.  Guess, I will just have to get together with the amazing group of 30 people I spent the summer with a Tomb's to recollect!

Off to bed for me!  I need to have lots of energy to keep up with my nieces tomorrow!

Olympics 2012

When I told my friends that I was studying in Oxford for this summer, their first question was always "Are you going to the Olympics?"  

At first, it appeared that I would have to resort to only watching via live online stream like everyone else.  However, finally (after much diligence and generosity from friends), I was able to purchase some tickets.

Blindly, I purchased tickets for Men's Quarterfinal Beach Volleyball and Men's Semifinal Soccer/Football, unknowing that the USA would play in Beach Volleyball and Mexico in Soccer.  I was beyond happy!   I get to cheer for my 2 home countries!!!

Attending beach volleyball at the Olympics is like attending a big party.  There's a DJ, an MC, and lots of alcoholic beverages to get everyone dancing and partaking in the festivities.  Also, beach volleyball was held at the Horseguard's Parade, right in front of the Mall and Buckingham Palace.  To say the view was incredible would be an understatement. 

Too bad Team USA didn't play so well, but Mike (a fellow MSBer) and I had fun cheering for them anyway!

The Beach Volleyball Dancers

 

Mike and I cheering for TEAM USA!

 

Getting ready to serve... (I think it didn't make it over the net.  He was a terrible server.)

 

The next day Diego (a fellow MSBer and from Mexico) and I went to see Mexico play in the soccer semifinals.  After so many years watching Mexican futbol, I finally saw my first live match, and what a match!

When we arrive to Wembeley Stadium, we were overwhelmed by the number of people.  The attendance that day was 86,000.  Needless to say, the one train stop was crowded.

 

 

A few minutes later, we spotted a mariachi band and fellow Mexico fanaticos to walk in with.

 

 

And finally we arrived to the stadium!

 

 

It was a great game; made only better by the fact Mexico won and advanced to the gold medal match.  The most entertaining moments of the day were all the Japonese fans who wanted their photo taken with me and not Diego.  We didn't have the heart to tell them that I am not actually Mexican...

 

 

When I decided to come to Oxford for the summer, I knew that the London Olympics would be an intregral component to my experience here.  These 2 games, however, were once in a lifetime memories that I am so happy to have and so happy to share with great friends like Mike and Diego!

 

Going to London

Going into London from Oxford is unbelievably easy.  I can take a 1.5-2 hour bus ride for about 16 pounds.  There is internet so that I can work there and back.  

Yesterday, 3 of my classmates and I went to London for our Comparative Politics Class.  Our professor, Sara Hobolt, teaches at the London School of Economics and asked if we could travel to London for one of our classes.  

We spent the afternoon after class walking around the city.  We explored the banks of the Thames River, saw the Olympic Torch for the second time, and finally got to go up on the London Eye.  

Here are some of the photos from the trip.

 

 

 

Being this close to London is a real treat.  In Oxford, we experience the quiet, quaintness of a college town, but we are just a short trip from the excitement of the city.  This trip marked my 3rd trip to the city.  I have seen Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, the Changing of the Guard, 10 Downing Street, Parliament, and attended 2 musicals.  

Trip to the "Other" College

Oxford and Cambridge Universities have a long rivalry that is actually tied to their history.  In 1209, a group of Oxford professors left after a dispute with local townspeople and created what is now Cambridge University.  

I heard that  day trip to see the town and its colleges was necessary.  This past weekend was our 4 day weekend; however, I wanted to stay around Oxford to do some siteseeing.  A friend from the program wanted to go to Cambridge for the day to see her friend graduate so I tagged along. 

When describing the day, 3 things come to mind.  

1) I walked A LOT! I saw 4 colleges, walked to the top of the highest bell tower, walked along the "backs" (a famous walk along the back of many colleges and along the river), and wandered through many small side streets.  My feet hurt by the end of the day, but it was worth it! 

2) I found the most amazing ice cream!  I swear this entrie trip to England should be called "April's Hunt for the Best Ice Cream/Gelato".

3)  When comparing Cambridge and Oxford, Cambridge feels more grand.  The buildings are much closer together and secluded from the city.  In Oxford, the town usurps the college buildings.  Also, the punting in Cambridge looks much more fun.  There was a "punter" singing Lady Gaga songs operatically.

Here are some of the photos of the day: