My Time in Mexico

With my rural homestay

By: Kaity Berg

It is almost impossible to sum up these past few months here in México. From the moment I arrived to my day of departure México can and will be one of my second homes near and dear to me. I had never traveled outside the US before coming here to México in August and I am glad that my first experience was with CGE. Within the four months I was here I have learned more about myself and what is going on in the world around me then I have in any other four month time frame in my life.

My favorite part of the experience was definitely my home stays with Mexican families. Our business group had one in a rural area for four days and everyone had one for four weeks at the end of the program. These experiences have taught me what it is to live in Mexico and how families here cope with everyday life. Another favorite experience of mine is getting to know Cuernavaca. When I needed time to myself my favorite thing to do was to get lost in the city. I feel as if the city had an energy that I needed, there is always something going on in the city and people galore going about their business. This is also good for those people who like cities and people watching. As for the school, I really liked my classes and everyone that was involved with CGE. From the staff to the interns everyone was very congenial, welcoming and supportive when needed.

Semester in Review

Carlos Perez-Verdia from the Central Bank in Mexico City talks about Mexican monetary policy

By: Grady Christopherson

My semester here in Mexico was very insightful as far as the way I see the world. I look at and analyze things differently after this semester—it forces me to think about everyday things that I see as a result of globalization. For example, I don’t go past Wal-Mart without thinking what went into getting that store there on many different levels, as well as how it operates now as a business. It was interesting to learn so many things about international trade, marketing, and business but at the same time it was even more interesting to learn about them through the cultural lens that we did. Learning about what NAFTA was and what it did to Mexico was great, but even better was walking down the street and seeing what NAFTA had done.

Also, I thoroughly enjoyed visits to people affected by NAFTA, the corn farmer we visited in Amátlan sticks in mind because of how she told us and showed first hand how NAFTA had changed her life. Learning about Mexican cultural values in a business context was also a very valuable part of my time here. And I think the order in which we learned the material in our business class was very helpful, particularly the fact that we learned about Mexican history first and then business. This allowed us understand a little bit of why things work they work and not just how they work in Mexico. My favorite part of my stay here was going to Mexico City, particularly when we visited the Central Bank. Our talk there was very informational and afterwards it was really cool to see the three people in the back that enforce the entire monetary policy of Mexico with a big calculator and a couple of computers. My stay here was great, and again it has made me look at things differently, and perhaps that is why I’m staying here another semester.

Overview of Semester

Mexico Fall 09 CGE students and guide atop Xochicalco

By: Kyle Soderberg

As the semester winds down, I thought it would be appropriate to reflect on my experiences in Cuernavaca. I learned a lot this semester. I learned a lot about globalization and about some of its many facets. Globalization is a tricky thing and there are many viewpoints of it. NAFTA and neo-liberalism were also subjects we touched on in class. My Spanish skills improved greatly from my Spanish classes. The Spanish courses were for a short period of time but in an intense fashion. Also, all of the speakers we listened to this semester were very interesting. We had a wide array of speakers covering a wide array of topics. In general, the speakers in Mexico City were my favorite. I also enjoyed our excursion to the hacienda. The home stay experience was also a highlight of mine. I improved my Spanish skills greatly. I also got to see and experience different parts of the city.


Another important aspect of my semester was my internship. My internship experience taught me some valuable skills. I performed a semi-independent research project for a company. As a whole, I think my experience in Mexico was an important one. I had never been out of the country before, much less left Minnesota much. I have a new appreciation for people of difference cultures and the different cultures themselves. I am also now much more informed about the U.S. policy in foreign countries. I learned how this policy along with other organizations such as the World Bank has played instrumental roles in many developing countries. These roles have not always been positive. I will be graduated from Augsburg College after my semester here is over and I got so much out of my experience; I have accepted a graduate intern position with CGE here in their Cuernavaca, Mexico, site for the spring semester.

Homestays

By: Kaity Berg

A few weeks ago in international business we moved into our homestays, which has been a great experience so far. Before moving in, there were many anxious questions swirling around, and anticipations about what our family was going to be like. Many of the worries arose about our time in the homestays because as you can imagine, we are a group of many different levels of Spanish as well as personalities, not to mention the cultural differences. How do we get around the language barrier if there is one? What if we do not like the meals we are served? What if we have an early curfew?

For me, I was excited and nervous at the same time, however there was no way for me to mentally prepare for what we were moving in to. As cheesy as it sounds, I knew that it was crucial to have an open mind and positive attitude because as I have learned, these things, as small as they seem, can make or break your experience. Each student has a different situation so I am only able to talk about mine. But since we have been here, I feel as if I have already learned so much about the culture and day in the life of my Mexican mom.

My mom and I at a balneario (water park) on a day trip

For example, I feel like I have learned more about the Spanish language than I did in a term at school. The second day I was in my homestay, my mom took me to Tepoztlan (a little town with a large pyramid and many street vendors), where we walked around and ate pozolé (a popular local soup) for lunch. When we got home that night, my mom and I had coffee and pan (bread) and talked. This was an eye-opening experience for me because she talked the whole time about various things while I listened. This would be a normal situation if I understood any of it. Now she thinks I can apprehend everything she says because I give her head nods and say "si" at the correct time. This has definitely been my most trying and educational incident. All in all, I have been having a good time and learning a lot. If given the chance to do this again, I would not pass it up.

Globalization From Different Perspectives

By: Grady Christopherson

This week we learned about the Zapatista movement and heard from an international marketer from Gemalto. Carlos Romero, who handles international marketing for Gemalto, explained to us the scope of the company’s operations. Although the name Gemalto doesn’t really ring out as far as companies go, it is present in many things that we use everyday. For example SIM cards in cellular telephones, ATM technology, and passports just to name a few. He went on to explain the process of marketing on the international level for his company and who he has to do deal with on a weekly basis. All in all it was very interesting to gain an insight into the work of an international marketer for such a large company as Gemalto.

Carlos Romeros sharing his work about marketing in Gemalto.

Later in the week our very own business professor gave a talk about the Zapatista movement—what it stands for, and the history of it. It is a response to neo-liberalization and globalization. It started the day NAFTA was signed, in the morning of January 1^st, 1994. The Zapatistas took over several towns in Chiapas, an impoverished region in Southern Mexico. They manage to retain a major part of this territory even now. Although it may seem like the Zapatistas are a violent guerilla group, they are more peaceful if you take a second glance. They have already pledged to become involved in getting what they want through the political process through peaceful means. They still have guys with masks and guns to protect their territory from the Mexican government. As far as their demands, for the major part none have been met, and they change every couple of years. But they are mainly based around the Zapatista motto, Tierra y Libertad, land and freedom. They see globalization as threatening to their community in Chiapas and you can’t blame them, Mexico definitely sees the ugly side of globalization every day.

All in all it was a great week—we heard about topics from two very different places of the world. But these topics are not so different—Carlos Romeros showed us the rosy side of globalization and Antonio Ortega showed us why the Zapatistas have been fighting globalization for all these years.

Business Program Signs Agreement with UPEMOR

By: Stephanie Jackson

On Tuesday, CGE’s brand-new International Business semester program in Cuernavaca, Mexico, took an important step forward as it signed an institutional agreement with the local Universidad Politécnica del Estado de Morelos (UPEMOR). Antonio Ortega, CGE’s Business program coordinator, and Violeta Jaramillo, a UPEMOR professor of administration, were instrumental in forming the agreement. The two have already been working together with their students throughout the semester to arrange student exchanges, group excursions, and internship placements.

From left: Ann Lutterman Aguilar and Natividad Rosas (from CGE), alongside Violeta Jaramillo and Jose Dario Galicia Reyes (from UPEMOR) during the signing

As two relatively young institutions—CGE’s business program is in its first semester and UPEMOR was founded in 2004—the programs share much in common. Both have a shared interest in international issues, especially due to the ever-increasing role of globalization in our world. Both institutions understand the necessity of learning a second language in order to open doors for their students in the future. And finally, the issue of social responsibility is very important to both CGE and UPEMOR. CGE’s mission has always included social justice as a key component of its programs, while UPEMOR is involved with programs such as the support of a local school in need, la Escuela Conafe de Loma Bonita.

Faculty, staff and business students from CGE and UPEMOR

When representatives for both CGE and UPEMOR met to sign the formal agreement, it was clear that all parties are excited about the opportunities that this agreement will offer. Some of the benefits include student and professor exchanges, joint student projects (one of which is already happening), internship partnerships, and language practice for students. Ortega mentioned CGE’s excitement for continued exchanges, both formal and informal, for its business students, while Jaramillo talked about it as a way to offer experiences that will keep her students competitive in the job market. Everyone is looking forward to a positive and beneficial relationship between these two institutions for many years to come.