Hola from the reserve!!!

Harvey Fiser

We are updating from the reserve... So a few pics and blurbs, but
Internet off solar power isn't quite there! So, more from the house!

So we made it to the reserve and got to walk over the ruins!!!

Mayan chocolate shop!

Harvey Fiser

Ok.... One more pic from day one... So during the "death march"
we stopped off to check out the local Mayan chocolate
shop....yum.... Chocolate and chili.. STRANGE!

Welcome to the JUNGLE!!!

O.k....we are off to the wild for the night!!!! Not sure if we will get the chance to post from out there (depends on the solar powered satellite internet) but if so, we will!!!! If not, see you tomorrow after UXMAL!

More Pics from Day One!

Dia Uno!

Ok...so day one:

Day one....9 AM walk of death...105 degrees...and where is he walking now!

So down the street to check out the city. First off to the Fiesta Americana for orientation on getting the most important things...CASH! Then off to the second most important cultural feature of Merida...Wal Mart to check out how its done Mexican style....

From there, down the Paseo down through the maze of mansions lining the streets built with Hennequen money and off to El Centro. Checked out churches that are nearly 500 years old and built out of Mayan ruins and the Governor's Palace with the paintings of the history of the Yucatan. He is finally going to let us eat something!!! Sorbet at Colon!!!! Mango, Mamey, Guyabana, Naranja, and sorta vanilla.... Then off to the local market! Fruit, live animals, by way of the glass box of cooked "innerds" and the "don't go in there...no really you are not going in there..." fresh fish market!

After the fish market, we were, of course starving (read hurling) and off to lunch. Guac and more Guac!!!!! Steak quesadillas and veggie fajitas and Guac! Then off to the CASA for a brief stop for a siesta!!!

After a cool nap, we are up and off to the BEACH...well...sorta...by way of the mall and a stop to get a modem for the computer....and a drive around the parking lot forever waiting on FISER...while accidentally driving through the Starbucks line!

FINALLY: off to the beach!!! AWESOME! Beautiful day with a BREEZE!!!! Hours of shopping and eating ceviches on the sand and hanging in the water!

Oh..wait, that wasn't finally: FINALLY, to the house to clean up and out to Noche de Mexicana! All the food!!!!! Cones of chocolate and edam cheese, panuchos and salbutes, cactus tacos, tequila ice cream, kalua ice cream, corn and fruit with chili powder ice cream....WHEW....that was day one! Off to bed!!!!

Just a few things from the day:

1. "Innerds Burritos" (pronounced just like its written and just as gross)
2. Ahhh "delicious breezes"
3. "You dropped something" (Street Vendor)...Ellen, "What?"....Vendor...."My Heart!" ...Awwww....
4. Bronwyn, "OMG, this COKE is UNREAL...I mean Like REALLY, it is amazing....GUYS ITS CRAZY GOOD....so COLD....and in a bottle with a STRAW.....Ellen, are you gonna drink THAT coke? ....would you pass it over....OMG...it's SO sweet!"
5. "Dude that is BEAST!"
6. The taxi roof thump!
7. "Dangit Kyle!"
8. "I can't eat anything else...Oh....wait, what is that! That is GOOD...I'll get another one of those..."
9. Brad's search for the perfect buzz cut!
9. Ellen, what is your first impression of the first day.... "HOT!!!".... Connor, "Dude, it's hot, hot and hot..."
10. .......... tune in for 10-???

Noche Uno!

A Sampling of the local cuisine! So we arrived on the Houston flight EARLY...made it through customs with NO RED LIGHTS...even with Connor's sketchy "revolution" hat and Kyle's attempt at circumventing the swine flu barriers....

After picking up the "purple cobra" van (PC) we headed to the house!!! A few A/C mishaps later we got everyone cooled off....all the house was a hit! Then some dinner... (See pic) Night one: Total Mexican junk food! As you can see, it is a mess......BUT, of course, it tastes a whole lot better than it looks!

After our spread of nachos, quesadillas, and queso fundito, we headed over to get Trolli Buses! Imagine a Sonic Slushy made from fresh fruit....Tamarind, Mango, Strawberry, Coco, Pina Colada, and Jamayka (please excuse the spelling, most of the time, we would check the spelling on the internet, BUT, see other posts!!!)

Then off to the house...I haven't seen people crash that fast in my life!!!!!

Were here!

Harvey Fiser

After an bit of time in the Houston airport... We made it!!! We
are here!!! Thought you might like to see our first billboard on the
way out of the airport!

Holllllaaaaaa from Mexico!!!!

Hola everyone! I am very sorry we have not updated the blog since
we have been here, but after much searching last night, we realized
our Internet modem at the house is DEAD!!!! So, we are going to
rely on Internet hotspots for a couple of days to try to figure out if
we can get a new one soon.... Good luck on a weekend in Mexico, huh!

If you get this, it means we are all safe and sound and on our walking
tour of Merida (and found a hot spot)... The flight in last night
was perfect and dinner on the Paseo was excellent!!! Pictures and
fun commentaries to follow!

Harvey Fiser

And the girls...

Harvey Fiser



Last minute American culture...

Blog email

harveyfiser.ibap2009@blogger.com

Sent from my iPod

Check out the excitement!!!

Harvey Fiser

Can you see the excitement.... It's the smiles that gave it away!

The Day Before...

Today was a bit more exciting because of the impending baseball game and ... drumroll please ... the flight tomorrow! We only had to make it through four more classes.

Spanish class was really neat because we went on a field trip to the local tiendas and taquerias to get a feel for what we're about to see everywhere. In the tiendas, they spoke no English, nor did they sell any American products. Only productos here. We especially enjoyed the shrimp snacks, pig skins, sodas, and huge colorful marshmallows. Definitely different!

Then, our second class was with Harvey on South of the Border Justice. He covered all the international laws that govern people and trade in Mexico.

Lunch in the 'Caf was followed by a presentation on trading in Latin America by David Aquino, an international businessman who procures wood products all over the world. We learned about his experiences acculturating in every corner of the globe and the best mindset to have when you are about to leave your comfort zone and attempt to successfully transcend cultural barriers.

Finally, our last class (ever!) was with Kim Burke about fraud. Yeah, we talked about people who engaged in fraud including a father who stole the allowance from his 6 year old son. How pathetic! But we also learned about the big time types of fraud, and definitely took notes to use later on...

The Braves game was the big event of the evening, even though the fifth inning had ended by the time we left the dinner line - it was really long!! We managed to entertain ourselves well enough while we waited...with the help of a few Millsaps students who came to join us.

It was back to the '50s night and so the team was wearing the old uniforms and all the food was cheaper than normal, which was really great! Unfortunately, the Braves didn't have a lot of luck with the game, and so we ended up leaving early and getting Bop's Frozen Custard. Magnanimously splendid.

Then, guess what? Back to the dorms for a movie. This time, it was the 40 Year Old Virgin.

Hump Day

By Wednesday, we'd established a pretty good routine. Like well-oiled machines, we got up in the morning and headed to Spanish for some conversation and tasty beverages. After learning the most essential phrases, aka the ones associated with ordering food, we got to sample Mexican sodas. We had a Coke, some other kind of soft drink, and liquefied jolly rancher flavored fruit juice. And we also learned the word for carrot: zanahoria. Weird, huh?

After a lesson on Business Etiquette taught by Tonya Nations, a pro at the Millsaps Career Center, we headed to lunch at a local favorite called C.S.'s. The best dive bar and burger joint in town, it was easy to see how C.S.'s is a cult favorite for the city and for students. Massive burgers, heart-clogging chili-cheese fries, and sinfully wonderful apple cobbler were instant classics.

One brief food coma later, we strolled to our next class: The Basics of International Trade. Here, we covered exactly what the title implies - the benefits of trading rather than relying only on what you can produce. Comparative advantage was the buzz word for the afternoon, and we learned that even if you rock at everything you do, it still behooves you to specialize in producing one thing and then trading for your other necessities.

Finally, Dr. Grubbs talked to us about the impacts of culture in business. We reviewed Hofstede's cultural dimensions: low vs high power distances, individualism vs collectivity, low vs high uncertainty avoidance, masculinity vs femininity, and long-term vs short-term orientation. It was fascinating to try to understand how these general values can play such a large role in your understanding of people and the cultures from which they derive their beliefs and expectations. Also very important in the business world!

Our fun activity of the evening? The Madison movie theatre. More like a classy indoor mall, the movie theatre had a restaurant, arcade games, a full stadium menu, and of course, movies. We went to see The Hangover - it was hysterically funny. There just aren't any other words to describe it ... so I'll leave it at that.

And then, we returned to watch another movie (a complete 180 from The Hangover) - the Shawshank Redemption. I think we can all safely say we don't plan on going to prison anytime soon after seeing it!

Two Rounds for Tuesday!

On Tuesday, our first full day, we started off by learning a bit of the Spanish language and culture from Dr. Bares to help with our rusty phrases like 'Hola, como esta usted?' and 'Donde esta...' Then, we heard from Dr. Bey, an expert on Maya anthropology and archaeology.

We found out that the Maya have been around a really really long time and that they continue to be a large segment of the population in Yucatan, and so we should have the chance to practice our two Maya phrases: 'bisabel' and 'chem beya'. We also learned that they knew about astronomy and had an incredibly complex calendrical system. And that the year 2012 isn't the end of the world, but actually a new beginning. Phew (sigh of relief)!

After a nice lunch break, we returned to our classes. This time, Josh Bower from the Mississippi Development Authority spoke with us about doing business in other countries. You have to know a whole lot about a country's customs when you're doing business: for instance, Arab men hold hands as a sign of friendship, Nigerians avert their eyes in certain company, and Latin Americans stand REALLY close to you when they speak. BTW, you certainly don't want to shake with your left hand in Egypt...just so you know. The running theme: cultural literacy.

The last class of the day was international marketing taught by Penny Prenshaw. We found out that ants and other squirming insects are considered delish (okay, delicious), and that the fiesta was considered a great representation of Latino culture as a whole. Uniting religious symbolism, family ties, and the freedom of the masquerade, the fiesta provides a framework from which to consider the values and mindsets of Latinos.

After a brief break and then an evening meal at P.F. Chang's with Stacy, our other Admissions compadre, it was time to bowl. With a current Millsaps student in tow, we bowled two intensely competitive rounds. I think we were all a bit rusty, but that made for some great competition!

Here you can see Kyle in the fetal position after yet another gutter ball. But I can say we all improved by the end of the night and everyone at least made it to the double digits!

Millsaps: One Day Down, Three More to Go Before Mexico!

It all started with the silver bullet - I mean, we had to name our trusty steed, right? So the van became the 7th member of our crew yesterday and we were on our way! First stop - the Wal-Mart for a scavenger hunt in search of low prices on 'everyday' goods according to Harvey, who must have strange eating habits...dried salted fish and fruit loops? Kibbie and eggs? We're all glad you're not cooking for us this week! With limited success, we returned home for a little r and r, which meant basketball for the guys and actual r and r for the ladies. Typical.

Then, for dinner, we headed for the local favorite, The Pizza Shack. Little known fact: the Pizza Shack also feeds cats. Lots of them. Not to you, of course, although one of them almost became dinner when Connor 'accidentally' stepped on it. Accidentally...

Then, there was the car...if you could call it that. Evidently, one of the Greek organizations used it as a metal pinata to raise money for the group's philanthropy, and it sure looks like it was a success! Could've been pulled from a monster truck rally if you ask me. Of course, they chose to park it in the Millsaps parking lot instead of the dump.

Our after hours assignment was to watch Mel Gibson's Apocalypto, which was on the same gore level as Kill Bill except more realistic. Not a pretty picture, but an interesting movie nonetheless. Definitely going to create a more vivid image of what the ruins in Mexico were like before they became ruins.

Finally full of pizza and worn out, we braved our dorms for bed.