Portfolio

Finally my portfolio is done. This last week, I finished it and gave it to my program advisor. The portfolio is the collection of all the assignments TWC gives you throughout the semester.

Some assignments are hard and boring sometimes, but at the end I liked the result. When I saw it ready I felt quite good and even proud. This portfolio includes a lot of reflections, analyses and reviews, samples of what you did in your internship, etc.

My advice for all the ones that are coming next semester: do not leave things for the last minute. Try to make your civic engagement on time, have all your assignments checked, do the readings you need for the class in case you have any, and try to do everything in advance because you never know if a trip, event or more work is coming and then you have no time to finish it all.

Also do all the sightseeing you need to do. Every weekend visit a museum, go to Old Town Alexandria, Georgetown, everything that needs to be seen and done in DC before leaving. You don’t want to be like me in that I have three days to do my Christmas shopping, make my travel arrangements, deep clean my apartment and visit a lot of places that I missed.

Two of my roommates are leaving tomorrow. It's kind of hard saying good-bye to all my friends, because they have been my family for these months, but it is good that now I have a few houses to crash at in different states of the US, of Mexico and in other countries like China and Korea. Now I just need the money to visit them, but that will be easy after I become president of Mexico in a few years.

Today is my last day at Voice of America. Mike, our supervisor, is going to take us for a good-bye lunch. It was a really good experience to work here. I got a close look of how the news works from inside. I got to see radio shows, television shows, how they edit video packages for the programs, interviews, how they analyze consumer trends, etc.

I learned a lot from Voice of America, and besides the practical things I learned, I know now how the formal work environment is in a big company, and I think now I am more prepared for a job after graduating.

Here are some pictures from a U.S. Capitol tour I took last Monday.

Green Card Request

Here is a video that Lu Lu made of the interns at VOA.

I have been here in Washington only a few months, but when I think of all the things that I have done it seems like more time. I really like his city, because even though it is big and it has a lot of people, it doesn’t feel very crowded or excessively busy. I wish I could get a job here at National Geographic and stay a couple of years after graduating, but the visa paperwork is a bit complicated, so the only thing left to do is marry a girl from the US and get a green card. So, please, if there is anyone interested I have some pictures of me in this blog and I know how to cook good Mexican food. I will leave my email and cell phone in the next post jaja.

Right now I am wrapping up my final project for my Global Markets class. We have to do a market entry study, meaning that we have to choose a product and a country that would be suitable for that product and conduct a study to see how successful it would be. It is a very interesting project. I chose a tourist service from Europe and I want to bring it to Mexico. It has been interesting so far but also a little complicated because I need a lot of data that supports my idea. It is a very realistic study, though, and it has helped me to have a better idea of all the necessary things to consider when exporting a product.

Here I am with some friends after my class

This past weekend was Thanksgiving. In Mexico we do not celebrate that holiday, so it was like some free days for me. Two friends and I went to New York; I am amazed by the city. I don’t know if I could make a life there but I could definitely work there for one semester or two. I am sure I would end up broke with so many places to go, shows and museums to see, and Fifth Avenue in my face jaja.

Times Square

In New York we went to the MoMa (Museum of Modern Art) which was really cool. I did not expect to see works by all those famous painters. We also went to a play called All My Sons with Katie Holmes in the cast. It was very cool to see her there, and after we finished that play, while we were walking, the guy from Harry Potter was leaving after his play and giving autographs. Even though I do not care much of that kind of celebrities it was a good experience.

All the flavors in Campbell’s soups from Andy Warhol

Every Sunday night one of the roommates cooks for all. We started that the third weekend and it turned out to be very good. Surprisingly we all cook very well. Here we are after eating Polish food. It was one of those times you wish your stomach was bigger so you could eat more.