va a cumplir 23!

The whole group, I'm on the far left

My roommate Marcelo

My friend Oscar

My buddies Alejandro and Samuel. We watched football together a couple times.

My TV, it's not gigantic, but I like it

Didn't quite catch that one

Got it!

Didn't hurt a bit

Some rum and coke in the hammock, gotta love it

Ready for my Dos Equis commercial

Yep, my birthday is on Wednesday, hope the song lyric , "nobody likes you when you're 23" isn't true.

It's been a while since I've last written a post on here, but that's because I've been really busy. School got into the swing of things awfully quick and they keep us busy. It's ok though, for the most part. I am liking my classes more this semester than the previous two sessions. My spanish is improving. I have good days and not so good days, but over the course of time, I know I am improving.

I haven't had a chance to attend as many Rotary meetings as I would like, but I'm hoping to get to a few soon.

So one friday afternoon, a group of kids from the MIB program went to the friend of a friend's house for a grill out and pool party. I sat in the hammock, had some Dos Equis cervezas and some rum and cokes and enjoyed the relaxation. Then we had some steaks on the grill that were delish. After that we swam a little and dove after the frisbee into the water.

Last Saturday, we had our group picture for the EGADE (which is the business school) at the Tec (which is the main campus) so everyone showed up dressed up in their business suits and we looked almost professional. The Thursday before I bought a suit for the pic, for much cheaper than I would have found in the states, gotta love the exchange rate.

On Friday nights, since I miss high school and Husker football so bad, sometimes I go watch the university team play. They are apparently 5-time national champs and they kick the crap out of everyone. The games I went to where 52-3 and 56-7. There are some huge boys on the line and I'm sure the running back/kick returner could play division 1 college football, and so could the kicker, but of course they were going to have a good kicker

Also, I don't know if I've written this, but since I'm going to be living in Monterrey for the next year (until may, june or july of 2010, not sure, i've asked, my questions go unanswered) I bought a TV. and since, I thought, Since Monterrey is so close to the US, there has to be a way to get the TV back to the states, so I might as well buy a nice one. After some research, I went to Walmart and bought a Samsung LCD 32" TV with Full HD 1080 p and I am really excited about it. We get the NFL network on HD and they broadcast a few NFL games on Sunday, some on HD and some not, but most with commentary in Spanish, so there is another way for me to practice my Spanish! We get about 60 channels, and 10 in HD. When I say we, I'm talking about me and my roommate Marcelo, who is in my program, and he's from Bolivia.

The greatest thing that has happened so far was last Thursday. On all of our channels, they show an average of one college football game per week. Out of all the games on all the days, they decided to broadcast Nebraska vs. Missouri on Thursday night! So I had some friends over, including a friend from Wesleyan who is also studying in Monterrey. We had some beers and I got a little wasted.

CJ and I spend a lot of time on skype where we can see each and talk to each other for free over the internet. We decided it would be fun to skype during the game, and it worked! It was especially great when my friends thought I was crazy for jumping up and down and yelling all the time but then they would look on the screen and see CJ and her friends jumping up and down and yelling (and all wearing red nonetheless).

My friends lost faith by the third quarter, but then I declared that we needed to throw it deep. Zac Lee heard me and the rest is history. Actually the rest was me jumping up and down and yelling even more than I had been, but this time, deliriously happy instead of pissed off.

So in conclusion, I got to see the NU vs. Missouri game at 8 pm, same time as everyone in Nebraska, on my couch in Monterrey, in front of my new TV, with friends and cervezas, and my girlfriend on skype. and we won!

The next day I had a group meeting that included guys from Sweden and Denmark and a girl from Germany at IHOP, because we thought that would be a good place for us to go for all of us to cure our hangovers. We did get work done, but the best part was the conversation, when I told them about the football game, the Swedish guy said "Oh is that the one where you use your hands all the time, ironic that it's called football." Of all the meetings I've had here, this was by far the most memorable.

My birthday is coming up on Wednesday, and I am really excited because CJ's fall break starts on Thursday and she is coming down to visit me! I have some secret things planned, and I'll be sure to post pics next time. CJ is also going to study abroad here in Monterrey next semester to help her work on her Spanish--Should come in pretty handy as a OB/GYN. As a student in business school, I recognize the huge and quickly growing market for Spanish speaking doctors, so I am very proud of her and can't wait for her to come to Monterrey!

Overall, I would say that I am happy and that I'm having a good time here in Monterrey. I miss home and everything, but I know I'm learning a lot and growing every day (although sometimes the growth just comes from the tacos).

Hope you're doin great,

Jarryd

va a mostrar el nuevo departamento

Here are some pics of my new apartment and Monterrey. I like to go on walks at night, now that's it's cooling down to the 80's around 6 pm and the humidity goes down too. There is a park right behind my apartment and there are lots of people out there exercising or walking their dogs. I got to chatting with someone and it turns out dogs aren't as expensive here, so i might be coming home with a new friend.

Self portrait, I got the short haircut goin cuz it's really hot here. I'm always with my iPod and headphones

The building security guard
This is our kitchen, we have a fridge, stove, oven, microwave and you can see my protein and the gigantic bottle of water that costs about 2 bucks.
Here's another view of our kitchen with the chairs, a couple bananas and some beers
My room, not exactly what you would call clean.

They have deer on campus
I told it to smile

People walk their dogs and exercise here in the park

El Cerro de la Silla

Peacocks on campus

This is a panorama from the 6th floor of the CIAP building on campus, i had to take 2 pics, the next one follows

Hello everyone!

In the park there are pullup bars, and these other things that i'm not sure what to do with them

quick break

After 2 months of class in Monterrey, we got 3 weeks off for vacation, so I went home! and it was great. I spent a ton of time with my amazing/beautiful/smart/fun/cute/adorable girlfriend CJ, I got to see three of my brother's football games, I got to tailgate at Cheryl's tailgate and go to the first Husker football game of the year, I got to play some golf, and I got to spend some quality time together with CJ and my family which was so much better than chatting online or trying to have a conversation on skype with crappy internet.

The time went really quickly, and I didn't get to see everyone I wanted to, and I feel bad about that, so if I missed you, don't worry, I'll be home in December, but after acclimating to this Mexican heat and humidity, i'll need like 6 coats before i go outside.

So as it turns out, I get really into watching the Aurora Husky football team, especially when my little brother Christian is playing. CJ wore her ubiquitous flip flops to the game and I unfortunately smashed her toes on more than one occasion. Sorry babe. I was trying to explain to a couple buddies of mine, that I'm pretty sure I get more excited watching my little brother play football than I ever did as a player. I got to see three games, and Aurora won all of them pretty handily... I gotta get some of those guys on my fantasy team.

It's funny, I know a lot of the kids on the team not from going to school with them, but from working with them in the kids football camp at Aurora and when I coached flag football in high school. It doesn't make me feel real old, but I still think of them as littler than they actually are (which for some of them is gigantic)

The first game I went to, Chris had two tackles on kickoffs, so by the 3rd quarter of the first game of his senior season, he had more tackles than I had in my high school career. haha.

Last friday, I rode to Mccook with my dad, his girlfriend Lee Ann, my uncle Norb, and CJ and we saw Aurora earn a huge win 48-10 to snap Mccook's streak of 71 straight regular season wins which is incredible, that will probably never happen again. Chris caught a two point conversion pass and I stood up and started yelling, "That's my brother! Yep, that's my brother." announcing it to everyone around me. I was / am so proud.

I got to play golf in the Howie memorial golf tournament with CJ and my buddy Derek and we played well and thouroughly enjoyed the Rum and Coke stand in the Holland's back yard. Last year, I won a pair of Howie's shorts that he mowed his yard in. They were way too short and lots of people gave him crap about it, so I thought it would be a great way to honor him by playing the tourney in his shorts. and it was also hilarious. i played pretty good too, i guess i might have to bust those out a little more. CJ has a video of it, i hope she puts it on youtube soon. CJ won a flag this year, I guess next year we'll find out how she golfs wearing that! :)

I am very happy to be doing this Master of International Business program here in Monterrey, because it is such a short flight. For example, this morning I flew out of Omaha around 11:30 and I got in to Monterrey at 3:45, so just over four hours. You can take more time than that by flying domestic. And since it's so close, it's not that expensive either.

I'm looking forward to classes starting tomorrow. This semester goes until December 4th, so it looks like I will have a long winter break. My classes are Marketing, Management functions and abilities, Leadership for sustainable development, Introduction to Latin American Management, and a consulting project. So they sound interesting and I hope I learn a lot.

As most people can imagine, this whole studying abroad / living in a different country / learning a new language thing is not the easiest thing in the world. So please keep me in your thoughts and prayers as I continue to slowly but surely improve and grow as a person / world citizen / spanish speaker / whatever you want to call it. Thanks for reading!

Jarryd va a escribir otra vez, les prometo

Wow, it's crazy to see that I haven't written in a month. The title of this post means Jarryd is going to write again, I promise you. I guess I thought I hadn't done anything interesting enough to write about, but now that I look back, there are some things that you might think are cool.

So one day, someone from the communication department of the EGADE asked me and Marcelo who is from Bolivia and in my MIB program, and my new roommate-we'll get to that soon, if we would be available to be interviewed by El Norte, which is the main newspaper here in Monterrey. They wanted to write an article about people from other countries who had come to Monterrey to study at one of the several universities, not just as an exchange student, but people who were trying to earn degrees. So we came back to campus that afternoon, got our pictures taken and interviewed with a reporter about why we had chosen the university and the program, basically why we were there. I tried to attach the little story they wrote about me and my picture with a cute little American flag, but it didn't work, so if you want to see it, just email me and I email it to you with the translation if you want. It was fun, and it was cool to see my picture in the paper.

As you could see from the pics in a previous post, my old room was kind of tiny and it was basically a glorified dorm room. So about two weeks ago, I moved into a new apartment and this place is legit. It came with a nice couch, chairs around a kitchen table and new beds. There are two bedrooms each with their own bathroom and shower. There is a kitchen with fridge, stove, oven, and microwave, and there is a study room as well. It is right across the street from the Tec and in a neighborhood with lots of restaraunts and bars and other apartment buildings for students.

I was pretty lucky to find this place, because Marcelo, who is in my program mentioned that he was having a hard time finding a 1 bed room apartment. So we found this place and it's pretty cool.

In my last post I wrote that some friends and I were planning to go to a cabin in the mountains close to Monterrey after we finished our first five-week block. It was beautiful. It was like being in Colorado. Since we were up in the mountains, the temperature was cool, which was a great break from the ubiquitous 100 degree days in Monterrey. They had a broad field where we played soccer and threw the frisbee around a little bit. I mostly passed the time relaxing outside and listening to music. We also drove by a tourist attraction called Cola de Caballo (horse’s tail), which is a waterfall. I saw a bungee jump, but I don't know if anything can top my bungee jump in South Africa, almost 200 meters.

I think I've already written about our four-hour classes. About two weeks ago, we had to make up a class because the teacher was out of town the week before, so we had a total of 28 hours of class in 5 days. That's 2 days of 2 classes of 4 hours each and 3 days of 1 class each. Let's just say I was happy when that week ended.

So far, I have watched three Mexico soccer games with my friends in my program so far and I've realized something. There is about a 30% chance of someone dropping their beer when Mexico scores a goal. This sport is much more than a game here, it is serious, almost like life and death. When the US scored the first goal in the game on Wednesday, I celebrated for about 1.2 seconds before I realized what I was doing in front of a room full of people who were going for Mexico and stopped. Right away, one of my buddies said, "Jarryd, leave." but they were kidding. I didn't actually care about the game, it was just fun to watch soccer with people who know all about the sport.

We just have 1 week of class left in this block, and I am pumped to be done. We have a three week break and I am going home. I can't wait to see CJ, grill steaks and brats, see some of my brother's football games, play golf, chill out, and so much more.

During a typical day, we have class from 9 am to 1 pm, then we all go home for lunch, and then we meet at the library around 3 pm to work on homework or group projects for three to four hours. For one of our assignments in our Statistics class, we had to keep track of the amount of time we spent on our activities each day. I learned that I spend more than 40 hours each week studying, doing homework, and attending class. So it’s kind of like a job, but I like it and I know I am learning a lot. I am learning about both the class content and the Spanish language.

I have been really impressed with several things about Monterrey. The students are willing to help me out and are patient with my improving grasp of Spanish. This city is super developed, all of the highways are nice, the police cars are Dodge Chargers (sweet right?), there are tall apartment buildings and office buildings and the malls are sprawling. The teachers are nice and patiently respond to my questions. My university is legit and has unique architecture.

I attended my first and second Rotary meetings over the past month. The first meeting was better planned because I actually talked to someone on the phone before I went. At that meeting I got to speak about my scholarship and my time in Monterrey so far. They told me that the next day there was another Rotary club that met in the same place. So two weeks and one day later, I just showed up and asked if I could visit and they were cool with it. It was interesting to hear the four way test in Spanish. I asked the first club if they could help me get into contact with the other Rotary clubs in the district and now I have a list with locations, phone numbers, and email addresses of club Presidents in Monterrey and the surrounding area.

Overall, I would say that I am doing well after two months in Monterrey. This experience isn’t easy, but most things worth doing aren’t easy. I know I am already improving my Spanish which is one of the main reasons I came. I am looking forward to learning more and visiting more Rotary clubs.

Well I guess that all makes for one long, random blog post about my life in Monterrey for the last month.

Thanks for reading!

Here is my new address

Jarryd Widhalm

Avenida Eugenio Garza Sada 2660 Dep 8

Bachilleres y Avenida El Estado

Col. Tecnologico, Monterrey, N.L. Mexico

some pics

Here is my bed, I made it for this picture

This is the tall glass building I wrote about

This is my room, I have food

This is a building on the main campus that people call el servietero, the napkin holder, it is a building for computer science and computer engineering I think

They call these pavorreales, royal turkeys, it's crazy to see peacocks walking around

This is the inside of the church I go to, San Juan Bosco, it's beautiful and air conditioned,

This is the outside of the church

I posted more on Facebook, I thought it was about time to put some pics up

Survive and Advance

Not only is Survive and Advance the mantra of NCAA basketball teams in March Madness, it is what I am doing here. I am happy to say that I have survived my first "trimester" by completing my Finance and Operations Management classes. We took our OM final today and I passed with a flying 86. Slightly lower than my miraculous midterm performance of 97, but I'm still happy just to earn a passing grade.

Those 2 classes met twice a week for 4 hours each session for 5 weeks. I am currently in two classes, Statistics (and by currently in, I mean this literally, the teacher is talking about Analysis of Variance and I am paying attention amazingly well), and Practical Strategies for New Markets that only meet once a week so they are still going on. We don't get much time to relax, as our next 5 week classes, an Economics class and an Accounting class start next week.

However, some of the people in the MIB program are going to a cabin outside of Monterrey for the weekend so that should be fun. I'm bringing my frisbee. We deserve a break, after spending about 20 hours per week in class not to mention studying, group projects, and homework, it will be nice to relax.

This program and the university is legit. In Nicaragua, the classes were at a lower level than I was used to, these classes are definitely at a higher level. I am learning a lot, and I know my Spanish is improving.

The majority of the teachers have their Ph.D. and the school is this crazy seashell design. Apparently they spend a lot of money on building designs because on the main campus, there is a building that looks like a napkin holder and another that is a 12 story building of all glass, it looks like it could have come straight out of Chicago.

The students in my program are all really nice and really smart. We do a lot of group work and I am usually trying to add my small 2 cents, but everyone is patient and helps me with my Spanish and repeats things when necessary. We are a group of 17 students, all between 21 and 25 years old. I love having this small group because everyone knows everyone and I'm not afraid to ask the teacher a question if I don't understand.

Today I went to the Migration office and signed a bunch of things and gave my thumb prints so I will be legit with a FM3 student visa in the next 10-14 days (supposedly). One less thing to worry about.

Also, I will be moving to a new apartment on July 31st and I am really excited. When I arrived in Monterrey, I had no place to stay so I went to a Holiday Inn Express, and the next day, I found the first, easiest thing that was something cheaper than 80 bucks a night, but it kind of resembles a nice freshman dorm, 15 by 12 feet, shared TV & kitchen outside my room, but I had my own shower and AC, which is a must in the constant 100 degree heat.

Lucky enough, another student from my program mentioned last week that he was having a hard time finding a one bedroom apartment. So we looked for a 2 bedroom to share and boy did we find a winner.

This place is just across the street from the Tec, which will cut down on my walking distance about 10 minutes each way, it has 24/7 security, Central Air Conditioning (Which is HUGE!) 2 bedrooms each with a shower and bathroom, Legit kitchen with fridge/freezer, microwave, and stove/oven, a nice living room with couches that are included, and a small study room! It is also right next to another student in our program so that will make carpooling easier too, since our classes are in a different building about 20 minutes by car away.

Overall, I would say that I am really enjoying my time here and I am very grateful to all the people who helped me along the way and helped me to get to where I am today.

Thank you for reading, hope you're doin great

Jarryd va a esperar

Yes, I'm going to wait. Patience is something that I am having to constantly work on here. There are many things that are exhausting: the constant 100 degree heat and humidity, the 4 hour long classes of Operations Management, Finance and Statistics that are taught in Spanish, the long, hungry hours put in outside of class in group work, studying, and homework, living in a new country and city and trying to get used to all of it.

What I am currently waiting on is getting my Visa process going. It is a big job to line up university forms, proofs of residency and dinero, copies of visa and passport and of course unsmiling pictures.

I got my unsmiling pictures taken last week and I mentioned to the lady who took them that it was the easiest part of the Visa process. Spoke too soon. She said that they would be open all day on Monday and there wasn't even a lunch hour that I had to worry about. Apparently not.

So hopefully I'll get that figured out tomorrow so I can move on to the next thing, getting in contact with some of the Rotary clubs in my area. A few weeks ago, during what apparently was lunch hour (hours...1-2:30 or 3!) I called some numbers of clubs I found on rotary.com, and left some messages hoping someone would call me back. No luck, but one of my friends showed me the hotel where 2 of the clubs meet, and it happens to be close to my school.

So far, I think I can say that I am settling in well. I am making friends with the other students in my program, I understand almost all of the classes. My Spanish is definitely improving and that's one of the main reasons I came. This city is legit and the university is amazing.

So all in all, I feel blessed and happy to be here and I am looking forward to keepin on keepin on.

Thanks for reading!

God bless!