Author Archives: yourstrulyjulieg

We landed safely in Mexico City this afternoon!  Everything went very smoothly.  We had a driver waiting for us at the airport and it was about a 35 minute drive to CIMMYT headquarters.  We checked into the dorm rooms and they were so much nicer than we expected!  Stacey and I are sharing a suite.  We each have our own bedroom/bathroom and share a living room/kitchen area.  It’s perfect… except a little on the hot side.  We can’t figure out how to work the air conditioning and it is HOT.  Stacey just commented that “even our chocolate is melting!”

We were very hungry when we arrived, so we took a taxi to a shopping center about 5 minutes away.  We had some delicious Mexican food… Stacey had chicken tostadas and I had pozole (yummy Mexican soup).  We also found a nearby supermarket to buy some snacks.  The weather here was a little chilly today and rained this evening, a nice change from the hot weather in Dallas and Phoenix.  Tomorrow we don’t have any big plans, except to meet our main contact.  The real busy work days will start on Monday.

I’ll be posting photos soon.  Goodnight from Mexico!

Yours Truly, Julie G

I’m off to my next adventure!  While I was a student at Thunderbird, I always wanted to participate in a Thunderbird Emerging Markets Laboratory (TEM Lab).  Lucky for me, Thunderbird was looking for strong Spanish speakers for the project in Mexico!  I will be working as an independent consultant with a team of Thunderbird students for 6 weeks.

About our project: Our client is CIMMYT, an international organization focused on corn and wheat productivity.  We will be making recommendations for a public-private partnership.  This project requires a deep understanding of the complex partnerships in the agricultural industry of Mexico.  We will be holding personal meetings with many of the stakeholders to help us develop the most beneficial recommendations.  Public-private partnerships are receiving a lot of attention in Mexico because they are currently being integrated into the legal system.   

Who are the consultants? We are a diverse bunch!  3 Americans, 1 Colombian, and 1 Mexican.  Our expertise areas include finance, accounting, marketing, and project management.  All of us have experience working in Latin America.

This week we we’ve been researching and preparing a presentation for Thunderbird faculty and staff about our project.  We’ll be departing for Mexico City on Saturday morning.  Stay tuned for more updates!

Yours Truly, Julie G