And the Packers Win!

Sunday, February 6, 2011:

Thanks to the late night last night, I woke up relatively late this morning to catch up on sleep. I don't remember exactly what time, but it was nice. I felt like having a chill day, so I decided to get ahead on my Intro to Cine class and watch Moulon Rouge. I've never watched that movie all the way through before, so I never realized that it's really good. I guess that's why our professor assigned it... who would have guessed...

The highlight of the day though was the Superbowl party. Our sculpture professor who is one of the funniest and goofiest gringos alive invited Martin and I over to his friend's house to watch the game. His friend is named David Finnigan (obviously white too) who is married to an Ecuadorian and has an importing business down here. This guy has a "most interesting man in the world life:"

1. After college he worked as a tennis pro teaching the wealthy
2. One of his gay clients convinced him to go to NY to pursue modeling and acting
3. So he did, and was successful at that for numerous years
4. He met his Ecuadorian wife in the Hampton's
5. They discussed whether they wanted to live in the US, Europe, or Ecuador
6. They picked Ecuador and now own a million dollar company importing salmon, sushi and other goods 

So, as you can probably guess by now, his house was GORGEOUS. It looked like something out of L.A.: curved walls and windows everywhere, a putting green in the front yard, white furniture everywhere and definitely the nicest appliances and building materials I've seen in all of Ecuador. I'd say a pretty nice place to watch the Superbowl! The party consisted of light talk of all different topics (movies, politics, sports, typical other guy talk), Howard (our sculpture teacher) BBQing some wings, eating, and watching the game on his 72" high definition television. It was epic and WE ARE IN ECUADOR!

I just have to mention this before I end this post, our sculpture teacher is the funniest guy alive just because he is so goofy. I love him. His son and friend were shooting him with air soft guns, and he was just laughing. Then, he responded by pattling ping pong balls at his son and his friend's heads. In general, whenever he did something, his laugh was like whatever happened was the funniest thing in the world. Martin and I broke out into crying laughter just from his demeanor about 4-5 times that day. I'm lucky if I can get one of those laughs once a month, but I got 4-5 in one day... and don't even get me started on the way he hunches over his steering wheel in his 1990 classic Jeep. Halarious. Good day...

Ciao,

Michael

Strawberry Fields Forever

Saturday, February 5, 2011: 

Today, I spoke with Mike LaBelle one of my mentors who was a business honors and graduated in 2008. He actually was one of the ones who interviewed me to get in. He told me that he'd contact some people at the firm and try to lobby for me because he knew I am a hard worker. Seriously, he's one of the nicest guys I've met. When I say he's willing to help, he'll go the extra mile for you just because he wants to. 

Next, I basically did e-mails for a lot of the day which really dried out my mind. I can only think about what if I didn't have internet in this house? If I got 30-50 e-mails a day that I could only really check every other day or less, I'd go blind from reading and sorting everything! After this, I decided to take a break and talk with my beautiful girlfriend Nicole. She cheered me up. I'm sure it didn't work both ways though, since I was such a slug after all that time in front of the computer. 

Eventually, I HAD to get out of the house. It probably doesn't happen as much now to all you Illinois people because you'd rather stay inside than freeze in the "snow-pocolypse" that's happening there at about this time, but when it's sunny and warm outside, you get "inside sickness" pretty fast. So, I picked myself up, threw on some respectable cloths and walked near the university, where I was a loser and ate a hamburger by myself. I didn't care, I was outside! 

Tonight, we met up with Laura who was hanging out with her ex-boyfriend's cousin (her ex-boyfriend was Ecuadorian). They were in a bar called "Strawberry Fields Forever" and yes, it was a Beatles bar. You know what's awesome about a Beatles bar?! You're bound to run into people with AWESOME accents! And we did! We met a group of Australians, and most noticeably in the group a guy named Elliot Small. The girls were all in love: dark skin, hansom, funny, and sweet accent. So he kept them talking for a while and off of my hands. I felt like I was back on my Europe trip meeting people from all around the world just traveling to live life! He had been gone for 5 months. That's insane. I was so exhausted after 3 weeks of constant travel and he has been gone for 5 months... props. 

We then ventured over to a club named Oceana and the Aussies got lost on the way over there, but no worries I already had the info to connect on Facebook. At Oceana, it was a mix of techno and latin music. We all danced around and had a great time! Gringo-land can be pretty descent sometimes I learned tonight... 

Ciao,

Michael

CRAZIEST Pool Party I've Ever Experienced -- MTV Anyone?

Friday, February 4, 2011: 

This morning, I had a scheduled phone call with Holly O'Dell, a very smart employee of Mercer (Mr. Van De Voort recommended speaking with her and got me in contact). She told me about her history at Mercer (consulting firm) and how she started as a technical consultant then switched over to sales and has been very successful. I'm just trying to learn about different industries at the moment to find out what I'd like to do with my life for the first couple years of college. I'm looking for somewhere where the learning curve is fast, and I can learn great analysis skills while working with intelligent people who will raise my own performance and knowledge.  

Next, I went to fill my hours for my clay modeling class. My skull was already finished, so I decided to work on something different. I picked a beautiful human artform to mold. It took my interest so much, that instead of just staying for an hour or two like normal, I stayed for three. The girls that were sitting at the nearby table enjoyed watching me mold my creations and the professors supported my artwork fully with input on symmetry and correct curves. After, I went to go buy six more movies for $10 -- my mini Redbox is growing by the week. 

It was also Ebony's 21st birthday today (one of the girls in our exchange group), so our program director took everyone out for ice cream and paid for all of it. I don't think I'd want my 21st birthday to be here because it doesn't really mean much. You can drink at 18 and you're not even allowed to own a gun at all (you can buy a pistol at 21 in the US). It was fun still though. 

MUST READ BELOW if nothing else:

Now, to the highlight of this entry. Pool party! José, Amanda and I all went to a pool party tonight. We had to take a 40 minute taxi ride to José's house where we (aka I) talked to his parents in Spanish about everything for about an hour. Mostly business stuff including what I'm studying, his dad's job, Warren Buffett, other rich people and their actions... Amanda and José were getting impatient and wanted to leave while I kept talking. What can I say? It was awesome practice! We finally took off the the party and we drove up to the house. Like most other houses in Ecuador, it didn't look like much from the outside because it was surrounded by a huge wall so you couldn't see anything. Graffiti was lapped up on all the walls because it wasn't in a gated community, so this made it look that much more unimpressive. Although, we pulled up the street and there were about 50 cars lined up along a road made for 1 lane of cars, but 2 fit because people were pulled up on the sidewalk. We walked through the gates and this place was HUGE. We excitedly walked around to the back of the house and our jaws sunk another inch every step we took. In front of us was one cabana house, to the left was the top of the underground indoor pool. There were about 2 feet of window around the edges of the top, so we peered in. Reggaeton music was blaring with smart lights shooting around all the walls it looked like people were being surrounded by techno-color lightning bugs. There was basically a club in this person's indoor underground pool. (Sorry, no pictures because I don't take my camera out at nights -- it's dangerous)

Before we entered, we walked past the tennis court and one more bigger bath house. Downstairs in the pool room, there was a DJ, parents working the bar, the bathroom was like a YMCA with multiple showers and lockers were along the walls by the pool to put your things when swimming (nobody used those). There was also one outdoor hot tub and an indoor one too -- both built in. Everyone was dancing around the pool and nobody was actually swimming. We all danced for a bit and finally that time in the night came when people started getting routy. Two guys picked up a girl and tossed her into the pool. This started a domino affect of people throwing each other in throughout the rest of the night. This included José and I tossing Amanda in. I've had plenty of practice with all the years at my cottage being thrown in, King of the dock and throwing in all the little munchgins that run around the beach every day.  Amanda didn't mind as long as we took off her boots first. The night ended with José and Amanda becoming better friends, and I made friends during this time with another group of Ecuadorians. When we left, we dropped off Amanda at her house soaking wet then went to McDonald's for a quick bite to eat. Oh, and they have a guard wearing a bullet proof vest standing at the door at McDonald's... nothing more to say. 

Ciao,

Michael

Learning and Teaching Every Day

Wednesday, February 2, 2011: 
Today I had my first talk with Alex, one of my investment banking mentors. I found out that I was the #2/3 person out of all the people he interviewed, which I don't think is too bad. That just means I need to practice a little more and work on the tips he gave me, and I'll be bumped up to #1 for other interviews. He also gave some advice for my upcoming William Blair interview. 

Thursday, February 3, 2011:
Today, I found out that William Blair isn't doing phone interviews. It's a shame that the cover letter wasn't read, it could have saved time, but I wasn't about to give up right away. It was a big enough step getting my foot in the door to even get a spot originally (a spot that is usually for juniors). So, as soon as I heard the news, I contacted the people I knew at Blair and an alum of Blair, along with my other mentors (basically anyone who could have input to help). They said they'd try to get me a first interview. I understand that with a position like this, that there are so many qualified candidates and competition that they probably won't take the time seeking someone out that they cannot meet in person, but it's better than nothing and worth a shot.

Next, I went to all my classes and after class headed over to my Ju Jit Su professor's studio that's near my house to meet up and get to Quito to teach my class. When I got there, he was just starting a class and asked if I wanted to train, so obviously I said yes. I was happily surprised that I was submitting basically everyone in the class with the exception of the professor. They were all beginners too, but it boosted my confidence. After class, Daniel (my professor), drove me to Quito where I taught an hour long take-down class. It was interesting meeting more people that liked fighting in some form and wanted to know what I had to say. At the end of the class, I think we were all friends because they all thought it was a great class and very useful. I just taught basic level changes, creating an angle, and a single leg to take down. I'm thinking one move a week until they know 3 or 4, then teach series. I got paid $20 and made some friends. It was a success.

Odd Match-up and Valentine's Day prep

Tuesday, February 1, 2011:

Today, something very odd happened. Yesterday, Dean Hedeman asked if there was anyone who would like a mentor from the investment banking sector, so I responded with a "yes." I thought this would come in especially handy since I have another interview on the 7th. So who responds back and says they want to be my mentor? The person who I JUST interviewed with and didn't get the job. I thought it was odd, but an incredible opportunity to learn how to be better and it's someone who I know has interviewed a TON of people for his firm, and is very experienced, so it will be a big help. 

I went to class today, nothing too special that I can remember. Fun as always, but exhausting since it's a Tuesday and I go from 10:00am to 5:30pm. When I got home though, I was charged with the determination to hammer out Nicole's Valentine's Day gift. It took me about 5 hours in all with tech problems, but I think she'll like it :)

I just need to wake up early tomorrow to send it and try to get it there on Valentine's Day. I'm crossing my fingers and praying. 

Ciao,

Michael

First Interview results

Monday, January 31, 2011:

The main even that happened today was that I did not get the job for the internship this summer working for the investment banker on side projects. Although, I did find out that I got offered an interview working in the analyst program for another investment bank (William Blair & Company), a position in which usually only juniors get. So I'm ecstatic about this opportunity! I was still pretty bummed about the results of the other interview for a lot of the day and it took about 30 minutes of music, 30 minutes of play time with Camille (4 or 5 year old grandson of my host parents -- one of the cutest kids ever), and 2 hours of Ju Jit Su to get me out of the funk. It didn't last any longer than this day though, so that's good.

Ciao,
Michael

MINDO!!! Round 1...

Sunday, January 30, 2011

1. 6:00am: Wake up to be at the university at 7:00am
2. 6:30am: Ready to leave to university
3. 6:32am: check phone and realize José now says we're not leaving until 8:00am
4. 6:34am: take a chill pill and identify with Amanda for waking up way earlier than need be. Then proceed to check e-mail and be productive some how
5. 7:30am: Start walking to university
6. 8:00am: Arrive at university and nobody is there
7. 8:15am: Amanda and Roya show up
8. 8:30am: José shows up with 3 friends but still waiting for the other friends (Gabriella, Paula, "Passion" [a guy])
9. 9:30am: Finally leave because we come to the conclusion that the other friends aren't showing up = Ecuadorian time

On the ride to Mindo, it was primarily all Spanish. We were driving through some of the most narrow and curvy roads you could imagine. For some reason, Ecuadorians always seem to be racing or they just can't stand someone being in front of them, because they will try to pass on a one way road just to get in front of your vehicle and not go any faster when they're in front. Instead of being scared out of my mind about the road, I sat in a seat facing the back, buckled my seat belt and enjoyed Paula's CD of amazing 90's boy/girl band music. All the time, we're zig zagging through hills, mountains, volcanos, all covered with plush plant life, monkey filled trees, vines, and much more. In the morning, the mist started rising from the forest and it looked like a scene out of King Kong. I had a craving to go searching for him, but that didn't happen. Then, this big giant green bean looking plant caught my eye, so when we stopped the car, we bought it and started chowing down. It was filled with seeds about the size of your palm covered with a furry white coat of some sort. They looked like little mice; you eat the white coating then throw away the seed. It was interesting and tasty. 

Finally, we arrived in Mindo where we first went and got lunch at this very unique restaurant. Everything was made out of trees cut from the forest including the chairs, tables, and the building itself. We all ordered our meals, and when we were waiting, we were lucky enough to see a stray dog fight. It was pretty gruesome. They jumped at each other and were biting at each other's necks. One dog had a gray muzzle and looked like it could have rabies. This went on until one of the owners of the dogs came and ripped the two apart. 

We then went to go pick our extreme sports for the day. First up was zip lining. It was a lot like what I did in Costa Rica, zipping through the rain forest at all different levels (10 lines). Although the difference was that this zip line course had no safety chords. There was only one chord, and if it broke, sorry... (in Costa Rica, there were always 2 chords for security). It was great though because we could do a bunch of different positions that we couldn't do in Costa Rica. For instance, upside down, superman, and butterfly were all favorites within our group. 

After zip lining, the temperature dropped and we realized that we should have done that second. Our next adventure was tubing in the rapids. The water was bitter cold along with the air we were standing in. It didn't help that mosquitos were attacking us as if they were capitalists and we were sweating oil. Let me describe these tubes. There were six tubes strapped around one large middle tube, and you had to stratal yourself sitting between two of the smaller tubes while the two guides looked scared to death pushing off rocks and making sure we didn't hit anything that could potentially knock us off and sweep us away. The conditions were not amazing what so ever, but as soon as we started, it was one of the top thrills of my life with the exception of sky diving. We went over HUGE rocks, around branches and embraced the elevated level of the river raging faster than normal. As it ended, we all got out, not paying any attention our shivering limbs, just expressing the thrill that we just experienced... and it only cost $6!! The people who didn't want to pay the $10 definitely missed out.

It was then time to get home, but before, we stopped for some dinner where I ate a fried fish (head connected to it and all). It was great day that ended with a little nap, fun conversation, and watching the mist descend back into the cover of the forest. I'm excited to come back to Mindo in 2 weeks with the whole exchange group to experience even more of the thrills that it has to offer. I don't think I'll do zip lining again, but I'm definitely doing the rapids.

Ciao,

Michael

Follow up

Saturday, January 29, 2011:

Today was more of a bum day. I don't remember much, but I do remember that I bought 6 more movies for $10. Great deal! I found out today that the car that we were going in to Mindo tomorrow was in an accident, so we had had to rent a bus. José took care of all that. The bad thing though is that we now have to pay about $10 a piece to rent this big mini-bus. I don't mind, but apparently some of the other people who were previously interested in going cared because 3-4 of them dropped out. C'mon, it's $10 and you're in Ecuador. I can understand that after being in a cheap country for a while, you start to form a similar mentality, but personally, I still believe that we should take advantage of the opportunity and that experiences such as these are an INCREDIBLE opportunity. I'm REALLY excited for tomorrow, especially since we're going with a group of people in which the Ecuadorians outnumber the gringos. Also,  this day was the one that I started to buy my own stash of food so that I wasn't constantly raiding the fridge here and coming out empty handed. This solved two problems: 1. My family doesn't notice how much I eat and 2. I can satisfy my cravings.

Ciao,
Michael 

Friday, January 28, 2011: Live Music in Plaza Foche

It's been over a week since I've blogged, but that's just because it's been so much fun and not enough time to document it all. I won't be able to go extremely specific into all of it because it would take too long, but I'll give some recaps.

Friday, January 28, 2011:
Today I had an interview with an investment banker. It took me about 3 hours previous to bring my nerves down because it was my first banking interview which are supposed to be the hardest interviews in the job market. The job was not for at his firm, but he was working on some side projects for the summer and the work was investment bank oriented. It was over the phone obviously and I thought I did relatively well. One of the questions was, "How would you value the entire rubber tire market in the United States for 2011?..." yeah, investment banking questions are not your normal interviewing questions, but that's not even the oddest one I've heard.

Later that night, myself and two friends decided to go out in Quito. It has been a week or two since I've actually gone out and I felt I was due. We went to La Plaza Foch which is basically gringo land -- where all the tourists go (but a lot of Ecuadorians go there too). It was my first time there because all the other times I went out with locals who weren't feeling the touristy area. It was fun! We ended up finding a restaurant/bar that was playing live music, but the music was Ecuadorians playing American rock. It wasn't exactly what I was expecting, but it was still great. We ordered some of the best tapas I've had in my life! Some sort of meat balls with a yellowish sauce, and then another dish with a kind of meat -- this was absolutely incredible. We found out later that 2 of the band members went to our university, so maybe I'll see them around later. Like always, to end up the night, we ended up bargaining down a taxi driver to give us a ride home. $10 this time. The rest of this story is on my last post with the taxi picture.

On to the next day, ciao,

Michael