New Job

On Thursday I started a new part-time job. I really wasn't getting enough work hours at the lawyers, so I had been looking for another part-time job since June. Fortunately, one of the client companies of the International Business Development Center, which is a part of the Free Trade Alliance where I do my internship in the afternoon, was looking for a part-time employee and my boss referred me to him. The company is called GlasIT Consulting, Corp. It is an IT consulting company based in Monterrey, Mexico. The company entered into the IBDC "incubator" program which is for foreign companies wanting to expand their market into the U.S. Client companies are assisted with everything from market research for their product to physical office space and training programs. My work will consist of several different things: researching, contacting and recruiting potential clients in the U.S., coordinating technical interviews and meetings between consultants in Mexico and customers in the U.S., and serving as the point of contact between GlasIt consultants and consulting recruiters (negotiating salaries, gathering details about projects, matching consultants to specific jobs, etc.). The other part of my job is translating and revising various documents (consultant resumes, website, etc.) and assessing the English proficiency of consultants wanting to work in the U.S. My boss' name is Jesus. He is in his late 40's early 50's and is very friendly and patient. The first 2 days of work were a little overwhelming because not only was I trying to understand what exactly the company's core business was and what their expectations were for my position, but also I had to get accustomed to switching my brain back over to Spanish mode and learn many new technology related vocab terms. Luckily Jesus was understanding of the fact that I'm not a techy and emphasized that my job is to represent the company and build relationships with American clients through my knowledge of both languages and cultures. So far I am enjoying my job and am happy to have the opportunity to use my Spanish on a day to day basis.

The GlasIT office is several cubibles located inside the IBDC center at the Port of San Antonio. Although this location is pretty far from our apartment (it takes me 25 minutes to drive there in the mornings and about 35 minutes to get home in the afternoons), I just stay there all day and do my internship at a different cubicle in the same office. The office environment is very different from the Alliance's downtown location in the International Center. Even though it's not as nice, my supervisor (the director of the IBDC) told me that he thinks I will like working here because it's much less office work and more opportunity to interact with the client companies. Besides GlasIT some of the other companies at the IBDC are: Archer&Moreno Realty- a real estate and property management company, Continental Green Produce- importers of avocado and producers of guacamole and other avocado products and Gamea- a company that designs and sells promotional material such as plastic coca cola tables or corona umbrellas.

I work at GlasIT in the mornings from 8:30-12:30 and then do my internship from 1:00-5:00. On the weekends I work for the lawyer, anywhere from 8-15 hours. I began an office/file reorganization project at the beginning of the summer and told him that I would finish it, so we'll see how much longer I'll be working weekends. It's fine for now and the extra money helps a lot.

Housewarming Party

Saturday we hosted our first house party. We grilled hamburgers and bratwursts out by the pool. We also had cucumber and lime, fresh watermelon, chips and of course homemade chocolate chips and brownies.

We moved the party inside around 8 since it was still hot outside and the mosquitoes were starting to eat us alive.

I forgot to take pictures during our BBQ, but I took pictures of the apartment today for ya'll to see. They're not the best quality, but you get the idea ;-)

Work

As many of you know, one of the reasons we decided to move down to SA was because I was offered an internship with the San Antonio Free Trade Alliance. The Alliance is a public/ private organization that strives to make San Antonio a competitive international trade center. They're involved in numerous activities such as assisting foreign companies in expanding their market, importing/ exporting, trade shows, organizing trade mission, and policy and advocacy work related to international trade. I am working there part-time in the afternoons and am currently doing market research for a Mexican company looking to export home decor products, and conducting research for their logistics committee to see ways in which the city can improve its competitiveness and attract more foreign investment.

A couple mornings per week, I work for a lawyer doing admin type work in his downtown office. It's nice because the law offices are right across from the International Center where the Alliance office is located.

Julio is working at an Auto Zone a few miles from the house and rides his motorcycle to work everyday. He doesn't like the store as much as the one in Colorado because it's smaller and disorganized, but he does like his co-workers.

San Antonio, TX

After the wedding, we celebrated with a mini-honeymoon in Steamboat, CO. We had a wonderful time relaxing at the hot springs, horseback riding, river rafting and "hiking." Taking the motorcycle up there was quite the adventure, especially when it rained the entire way home.

On June 30th, we packed up dad's 4Runner, loaded the motorcycle into a trailer and hit the road. Dad drove us down to San Antonio where we stayed with our friends Danielle and Brent until our apartment was available on the 10th of July.

Thanks to all the generous gifts we received from the wedding, we were able to fully furnish our new apartment and we absolutely love it! We were a little concerned initially about being in a one bedroom, but the apartment is actually quite spacious and is the perfect size for our first home together.

Our apartment is in a relatively quite residential area with lots of trees and a beautiful pool. We're only about 15 minutes away from both of our workplaces and just blocks away from a shopping center with restaurants, movie theaters, grocery store, etc.

After being here almost a month, Julio is finally starting to adjust to the heat... or at least I think he is since I haven't heard him complain about it in a couple days lol ;-) I can't blame him though- it's been over 100 degrees everyday since we got here except for the other day when it rained, which actually made it worse because the humidity was unbearable. Oh well, it will all pay off come November when we'll be lounging poolside while all you Coloradoans are knee deep in snow!!

-- Above are some pictures from the new extension of the River Walk. Cat, Ben and I went on a boat tour. They commissioned a local artist to build various sculptures and other art work beneath the bridges and on the river banks.

Wedding

Thank you to all who attended our wedding or sent us wedding wishes through cards, e-mails, etc. After many months of planning, we were truly happy with the outcome of our wedding ceremony and reception on June 20, 2009. We had so much fun visiting with family and friends and were so grateful to have you all there to celebrate such a special day with us. You can view all of the pictures from the wedding at www.mpix.com. Warning: there are A LOT of photos lol

Welcome to our first blog :-)

In an effort to keep in touch with all our family and friends, we decided to start a blog to keep everyone updated on our activities, adventures, etc. We hope this helps us to feel closer to those of you that are far away.

--Above is a picture of our motorcycle trailer we drove down attached to dad's 4Runner--