M-Trek: GuateBelize - Part 1: Guatemala

The first highlight of my MBA: 10-day M-Trek to Guatemala and Belize

So what is a M-Trek?

M-Treks are outdoor adventure trips organized by the second year Michigan MBA students for first years.

Which trip did I choose?

I originally choose to go hiking, kayaking, fishing, and snorkeling in Honduras.

Unfortunately due to the coup in Honduras the school did not allow is to go on this trip.

Thanks to the great effort of our leaders we were offered an alternative trip to Guatemala and Belize.

(For those as ignorant as me: Belize is a small country in the Caribbean with approx. 300,000 inhabitants)

Who went there?

14 incoming students and 4 2nd year students from Germany, Israel, India and the US.

Rumors has it that one of the Americans is actually from Finland.

What did we do there?

Via Houston we flew into Guatemala City and took a small bus to Antigua where we spend our first couple of nights.

Looking around Guatemala City I thought, well this world is indeed 'flat'. Along main street Burger King is next to the Mercedes dealer and next to a Bayer factory.

However Antigua is very different. A beautiful small town.

It has a McDonald's, but it is arguably the most beautiful McDonald's in the world.

Having this surrounding all the time I may even become a fan of the golden arches! ;-)

The first morning in Guatemala I found out that German Tourists are really everywhere. Next door they would be watching German TV from 6 am to 8 am.

For the first hand coverage of Usain Bolts incredible new world record over 100 meters, I had to trade two hours of sleep.

But why did they not spend their vacation in Berlin at the Championships instead of ruining my sleep?!?

Inspired by Mr Bolt (and without steroids I might add) we spend our first day hiking up a volcano near Guatemala City.

The two highlights of that hike: Running down a field of old lava and standing right beside glowing new lava.

To run down a gravel field of old lava was a lot of fun and almost like skiing. Too sad they did not have a lift to immediately get up again! ;-)

To watch the glowing lava in the dark, from only a few feet away was sensational!

Thanks to our guide we all arrived safely at the bottom of the mountain, although we climbed down in complete darkness.

The manager kept reminding us to tip our guide, which was even proclaimed by a sign in his office "... we do not pay them very much!".

As it turned out, he did not pay them at all!

On our second day we visited a coffee plantation in Antigua.

Most impressive for someone like me, who does not like coffee:

The coffee was delicious!

Since I never drink it I cannot judge, but my classmates told me that this kind of coffee would be very different (read: better) then the coffee you get at Starbucks.

So I guess although I liked it, it will not change my coffee drinking habits (or lack of them).

Definitely the most memorable experience of the trip was an overnight bus ride from Antigua to Tikal. For western standards the seats in the bus were uncomfortable and it was not possible to recline them without jeopardizing newly formed friendships with people setting behind you. When we got on the bus I thought that was bad - well it got worst! :-)

When boarding the bus we all had to go through a security inspection which seemed reasonable considering that Guatemala City would not be "entirely safe" as we were told. Nevertheless the driver would stop some blocks away from the station just to let some random duds on the bus.

More then compliant with Western standards however, was the Air Condition - at least its ability to produce ridiculously low temperatures which made one classmate put his feet into his backpack. Others slept in their rain gear since the a/c would drop water on the passengers when the bus went around corners.

Unfortunately that water did not reach the trunk. In the trunk a hole got burned into a bag destroying several dresses. (but maybe this started the next fashion trend? - watch out Ed Hardy! ;-))

At the end of the night we (luckily all healthy and with rather more then less friendships) reached our destination: an AIRPORT!!! (I am not kidding!)

Nevertheless we had some fun moments along the way.

One, was a conversation between one tall and one rather small classmate.

Do you play basketball?

No, do you play mini-golf?

After reaching Tikal we immediately went to see the Maya ruins which were extremely impressive and more then worth this bus ride!

Besides these impressive buildings, I still amazed how rather small monkeys are able to make such a big noise. Oliver Kahn (for none soccer people: a German player often compared to a monkey) would be proud of them.

The rest of the day I enjoyed time at the pool and lessons in US college card games.

The next day, we would be heading to Belize.

Getting Started - Admin & Accounting

It has now been a few weeks since I have moved to Ann Arbor. I spend the majority of this time getting settled and taking care of administrative stuff. Moreover I also took an accounting course and enjoyed first parties with my classmates.

But I should probably start explaining where Ann Arbor is:

So Ann Arbor is a college town - home of the University of Michigan - with approximately 115,000 inhabitants. It is about a one hour drive from Detroit and four hours from Chicago. (given the choice drive to Chicago! ;-))

As a side note: Next to Ann Arbor is a town called Ypsilanti. However it is just a rumor that some fans of 'Die Linke' from 'Hessen' moved here. ;-)

The first week I was busy getting settled, buying furniture, a laptop, signing up for a cell phone plan etc.

Recurring issue: "This is not a US credit card, is it?"

This made some purchases a little more difficult: AT&T required a deposit, Apple would only hand me the laptop after American Express confirmed that I had a tendency to pay my bills.

Pleasant 'suprises' of the first week: The wonderful shopping hours (I always wonder how much more we Germans would buy if we were only offered the opportunity?!?), my ability to install

Windows on my Macbook (on the third attempt) and my iPhone.

I guess I have to apologize to some iPhone users since I so far thought that it is not really that great. Well, I was dead wrong - it is sensational. Arguably the best piece of electronic equipment I ever owned.

Moreover very entertaining while shopping in the mall: Retirees having aerobic lessons in the aisle of the mall - only in America - weird!

But the best news from the first weeks: My wonderful banker Delia managed to get me a US credit card. After she submitted the application I received a rejection letter ('lack of credit history') in a matter of days. Nevertheless I found a credit card in my mail a few days later. So I don't know what she did - but it worked! Now I guess I need another topic to talk about with US Retailers besides my 'strange German Credit Card'.

After taking care of most administrative matters I started to spend a fair amount of my time in my new home - "the Ross School of Business":

This brand-new, beautiful building is where I will spend countless hours in the next two years.

(probably to the extend that I will stop liking it)

The two main reasons that brought me to school before the actual start of the semester:

1.) the gym

2.) an accounting class

Considering the (quickly approaching) Michigan winter and that I am not a big fan of gyms and prefer to run/cycle outdoors, I figured I should start to slowly get used to using the gym.

So fare I am pretty successful, mostly thanks to a fellow German classmate with whom I went there several times.

However I spend the majority of my second week in an accounting class.

It was a fun time, great to meet some more classmates and good to get used to sitting in class again. What mad it most fun was the professor 'Dr. Dave'.

He is a really funny guy who calls himself the 'WMD' (Worlds Most Dangerous) Accountant.

I could not confirm yet, whether there is any connection between him and Arthur Anderson. ;-)

However the following joke he told in class may provide some evidence:

There was once a business owner who was interviewing people for a division manager position.

He decided to select the individual that could answer the question "how much is 2+2?"

The engineer said: "It lies between 3.98 and 4.02."

The attorney said: "In the case of Svenson vs. the State it was declared to be 4."

The trader asked: "Are you buying or selling?"

The accountant looked at the business owner, then got out of his chair to see it anyone was listening at the door. Then he returned and asked the business owner in a low voice: "What would you like it to be?"

Fortunately the accounting class was not too time consuming so I still found enough time arrange some things in my apartment.

I live in an area called 'Woodbury Gardens' where many Graduate Students are staying (I would guess 1/3 of my class). So far my apartment is still pretty empty (hence I spare you the sight of an empty apartment for now) - however my roommate, once he moved in with his huge reservoir of furniture will certainly change that!

'Woodbury Gardens' It is about 1,5 miles and a five minute bus ride from campus, with a bus stop and grocery store nearby.

So I should be able to get around without a car.

Especially since my roommate - exactly: He owns a car! :-)

So who is this roommate who will soon solve all my problems:

His name is Patrick (I could see a pattern here - the name of my last roommate: Patrick), he is an avid runner (no more pattern! ;-)) comes from the California, went to Stanford for undergraduate studies. In the past years he has worked for Bain in the Bay Area.

I can't wait till he (and his furniture and car ;-)) gets here!

Last but not least the most pleasant part of the first weeks - meeting classmates and my first parties in Ann Arbor. :-)

I had a great time hanging out with them.

They are very interesting, smart and ambitious, but at the same time really down to earth (which I guess is not given for MBA students at a top school).

The city of Ann Arbor offers some very nice places to go out to. A few even sell German beer or brew their own.

Helpful in staying away from Bud and Miller light. ;-)

So we will surely have a lot of fun the next two years!