Welcome to Cuernavaca

I have made it safely to Cuernavaca! Yesterday was a really productive and exciting day.

Dr. HB and I ate breakfast at our hotel. They had lots of American-type food, but also some Mexican stuff. I had potatoes with cactus and bacon! haha We went to our meeting with Cotton Inc., and got to meet Jaime and Olivia who are the two people that will be helping me get in contact with factories to interview for my cotton research. They were so helpful, and have suggested that one of them accompany me on the visits that I make. This made both Dr. HB and I feel a lot better, as that was a conern of ours as I do not need to be wandering around Mexico City (where most of the factories are) alone. They suggested we may be able to do dinner meetings, which I guess is a common way to do business in Mexico.

After leaving Cotton Inc. we made our journey to Cuernavaca via bus. It took about an hour and a half. The city is beautiful, and the hotel we are staying in is absolutly amazing - Hosteria Las Quintas. I called my "mama" (Tere...the mother of the family I am going to be living with) when I got in, and she was so excited to hear from me. After talking for a bit she said "I'm sending kisses your way...look forward to seeing you tomorrow!" I can't wait to meet her and her husband Alfonso.

We decided to begin our market research and went to Plaza Cuernavaca to look at their stores and analyze their visual merchandising. We also looked at the country of origin for the products and suprisingly so many of them were made in Mexcio (espeically in JC Pennys). JC Pennys and SEARS were about the only two stores that were the same as what we have in the states but the merchandising is awful compared to our standards. There are clothes everywhere...in the asiles where you walk, and jam packed into each section. The electronics were right next to the baby clothes, so the product placement was a little off as well.

After leaving Plaza Cuernavaca we went to dinner at La India Bonita, which was reccomended to us by Hosteria Las Quintas. The food was decent and I had my first Corona of the trip. We were seated in the gardens, and the weather was simply perfect. About 73 degrees and overcast. After returning from dinner we came back to the hotel and I was able to check in via Skype phone with some friends. Dr. HB and I had drinks and dessert at the hotel, and enjoyed trying to figure out how to explain to the waiters what we meant by "dessert" because neither of us knew what the word was! haha

I am feeling so comfortable and at home here. I get to meet Tere and Alfonso - my family - today at 3:00p.m. after Dr. HB and I do some more market research -- this time at a higher end shopping center called the Galariea. I am excited to see my room and get everything unpacked and settled in. Tomorrow I take my entrance exam at Universidad International, and I'm looking forward to getting the tour of my school and maybe seeing a little more of Cuernavaca.