WeightWatchers

En España, cuando escuchamos sobre obesidad pensamos en países como Estados Unidos, porque nosotros seguimos “una dieta mediterránea” ¿cierto?, pues ya no más. Hoy en día, el 15% de los españoles son obesos y el 37% tienen sobrepeso. Pareciera que todos esos restaurantes de comida rápida a los que vamos, están influyendo un poco más en nuestras vidas de lo que pensábamos.

Hay quienes creen que el problema con la obesidad es que “la moda” es estar delgada, pero no es así. La obesidad es el detonante de muchas enfermedades cardiovasculares, hipertensión, infartos, enfermedades respiratorias, artritis y hasta algunos tipos de cáncer, sin embrgo, no se le da la importancia necesaria hasta que estas enfermedades aparecen y todo a causa de la falta de conocimiento. No estamos acostumbrados a pensar en lo que comemos y los efectos que esto puede tener en nuestro cuerpo.

No se trata de estar delgado u obeso, si no de estar “SALUDABLE”, y para esto, no es necesario pensar en aquella tan temida palabra “dieta”; ya que recurrir a estas famosas dietas, únicamente nos hará perder peso de manera rápida y en cuanto la dejemos, los kilos regresarán más rápido de lo que se fueron. Estamos hablando de un cambio en tu estilo de vida. Aprender a tomar decisiones correctas a la hora de comer. No se trata de comer lechuga todo el día, si no de saber ¿Qué? y ¿Cuándo? comer. Para ser saludables, necesitamos también ser activos, piensa en un coche, un clásico, precioso, con vestiduras de piel, ni un solo rasguño, pero que no has movido en años, puede ser que cuando al fin quieras usarlo, no funcione tan bien como esperabas. Pues algo así sucede con nuestro cuerpo. Es indispensable mantenernos activos y en movimiento para seguir funcionando correctamente.

Así que “cambiar tu estilo de vida”, suena ahora como una prioridad ¿no es así?, pero siempre encontraremos mil excusas: “No tengo tiempo”, “Llego muy cansado del trabajo”, “En mi cafetería no venden nada saludable”, “Necesito que alguien más empiece conmigo”, etc. Siendo sinceros ninguna de estas excusas es válida, porque WeightWatchers te lleva de la mano para que este cambio en tu estilo de vida no sea tan difícil. No sólo aprendes a tomar decisiones alimenticias con la ayuda de monitoras especializadas, además cuentas con apoyo de millones de personas en todo el mundo que te entienden y que no dudarán en apoyarte para seguir con el programa. Personas con intereses y actividades similares, que te pueden decir cómo han logrado llevar esta vida saludable en su entorno.

WeightWatchers ha cambiado la vida de muchas personas, que como tú, tenían una meta fija pero no sabían como llegar a ella. Roma no se hizo en un día, pero sí tuvieron que empezar un día. Empieza hoy a construir ese imperio de salud en tu cuerpo para verte y sentirte bien.

Calor de mamá

Este fin de semana vino mi mami a visitarme. Es impresionante cuanto puedes luchar por tener libertades que en casa no tenías, por tener ese sentimiento de independencia que muchas veces se pierde al estar en casa, pero una vez que la tienes, cuando estás con esa persona que tanto quieres, con la que tantas peleas has tenido y que tanto te prohibía, sientes una satisfacción, una seguridad y un amor, que nada puede reemplazar.

En mi blog he hablado mucho de lo importante que es conseguir tu sueños y luchar por lo que quieres y es mi obligación decir que esta mentalidad la he adquirido de mi ejemplo a seguir. La mujer que más admiro en ese mundo. Mi mamá.

Muchas veces escuchamos historias de personas que empezaron desde cero y fueron abriéndose camino por la vida. Pues bien, aunque sean historias inspiradoras, no puedo relacionarme mucho con ellas, después de todo, ¿qué es cero? Para algunas personas empezar de cero puede ser empezar sin ser millonario, pero con suficientes oportunidades, mientras que para otras empezar de cero puede significar otra cosa muy distinta.

El ejemplo que yo tengo es cercano y me ha afectado directamente, por lo cual, puedo decir con toda certeza que la persona que más amo y admiro en este mundo es mi madre. Puede que ella no sea perfecta, pero entre todos sus defectos y virtudes me ha demostrado lo mucho que me quiere y que haría cualquier cosa por ayudarme a cumplir mis sueños, lo cual me motiva a ser mejor cada día y tal vez algún día, ella esté tan orgullosa de mi como yo lo estoy de ella.

En fin, mucha independencia, pero no hay como estar con mamá.

The sport of job hunting

I have been here for a while now, and I need a job, waking everyday and having nothing to do is definitely not exciting at all. I hate house chores, and I don’t want to keep doing them, so I started searching for a job.

When doing so, there are several steps you need to follow, first, writing your resume, I had mine ready, because I am one of those geeks that follow instructions and I was once told you should always be updating your resume so that when you need it, it is ready. Anyway, my resume was ready, so I decided to post it in one of those websites for jobs, (infojobs), but they made me write it all over again with their format. Well, copying and pasting is not that bad I guess. Then I started applying to every single marketing internship that I found, which of course are not a lot.

Then I started receiving calls for the interviews, I will not mention the names, for respect to the companies. The first one was with an advertising company that worked with banks, but they said no because I had too much experience… excuse me? Did you not read my empty resume?... they said that the chores they wanted the intern to do were to basic, what was it? Serving coffee?, because if that is the case, then yeah, fair enough, I might be overqualified.

Second interview, a company that works in drinks and snacks, this one went great, HR in there are amazing and I fit their profile incredibly, we had some team exercises, and we talked about ourselves and watched a presentation, that of course made us want to work there. Then we had a one on one interview with someone from the HR department. That one went awesome as well. Everything was so good, that I got a call the same day to tell me to go back for an interview with the marketing team, so I did. Yeah… well that one didn’t go so well. I guess they didn’t like my vision, because they showed me some graphics, and asked me where would I invest, and that was it. Never heard from them again.

Third interview, with a company on pharmaceuticals, now this ones were mean, first they call me to go and have a test, with basic stuff, maths, reading comprehension, and things like that. This was just the first filter, which I pass, so I got a call saying that I could go the day after for an interview with someone from HR, so I did, and I passed. Then they called me again for another interview with the marketing department, and this time I think I did good, however, it ended up because they needed someone who knew Catalan, and of course I didn’t. Now, WHY would they make me go so many times if I said clearly since the very beginning that I do not speak Catalan?

Well, this have been my few experiences so far, but I am still working on it, on the mean time, here are some tips to prepare for your interviews:

Always dress for the occasion and watch your body language, these things say more than your mouth

Keep your answers concise, unless they ask you to develop

Include quantifiable data, saying that you helped increase sales is good, but if you say that you helped increase sales by 20% from last years revenue, it is even better. Go into detail when talking about accomplishments.

Repeat your strengths, and relate them to the department’s goals and how they can benefit from you.

Remember to prepare your strengths, but more important, situations where you have used them successfully

Do your research on the website, and when you are in the interview, visualize yourself as part of the team, and let them visualize you as part of it as well, use their names and products or services for examples. (Just be careful that they can’t be misunderstood)

Always ask questions. Prepare them in advance, and look for opportunities to ask them during the interview. DO NOT ASK ABOUT BENEFITS OR SALARY. The types of questions you ask and the way you ask them can make a huge impression on the interviewer.

Maintain a conversational flow.

Keep an interview journal, I know how this sounds, but it is a great way to write things down right after the interview that you might forget otherwise. Review your presentation, questions you wish you had asked, what you would do different next time, etc.

It is consider polite to send a brief, concise thank you letter to the person that interviewed you. Restate your skills in that letter and why they should hire you.

Studying in Spain

I came to Spain to do a master in marketing, and even though I love Barcelona, and its culture, it was hard finding a uni in here. First of all, when you are looking into coming to study in Barcelona you need to remember that in here they speak Catalan, yes I know, they also speak Spanish, but they prefer Catalan, and they expect you to learn it. With that said, the official universities have a lot of professors that will speak in Catalan, even when some of the students do not understand it. It is fair, it is their country, their rules, however if you don’t want to learn this language, you are better off going to a private school that will assure you the classes will be given to you in Spanish.

At first, I wanted to learn Catalan, to integrate better, but it is not that easy, plus, during class, it is CRAZY, yes, professors will talk in Spanish, but you can’t do anything about those students that want to speak in Catalan, even when they know you are not understanding. This is one of the problems some other girls from Latin America and I have been going through. At the beginning I thought it was EXTREMELY RUDE on their side, however, I understand now that they do not realize they are doing it, for them it is just normal. It is like when I am in a place where I am supposed to speak in English, but I know someone else in there speaks Spanish, and suddenly I will find myself speaking to him/her in Spanish, without noticing. Anyway, this is just one of the few problems I have been facing over here, especially during class.

It is funny how nowadays people with a master’s degree are just like people with a college degree a few years ago. It is still not a must, but in order to move forward, you need one, otherwise walls start appearing. It is sad though that due to the recession, that high level of education can’t be backed up with some experience at work. When we first started the master, only international students were looking for internships, but every time I find out that more classmates are looking for a job.

I know that a lot of girls study a master after college to give them some more time to live out of their parents until they find the perfect husband, but that is not me. I want a job, I like to work, and I want to. It is true that it is hard to find a job in Spain, but I need to admit its even harder back home, so all I can do for now is to keep looking, and prepare myself on the meantime so that when that opportunity appears, I will be ready for it.

Living in Spain

I said before that I would be moving back to Spain soon, and here I am, living in good old Barca, in a little nice apartment in the heart of the city. I am now living with my amazing boyfriend Mike, and I am extremely happy.

This last couple of weeks, we have been trying to buy everything that the apartment needs, because even though it is a furnished apartment, it doesn’t have everything we need.

The city is just what I remembered, full of people walking on the streets, with this smell of cigarette and coffe that kind of fades with the breeze from the beach, and of course the parties. This time, it was La Mercé, it lasts for around 5 days and it is a festival held in honour of Madre de Deu de la Merce, the Patron Saint of Barcelona.

During this festival, the streets have life day and night; loads of different concerts are held many plazas all over the city. There are parades, fireworks and a lot of fun. It is nice to walk around, and see everything; you can learn so much from different cultures. For example, Mike and I were walking around when we found this little plaza where people (mainly elder ppl) were dancing some traditional steps with some traditional music, and by this I mean stuff that was at least a hundred years old.

This is definitely a fabulous city, full of tradition and fun. It is weird though that I haven’t been out much, but I am hopping to change that soon.

Red bull te da alas

Este domingo se celebró la final del Campeonato del Mundo de 2009 Red Bull Air Race. Es un acontecimiento que reúne a los mejores pilotos del mundo en una competición del motor basada en velocidad, precisión y habilidad.

A los pilotos se les hace un trazado aéreo, que se encuentra a baja altura. Existen pilones de aire que forman las puertas aéreas que les van guiando por el camino a recorrer. La carrera se realiza en 8 ciudades distintas por todo el mundo, siendo en esta ocasión, la ciudad Condal de Barcelona quien alberga la final de dicho evento.

¿El ganador? Paul Bonhomme, del Reino Unido, pero yo no voy a hablar de aviones, o de velocidad, o de muchas otras cosas que si han leído mi blog, sabrán que no soy yo. En realidad yo menciono este evento porque me impactó.

Empezaré porque jamás había visto tanta gente sentada en una playa mirando al cielo. En realidad fue una escena bastante peculiar. No me refiero a la típica escena de las playas de Barcelona en pleno verano, en la que encontrar un lugar dónde tirarte a tomar el sol es imposible, si no a miles de personas sentados en tipo teatro, y pegándose unos a otros para que entraran más.

Debido a esto, planeamos con antelación y preparamos “bocatas” (bocadillos), para no tener que movernos de nuestro sitio una vez estuviéramos ahí.

Pero esto no es todo, lo que más me impactó de esta carrera, fueron los pilotos. Me imagino a adrenalina que corre por sus cuerpos a la hora de realizar esas vueltas, pasar por las puerta, de cuchilla, tipo vuelo, haciéndolo lo más rápido posible y con mucho cuidado de no romper ninguno de los pilones de aire. Que no debe ser tarea fácil, ya que muchos de ellos los rompieron. Admiro lo que hacen, sobre todo por no tener el miedo de hacerlo, por hacer lo que les gusta y ser los mejores en ello.

En realidad, no es red bull quien te da alas, es cada persona que puede lograr lo que se propone. Es sólo cuestión de encontrar ese motivo que te impulsa, ese “red bull” dentro de ti. No existen metas imposibles, las hay algunas más difíciles que otras, pero no imposibles, y es importante que nos demos cuenta que si queremos lograr algo, no importa que tan arriesgado sea, debemos intentarlo. No hay que dejar para mañana lo que puedes hacer hoy y marca tus prioridades. Encuentra esos motivos que te impulsan a lograr tus sueños y deja atrás los miedos.

Visas and more

How many times have we wanted to go somewhere and we realize we need a visa? Well if you are from a lucky country such as the US or a country that belongs to the EU, you might not know much about this, but in countries like mine (Mexico), visas are a must for almost anywhere, and not only that, but you also need to learn all the things that come with having a specific type of visa.

I decided I would make some comments on the visa experiences I’ve had in the last couple of years.

(Cuban Visa)

One of the first visas I had to get in my life, was a visa to visit Cuba. However that wasn’t really a problem, because the travel agency did everything for me. Don’t forget that when you travel over there you will have to pay to get out, so don’t spend ALL your money before leaving the airport. I remember also when I arrived, I asked them to stamp my passport, but they said no, coz I would have problems later trying to get my US visa… well… I listened to them.

(US tourist VISA)

Now lets talk about the famous US visa. I will tell you my story on how I got my first US visa. As many Mexicans do, one day we decided we needed the visa, so we (my mom, bro and I) first got our passports, and we said we would make the appointment, however my brother was to stubborn, so he decided he was old enough to do it on his own… well done smarty pants, he got his application denied… WHY?, because he was a young guy that just went to ask for it with nothing but a… hi, I want my visa, I’m studying high school, and I want to go there on vacation…, rite, first mistake, he didn’t show an income or how he was supposed to pay for that trip, so of course they said no. However when we all went as a family to ask for it, with some bank statements, my moms wage receipt, and some letters from our schools proving we were studying, we got it without a problem. So basically they need to make sure you are going to go there to spend, not to stay.

The best way to go through the process of getting a visa though is if you are old, I’m not trying to be nasty, but being old is amazing, I went there to get my grandma’s visa, and it was everything so fast, fist we called and set up our appointment, of course you need to pay to get that appointment at the embassy, but this does not mean you will get the visa, this is just an extra charge to have the right to go there and apply for it. Anyway, we had our appointment, but you know how long grannies take to get ready so, of course we were late to the appointment, but I guess they know this, because even though we were late, we had no problem going trough, we didn’t have to make any lines or anything, we went straight to the counter. A very nice guy was helping us with everything we needed to fill, and as soon as we got to the window, where the guys that accept or deny visas are, the woman asked my grandma, why do you want to go… she just said… to see… the woman then asked, do you have an income? My granny said she received her pension every month, and that was it, she didn’t even need to prove anything about that pension, she just got the visa, we paid for them to send it and it was all. We were out of there in less than 20 minutes. So, I am telling you, being old is GREAT!. Lol

(US student Visa)

Now that was for a tourist visa, but what about a student visa? Well this is not that easy. First of all you need to apply for the school, once you get accepted, you need to ask the school to send you your I-20, which is the paper that proves that you will be studying over there and you will need to show that to the consul. But hey, ok, now you are accepted, you will be studying there, but you are not going to be allowed to work, so how are you going to pay for all this? Well, this is all that they are concerned about, so prepare to show them bank statements that show enough activities, to pay for the full tuition (unless you prove you have a scholarship) and for your room and board, plus extra expenses for the time you will be living there. I know, that is a fortune, but there are tricks around this, for example, I didn’t have that much money in the bank, so I asked someone I knew that would have it, to write me a letter saying he would take care of all my expenses while I was there, with some bank statements. Of course he never gave me a cent, but that was enough to prove what the embassy wanted me to prove. If you can show them this, that is it, you can be sure you will get it.

(I-20)

Once you are there, as stated before, you are not allowed to work, unless is on campus, there are several jobs on campus, and some of them can be fun and give you enough money. For example I worked as a Resident Advisor, so I would get housing for free, and then I would also have my salary, which covered my extra expenses. Remember that every time you leave the country, you need to sign the I-20, otherwise, you won’t be able to get back, or you will, but it will be a mess, they will have to contact your uni to prove you are really studying there and so on. Also, you should NEVER EVER EVER EVER, use your tourist visa when you are studying over there, always use your student visa, otherwise they will keep you in their records as tourist, and when you try to apply for the OPT, they will deny it.

(OPT, CPT)

Now, OPT? what is that?, well, there are two ways of working legally in the US without getting the green card while you are a student. One is with a CPT, or curricular practical training, which you get trough the international student services office at your uni, to have an internship, OR once you graduate, you have the option to get your OPT, or optional practical training. This means you have a year after you graduate in the US to look for a job, and prove them they want you so bad that they will get you your green card and all your paper work. This OPT application is also available at your ISS office.

(EU VISA)

Mexico, just like many other countries in the world, do not need a visa to enter to any country in the European Union, as long as you are traveling as a tourist. We have up to three months, without worrying about paperwork. Once you have been in the EU for three months, you need to leave the EU and wait at least 6 months before you can go again for another three months, its not as easy as just going to Africa for the weekend and coming back and reset those three months.

Notice that I am saying EU, not an specific country, because if you spend two months in France, you only have a month left, it is not like you can spend three months in France, then three in Spain, then three in the UK, NO, you only have 3 for the EU.

And remember that as a tourist, you are not allowed to work in that country.

(Student Visa, Spain)

Now this is funny, because they ask for SO MUCH. I just got this visa a few months ago, and it was frustrating. There are different types of student visa, if you are coming for less than three months, you don’t need one, if it is from three to six months, you need one type, and if it is for a year, you need to get one for 90 days, and once you are in Spain, you need to get your Spanish student ID, with your NIE, (número de identificación de extranjero) within the first month of you staying there.

This last one is the one I had to get, so it is the one I will describe. First, you need the acceptance letter from your uni, where you prove that you will be studying at least 15hrs per week, and that you are already enrolled. Then you need to get your flight tickets, I know it is stupid, because you don’t even know if they will give you the visa yet, but you need to show your tickets. Then you need to get a health and repatriation insurance, that is right, they don’t want to take care of your body if something happens to you while you are in Spain. You will also need a health certificate saying you are no threat to the Spanish community according to the international health institutions. If it is for graduate studies, you also need a certified official transcript, and your diploma from uni. And last but definitely not least, the three last bank statements proving that either you or your parents have enough money in the account for you to spend 1000 euros per month, for as long as you will be there. In here you can do what I did for the US student visa, actually, I did, and it was fine.

This is, of course, because just like in the US, you are not allowed to work either, except for internships, unless you change your student visa for a work visa.

So this are some of my hints and tips or just experiences about getting visas, for at least the ones I have applied for. I hope they are useful to at least one person.