Marinela Route Ride

For the last three days I have been on a Marinela Route Ride.  For those that don't know, Marinela is one of our most popular brands in Mexico and consists of cookies (galletas) and cake (pasteles).  Just as with the Bimbo Route, there are two vendors per truck, ones does the cookies and the other does the cake.  I was sent with Jorge (Gordo) and Jose (Largo).  Gordo and Largo are their nicknames because, well, one of them is fat and the other is tall.

This route is A LOT easier than the Bimbo route.  They do not deal with nearly as much product per store.  If we brought two trays into a Tienda, that was a lot.  Some Tiendas we didn't even need trays, we just carried the product in by hand.  

The process to get the product in the store is exactly the same as with the Bimbo route: check in, create order, break it down, check the product in, merchandise, get paid.  Because there is a lot less product to deal with, I was less busy with these guys.  I try to help out as much as possible without getting in the way.  Anytime I can save them is beneficial.  

I have been learning a lot but there is so much more I want to know.  Not being able to ask all the questions I want and get a straight forward answer is very frustrating.  Information is power and the language barrier leaves me powerless.  I have been studying Spanish pretty much every night and try to pick up new words everyday.  I still have a long way to go. 

Unlike with the Bimbo guys, the Marinela guys were able to stop for lunch.  On Monday and Tuesday we ate at this little hole in the wall.  We ordered soup (which was pretty good), rice and chicken.  When the waitress brought over our soup, she also brought a pitcher of what I thought was water over.  It was very murky and I was thinking to myself "there is no way I am drinking that" being that I was warned not to drink the water.  Well, Gordo flipped my glass over and poured me some.  I was still thinking, "not taking a sip of that".  Then they both raised their glasses and said "salude".  Being that I don't want to offend anyone, I reluctantly raised my glass and took a sip.  Phew, it was lemonade (not that it's any better because it's still probably made with tap water).  Anyways, I drank a full glass and haven't felt bad yet.  Keep your fingers crossed for me. 

Today, we delivered to this little plaza type deal that is right outside the University of Mexico (UNAM).  It is a pretty cool place that has lots of shops, places to eat, and computers and printing shops.  There are also a bunch of cute young college girls walking around. I am going to have to come back here..... In one of the Tiendas we delivered to, a girl behind the counter took a liking to me and asked for my number.  I asked her how old she was.  She was 17.  No thanks, not trying to go to Mexican jail.  She asked if she could take a picture of me though and I said yes.  Soy muy guapo!! 

Tomorrow Joe and I are taking a tour of the Marinela Cake plant.  We don't have to be there till 11am so I can finally sleep past 5am.  I am looking forward to seeing the plant operation.  After that we will both be on a Tia Rosa Route (one of our other brands.  I know, there are a lot of them) for a couple days.  Until the next time people......

 

  Chicken anyone??

 Place where I are lunch on today.  These women hand press the tortillas and cook them on that giant hot plate.  I had some pretty good chicken quesadillas and tlococoyo, which is like a tortilla stuffed with beans. 

Safety Short

Pyramids

**Note: this was suppose to be posted yesterday**

What an amazing day!!  Today is the type of day I live for!  Taking the world for what it has to offer!!

Today we did a little site seeing at the Aztecan pyramids in Teotihuacan.  They are incredible!  It's crazy to think that an ancient civilization can create something so massive and that last so long without modern technology.  I wonder if thousands of years from now people will be touring something our civilization built and one that had so much meaning behind it as well??  We had a tour guide that was explaining the meaning of each of the Pyramids, the Gods, and the meaning of certain sculptures and engravings.  It was very interesting.  I guess the Aztecs used to do human sacrifices all the time.  You had to be part of the "high society" to be scarified and it was an honor to be sacrificed to the gods..... yeah, count me out!! 

*I have a video but can't get it to work.  I'll try again later.

Right when we got off the bus, this was about to start.  These 5 guys climb to the top of this pole, wrap the rope around it and then perform this Cirque de Sole type deal.  The guy on top is jumping around, playing a drum and flute, then the others just suspend them selves and start swinging!!  The ropes get longer and longer till they reach the bottom.  It's Crazy!!  I'm pretty sure there is some sort of safety short for this.

 Jaguars, Snakes, and the Sun God on the side of the Pyramids.

 65 meters high.... yeah, I climbed that thing.  "Team All the Way!!" (which turn into "Team Back to the Bottom")

 View from about halfway.

 View from the Top.

 Some murals that the Aztecs painted.  Just imagine how bright and vibrant these where when they were first painted??  On one of the murals, the tour guide was explaining about had a game that was similar to hockey/soccer.  The winners of the game were killed!!  I'm sure there were a lot of 0-0 ties....

 After we strolled up a couple of pyramids, we had a presentation on the Agave plant, silver, and obsidian.  This was my favorite part of the tour I think (probably because we got to take shots of tequila, which they showed us the correct way to take one).  The guide explained that without the Agave plant there probably wouldn't have been a civilization, pyramids, and, in turn, tourists.  This plant was the life of their society.  It was used for many different things.  Agave produces a nectar that is kind of sweet like honey.  They used this to make one of the oldest drinks of their civilization, obviously alcoholic, called Pulque.  We got to drink some and it was pretty good.  The plant has a sharp point that was used as a weapon.  It also has antiseptic qualities, used to make paper, and came with a needle with tread.

Cool Fact: Mexico is the #1 producer of silver in the world.

 Thought these were cool.  Hand made out of obsidian.  It is one of the hardest materials on earth, right behind diamonds.  In fact, to cut it, they use a diamond blade.  They use modern tools to make these and it takes over a month.  The Aztecs used to make stuff exactly like this!!  I wonder how long it took them and what did they use to do it??  Unreal!!

*I have a video but can't get it to work.  I'll try again later.
During lunch, two performers came out and put on a show for us!

Me at the top of one of the Pryamids!!  Holla at cha boy haha!!

Bimbo Route Ride

Sooo, the last three days have been quite an experience to say the least.  The last time we spoke I had just completed my Culture Class and was about to start my training on a route.  I have been on a route ride in the US before and let me tell you, it is nothing like this....

On Thursday, when Joe and I arrived at the plant in Azcalpotzalco (I dare you to try and pronounce that) at 5:20am we were greeted by a highly guarded gate.  Before anyone enters or exits the premises they have to show their Bimbo ID and get searched.  We were armed with our Bimbo Credentials and the name of the person we were suppose to meet; Carlos Arturo Ibarra.  We figured we would just show them our cards and ask for Carlos Ibarra.  Well, no one had ever heard of this person and we were stopped in our tracks.  I placed a call to one of our supervisors (I am pretty sure I woke him up) and let him know that we could not get in.  After waiting outside for 40 mins, a gentlemen came up to the gate and had security let us in.  His name was Arturo (as in Carlos ARTURO Ibarra).  He is the head supervisor for the area.  We went up to the offices and he explained what we were going to do.

For the next couple of days Joe and I would be riding with some of the route guys that service the Tiendas (Mom and Pop stores), learning the entire process.  I would ride with the Bimbo guys, Joe would ride with the Marinela guys, and then we would switch.

On most of the routes out of this plant there are two vendors per truck.  On the Bimbo side, one guys does the bread and one guy does the cake.  I was paired up with two characters; Martin (bread) and Carlos (cake).  Martin has been working with Bimbo for 24 years and Carlos for 7.  Despite the language barrier, we hit it off very quickly.

Not to get side tracked, but anyone who has struggled through a language barrier knows how difficult and exhausting it can be.  But I digress....

Their trucks are already set and loaded when they arrive.  Martin immediately showed me how to check in the load so we could get going.  Before getting started on our deliveries, we stopped at a small food stand to get breakfast.  They ordered me a sangwich *Mexican accent* that I was kind skeptical about eating but I took it down anyways, and we were off.

In total, their route consists of about 30-35 small Tiendas that they deliver to.  Today we were delivering to 28 of them.  Now when I say small Tiendas I mean SMALL!!!  Some are only big enough to fit on person at a time.  Some are only a store front and they serve you out of a window.  Its pretty crazy.  They sell all types of stuff from cold cuts, to drinks, to canned foods.  I even saw some that sold shoes and hair die.

Just to take you through the delivery process real quick.  We check in by using the Hand Held to scan a special bar code for Bimbo.  They do the orders for the store right there based on what is left on the shelf.  We take back any out of code product, which is reimbursed to the store.  We go back to the truck to break down the order.  There is no more than 16 feet of space for both bread and cake so the deliveries are not that big.  I think the most treys we delivered was about 12 (and these treys are smaller than the ones in the US).  After breaking down the order, we run back to the store to check it in.  All the product is delivery by hand; no dollies to roll it in.  The owner then checks that we are giving them the amount of product we are charging them for.  When we are done merchandising the product, the owner pays us, in cash, which is then deposited into a little drop box in the floor of the truck.  Each Tienda take about 15-20 mins to service.  Some of them we can pull right up front and some we have to go 100+ yards.  I will reiterate, these are SMALL stores.  To get to the back to deliver to some of them we needed to pass the product over the counter and pretty much crawl through a tiny door.

 One of the doors I had to crawl through.  It's about 1.5 feet by 2 feet.  It's like going through the door in "Alice in Wonderland".

By the end of my first day on a route I was breaking down the orders, checking them in, and merchandising the product.  It's not all that difficult, but these guys work fast.  They know the business and get through these stores as quickly as possible.  They also have great relationships with all their stores.  They even know people who hang out around the stores.  Relationships are a key part of the business here. 

On Friday, it was pretty much the same process.  This time however, we got through the gate no problem.  Martin let me check in the load and we continued to make our deliveries.  We delivered to 28 stores again, some the same, some different.  Today, I arrived before Martin and checked in the load myself.  We only hit 25 stores today.

Me looking spiff in my Bimbo uniform!

For breakfast this morning we stopped at a Tianguis, which is like an outside market.  I wasn't very hungry so while Martin and Carlos ate I walked around real quick.  These places are pretty cool.  They sell a whole plethora of stuff: vegetables, meat (which they chop up in front of you.  There were pigs heads hanging from some of them.), DVDs, glasses, game consols (PS1, SNES, NES)

On Thursday I also started my Spanish lessons with Alicia.  I really thought I was getting a good grasp on Spanish but I have been struggling since I arrived.  I realize it is only the first week though and I am sure I will improve quickly.

Tomorrow we are going to the Pyramids with a group from Bimbo.  I am pretty pumped, although we have to leave at 7am and my feet and legs are already killing me.  However, why work so hard unless you can have a little fun, right??

 We went to a store today after work and this is a picture of the bread isle.  It is 36 feet long and we own about 34 feet of it.  Not a lot of competition. 

  Orowheat Section.
   

Culture Shock??

Culture can be defined as what and how we do things here and now.  It's something we don't think about every day yet it effects almost every aspect of our daily lives.  From how we behave, what we wear, what is socially acceptable, how we do business, and how we interact with others.  Culture differs from country to country, state to state, even company to company.  It is transmitted and learned from generation to generation but also changes from generation to generation.  When we are in our own culture we are comfortable, we understand the norms and what is expected of us.  Breaking out of that comfort zone and emmercing  yourself into another culture can be very difficult and eye opening.

Today we participated in a cultural training course.  It never really occurred to me how different the Mexican culture actually is and how it effects doing business.  What a tremendous learning experience.

The course was taught by a gentlemen names Salvador.  He has lived in Mexico City pretty much his whole life and has a great understanding of Mexico's culture.  When I first was told I was going to be sitting through an all day course about culture I thought "This is going to be a long day".  On the contrary, the day went by too quickly.  It was so interesting to learn about Mexico and it's people.  At the end of the day Joe, Jose, Chico, and I all wished we had more time in the class.  We learned everything from the Police, to the characteristics of Mexicans and how this effects doing business, to their perceptions of foreigners.  

I wish I could take you through what we learned in the class in detail but this entry would be way to long.  Plus it is late and I have to be up at 4am to catch a cab to one of the plants.  Buenas noche!  Hasta manana!!

Hablas espanol?

Today was the moment of truth; how well have I learned to speak and understand Spanish??  I thought I was doing pretty well with my Spanish by studying with Rosetta Stone.  The real test is when you can't fall back on English as a crutch.  Needless to say, I have a ways to go before I am fluent at Spanish.

Today, we went to the corporate office of Groupo Bimbo for our introductions.  Our meeting time was at 10:00am so we were told to leave at 8:45am.  From our hotel to HQ it is only 18 miles.  We did not arrive at the office until five after ten.  Traffic in Mexico City is intense!!  Picture NYC on steroids with lax traffic laws.  The streets are absolutely packed.  In order to make it anywhere in this city you better be an aggressive driver or you might as well stay home. 

When we arrived at Groupo Bimbo we met with Elena Carrillo.  She is one of the associates in charge with organizing our training while here in Mexico.  I believe she is in her mid-twenties.  Very nice young woman.  She took us on the grand tour of the building.  It is a 4 story building with a large open corridor from the first floor to the 4th floor.  It is complete with a cafeteria, convenience store, gym, bank, and its own doctor.  They are in the process of moving some of the departments around so a lot of the building is under construction.  Overall, it is a pretty impressive office building.  

At HQ, they have tons of displays that show all the different brands that fall under Groupo Bimbo.  It is crazy impressive.  One thing that keeps getting me is that we distribute Wonder Bread in Mexico!  In the North, they are our sworn enemies!!

  View from outside the 4th floor.

After the tour, we sat down with Alicia, our language teacher so she could determine what level we are at Spanish.  She briefly chatted with each of us where she quickly found out that my Spanish needs some work (I agree).  It was decided that I will be taking Spanish lessons twice a week, Thursday and Friday, for 2 hours, from 7:00 to 9:00pm.  I am very much looking forward to these classes. 

Next we met with Ruben Guerrero, another associate that is helping out with our training.  He took us through our program and what is expected of us while we are training in Mexico.  Oh, by the way, everything that has been explained to us is in Spanish (which is a good thing).  I can understand the general concept of most conversations but sometimes have difficulty with details.  Our instructors are very patient and do not mind explaining things in English.  Plus, Jose speaks very good Spanish so I look to him when I do not fully understand something.  He has been tremendously helpful.

Ruben covered top line business at Groupo Bimbo, expectations, code of conduct, and dress code with us.  They hold their employees to a very high standard weather is be how they act or their appearance and dress code.  While on the market, the salesmen have very strict dress codes.  They are told what to wear down to the color of their sox and belt!  Also, you must be clean shaven at all times (Bill, I hope you are reading this).  On Thursday, when I begin my market tours, I will be given a uniform to wear.  I definitely over packed.....

We took lunch around 2:00pm in the corporate cafeteria.  Lunch seems like a very communal activity.  The whole place was packed with people eating and socializing.  It was very interesting.

After lunch, Ruben gave us a quick de-brief of what we will be doing the next couple days.  Tomorrow, Joe, Jose, Chico and I will be participating in a cultural introduction course.  This is an all day course taught by a 3rd party.  I am looking forward to getting some more insight into the Mexican culture.
  

"I'm leaving, on a jet plane...."

First off, I'd like to thank everyone for their love and support.  I appreciate it more than you know.  You all really know how to make a brotha feel special haha. 

Well, I made it to Mexico!!  I can now better describe the feelings I was having last night; they manifested into nervousness and a bad case of anxiety!!  As I laid down in bed, I started to run through every last minute thought that could have possible come to mind; "Did I pack everything?  What's it going to be like down there?  I hope I live up to expectations and don't disappoint anyone....."  I honestly did not think I was going to sleep much.  But, my nervous thoughts quickly faded and I was asleep in no time.

My day started off bright (well not so bright, as the sun was still not up yet) and early at 4:00am.  My awesome roommate took me to the airport for my 6:45 flight and off I went.  I took a four hour flight to Huston, TX where I then got on my connecting flight to Mexico.  The flights flew by (pun intended haha).  I am that guy who falls asleep before the plane takes off and doesn't wake up till it is descending.  These flights were no exception.

I arrived in Mexico at 1:00pm.  After going through customs and collecting my luggage, I was greeted by a gentlemen holding a Groupo Bimbo sign.  His name was Carlos, he was 27, and he has worked for Bimbo for all of 7 months.  His English was pretty good, better than my Spanish.  So we chatted in broken dialect while we waited for another associated to arrive.  Tep Tsai (he goes by Chico) is another associate from BBU participating in the Cross Boarder Program.  He works as an Account Manager in Cleavland.  We had spoken on the phone before but this was the first time we met in person.  After Chico arrived, Carlos got us a taxis and brought us to our home for the next several months; Casa De La Condesa.

 Casa De La Condesa is a quaint little hotel in Mexico City.  As you can see from the pics, there really isn't much to it.  A kitchen with a microwave, fridge, and sink.  The bedroom with two twin beds (that are hard as a rock, in case you were wondering).  And a bathroom with the three essentials (sink, shower, toilet).  It isn't the Ritz, but this is home for the next 5 months!!

  
 After getting settled a little bit, Chico and I met two of the other associates that are joining us on our journey.  Joseph Gaetano and Jose Acevedo.  Joe, 24, works in Pennsylvania as an Arnold Brand Manager for Atlantic and Jose, 25, works as a District Sales Manager in Huston.  I am really pumped that they are both around my age.  I thought I was going to be the youngest candidate on the trip.  With all of us being in our mid-twenties, I feel we can relate to each other with our experiences.  I am looking forward to getting to know them better over the course our adventure.  One last associate that I did not meet is Corrin Capeles.  I believe she works in HR for the Mid-Atlantic.  Corrin has been in Mexico for about two weeks now so she is in the full swing of things.  She had a Spanish class from 7:30 to 9:00 pm.  Afterward we all meet up and went for a drink to get to know each other.   

Jose, Joe, Chico and I grabbed a bite to eat and took a walk to the nearest Supermarket to grab some necessities.  It's always cool to see Supermarkets in other countries.  The whole flow the this place was wild.  No real direction to go, tight isles, pretty crowded.  We walked around grabbing a few things before taking the obligatory stop at the bread isle.  Compared to the US, it is a very small section with very few brands.  I took some pictures, including one of Bimbo Thins!!!  Pretty cool if you ask me!  Other than the bread, we own the cookie and cake section.  So many things I have never heard of.  I am sure before my time is through here I will have a better grasp on all the items we make but, wow, it's a lot of stuff!!

 Only a small shot of the bread isle.  Orowheat, Wonder (which we actually distribute?), Bimbo!

BIMBO Thins!!
 
Tomorrow I begin my training at Groupo Bimbo.  We have to be at corporate HQ at 10:00am.  I am excited to see what they have in store for us.  I can already tell that there are going to be few dull moments here in Mexico.  My time here is going to be over before I know it.  I need to just make sure I stop and take it all in......
 

The day before....

Well, tomorrow morning I leave my cozy little apartment in Boston on an adventure to our neighbors to the South, Mexico.  Not exactly sure how I am suppose to feel about leaving the country for 5 months.  I feel excited, nervous, lucky.... so many other things.  To be honest, I don't think it has fully hit me yet.  I still have a couple more hours before it becomes a reality. 

I am all packed up and ready to go.  It took me a solid 3 hours to get everything packed and that doesn't include the time it too to organizing (weeks haha).  My roommate and her friend helped me out a bit.  Really they were just fascinated by the spectacle of a boy packing to go away for almost half a year.  One of them said that "this is the most entertaining thing I've seen in a while..."  Not sure that's how I would have described it but to each their own. 

The fact that I the opportunity to travel to a foreign country to live and work for 5 months is incredible.  I love traveling!!  There is so much the world has to offer and my plan is to experience as much of it as possible.  I am super excited to learn about the Mexican culture by being a part of it.  I plan on taking advantage of everything this trip has to offer.  Beyond work, I hope there will be some opportunities to learn and experience Mexico, weather it's traveling or volunteering.  I cannot be afraid to try anything new.  I believe this journey is going to be as good as I make it, and I plan on it being a good trip!! 

I will try to keep a daily blog of my experiences while in Mexico.  If there is something you want to hear more about/less about, just let me know.

posada.ramon.10@gmail.com
rposada@bbumail.com