Some Words About The Mexican Banking System
If you follow my tweets, you probably know that I am pretty happy over here in Mexico. But as everywhere, not everything is so perfect. This post is going to show some pros and cons about the Mexican banking system.
Opening an account in the local bank was extremely easy and fast. But once you are a client, the service does not look that good anymore.
May 14, 2012 3 Comments
Back From Blogging Break
So I have been not-blogging all this time, so I decided to provide you with some updates. This time I have been quite busy with a couple of things. This is a short update.
My primary time-eater is obviously work. 8 hours a day, 6 days a week. But I love what I do, and I didn’t even really started yet. (Reminder: I am developing a management system for the Universidad de Sotavento in Coatzacoalcos). Anyhow, there is some news there… I will finally get my office probably next week. Until now I have been working in a provisional workspace in another department. As I am going to hire the first two programmers for my department , it really became necessary that I have an own, quiet office with all supplies such as huge whiteboards. I am involved in weekly director’s meetings which gives me the opportunity to bring my project closer to the rest of the people and gain feedback. Also, it helps me improving my Spanish, because there is no way to talk English in those meetings.
I have also been busy accommodating my house. Buying furniture, getting some works done (putting the A/Cs, removing a wall, paint walls, fumigate the place (from 20 million cockroaches), …),. By now, my place is almost ready, it’s almost only missing the gas tank/new tubing, a stove in the kitchen and a final complete cleaning.
I haven’t had as much nightlife as I had last time I’ve been here, but nonetheless we are all having great times here together, still partying, just less. I am starting to feel old, because I am already tired at midnight and want to go home. That’s the downside of a 48-hours week.
There is not much more to tell. I am going to try to blog more frequently. There is an outstanding rant about the Mexican banking system I will most definitely post here…
Stay tuned!
May 12, 2012 Leave a comment
Carnaval Coatzacoalcos 2012 – Right in the middle of the happening
From Thursday to Sunday, Coatzacoalcos was in a state of emergency. CARNAVAL! Which means, people from all over Mexico come here just to see this. And I was right in the middle of that happening. No, seriously… in the parade! (Photo gallery)
The Universidad de Sotavento had a wagon in the parade and I had the honor to be on top of it. But only on Friday and Sunday. I have to say, it is one of the most unique experiences I lived so far. People are screaming like crazy at you for just waving your hand and even more when you start dancing. I believe this was my first time in national television.
March 26, 2012 Leave a comment
Getting Mexican Work Permit – Approved!
After 6 visits to INM (migration office) and around 1 month of time, I finally got my work permit approved! I am now officially allowed to work and stay here in Mexico until 13th of March 2013. For my second year here in Mexico, I will need to extend my permit. I strongly hope that it won’t be such a hassle for doing that.
For now, I will just need to wait for the paperwork in the university to get pushed through and I will be ready to go. Finally. I am going to develop a system for the university to manage and control different kinds of information, while having an impact on the university’s community. Beside that, I will have a couple of other, administrative, functions as Director of Engineering and Software Development.
March 20, 2012 Leave a comment
7.4 Earthquake in Mexico City
By now, probably everybody heard that there was an earthquake in Mexico (City) with a strength of 7.4 on the Richter scale.
With this post, I just want to un-worry everyone: Me, my friends and family are fine! Here, apparently it was shaking also pretty strong. The university got evacuated and all, but nothing happened. Everybody is fine.
Personally, I did not notice the earthquake though, because I have been driving in the car.
March 20, 2012 Leave a comment
Getting Mexican Work Permit – Attempt #5
Today, I finally found enough time and money to take another visit to INM to see why they wanted to see me in their office. It turned out that everything they wanted is give me a “payment form“, which contains information about what I need to pay.
2356 MXN have to be paid, which is a little bit less than 150€. It’s the second payment I have to make, but it’s the final one.
The next action is to pay that amount to the migration’s bank account and go back with the receipt and, as far as I understood, they will hand me a form I have to fill out. After filling out that form, I will need to wait until my final papers are ready for pickup.
This is how I understood it. Not sure if that’s how it actually is going to go down. We’ll see.
Stay tuned 
March 16, 2012 Leave a comment
Another Work Permit Status Update
Finally. After more than 2 weeks waiting, I finally got a life sign from the migration office.
| Fecha | Estatus Trámite | Ubicación |
|---|---|---|
| 24/02/2012 | El trámite ha sido registrado | Delegación Local Coatzacoalcos |
| 24/02/2012 | El tramite ha sido asignado | Delegación Local Coatzacoalcos |
| 02/03/2012 | El trámite ha sido clasificado | Delegación Local Coatzacoalcos |
| 12/03/2012 | Presentarse en una oficina del INM | Delegación Local Coatzacoalcos |
| 12/03/2012 | Se permite el pre registro en línea de su información | Delegación Local Coatzacoalcos |
It says that I have to go the migration office and fill out a pre-registration form online. The form, I filled it out already, but I need to travel to the migration office again. I wonder what further information do they need from me. If this is just a pre-registration form. What is going to be a registration form? And when am I going to get my actual papers? I will have to find out…
March 12, 2012 Leave a comment
Ruby on Rails – A Personal Reflection
I had the idea to learn Ruby on Rails already last year but I never consecutively followed that plan. Until now.
For my upcoming job, I will need to develop a management system for a university with all kinds of various tasks. I decided to definitely realize it as a web application since the requirement for the project is that it has an impact at the universitary community, so that students should probably be able to access the system from wherever they want to. There are not too many users going to be using the systems (~2500), so I thought for such a small-scaled application Rails would offer itself almost on a silver platter.
March 8, 2012 2 Comments
Work Permit Status Update
After one week waiting, I finally got an update on my work permit process. The status changed to “El trámite ha sido clasificado”, which practically means that it has been given a classification (got rated). That is good news!
If the information I found on the web, the next step would be to that my papers are ready to pick-up and it should not be more than 1-2 days after the clasificado status change.
| Fecha | Estatus Trámite | Ubicación |
|---|---|---|
| 24/02/2012 | El trámite ha sido registrado | Delegación Local Coatzacoalcos |
| 24/02/2012 | El tramite ha sido asignado | Delegación Local Coatzacoalcos |
| 02/03/2012 | El trámite ha sido clasificado | Delegación Local Coatzacoalcos |
March 3, 2012 1 Comment
