Olympics!

As the greatest sporting event in the world draws to a close I'd like to thank the athletes. They truly are role models to us all. I've been particularly impressed by the synchronized swimmers. These athletes combined the best and most difficult elements of sport. 

For most of us a sporting event is usually going to end up being slightly embarrassing. Very few people are all around gifted athletes. For example, when I play basketball, not very pretty. It appears that in synchronized swimming one of the elements is to intentionally embarrass yourself. I don't know how they score it but I'm sure that must factor in somewhere. After all there was that scandalous Spanish swim squad. Kudos ladies for trying to swim naked. 

In the spirit of the Olympics I'd like to salute these athletes that show us how much better we can be. Perhaps more sports could learn from synchronized swimming. May I also add, go Canada, and extra points for the embarrassment factor.

Mid-week!

A mid-week post, wow! Anyway, I attended a meeting today, all in Portuguese, of course. It was great. I understood most of what was being said. As it turns out a meeting in Brazil is the same as a meeting in the US. We successfully set a date for the next meeting.

With the growth that's happening in Latin America, Itau, as I've stated Before, is trying to expand. One of the biggest goals for Itau is to achieve a strong regional custody program. In order to do this a few things still need to be done. However, if Itau can manage to pull this off they'll gain a lot of market share. One of the biggest problems they'll face is complacency in how their business currently is structured.

Today I also rode my first metro wave. Many people will never experience this, at least not from where I'm from. In order to explain a little better I'll explain how I caught my first wave.

There was an unusual amount of people waiting for the metro. I, being the brilliant person that I am, decided to position myself in front of all these people. "Yes!", I said to myself, "You're the man and you're going to be first on." As soon as those doors opened the surge began. The people behind me force me into the subway. I'm pretty sure I never even put my feet on the floor. By the time it was over I was pressed up against the opposite door. It really took my breath away. Hopefully, that's not the only surfing experience I have in Brazil, but if it is, it was pretty cool.

The Learning Continues

The above picture really made me laugh. Seriously, who decides to make a sculpture of three naked dudes fighting a snake. If you think about it, no matter the outcome, it's probably going to be bad. This past week has been less hectic than some of the previous weeks. My supervisor was in Chile and Uruguay this week. I still got done a lot of work done, but it just wasn't the same. 

I'm starting a analysis about SWIFT at Itau. The writing process has begun and if all goes as planned I should be able to finish it up by mid-September. A few other project I have going on are the Regional Custody program that Itau wants to strengthen in the Souther Cone and the never ending process flows. On Monday I'm going to get the opportunity to speak with Itau Chile. It appears that I'm going to get to do some translations from Portuguese to Spanish. Vamos ver como va. 

On or more philosophical level, I've had the opportunity to take a look at my inner guiding moral code. I've come to the conclusion that I like it. It provides me with stability. I can still go out with people and enjoy their company, but I don't have to participate in some of the activities that are outside of my moral code. A thought recently came to be; I've been places many people will never go, and other people go places I can't.  It helps me to think about that in a literal and figurative sense. Once you've decided the way in which you're going to live your life things get easier.  One of the things I've decided is that no amount of money will make me change my inner moral code. I'm by no means the poster child for perfection, but I think making this decision now will make me a better person and employee in the future. 

Wow, that really sounds like something Dwight Schrute would say. Well, Dwight is the man. Brazil is great and I continue to learn more about myself and this international world of business.

Brazilian Birthday

I'm now officially a menace, 26 years old. This has been the first birthday I've had in awhile where I couldn't avoid it. Usually, I lay low and let it pass me by. The only people that usually know about it are my family. 

Brazilians celebrate birthdays to the max. Honestly, the attention was kind of weird, but I think I weathered it okay. After work we all went out to Applebee's. It was really good.

The internship continues to go well. The senior management for our division headed out for Uruguay and Chile for a week. Itau is using it's current market position to expand and shore up it's international position. This is part of the regional custody program I'm involved with. These past few weeks I've had the opportunity to research a little bit more on these countries. It's really quite fascinating. Who knows someday I might end up in one of those places. I wouldn't mind it. 

Something New.

I did something I never believed possible. I fell asleep with my eyes open. While I was sitting in corporate actions I dozed off. I remember nothing of what was being said and the other intern I was with said it looked like I'd just spaced out, eyes open the whole time. Either I stroked off, or I was asleep. It was kind of weird. I don't think I can recreate the same results. It might have been a one time deal.

(The animation festival.)

I've been learning a ton. For all that don't know most all financial transactions are done on a system called SWIFT. Basically, it's a type of messaging service made specifically for the financial industry. It's been suggested to me that I learn all I can about SWIFT. I think one of the major benefits of this internship will come from my ability to understand SWIFT. 

Recently, I went to an animation festival. It was pretty cool. The other intern, myself, and Bea made an animation about a dragon and a dog that got a pot of gold from a turtle (yeah the idea was originally mine). I had to leave early, so I have yet to see the final results. Apparently, the final movie is connected in some way to my birthday.

The reason I had to leave early from the animation festival is because a person from my local church congregation invited me over to their house. It was pretty uneventful. However, the walk home was exciting. I was given a huge yellow coat to walk home in. I think it was more to help me not stand out than to keep me warm. Either way, I made it home fine after a 40 min walk at 10:30 PM. It was fun. I probably won't do it again for those of you that are worried I will. There were way to many screaming homeless people for my tastes.