Day 5 in Mexico

Today was an extremely long day because we had to be up and out of the hotel at 6:45am. Lastnight/this morning was crazy because Allison woke up and thought her eardrum had burst since we went pretty high into the mountains yesterday and all of our ears were popping on the bus ride back. Well, thankfully it turned out that she just had some inflammation from the pressure and isn't deaf, but we were up lastnight for about 2 hours trying to figure out how to fix her ear. Needless to say we passed out on the bus ride to Cuernavaca today.

Our business visit today was in Yecapixtla at the Parkdale Mills facility. It's a small little city about 45 minutes from Cuernavaca and houses three different buildings that produce ring-spun, core-spun, and open end cotton yarns. The plant is rather large and all of the people that gave us tours were great; we could tell that they were so proud of their jobs and most of them had been working there for over 10 years. Most of the yarn they produce goes to Cone Denim but about 20% of the other products, mainly core-spun yarns go to other buyers in the United States. They told us that about 4,000 people work at the whole facility and their plant employed around 400 workers. The facility was very up to date and they had just purchased used machinery from the United States to put in newer lines. Also, it was pretty clean for producing cotton and although there was some lint, it wasn't nearly as bad as other factories that we have heard about.

After our tour we headed to the city of Cuernavaca to have lunch at Las Mañanitas restaurant. The hotel was absolutely gorgeous and had about 6 different exotic birds walking around the premise, two of which were beautiful peacocks. The restaurant was attached to a grass patio where we sat before lunch and then we ate out on the patio. Afterwards we walked around the hotel to see the spa and pool, which were also amazing. The pool and gardins were so green and lush, it was very nice to be away from the dust and noise of Mexico City for a while.

We came back into Mexico City around 5:30 and all of us just went to our rooms and freshened up. Some of us went to the mall down the street to look for cufflinks, surprise, but the rest just hungout at the hotel to rest up before our final day tomorrow. This week has been very busy, but it has been great to see all of the different industries and trade that Mexico has and how successful they have all been in spite of the recent economic crisis. The workers down here are extremely positive and optimistic about 2010 and it is evident in their passion for their job that they are willing to work hard to help the Mexican economy and trade. It's going to be sad to leave on Saturday but keep reading to see how our last day in the Mexico City goes!! Hasta Luego.