OPPORTUNITIES COME ONCE

By Livier Lopez

Personnel Services Manager

I have no doubt that I am blessed by God. I feel fortunate about the family I have formed: my husband, whom I have shared 19 years of my life with and my two daughters for whom I give every effort, but also due to my friends, my family and my work.

I want to share a little of my life and the things I have gone through since I came in contact with Los Cabos, Mexico.

Five years ago I came for a family vacation and I just fell in love with the place; the mix of beach, desert and mountains plus the calm and tranquility – for those of us that come from a city with high crime rates, drug trafficking, overpopulation, etc. like Tijuana (TJ for friends), Cabo is just a paradise.

Even though it was not easy to convince my family to radically change our life, I have always achieved what I have planned and I intended to see my girls grow up on these beautiful beaches; nevertheless, once we arrived, I realized that starting over is not as easy as it may seem at first. After knocking on the doors of several companies, I had my chance: it was at a nudist resort as Assistant Human Resources Manger – a new experience for me – but as mentioned, opportunities come once.

I worked there for over a year with the hardships of living in a single room with my two kids and husband, with no air conditioning and in the farthest neighborhood in town -- and the transportation problems that ensue. But I had the clear hope that something better would come… and the day came.

A friend and colleague found a better work opportunity at a brand new resort, Casa Dorada, and eventually he let me know that his new company was looking for a Personnel Services Manager. I did not think twice and sent my resume; I was interviewed at approximately the same time as I was looking for a new house and a new car. My husband was highly skeptic that I could achieve any of these three goals, not to mention all of them at the same time. During a (nerve-racking) 15 day period, I was expecting a decision on a house loan, a car loan and a new job!

Suddenly, I received a call from the bank letting me know that my house loan had been authorized – on top of that, I did not need to put a single peso on down-payment and the house could be delivered immediately!! The following day I was advised that the car loan was approved and the car was on its way to Cabo!! I could not assimilate all that was happening, my family was shouting in joy! – but I was calm, waiting to see, feel and touch my house and car, for which I had worked so much. I felt as if dreaming and I did not want to wake up. But it was not over… I received yet another call from the company I had applied to – with a positive answer; the opportunity that I had craved for in Los Cabos was knocking on my door… and I obviously opened it!

Nowadays, I honesty believe that the risks you take when new opportunities arise, bear fruit: my daughters are enjoying the beaches, which is exactly what I was expecting of this place – and I made my American Dream in Mexico, which is exactly what many of us are looking when coming to Cabo. I thank God for working in a place where I have the chance to share my little story; and as odd as it may sound, many people think on realizing their dreams in Los Cabos, even after living in the United States… and they arrive just as me, looking for this precious opportunity.

By Arq. Tania Zavala
Civil Works Manager

Hello Everybody!!! It’s a pleasure to be part of this blog.

I was born in Tuxtla Gutierrez, Chiapas – the southernmost of Mexican states, bordering with Guatemala. I am a 25 years old architect, the smallest of the family… for which you may think I am the most pampered, but its not so. He He.

When I was kid, my family used to visit some uncles. I loved talking with my older cousin, particularly because she was studying architecture; she used to tell me all the things that she did and how much fun she was having. I watched her work, watched her drawings, and her books. She had this special space in her house to do her homework and sometimes I saw my uncle helping her! I though that was so neat!

At some point, I don’t remember when, I said to my parents that I wanted to study architecture. Absolutely everybody, including my brothers and uncles, said to really think about it, since it is a very difficult and hard career.

This really set me going, it thrilled me to have such a challenge…

When High School was over, I started to prepare myself for the College entrance exam. I studied every single day with my cousin Cristina; it did not matter that we had selected different career paths, we helped each other.

In a blink of an eye, I was already in college, which I found out was not the hard part… in the end, the complicated part was remaining in school.

On the first year there were 3 groups with an average of 35 students per group, for a total class of 105 people; eventually only 25 of us graduated, of which, only 10 came from the original generation!

At the beginning of college, on the due date of a requested project, we were asking each other, did you actually have some sleep? It became a game, knowing who had deprived sleep on the night prior to due date. As time went by, the question changed to, How many hours did you sleep? Evidently, after 2 or 3 days of continuous work… it was great knowing who had slept the most with a neatly finished project.

When I started college, my dog Dingo was 9 months old; he was my roommate and took care of me during those long nights of work. |in the early days, he tried to be awake… he stared and was most probably asking himself, at what time will Tania go to sleep? It was funny looking how he was falling asleep, fighting himself… and he actually would not go to sleep until I did so.

As time went by and after long, long nights, Dingo understood that awake or asleep, he was still keeping me company.

Having studied architecture was difficult indeed, but not impossible.

And now I have a new challenge, here at Casa Dorada!

Personal Life Choices

By Maria Villa, Executive Assistant

Aristotle Says, Anybody can become angry - that is easy; but to be angry with the right person, to the right degree, at the right time, for the right purpose and in the right way - that is not within everybody's power and is certainly not easy.

Part of the complexity of life is that we are, at the same time, individuals, family members, work colleagues and members of society. Indeed, it is almost arbitrary to separate these categories. But it is sometimes necessary to make such arbitrary distinctions in order to talk about anything in detail and depth. Therefore, let me first focus on what I believe to be the most critical of the many choices that we make as individuals in our heart and minds.

This morning in my way to Casa Dorada something came to my mind. It is something about consciousness

As always, consciousness precedes choice; without it, there is no choice. Thus, the single most important personal choice that we can make in our lives is the choice for ever-increasing consciousness. Consciousness, however, does not make choices easier. On the contrary, it multiplies the options.

To give an example of the complexity of choices, consider how we might deal with our anger. In our brain, there are collections of nerve cells or centers that not only govern but actually produce our powerful emotions. One of these is an anger center. The anger center in humans works in exactly the same way as it does in other creatures: it is basically a territorial mechanism, firing off when any other creature impinges upon our territory.

Since our anger center is firing much of the time, often very inappropriately, sometimes on the basis of perceived, rather that actual infringements, we need to be flexible in dealing with situations that easily provoke our wrath .We must learn a whole complex set of behaviors of dealing with anger. Sometimes we need to think, “My anger is silly and immature..” Or sometimes we should conclude: “This person did impinge upon my territory, but it was an accident and there’s no reason to get angry about it.” Or, well, he did a bit of wrong things, but it's no big deal; it’s not worth blowing up about. But every once in a while, after we think about it for a couple of days, we may discern that someone really did seriously awful things.

So there are at least five different ways to respond when we’re angry. And not only do we need to know them, we also have to learn which response is appropriate in any given situation. At times you are drawn to negative thoughts; do know that these thoughts are “the inner discouragement committee”. It is necessary to understand that you have the power to give them life, by how you respond to them; no wonder that very few people learn how deal well with their anger before they are into their thirties or forties, and many never learn to do so constructively.

We have to learn how to deal with all the problems and challenges of life in a constructive manner that defines psycho spiritual progress. Conversely, that which refuses progress is in opposition to our growth and ultimately self-destructive.

My personal choice is: do not waste time in doubt or despair, allow yourself enjoy every minute, every second of your life… be moved by the breeze of consciousness. Do not think that it must always be a strong wind or a hurricane.

From Big City to Saltwater

By Gloria Reyes Spa Director

Hi my name is Gloria; I am the Saltwater Spa Director.

I was aware of the Casa Dorada Los Cabos project one and a half years ago when I recently had moved to Guadalajara (Mexico’s second largest city) from Puerto Vallarta with the idea of opening a family business: a Day Spa.

With my cherished friend Isela, I came to Cabo for the first time to celebrate a double birthday party (Isela’s and mine). That very same day Victor Gomez offered me the Spa Director position of this new project (Triple celebration!). We discussed about the position’s tasks and responsibilities and we set an appointment to look at the facilities. The Spa was under construction and didn’t look nearly as pretty as it looks now – you actually needed a great imagination to picture its final self! However, my experience was unforgettable, coming out of what would be The B Lounge, onto the soon-to-be pool… I was stunned seeing the infamous Los Cabos arch.

A last interview with Enrique Turcott was the final step to decide if I would be part of the opening team. Even though my prior experience in the Spa industry I was a really nervous because I had never actually worked for a hotel; so many thoughts came through my mind but I accepted and took the challenge!

Now that I am here I realize that this is what I like and that things happen for a reason. I made the best decision in coming to Cabo with only my 8 year old girl, Valentina. She loves living here – she really is a beach girl; in fact, she was born in Puerto Vallarta and didn’t move from the beach until she was 6.

We love spending our weekends playing on the sand while making some handcraft jewelry and snorkeling.

The experience at the Saltwater Spa has been very exciting and challenging… we have being working very hard to set everything up; I had forgot how painful it was to receive something from construction – al those ‘minor’ details. But all this stressful and complicated process has created a very bonded team… not without its toll though, since some of our therapists jumped ship in this first two months – a natural process, I’ll say.

We like to use our creativity in every field of the spa. For example, due to the fact that the Spa would not open at the same time than the hotel (in the end, it was one month afterwards!), we opened 3 temporary ‘Spa Villas’ on guest rooms at the 6^th floor, in order to offer the Spa services to guests. Ha! It was a blast! Now that we have the optimal facilities the happiness is there, all the therapists and staff members feel like they are at their second home when coming to work.

My everyday life has turned into a wellbeing journey to all! And after these months of running, stressing, worrying and else… I guess I need a massage myself!