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Posts by olito  

Joined: 29 Apr 2007 / Male ♂
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Threads: Total: 6 / In This Archive: 0
Posts: Total: 53 / In This Archive: 21
From: Mexico
Speaks Polish?: A bit...

Displayed posts: 21
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olito   
26 Oct 2007
News / What's the stupidest question asked about Poland? [414]

I'm mexican but after being 4 months in Poland I know about this stupid questions about Poland.

When I was in my goodbye party before going there, this swedish colleague asks me "how far from Europe will you be doing this Internship?" Pfffffff!!! Good lord they have good education levels in Sweden!
olito   
26 Feb 2009
Law / I WANT TO IMPORT SAUCES AT POLAND THEY ARE FROM MEXICO..can you help me?? [30]

I am mexican and have been many times to Poland, (I also lived there for a few months). I will try to give you some advice on the mexican restaurants that I have been to in Poland:

- Tequila (Wroclaw Old Town): great decoration, menu options are good but taste is far away from real mexican or tex-mex food. Sometimes the decoration is more important because the locals have no idea how tastes real mexican dishes.

- Mexico Bar (Wroclaw Old Town): decoration is little bit cheap, including some masks that have nothing to do with Mexico. However, the corona candelabra they have is great. Food is great, especially the "pollo en mole", its not very expensive and is the closest to mexican food that I personally experience in Poland.

- Taco Mexicano (Krakow Old Town): location is good, place is big and they have good original beans, peanuts and nachos. The food is above average and have nice waitresses (this could be a plus also!).

- Pueblo (Lublin Old Town): cozy atmosphere, good location, they have tables in the cobbled streets of the old town, just like typical cafes from Paris. Food is still far from being really mexican, especially the enchiladas. Good prices, but service is not the best.

- Taco Factory (Warsaw Zloty Tarasy/ Krakow Galeria Krakowska): this is a fast food business, mainly serving tacos and burritos. Salsas are good here, real spicy and tasty like the ones in Mexico. Can't compare with a restaurant, but food is OK for the price you pay, however lacks of many typical dishes.

* Suggestions:

I believe that if you offer real mexican tasty dishes (i.e. you could offer filled chiles "chiles rellenos" or carne asada, which I have never seen in Poland), good salsa, nice waitresses, and real mexican decoration with shiny colorful mosaics, real cactuses, talaverna dishes, etc. you could have more than average success. All of them lack of a good selection of Tequilas!! Usually they only have Cuervo, Sauza and the horrible Sierra! You could offer some nice Tradicional, Cazadores, Herradura, or Don Julio and 1800 for the high-roller customers.

You can buy Maseca in Germany, Spain and France. Some international supermarkets in Germany offer some corn flour from Venezuela for making "arepas", you could use it for corn tortillas as well (arepas are the venezuelan equivalent to mexican gorditas). The only "mexican food dealer" that I know is a company called SURIMEX and they are located in Hamburg. So far I know they import all kinds of products from La Costena, Dona Maria, Maseca, and so on. But the prices I guess are going to be expensive if you mind to make your business in Poland.

In Poland there are a couple of stores called Kuchnia Swiat (have only seen them in Galeria Krakowska and Zlotye Tarasy in Warsaw) where you can find mexican ingredients to sky-rocketed prices (i.e. a small can of chiles jalapenos La Costena for 4zl (16 pesos), same can costs you 6 pesos in a mexican supermarket).

Buena suerte!
olito   
2 Jun 2009
Work / Software Jobs in Poland [31]

Good luck man, you're gonna need it!!

I am also a SW Engineer, also with 5 years of experience, also in 3 different countries, and a masters degree... been so far 2 months looking for a job in PL and not even a single interview has came up!!!
olito   
10 Jun 2009
Work / Software Jobs in Poland [31]

Wehere did you send your applications to ?

Actually, I have exclusively applied to english-speaking job offers within international firms, namely: Accenture, IBM, Google, HP, SII, Sabre, Roche, Nokia-Siemens, and some others not very known.

I don't really get it, probably they are not very eager to hire a non-EU citizen due to the lengthy work-permit procedures???

If it gets no better I will have to think on moving ahead somewhere else, can't be too long without a steady income, it is very disappointing!!!
olito   
5 Oct 2009
Work / In Warsaw moving to Lodz...thinking about part time jobs.. [10]

In Lodz no idea, but you might wanna try Citibank International in Warsaw and HCL in Krakow, they both have call centers and they both are currently looking for english speaking people for technical support positions. If you manage to speak any other european language that's a huge plus to get any of these jobs
olito   
14 Oct 2009
Work / Does it make sense to move from the UK to Wroclaw for this salary? [50]

- What is 4500 PLN Gross for Wroclaw? (I earn more now, but prices in the UK are higher as well)

Dude, I just moved to Wroclaw a few days ago, got a job offer and decided to come.

Things over here are not SO CHEAP as you would think, I have been looking for a flat, and so far I have not found anything under 1500zl/month. If you get 4500zl brutto, you will have something like 3100zl in your pocket, meaning half of your salary will go for leasing a flat.

Food is not cheap as well, if you eat at home everyday and drink a beer from time to time, you will be giving something like 1000zl per month. Monthly transport card costs around 90zl. That leaves you with 300-400zl for "anything else". Clothes are expensive here (sometimes more than the UK), for instance a pair of H&M jeans will cost you around 200zl.

So go figure out the kind of living you might get with that salary. If you need more details, let me know.

Good luck!

p.s. most of us are here in Poland for personal reasons and not economical ones, so the question goes back to what OsiedleRuda said "Depends on your reasons for moving, really."
olito   
14 Oct 2009
Work / Does it make sense to move from the UK to Wroclaw for this salary? [50]

does it makes sense to start from the beginning with 4,5k zloty gross after Banking IT job in the UK...

Well well, don't feel biased only by economical matters, life in Poland can also be quite satisfying, specially if you have a good polish partner/family/friends. However, it is hard over here, very hard to have the kind of life you are used to in the "western world".

Keep trying, I am also IT specialist and took me around 5 months to find my current job, I was also offered 4000zl at some point in this job-hunt and denied. Keep in mind that many many people in Poland survive on even lower salaries.

Keep trying if you feel this is the next move in your life!
olito   
28 Jan 2010
Work / Working in Poland in a Non-Polish Speaking Job? - How? What? (no teachers!) [16]

What? Working full time developing software for a german firm

How? Through Monsterpolska, after 4 months of massive job applications (my knowledge of German was decisive to get the job)

How much? Enough for living+having fun+saving, still not as much as I could be doing somewhere else, but hey this is Poland!
olito   
27 May 2010
Life / Poland's population predictions [59]

And any other nationality you can think of:)

According to the Mexican Embassy in Warsaw, we are more or less 200 Mexicans in Poland, the majority concentrated in Warsaw and Kraków. In Wrocław we are less than 20. The majority because of having a Polish husband/wife and just a few students. The weather, language and low salaries seem to be a good "demotivator" to migrate here by free will.
olito   
27 May 2010
Life / Poland's population predictions [59]

Brits?

According to BBC's Brits Abroad section, there are around 6.000 UK nationals in PL

news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/in_depth/brits_abroad/html
olito   
11 Jun 2010
Travel / "Cool" places to see in Wroclaw [6]

There is one coffee/ice-cream parlor called Ibiza with A/C, WiFi Internet, and quiet on ul. Sw. Antoniego (very close to the corner with Kazimierza Wielkiego). But nothing is for free in this world, you might have to buy at least a cup of coffee so sit there for hours if you want.
olito   
25 May 2012
Study / Polish Language Programs in Poland [3]

I attended the Summer School at UMCS Lublin in 2009, it takes 1 month and includes language, culture, music and even some field trips. And it is cheap!

cjkp.umcs.lublin.pl/eng/
olito   
13 Jun 2012
Love / Bicultural marriage between Mexican and Polish HELP [6]

I would recommend living in Mexico. Me and my wife have tried living in Germany (neutral country) and in Poland, but Mexico has worked the best. Better weather, job chances and salaries (if you are a qualified professional) and easier growth (i.e. buying a house). Poland is expensive, cold and work is not abundant. Besides, Poles learn languages very fast (specially Spanish), you will have a hard time learning Polish and adapting to the cold weather lifestyle. Western Europe could work if you both had work permits, however, you must marry and wait 3 years in Poland before you can get Polish passport and then be able to look for a job in the UK or Germany. Let me just tell you, that when living a neutral country none of you have your friends, family, food, language and culture. Even in multicultural societies, this could affect you somehow...

I meant, your husband will have a hard time adapting... And I meant salaries in Mexico are a bit higher than in Poland for qualified professionals. Property, petrol and food are cheaper in Mexico. Public transport, tranquility of life and public medical services are better in Poland. For the same price you buy in Mexico a 120m2 brand new house, you buy a 60m2 brand new apartment in Poland. In most of Mexico you average a lowest temperature of 10C and a highest of 30C, and let me tell you something important: always sunny! We have met at least 10 Pol-Mex couples living here, just the same as we met in Poland. We're both lands of emigrants, difficult to decide where is better...
olito   
13 Jun 2012
Law / karta pobytu for my husband (mexican national) [3]

Kesja,

he must apply for Karta Pobytu in Poland, and yes, he will automatically be allowed to work. Just let me tell you, that if he engages in recruitment processes it's better to have it already (most companies do not want to risk hiring people without legal permit to work).

It is a bureaucratic procedure, but if your marriage is legitimate, you should not have any problem. The whole process takes around 2 months, since you apply until you have the KP in your hands. The treatment of bureaucrats is usually nicer in Wojewodzki with smaller amounts of foreigners (i.e. Podlaskie, Lubelskie), the worst treatment you will get is in Warsaw (they have seen any nationality and trick existing).

Good luck, its takes a lot of patience to get legal, adapted and to get a decent job...
olito   
16 Jun 2012
Travel / Złote tarasy in Warsaw [5]

Victoria Secret does not exist in Poland at all, only way to buy their stuff is through allegro or second-hand dealers...
olito   
17 Jun 2012
Travel / Złote tarasy in Warsaw [5]

You are right Turbolover, check this website:
luxlux.pl/artykul/victoria-s-secret-w-polsce-21537

It says it will be open by summer this year