Midnight Train to Moscow and on to Obninsk

I have fallen in love with St Petersburg. I was sad to have to leave. We spent our last day walking around and having a nice dinner at a Georgian restaurant where I had some of the best pork I have ever had. It was raining like cats and dogs as we waited to journey to the train station. I love how they have a flower shop at the train station. I am a sucker for flowers and I have noticed so many more people buy fresh flowers internationally. This is a custom I plan to adopt more frequently in my life. We finally boarded our train to Moscow. The compartment was surprisingly comfortable. After watching parts of Anastasia I fell asleep. Although the bed was hard, I slept surprisingly well. We were awakened at 7 am as we approached Moscow. I noticed it was still raining. I wish I would have brought my rain coat and a bit more hairspray because my hair turns into a chia pet with humidity. We met the guide for our day tour of Moscow. We makes a quick pit stop at the golden arches for breakfast. The classic sausage egg mcmuffin was the best I had ever had and they actually gave us adult size orange juice instead of the Dixie cup sizes they give in the States. Our tour guide Elaina was fabulous! I think we went everywhere possible throughout the city and she explained things so clearly. We stopped my the Kremlin, famous convents where Tzars and others would send their wives when they didn't want to be married to them anymore (their alternative to divorce which was outlawed at the time). We saw the 7 sister buildings Stalin built to the glory of Russia. We went to the cemetery where many russian generals and governament leaders are buried. The monuments were so intricate and elaborate. I have never seen anything like it. We ended our tour at Red Square. Unfortunately the Kremlin was closed but we got to we the general idea. St Basils was beautiful and it was fun to see the posh shops in the mall named "gum". We had the Russian interpretation of Asian food...interesting, and then traveled on the metro to see the 1930s style architecture and art in the metro stations. We then made our was to Obninsk. We are now in the "real" Russia. Soviet style hotel that remind many of army barracks. Luckily they do have WiFi and running water...what more can students ask for...really! Today we toured a bakery and the nicest hotel where the Dean and his wife are staying. I am impressed with how the students have responded to these experiences. At lunch we were all talking about how things are going so far, and it is fun to see the transformatn take place. Their eyes are being opened to the world. It makes all the months of planning and stress worth it when I can see that the students are having the same type of life changing experiences that I experienced on my first trip in 2007.

Skittles and Swan Lake

You might ask why I titled this post Skittles and Swan Lake, well...it is because that sums up our 3rd day here in St Petersburg.  We began the day with a visit with the US Consulate. It was quite fascinating to listen to their experiences and what work they do for the US and it's relations economically with Russia. The students have asked great questions and have seemed actively interested and engaged in the visits.  We then broke for lunch. I decided to browse the grocery store. It is always an adventure at the grocery store in other countries. They have whole rows of chocolate and vodka. After a simple lunch of ham and cheese on good bread while watching Anastasia on my iPad...we traveled to the Wrigley gum factory. Many of the students were expecting a charley and the chocolate factory type experience. As expected the whole administration building smells of spearmint gum. The people at the factory were very friendly. They gave us lunch in their cafeteria or cantina as they call it. I was told the food in Russia would be bad, but I have not experienced any bad foods yet. It he majority of the food is meat and potatoes, so the Irish in me is loving it. After lunch we had a presentation on Wrigley and specifically their recent merger with Mars. Wrigley will now be not only producing gum, they will produce confectionary products such as Skittles and Starburst. After the presentation we were dressed in white coats, safety shoes, hair nets, hard hats and glasses. We were escorted through the plant. We saw  stacks of gum sheets and raw ingredients. They showed us the production of Hubba Bubba and the gum that rolls up INSErT. We were then taken to see how they make Skittles. It is quite a process. We often take for granted the process that it takes to make products you see every time you check out at the grocery store.  It truly was a great visit and we were given bags of gum to take home.  We then traveled to the St Petersburg Conservatory to see a ballet performance of Swan Lake. The theater, like most buildings in Russia was cracked and crumbling, but it did have a raw beauty about it. We sat on old wooden chairs.   The performance was quite amazing. It is a memory I will cherish. These dancers are so dedicated and perform with every ounce of energy in their bodies and souls. The orchestra was excellent. It was a bit interesting exiting the theater at 10:30 pm and the sun is still out. It was like we were at an afternoon performance.  All in all a spectacular day from Skittles to Swan Lake!

St. Petersburg rain and shine

We have arrived here in St Petersburg. We had a rainy welcome...well a downpour really. I was happy to finally arrive after a long day of traveling. We are staying in the Holiday Inn. It is a massive building but very comfortable. Last night we went out for dinner and to see the Church of the Spilled Blood and the souvenir market. As I have said, bartering is not my strong suit, but I was able to see some of the pros. Hopefully I will be better in time for Turkey. We went into one of the many Orthodox cathedrals, that was quite an experience. I had never been in a orthodox church before. They have the icons all over the walls. The women wea the head scarf and many light candles and kiss the icons. We were lucky enough to see part of the service with the singing and incense. Throughout all my travels I have always loved seeing faith manifest in different religious ceremonies, from Budism to Chrisitanity in all of its forms. Sunday has been a full day. We went on a tour of the city. Our tour guide Tatiana, is very friendly and looks like Doris Day. I keep thinking she should burst out in song any moment. We went to many historical sights and the crown jewel of the hermitage. I enjoyed it in spite of the crowds of people. I felt like I was back in Asia at times because of the crowds and lack of personal space, but it was all worth it to see the paintings of the masters, (Vangough, Matisse, Piccasso etc). It was also thrilling to see the grand winter palace. I was thinking of the songs from Anastasia while in many of the rooms. They call St Petersburg the Venice of Russia because of the many islands connected by bridges. The are very beautiful. Today was more sunny, but the sky was a bit stormy and made for some great photo ops. We had a great lunch of Russian pies. I tried a chicken pie and a cheesecake one for dessert. The more adventurous flavors such as rabbit were unfortunately unavailable. We went to Peter and Paul's fortress and viewed the burial place of all the Russian Tzars. It is always so fascinating to see these types of things. It makes history come alive and I am able to visualize these figures as real human beings instead of just names in a book. We continued on to see more Cathedrals and historical sites. We were dropped off on Nevskey prospect for another shot at the souvenir market and the Church of the Spilled Blood. The church was amazing and very unique. Mosaics cover the entire structure from the inside. I was in awe of the colors and patterns. The tour guide explained that during Soviet times there was talk of destroying this church. I am so glad they did not. I know the was years of restoration but all the efforts were well worth it. I finally got my bartering practice. It still makes me sick to have to do this, but I was able to purchase some great things. Tomorrow we start the business visits and the ballet in the evening. Now that it is finally dark outside at midnight, I must get some sleep.

Western Girl goes East

Off to Russia!

Tomorrow morning I head out to Russia and then to Turkey with the Huntsman School of Business Global Learning Experience group. 13 students 1 faculty leader 1 trip manager (myself) and the Dean of the college and his wife.

I am excited to have the opportunity to se another part of this big bright beautiful world! Especially with the context of global business.

Ready set go!

The Rest of Rio - On to Sao Paulo

The rest of Rio was quite glorious. We had wonderful visits with O Globo and Petrobras. We went to the O Globo printing facility. It was amazing to see the process a newspaper takes to become a newspaper. Petrobras is one of the leading oil companies in Brazil and in the world.

We finally found a semi-affordable laundry. Hooray! After picking it up we found the thing that I have been waiting for. Besides the sandy beach and amazing views, the thing I remember most about Rio from 4 years ago was...stuffed churros! The stand cooks the churros and then the vendor fills them with chocolate or dulche de leche. Can you spell yummy? So good!

After a morning at the Corcovado and the beach, many of us then went to a Samba Club called Rio Scenarium Saturday night. What an experience. It was a club filled with movie props and eclectic furniture. The music was fabulous and it was a great opportunity to have fun together.

Sunday morning was so nice to catch up on some much needed sleep and then one more walk on the beach.

Our flight to Sao Paulo was short and sweet. I love domestic airports...much less hectic and crowded. Sao Paulo is a crazy busy city. There are skyscrapers and cars everywhere! The next few days are filled with amazing visits! Love it!

Rainy Rio

So we have arrived in Rio but it has been a rainy start. We had an early morning start at PUC-Rio. The private Catholic University here in Rio. After a wonderful lunch with the faculty and the Dean, we went up to Sugarloaf. Altough it was foggy, windy and begain to rain a bit, it was breathtaking. I promise pictures will come :)

After we returned to the Hotel the rain came down in sheets. Hopefully it will clear up over the weekend in time for our opportunity to enjoy the beach right outside our windows.

It was another "just keep swimming" day. But I know I am being refined by the challenges and rewarded with the joys.

Chilly Chile

It has been a wonderful 6 days in Chile. I will have to wait to post pictures until we get to a hotel with a little faster internet access.

We were hosted by Univdersidad Catolica in Vina del Mar and Valparaiso. On Friday we took a bus to Quillota to the Agricultural College. Universities in Chile are different than how most American Universities are structured. They do not have a central campus. Each college (business, agriculture, art etc) are located in different locations around the 2 cities.

A bit of a curve ball happened when our amazing hosts told us that the students had gone on strike and they had taken over the central offices and other buildings. It was very interensting because they did not seem like this was too nerve racking or out of the ordinary. I guess it is because they are used to this type of thing in Chile. It did put a slight kink in our plans, but we tried to take it in stride. We had a wonderful hosted lunch and the evening free.

On Saturday we were met by 3 students (who graciously did not go on strike...yet) took us on a walking tour of Valparaiso. This is always a highlight and the students were very happy to talk to the students and see the colorful city of Valparaiso.

It was fun to remember being here 4 years ago. Some things have changed, but much is exactly the same.

Most of the group went together to church on Sunday. It was fun to see the members and missionaries looks of suprise as a group of 20+ Americans walk into Sacrament Meeting. One of the students went up and bore his testimony. He served in southern Chile. It was a nice and relaxing day. The beach is rocky but beautiful. I know the students fell in love with this beautiful area. The rains came late Sunday afternoon. It was quite a down pour and made me grateful for an umbrella.

Monday we were originally going to travel to the university, but because of the strike we had the lecture in the hotel. After a lovely lunch we loaded the bus and visited CSAV shipping company. I am always so impressed by the hospitality and generosity of the companies we visit. We then travelded the hour and a half to Santiago.

Our guide informed me that the hotel we originally had booked had some issues with flooding from the rain. They had not had rain like this in over a year. Discovering leaks the hard way :) It is times like this that I am so grateful for wonderful travel agents that can fix these problems for us. We ended up in a nice hotel perfectly situated in downtown Santiago.

Paul and I took a small group of students to the offices of Banco Santander for an informal question & answer session Tuesday morning. We all walked around the Plaza de Armas and the Cathedral. It was interesting to get a flashback to March and the many Cathedrals of Italy I was blessed to visit. There have been some interesting coorelations between trips. Common threads weave their way throug all the trips I have been a part of.

We traveled to Weir Minerals and had a wonderful visit and tour. This company manufactures pumps and equipment needed in the mining industry. They were kind enough to answer all the questions and served us unexpected but welcome refreshments.

There have been quite a few little bumps in the road but all-in-all we are doing well. Off to Rio tomorrow. A day of flying and changing planes is ahead. Sometimes I feel like I am herding sheep...but I feel very blessed to be learning the ropes and associating with these people.

Pictures and more stories to come! Loves from the last night in Chile!