Day 1 Chile.... Go big or go home (literally)

Following our arrival on Friday night, we went to bed around 3am. The following morning we drove for about 30mins outside the city and went to a house in the foot hills of the Andes Mountains for mountain biking. To say that it was challenging would be an absolutely huge understatement! It was the hardest bike ride I've ever done in my life period! Everyone from elite athlete to professor said the same (and he does 200mile road bike trips)! It was also one of the funniest rides I've ever done in my life. The weather was sunny and 95 degrees. The mountains were absolutely beautiful. We started out going 30mins up a "mild" 5-7% gradient (that was the warm up). I should have known we were in for a treat when about 1 hour into the ride I go to peddle and realized I had sheared the crank off of my bike (this is the peddle and arm that holds the peddle for you non bikers out there... this means I am clearly VERY strong!!!!). While funny, it is a bit hard to bike with no peddle!!!!!!!! Luckily the guide switched me bikes so I only had to deal with using peddles for clip ons with sneakers (also not easy) for about 90 mins (no big deal, I am a trooper).

From there, the real ride started. The first climb was another 1hr and 15-30mins, and this time there were tons of switchbacks, rivers, places we had to walk our bikes, and at times we could only peddle maybe 20-30ft before we had to get off the bikes and start hiking again. It was the most epic ride I've ever been on! We also had a really nice lunch in the mountains (salmon and some sort of mixture of rice/peas/mayo, and an incredible fruit kebab mixture), had some time to through the Frisbee around, and had a couple bottles of vino (ok... 5, but there were 7 of us?? good thinking Julio our guide... as if there werent enough crashes on the first half). From there, we started the second hill of the trip (I know after a big lunch and the wine). That made it pretty interesting. We were all doing more hiking than biking and it was at least 95 degrees! After about an 1hr and 30min death march (the hills had to be at least 10-14% gradients....spiking to 15%+ at times).....and I'm absolutely not exaggerating. Everyone who went fell at least once if not more (my prof fell twice). Jeaven only fell once, but was able to run out of it. He did however, run into a pricker bush that stuck him like a freaking knife. I have a bunch of little cuts and scraps all over my lower legs, a few on my arms, a slight puncture wound on my hand. (I'M FINE!!!!!!!!!...character building injuries :-)). I fell a few times, I believe twice although it was quite possibly three... ( I blame it on the heat, perhaps it was the wine?) THe last fall was the worst, I was mashing down the mountain when my tire hit a HUGE boulder in the middle of the road, stopped my momentum and sent me flying over the handle bars into a bush and rolling down the side of a cliff... I was fine once my bike got caught on something and stopped me, trapping me beneath, thankfully Jeaven came running to the rescue and held me up by my ankle dragging me up the side of the mountain. I must admit that Jefferson took the cake when it came to falls... you know its a steep hill when the professional biker guide starts walking his bike, but Jeffer decided he was king of the mountain and could take anything on, proceeded to go flying down a trail straight into a massive boulder, popping his tire, and sending him flying into a lake... I wish we had it on camera. It was quite funny, I may have peed myself watching.

The end of the ride was the absolute best! We flew down the mountains at 20-30mph on our mountains bikes for about 25mins. It was the most fun I've had on a bike in a long time. I did really well....and all I can think about is man.....when am I going to get to do that again. When we got back to the ranch many of us collapsed on the lawn to discuss the ride and take in a well deserved Chilean beer. We all took pictures of our cuts and scars......and a couple of groups pics and then headed home (we left at ~ 9:30am - ~5:30pm). My professor summed it up as saying, "there was plenty of mud and blood on this trip, a lot of mud, but mostly blood" Had a great discussion with my professor on the way back about work and work/life balance...and making work life CHOICES.

All in all, it was a great day, super fun, but incredibly exhausting!!! Attached are a few of my favorite photos of the day with a few more from others to come in later posts (i.e. me laying half down the side of a mountain under a bike and a large bush laughing hysterically at myself saying "i cant get up! im stuck! but im ok!!!!!!!!!!!!11 THAT WAS AWESOME!!!!) In fairness the pictures really just do not do the trip justice... we came home absolutely filthy animals and it reminded me of being a kid playing in the mud when my mom would insist i go around back and hose off before she ever let me in the house. I looked in the mirror and I was caked in dirt from head to toe and my gym shoes are practically ruined. We are walking around like we got in fights with giant rolls of barbed wire (thanks to the pricker bushes) and are covered in large red gashes, gaping wounds, and numerous bruises. Good thing people dig battle scars and it makes for a good story....

A special thanks for my co-writer on this post, the infamous Jeaven Mrazeck (Dream Team Affiliate and Vice President)

Goodnight from Santiago!

T

Argentina Day 5 - City Tour and US Embassy

Not enough time to write and the internet here in Chile is sparse... but we arrived safe and sound Friday night here in Santiago. Below are some of my favorite pictures from a walk around Buenos Aires before we left. I have a few posts to update on our weekend here in Santiago as well as our first day of meetings (very full day) and other events... I will try to catch up when I can

A few of my favorite pictures from a walk around the city of BA....

The tomb of Evita

A picture of a crypt in BA

More tombs ( I was quite enthralled with these...)
A tree with really BIG roots
A walk in the park...

Plaza San Martin (Argentine equivalent to George Washington)

Jeaven and I enjoying our "last supper" monstrous breakfast at a local cafe... DELICIOUS!

Argentina Day 4 - Meetings and St. Patricks Day

Happy St. Patricks Day from Argentina everyone! To set the mood for this happy day, check out this song by an awesome up and coming band, The Blair Reinhardt Band. Click HERE

St. Patricks Day truly is a holiday celebrated all over the world. Here in Buenos Aires the tradition is almost as big as in the US with people wearing shades of green, various parts of the city hosting large block parties with bands and beer, and the partying continuing on throughout the night and into the next morning. I tend to be one that stays away from large holiday events where people get out of control and bad things are bound to happen, but I did make time to walk around the city a bit and see the masses flocking to the streets. It was quite the site I must say!

Thursday we had a long day of meetings starting by visiting CAEMe, a large pharmaceutical association in Argentina. They had really nice offices with large meeting rooms and we were treated to a 3 hour discussion on the pharmaceutical and drug industry in Argentina as well as another micro and macro economic/political discussion of the country. I was shocked to see that they had waitresses for us who shuffled around every few minutes refilling our water glasses and coffee cups. THANK GOODNESS for the coffee as almost everyone was a bit worn out from Wednesday nights late night at the Tango show. We also feasted on a delicious selection of medialunas, the most delicate and tasty little half moon shaped croissants you've ever tasted. After the meeting most of us chose to forgo lunch and squeeze in an hour long nap before we headed to the Buenos Aires Stock Exchange. Here we discussed the differences between the Argentine stock market and that of the US. Amazingly their market holds less than 120 companies, of which only 40 are actually traded. In fact stocks make up less than 10% of the entire securities market, with bonds representing over 1/3 of the securities market. It was quite interesting to be standing on the trading floor with the head of BASE watching the "traders" hard at work, playing on the internet, one was even checking facebook.... and they wonder why their economy is in the toilet and inflation is at about 27%??? After the discussion at BASE we headed to Merval, a portion of the governing body of the National Securities Commission (similar to the SEC in the US) where we met with two of their head economists to discuss the securities market and Argentine economy. One of the most interesting statistics we discussed was the spread of the country's GDP over the past decade and the controversy of government published statistics. According to the government GDP has varied 3.4% over the past decade with a standard deviation of +/- 5!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THAT IS INCREDIBLE and a true example of the volatility in the markets here. (yet everyone keeps urging us to invest in Argentina, um... no thanks?).

We again heard about some controversy regarding the Argentine Prime Minister and the US Embassy so I am quite excited to head to the Embassy tomorrow to discuss diplomatic relations between the country!

I am having a wonderful time here thus far and have decided to stay low tonight to rest up. I am feeling quite well and think I am just about over my recent bout of mono, but would still like to ensure I am getting all the rest that my body needs to recover. Thankfully I have been able to escape the stresses of working and going to school full time and trying to do all the other things I normally do. While this has not been a vacation in the traditional sense and we are rather busy bustling about with meetings and what not, it is still fun and exciting to be in one of the worlds largest and most historic cities! I will be sad to leave Argentina but am quite excited to travel to Santiago.

I am just wondering though... if the market for wine is greater in Chile than here in Argentina, how will we survive? I do not see how we can drink much more than we already have but I guess we will have to give it a try! Tough life!!

Abrazos y Besitos!

T

Argentina Day 3- Cargill, Intel, High Tea, and Tango

Wednesday was a busy but productive and educational day.

Our day began bright and early as Kate and I woke up early to do a WOG (half walk half jog) of the local area in search of some more American coffee. We finally located a McDonalds after looking in several other storefronts but not seeing much of anything. I ordered an espresso doble and was greeted to 8oz of straight espresso-coffee-ish deliciousness. I was surprised to see the employees wearing uniforms made of jeans and the McCafe attendees in very cute professional attire. IN South America the coffee stations are completely separate from the food counter and house a wide assortment of pastries and desserts and the areas finest coffee sensations. After we indulged in our treats we went back to the hotel to quickly shower and scarf down some breakfast. It was a bit of a walk from the hotel to Puerto Madeira where our meetings were held but I just adore this cute riverside community. The buildings and infrastructure in this area is all new, there are sailboats and yachts docked in the port, and fabulous restaurants and cafe's along all the streets. If I were to live in BA, I'd definitely want to live there!

Our first meeting was with Cargill's Argentina (BA) office. Cargill is the largest privately held (by the Cargill family) company in the US and the 34th largest company worldwide with over 131,000 employees worldwide and $107B in revenues. I was particularly interested in this meeting as Cargill is a big supplier of food and products for McDonald's and we are one of their largest customers. A global leader in food and agriculture Cargill has a long history of leveraging its ability to connect expertise around the world to various businesses. Beyond the business discussions we had with the CFO and 1st Manager of the Argentine office I was particularly interested in the economic and political discussions that we had with these candid people. My feelings about these topics were further reinforced when we met with Intel's VP of CSR for Argentina later in the afternoon. Intel, the worlds largest semiconductor manufacturer, generates over $43B in annual revenues and employs of 83,000 people worldwide. I was also rather pleased to learn that Mariana from Intel was a WF graduate who went there on a golf scholarship! Small world! Both of these companies portrayed the harsh realities of operating companies in a environment characterized by risk, uncertainty, and volitilty. I have many thoughts on this topic, but I am saving my full analysis of the Argentine economy and political atmosphere for when all our meetings are finished.

After our meetings Kate and I joined one of her contacts for High Tea at the Palace Hotel Alvear. What a treat this was! I'd always wanted to do a high tea and had not been able to squeeze it in during any of my travels. We enjoyed finger sandwiches, champagne, white tea, and lots of little dessert bites. It was definitely a fun girls day out event! For dinner last night we went to Bar Sur in the area of San Telmo where we sat in a quaint little bar and watched live Tango performances from professional dancers literally right in front of us. They had traditional tango music played by an in house set of musicians and an incredible singer. For anyone traveling to BA in the near future I highly recommend you make reservations for this show. During a few of the interludes the dancers would come out and pull audience members onto the floor and give them lessons. I was lucky enough to be one of these people, and despite my apparent inability to dance, I had a fabulous time trying! I must also note that I believe the Latin men have a liking for me as it seems like every event we go to I end up being dragged on stage and smothered with attention by charming Latin men... tough life! (sorry, Mark ;) I can't help it they adore me! Ha!) The concert pianist took a particular liking to me and proceeded to demand quite a bit of my attention for the rest of the night, VERY entertaining! After a late night of wine and the show we decided to return to the hotel to get some much needed sleep before a big day Thursday with meetings at CAEMe, the BA Stock Exchange, And Merval Economists.

Please enjoy the pictures I have posted with this entry and for those that want to see more I have many many more pictures posted up on my FB page.

Besos!

T

Argentina Day 2 - La Estancia

Our second day in Argentina was a trip to La Estancia, a fairly large ranch about 120 KM from Buenos Aires. On the way there we passed the River Plate and were amazed at the sight we saw, a river that stretched wider than the eye can sea and had waves the size of the sea. River Plate is one of the widest rivers in the world reaching over 210 KM wide at its largest point. For those that need a frame of reverence, that is wider than Lake Erie. For a river, pretty insane.

We arrived at La Estancia and were greeted by ranch hands dressed in traditional Gaucho attire, warm fluffy beef empanadas (DELICIOUS), and an open wine bar. I am starting to understand the tradition of Vino (wine) in argentina as it seems to flow continuously and is a standard for all meals.... I have no complaints about this so far! We roamed around the ranch and took in the beauty of the land that surrounded us. Argentina is a very furtile and green land and is quite beautiful. We wondered over to the horse station where we got to ride horses with the Gauchos. In my broken spanish I made friends with the head Gaucho, Carlos, and asked him if I could run with my horse. Carlos said absolutely and next thing I know, he has a hold of my horses reins (we were near the back of the pack) and was escorting me to the front where we promptly took off, leaving the group behind quickly. Carlos and I ran with the horses for quite a way before turning around and heading back to catch up with the group en route to the stables.

Lunch was a traditional Gaucho meal of bread, salad, and lots and lots of beef (various cuts). There again were more bottles of wine, ice cream for dessert, and the traditional post meal Cafe. The coffee here in Argentina is interesting, it tastes almost as strong as espresso but does not seem to have the caffeine effects we are accustomed to back home. After lunch was a show with folk tango dancing and music. The dancers pulled random people from the trip up on the stage to dance and before I knew it a hand was extended to me and I was twirling around the dance floor with one of the Gauchos! Quite Fun!

Finally we headed out back to the horse show area where the Gauchos put on an INCREDIBLE horse show for us. They demonstrated hunting techniques with these neat lasso ball things and spears, flying by a fake Ostrich on the horses and flinging their weapons at it. They did all kinds of tricks with the horses and the best Gaucho in Argentina, Martin, put on a show that I will never forget. Martin had tamed a rescue horse and taught it all kinds of remarkable tricks. He was crawling underneath the horse, standing atop, at one point he seduced the horse to lay down and even cuddled with it (picture below). Martin's portion of the show was quite exceptional and my only regret is that I did not video tape it to show you when I return home.

After the horse show we all had an opportunity to take photos with the Gauchos and their horses. My good friend from school, Kate, and I decided to take a picture and we approached the horses and the men to take our photos. Before I knew it, Martin has whisked me up onto the horse with him insisting we take a picture together and not wanting to let me down when we were done! (photo below).

The trip overall was a big success and we all enjoyed a look at life in Argentina outside the big city. I have posted below a few of my favorite photos of the day, although there are many many more that are equally as good.

Wednesday is our first day of meetings and we are scheduled to meet with Cargill and Intel and then attend a Tango Show in the evening. I will post photos of that as soon as possible.

So far it has been nice to be away from the stressful life of work and school. I am enjoying my time in Argentina and am actually excited to start the "learning process" hands on and explore the country's economic and political environments.

xo

T

Argentina Day 1

I have always loved to travel.... there is something about venturing off into an unknown land not knowing what to expect, a step outside your comfort zone, exploring a culture, people, and tradition far different from what you are accustomed to. My love for travel began at an early age when I ventured through the UK and other parts of Europe. As I've grown older I've made it a priority to continue my worldly education with trips to new places as often as possible.

For the next ten days I roam South America (Argentina and Chile) with a school class from UC Davis. While this trip certainly is NOT a vacation and lots of work and preparation went into organizing the trip, we expect to have a good time... thus far we have not been disappointed.

The trip here was long, we left Sacramento at 3pm sharp on Saturday and did not arrive to our hotel until 11:30 PM on Sunday. Having had no real meals in a day we settled for some bar snacks and a generous pour of Malbec to tide our bellies until we arose Monday. We slept in, very tired and weary from our travels, and finally awoke around noon upon which we met up with some other classmates and walked around Recoleta, a small part of the inner city of Buenos Aires. We walked around a tall flowered sculpture that was a massive piece of steel. At sunset it closes and lights up pink, kind of neat!

Around 2 we hailed a cab and went to the "hip" area of Palermo where we sat down to a fabulous lunch outside under the shade trees. Apparently it is customary for meals to be served with wine here and our lunches were accompanied by tall glasses of the vino tinto or blanco of our choice, how could we complain or turn this down? My lunch was spectacular, a chicken dish which is pictured below:

After lunch we roamed some shopped and walked all over various parts of the city. My pedometer says we walked over 14,000 steps... cleary after such exercise we would need a good meal so we headed to Cabana Las Lilas for THE VERY BEST steak dinner I've ever had. The plates of meat just kept coming and in large quantities. The prices were a small fraction of anything in the US and the flavor was far superior. I ordered a the equivalent of a petite filet and was greeted to about 15 oz of juicy melt in your mouth goodness. Between the meat, the never ending supply of Malbec, and the numerous side dishes we left fat, full, and very very happy people. To anyone visiting BA in the futre Caban Las Lilas is a MUST TRY, its a gorgeous restaurant on the water front near the port, and you can get a table overlooking the river. The setting is great, atmosphere terrific, and the food outstanding.

Day 1 was a big success. I am including some of my favorite pictures from Day 1 and I will try and update with Day 2 tomorrow... it was a VERY exciting trip to la Estancia!

I should note to all my FB friends... all photos will be uploaded there, so check daily!

A Beautiful Mind

"It is only in the mysterious equations of love that any logic or reasons can be found.

I am only here tonight because of you.

You are the reason I am.

You are all the reasons."

~ A beautiful Mind.