Athena - Rio de Janeiro, Brazil - Birthday Celebrations

Night #1 of my bday celebrations
Tiffany, Me & Lula-- 3/4 of the Traveling
Tarheels

One of the things I was most looked forward to on this trip was celebrating my birthday in Rio. I was almost born on Christmas but I showed up a little late. Usually my birthday is sandwhiched in between the holidays, visiting family, Christmas shopping/returning and New Years. Very rarely is my birthday the main event. Well, this year it sort of was and I'm glad for that because I wasn't exactly looking forward to this birthday.  Turning this age (somewhere in my 30s) reminded me of all the things I don't have in life-- husband, kids, established career-- while so many of my friends do have these, so I originally wasn't very excited for my birthday this year. But I decided to focus on what I do have-- amazing friends, a wonderful family and a crazy five month trip in South America-- and go out and enjoy my birthday.

Athena - Recife, Brazil - A Brazilian Christmas

Feliz Natal! Merry Christmas! Even though I'm far from home, I'm still celebrating the birth of Jesus, we're just doing it Brazilian style. I always enjoy seeing how other cultures celebrate holidays. To me it's a good way to better understand the culture and a nice way to interact with the people. Tiffany and I were very excited to join our fellow Tarheel, Bruno, and his family for Christmas dinner at their house. Only Christmas dinner, as we would learn, isn't on Christmas. It's on Christmas Eve, which is the big day to celebrate here in Brazil. I'm glad we found this out because Tiffany & I were planning on having dinner on Wednesday- Christmas Day, instead of Tuesday night.

On Christmas Eve, Bruno and his wife picked us up and drove us around part of Recife that we hadn't seen before. Then we headed to Bruno's parents apartment for dinner. Their place was on the 35th floor of their building and had amazing views of Recife; there were balconies on both sides of the apartment. We started out with just Bruno's immediate family and then aunts, uncles and some cousins came by. Bruno's entire family was very warm and welcoming. Everyone made us feel like we (Tiffany and I) were really part of the family!

Tiffany - Brazil - Random Acts of Kindness....Brazil Style

We have truly been blessed to meet some of the nicest friends during our travels throughout Brazil. Forming these relationships is what motivates me to keep going after over 2 months away from other friends and family members….especially during the holidays.
To begin, our classmates from UNC who are from Brazil have been absolutely great! Luisa, Enzo, Victor and Bruno have all been SO excited to give us tips, recommendations, directions, etc. UNC definitely recruits some of the most amazing people.  In addition, we have also met some new friends along the way.
Sao Paolo

Athena, Sheikh and Hugo

Victor, one of our UNC classmates was nice enough to put us in touch with a close friend. We stayed with Hugo during our stay in Sao Paolo and absolutely had a blast. Not only did Hugo put up with us women for the entire time, he also introduced us to one of his friends, Sheikh. Hugo and Sheikh ventured out with us around Sao Paolo and even participated in some our touristy activities. On our last night in Sao Paolo, Sheikh was nice enough to invite us to dinner at his apartment which had beautiful views of Sao Paolo.

Tiffany & Athena - Pernambuco, Brazil - Signs that You've Been Traveling for Too Long

We have now been traveling abroad for two and a half months. Since we've adjusted to life outside of the U.S., we've noticed several things we would once consider to be weird, now appear 'normal' to us. These normal things are really just indicators that we've been gone from home a little too long.

You know you've been traveling too long when you....

- look forward to getting clean clothes from the Laundromat

- do the happy dance after getting adequate water pressure & hot water in the shower

- forget what language is being spoken in the country you're in

Tiffany - Brazil - Salvador in the SUN!

Pelourinho, the historical center of Salvador

Queijo Coalho

When we went to bed last night the weather report didn't look so good. We woke up expecting a day of thunderstorms and a trip to the mall and movie theatre. After a short morning walk, we were preparing to head to the movies when out of the window we saw an unfamiliar figure...the sun!

Athena - Salvador, Brazil - Singing in the Rain

At the Lighthouse  (Farol da Barra)

Rain, rain go away- that could be the theme for our time in Salvador, Brazil so far. But Tiffany and I are determined to still have fun. Yesterday, we landed here at 4:30am and settled into our apartment. I use the term apartment loosely, it's more like a bigger hostel. Since we didn't sleep a lot the night before (a 2 am flight will do that to you) we slept a lot yesterday. Finally we grabbed some food and it started raining cats & dogs. We ended up staying in the restaurant for a few hours, waiting for the rain to stop before we walked back home.

Athena - São Paolo, Brazil - Another Adventure Begins

Hoi! (Hello)
   This is the beginning of my third day in São Paolo and Tiffany and I are sitting in a lovely French cafe, having just finished a late breakfast. It's been a whirlwind week so it's nice to take some time to slow down and just be still for a little bit. São Paolo has been wonderful so far. We are staying Hugo, the friend of one of our UNC classmates, and he is an awesome host.

Hugo & Tiffany at the Afro Cuban Musem

View from the Sky Bar

Athena - Argentina- The End of San Juan

It's the morning of my last day in San Juan and part of me is very happy to leave, part of me is a little sad. I was bored here, to be honest. I didn't know what to expect, but I thought it wouldn't be this small of a town. I mean tiny, like teeny tiny. For those of you from Michigan (my home) the airport here is smaller than the old MBS airport, which is to say it has less than 5 gates and is about the size of a large barn.

I guess I got bored because I couldn't find a tour to see some of the surrounding sites, I wasn't sure what to do here and I couldn't quite figure out the schedule of things here. Businesses kept closing when I thought they would be open. I was too late or too early for dinner. I couldn't get in sync with the rhythm of life here. So I ended up spending quite a bit of time in my hotel room, much more than I thought I would. My hotel was further away from the city center than I expected, about a 25 minute walk. And it's super hot here, like almost 100 degrees hot.

Athena - Argentina San Juan travels, riots and other misadventures

My travel plans for my last week in Argentina changed on a dime. I was reading lanacion.com (Argentina's leading newspaper) and saw that my first stop, Cordoba, was in the midst of riots. I asked my roommate what was going on there and after showing her the article to make sure. I understood it correctly (it was of course, written in Spanish). We quickly agreed that I should t travel there. The police were on strike, because they wanted higher wages, and some people began rioting and looting local businesses. I reached out to the hostel I planned to stay in and the guy said that no one was in the streets, everyone was staying inside. Nope, definitely not going there now. I thank God that I found all of this out, because I was literally ready to go there the very next day.

Waiting at the Buenos Aires airport at 3:30 am

Tiffany - The Netherlands with My Second Visitor!

We are actually in this picture

My second visitor from home came to visit this week and in just 5 short days, we explored Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Rome! Esi is one of my best friends whom I have known for almost 9 years and since the day we met, we have been like sisters. Our first stop was Amsterdam. Two aspects of Amsterdam that I found surprising: 1)  Amsterdam is one of the most diverse cities in the world (I had no idea!) and 2) it’s numerous canals and modern style row houses make it absolutely gorgeous. For most people, two things that come to mind when Amsterdam is mentioned are the Red Light District and legalized marijuana. Although we didn’t partake in the legalized marijuana which came in the form of everything you can imagine (truffles, brownies, cookies, etc) and in shops on almost every corner, we did take a brief stop the Red Light District and were both surprised by how “in your face” the prostitution is. We briefly considered taking a guided tour of the Red Light District given by a former prostitute but opted to see the Anne Frank House and Van Gogh Museum instead which by the way were both amazing and inspiring. We had limited time but I think that tour would have definitely been one to remember.

Our second stop was Rotterdam, the 2nd largest city in the Netherlands. One of my classmates at UNC, Joe,  has a girlfriend who lives in Rotterdam and recommended that we check out the city while in Amsterdam because it is only 40 minutes away by train. We stopped there for a few hours and walked all around the city. We were excited to see another city and both surprised by how diverse it was and how super friendly the people there were. We ended our evening in Rotterdam with margaritas with Vivian, my classmates girlfriend who is also completing her undergraduate degree in Rotterdam. I am loving exploring different cities and thrilled by the fact that I am meeting some great people along the way. Next stop....Roma!


Rotterdam

 Amsterdam

 

Athena - Argentina & Brazil- Las Cataratas de Iguazu - Iguauzu Falls

Las Cataratas de Iguazu - Iguauzu Falls


   Then we got back on the bus for three more hours until we arrived at the town of Iguazu. After settling into our hostel we passed the afternoon by chilling in the pool and the a few of us left to walk around the small city. Our tour guides cooked an asado (barbecue) for us. The menu was literally meat (all kinds of beef and sausage), bread, wine. That's it, no side dishes. Must say the chorizo sausage was my favorite. Though it was a painfully slow dinner because there were 50 of us and the meat only came off of the grill bit by bit.

Sunday
  We spent our first day at the waterfalls on the Argentinian side and the falls were amazing. I won't even try to describe them with words...checkout these pics instead. We got really close to the falls and there were places were you could fall of the edge if you weren't careful. We also took a boat ride in the river and, of course, we went underneath one of the falls. It was both awesome and scary; I couldn't believe I was literally underneath one of the coolest waterfalls in the world. Oh, and while we were there we saw a proposal, and of course she said yes. None of us knew the happy couple but it was a wonderful sight to see.

Brazilian Side

Argentinian Side

Me on the boat ride, before we went underneath the falls

More Iguazu pics -Athena-Argentina & Brazil

Most of you know that I'm having technical difficulties on this trip (my laptop died) so please forgive me if some things appear put if place. Here are more pics from Iguazu Falls that I couldn't put in the first post.

Butterfly on my shoulder

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Athena - Argentina - El dia de accion de gracias - Thanksgiving Day

El dia de accion de gracias - Thanksgiving Day

In Argentina Thanksgiving Day is just another day, but I wanted it to still feel like Thanksgiving. At least to me. So I decided to treat the day like a holiday. I slept in, then mosy-ed around in my PJs. Since I couldn't have a traditional Thanksgiving dinner I decided to stuff my face (in true turkey day style) with all my favorite Argentinian foods. That meant lunch at my favorite pizza place, deserts from my favorite bakery, a couple of glasses of sweet white wine, and of course a steak dinner and more wine (channeling my inner Chantel, lol). Then I finished the night with some ice cream at home. Yummy...and super full. I'm sure that I ate about 4,000 calories in the day, but it was definitely worth it.

Tiffany - A Week in Germany and the Czech Republic

Berlin

Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe



Currywurst is amazing!

I have seen so much in just one short week...I’m not even sure where to begin. Our first stop this week was Berlin and I would definitely have enjoyed it a lot more if it wasn’t SO coooold. Berlin is a beautiful and modern city. We spent the day exploring the city and started out with the East Side Gallery. The East Side Gallery is essentially an outdoor art gallery. It is a small portion of the Berlin Wall that still stands and has been painted with murals by artists from all over the world. This is a very powerful and creative gallery. We were also lucky enough to be in Berlin during the Christmas Market which is open only a few weeks per year. The lights, Christmas decorations and amazing food made this one of my favorite parts of the trip.

Athena - Argentina - 10 things I think about Argentina

In honor of one of my favorite sportswriters, Peter King, I've written a list of 11 things I think I think about Argentina. This is something that Peter often does in his blogs and is just a good way to gather a bunch of random thoughts. So here goes...

Tiffany - Barcelona - La Sagrada Familia!

Beautiful from a distance

Inside La Sagrada Familia 

Exterior of La Sagrada Familia

 

Front - Nativity Facade

I saw the most amazing church today! La Sagrada Familia is a church designed by a famous Catalan architect, Antoni Gaudi. Gaudi designed several other buildings around Barcelona but this one is by far the most amazing. Construction on this church commenced in 1882 and finished....well, its actually still being constructed and isn't scheduled to be finished until 2026 (100 years after Gaudi's death when only about 25% of the church was completed). Gaudi actually lived in the church during the last few years of his life, dedicating 100%

Athena - Argentina - Yummy for my Tummy

I think you all know that I love to eat. Well, there' say ton of great restaurants here in Buenos Aires and unfortunately there's no way for me to eat at them all (but I would if I could). So to try out a few new places I went on a 'food tour' with my friend Coral. We were in a group of about 25 people and had 3 different courses at 3 different restaurants. Everything was delicious! The company that put on the tour was fuddis.com.ar (I think) and our guides were friendly and lots of fun too.

Coral, a girl from Australia & me

   The tour happened in Palermo Soho. Our first round was appetizers at an Italian place. We're talking cheese, thinly sliced meets, some kind of fried potato and cheese concoction, bruschetta but with beef instead of tomatoes, fresh bread and white wine. Deliciosa! Everything was great.
   The main course was at the restaurant in the Evita Museum, which has a large outdoor patio (these are rare in BA). They served fish, but since I can't eat fish I had ravioli stuffed with pumpkin & cheese. A-MA-ZING! And of course there was more wine and bread.
   Desert was at a place that was more like a cocktail bar and it had a really cool atmosphere. The actual desert was some type of pudding with a dollop of ice cream on top. The pudding had mandarin oranges in it. I'm not a huge pudding fan, but at least I tried it. The ice cream was amazing. And we had champagne.
   The food on the tour was fabulous and the people we met were pretty cool. There were native

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Argentinians, Australians, people from other parts of Argentina, honeymooners from Spain, and two gay couples from the US, one of whom met my friend Coral's mom on a different trip. Small world.

Athena - Argentina - Marc Anthony Concert

This past Saturday I finally got to see an artist who I've enjoyed listening to for a long time - the famous Puerto Rican salsa singer Marc Anthony. And what made it even better, was going with a group of Puerto Ricans. These girls had so much passion and were so proud to be from Puerto Rico. They came dressed in Puerto Rico headbands, shirts and flags. I loved it! And watching them sing a long to every word, dance, and try to get Marc's attention with their Puerto Rican flags was amazing. I just love being around people who are completely enjoying the moment.

And yeah, Marc Anthony was pretty amazing too. In an era of voice box and fake singers it was great to see/hear someone truly talented. On every song his voice was amazing and he also danced a little. It to put on a great show. I was a little sad when he didn't play my favorite song (No Hay Nadie) but I got over it. And even though the stadium was packed with people and the floor covered with water & mud) we still had a phenomenal time. Marc is a great performer and I'd love to see him again.

Tiffany - Venezia - Mother/Daughter Trip

SO glad I had the opportunity to see Venice with my Mom. We took the train from Central Milano and arrived in Venice after about 2.5 hours.  Venice is truly an amazing and unique city with no vehicles, lots of water taxis and lots and lots of tourists to fill them. Very few people actually live in Venice these days because it is so expensive. Those families that can afford to live there have either sold or rented their property to the government for town functions or to support tourism in some way. We went on a 2-hour walking tour which included a gondola ride. The weather was chilly but the sky was clear so definitely a great day to enjoy the city. I loved the gondola ride but our gondolier was a tad rude and refused to serenade us (not exactly like in the movies. :)) Interestingly enough, the couple who ended up on the gondola with us was from Cary, North Carolina...small world.

Beautiful Grand Canal

We had the opportunity to visit a small town right outside of Venice called Murano which is a group of seven islands about 1 mile north of Venice. We caught a water taxi and it was very convenient but in my opinion way too expensive (about $11 each way for about a 15 minute ride). Anyway, Murano is famous for glassmaking and  I enjoyed it mostly because it wasn't as crowded with tourists as Venice and I bought some really cute glass jewelry.

Mom enjoying the gondola

Tiffany – Milan – Ending My Exchange and Welcoming My First Visitor!

Mom really enjoyed the Duomo

Class is over! Let the traveling begin! Over the next month, I have plans to visit 5 additional countries and I am SUPER excited. Today, I finished my final presentation, bid farewell to Bocconi and traveled directly to the train station to pick up my best friend, my Mom! Everything was going so well until I received a call from my Mom while en route. Our plan for her to take the regional train from the airport to Milano Centrale station was ruined by a train strike which actually occurs pretty often in Milan. Mom had to take a bus to another station and with the help of a very kind passenger from Nigeria was able to call me to tell me that she would have to meet me in a different location. Another random act of kindess. :)  (see previous blog post for reference). 

Halftime at Italy vs. Germany

Mom has really been a trooper. While it took me almost two weeks to recover from jet lag, she was able to take a quick nap and head out with me to the Italy vs. Germany soccer match at San Siro Stadium. She was also amazed by the huge crowd, incredible stadium and extremely passionate fans.  Tomorrow we head to Venice and I am really looking forward to exciting times with Mom. 

Athena - Argentina - 1st World Problems

Yes, I know it's been a while since I last blogged, but trust me, I have lots of good stories to share with you once I catch up. This week I've been facing lots of first world problems, mostly related to technology. The keyboard on my laptop stopped working. For a few days I managed to get by using the onscreen keyboard (which I previously didn't know existed). Then the power button stopped working and I could no longer turn my laptop on. Yeah, that's going to be a problem. So I no longer have a laptop that works and this complicates things a little bit. Plus I was using my laptop to charge my iPad, as my iPad charger stopped working a week after I got here. And I also forgot to pack the charger for my camera so after that died 2 weeks into my trip I've had to use my cell phone for all of my pics. Technology hasn't been my friend so far. And I'm seriously, desperately hoping that nothing else breaks on my trip. I don't think I can take losing another piece of equipment! So forgive me as I get used to typing everything (term papers included) on my iPad.

The non-tech parts of my life are going well. This week I went on a food tour, bought tickets to see Marc Anthony in concert, and had a crazy late night 'adventure' getting home. More updates coming soon.

Un abrazo!

Below: Getting ready for the good tour

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Tiffany- Italy - Random Act of Kindnes

Today was a rainy day so I went to the laundromat to dry my clothes. Many apartments here have a washing machine and a clothes line outside for drying. At the laundromat, there was a sign on the dryer that I couldn't completely understand so I opted to type it into my phone translation app before loading my clothes. A man spotted me typing (and probably looking rather confused) and approached me with a sentence in Italian of which I could make out about 3-4 words. We both quickly realized that my understanding of Italian and his understanding of English were about the same. Despite this, he reached for my coin and started the machine for me.
We spent about 10 minutes discussing basic personal info in broken Italian/English. He was from Cairo but has been living in Milan for several years. He also has a sister who lives in the US but has never traveled there himself.  Right in the middle of the conversation he asked me to follow him and with plenty of hesitation I chose to oblige. We went next door where he offered me some coffee and managed to tell me in broken Italian/English that he wished me good luck in my studies. We then went back to the laundromat where he grabbed his clothes, kissed me on both cheeks and went on his way.

These types of random acts of kindness are what inspire me to travel the world, meet its people and strive to be a better person. 

Tiffany - Milano, Italy - Flash Mob!

For the final project in my Brand Management class we worked with Janssen (pharmaceutical company under  Johnson & Johnson). Our task was to propose a digital strategy to support their Diabetes Awareness Campaign. In Italy, the prevalence of diabetes has grown in the last 10 years from 3.7% to 5,5%. More than 3 million Italian citizens have diabetes and it is estimated that at least one million people have undiagnosed diabetes. 

There I am, under the R

As part of the campaign, Janssen organized a flash mob and we were invited to attend. The flash mob was held in the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele (right in front of the Prada flagship store :)) Several of my classmates and I reviewed the dance steps ahead of time and attended the flash mob. This was my first flash mob experience and it was actually  really cool. They ran the dance routine 3 times and I finally joined in on the 3^rd time (see picture: I can be seen above the “R” in Cure).

Tiffany – Switzerland – From Lost in Translation to the Beauty of the ALPS!

View from Jungfraujoch (11,333 ft. above sea level)

Waiting for the train

After almost four hours, we arrived in Zurich, Switzerland by train. Now…I knew before I left Italy that I was traveling to the German speaking part of Switzerland and knew only 1 word of German so I mapped the route from the main metro station to our hotel out in advance. Despite my planning, I found  exchanging my money to Swiss Francs, purchasing a ticket and navigating the metro to be the most difficult yet. I’ve gotten by in Italy and France by looking at words and sometimes being able to tie them to Spanish (which is the language I am most proficient in outside of English). Here, I was lost.  At one point, my roommate Erica actually used a compass on her cell phone to help us navigate to our night out on the town. MBA students can be quite resourceful. 

During our first day, we traveled about 4 miles outside of the city of Zurich by train and took a cable car  to Felsenegg to get a view of Lake Zurich, the city and surrounding areas.

View from Felsenegg (2625 ft. above sea level)

Our second day was truly an adventure. We took an 11 hour tour through Zurich, past Lucerne and Interlaken and up to Jungfraujoch, also known as the top of Europe at over 11,000 ft above sea level. Our journey to the top started with a ride on two different cogwheel trains through the mountainous landscape that took about 50 minutes each. Halfway up, the snow started to fall and once we reached the top, which was absolutely beautiful, it seemed as if we were in the middle of a blizzard. At Jungfraujoch, we were able to see amazing views of the surrounding glaciers and mountains, walk through a tunnel completely made of ice (Ice Palace) and venture outside into the 8.6 degree F weather. I nearly froze but genuinely enjoyed this once in a lifetime adventure.






Tiffany – Italy – The Leaning Tower of Pisa

I vaguely remember back in elementary school when I learned about the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Since then, I never thought too much about it, why it leans, or how much it leans. Today I had the opportunity to reflect on my learning from elementary school. The town of Pisa is a small town about 1 hour (by train) away from Florence. I wasn’t aware prior to my arrival that Pisa is also home to the University of Pisa (52k students).

From the tiny train station, I could see and confirm that the tower does in fact lean….substantially. For some reason, I imagined that the lean would be slight and that I would have to look closely in order to see it.
When we arrived, we walked from the train station, past the many vendors selling everything from fake Prada bags to Pisa key chains and to the office to purchase un biglietto for 18 euro. Since the tower is actually a bell tower to the Pisa Cathedral our ticket allowed us access to see the Cathedral and Baptistry as well. Our tour guide told us the story of how the tower started to sink after it was built in 1173 due to an inadequate foundation (soft ground). Through the decades, efforts were made to reinforce the tower as the tilt increased until it was finally stabilized in the late 20^th century. Although there are only 294 stairs, the climb was more difficult than expected due to the angle of the lean. (It’s funny, I say 294 as if it’s nothing but if I were back at home in the US, I would have searched and searched for the nearest elevator. I walk SO much more in Europe!)
*excuse the occasional and random Italian words. It helps to practice!

View from top of Leaning Tower with Pisa University Stadium




View of Pisa Cathedral from top of Leaning Tower

 

Athena - Argentina -Singing in the rain

 Happy November! I can’t believe it’s already November…and that now there are just two months left in the year. Craziness! It seems like I say this every year, but time really is flying. Today it’s raining pretty hard.

Rainy day view from my apartment

 There was a thunderstorm that came in last night and hit some areas pretty hard, but that was just a warm up. A larger storm is in the area now, some flights at the airport were cancelled and now there’s lots of rain. It’s definitely one of those days where you just want to stay inside & curl up on your couch and watch TV or read a book. I would love to do that, but nope, I have to actually leave my apartment and venture out in the rain. I’m meeting with my Spanish tutor for 2 hours today. We’re working on some of my assignments for class (papers that are written in Spanish) and I’m sure she has lots of feedback for me. Learning a language is challenging but I like it. Sometimes it’s frustrating, sometimes I realize how basic my Spanish is, and other times I get excited when I remember something that I learned. Overall it’s like a big bag of emotions, changing from day to day. I do feel like I could be working harder on at learning more and hope to do so in the upcoming month.

One other update from this week: On Monday evening I went to Chinatown after class for dinner with friends. The food was yummy and the restaurant was mostly authentic. It somewhat reminded me of my trip to China. It was so nice to have multiple dishes for dinner instead of just one, how we do in the US. And it reminded me of my team that I worked with in China and I have to say that I miss those guys. The best part was the dumplings. I LOVED these while I was in China and they were great at this restaurant. I want to go back to Chinatown in the daytime so I can see more stores & restaurants.

Dumplings at dinner. They disappeared fast!