...worth a thousand words.

More to come from, Hanoi and Sapa Vietnam. All my photos are here http://picasaweb.google.com/davidson.jc. New albums are linked below.

Jakarta in bullets

· Jakarta is extremely hot and humid – more so than Atlanta, which is hard to imagine. I've been told that the only city that competes in terms of heat index is Hong Kong. Good luck Aly and Vini!!!

· The traffic has to be experienced to be believed - also worse than Atlanta, which is hard to imagine. And motos are everywhere! It’s common to see a family of four on a 100cc motorcycle while the mother holds onto a bushel of goods from the market and the children desperately cling to any loose clothing to prevent being flung. Britney Spears would find solace in a place like this – no car seats, no problem.

· People here, especially women, wildly laugh at foreigners (me). At first, this upset me. “What the hell are they laughing at?” “Do I have a booger hanging out of my nose, is my fly unzipped?” But apparently, it is customary. Indonesians love to laugh, and generally speaking they laugh out of delight and not mockery. Although I suspect I might have had a loose boog one or two of those times.


· Decaf coffee and drinks without ice cost extra!

· Everybody with a heart beat has a mobile phone (after visiting Bangkok and Hanoi, I realize this is not at all unique to Jakarta)

· Everybody and his dog is an entrepreneur. Traffic is so bad that there are freelance traffic directors. These dudes stand at tricky intersections, waving their arms at traffic, interposing their bodies between vehicles and the oncoming traffic. Also, people double park everywhere, but they leave the car in neutral, permitting the freelance parking dudes to push the cars around to let people in and out. Of course, they expect a small tip in return for the effort.

· Firm handshakes are viewed as aggressive. Everyone shakes hands during an introduction, but in most cases their shake is so wimpy it is more of a hand touch than a shake.

· I learned I love:
Rambutan Fruit
Snake Fruit
Avocado shakes

· I learned I am not fond of:
Fried Cow Skin
Boiled Innards

Maputo

The week flew by and it is already time to move on. In summary, Africa was not what I expected (with the exception of the Kruger safari). Partly due to my naivety, and partly due to the caliber of employees STC employs here in Maputo. I was predicting food poisoning and dodgy characters. Instead, I received fantastic meals, including some of the best seafood I’ve ever had, and an extremely hospitable and charming city. One week was just not enough time to spend here.

The Big 5

After a short scare that the project schedule and site visits might be compromised, Roger and I were asked to book travel to Maputo Mozambique on the same day we were expected to leave. Following the administrative nightmare it was to book same day travel across the globe, we haphazardly packed our stuff and headed for Heathrow. We arrived in Maputo 24 hours later and immediately started searching for trips to Kruger National Park in South Africa.
So, Maputo doesn’t exactly foster a services oriented culture. Our hotel was supposed to be one of the best, and lets just say they were not exactly making it easy to check into the room, let alone plan any trip to a game park in a neighboring country. Several hours were spent negotiating with a friend of the front desk attendant. Frustrated with my relentless persistence, he suggested we take his car and navigate ourselves. Hmm, why not, that could be an adventure. Just then, a lady in the lobby suggested we call her friend if we were interested in going to Kruger. With extremely low expectations, I apprehensively gave him a call. 5 minutes later Loko Roger showed up, and, in short, Loko was the man. He drove us there, picked us up, escorted us through customs (which would have certainly been a disaster if we went by ourselves), and booked our first night stay. If Loko didn’t show up, our weekend in Kruger would not have been the same.

Kruger was a blast. We spent the weekend in great weather viewing all sorts of animals – namely the Big 5 (Elephant, Lion, Leopard, Water Buffalo and Rhino) of which the Lion we did not see until we were about 1 mile from the park exit.

Let me, let me, upgrade ya

I write this note while in transit from DC to London. Oddly, I was upgraded to business class. It has been over 4 years since I last flew United Airlines and was expecting to be in the last row, near a bathroom, wedged between an obese smacker and several screaming children – luckily for me, this was not the case. As I arrived to my seat (13 F), I confusingly stared at the abundance of space in and around my chair. For the longest time, I was convinced that this was the “standard” international seat. Having purchased the cheapest, lowest-class ticket, I surely expected to be treated as a commoner. Even after receiving a copy of the Journal, and a glass of champagne I mistakenly explained to Julia over the phone how great coach was on an international flight. After hanging up, the old man sitting beside me said, “I think you may be in the wrong seat,” when I quickly and confidently responded, “No, this is me.” He looked at me oddly for a second and said, “Well I’d be happy too if I bought a ticket in coach and sat in business class.” I smiled and felt my cheeks blush before standing to ask the flight attendant if I was in the correct seat. She smiled and informed me that I was, in fact, upgraded. In general, developmental projects and the nonprofit industry are largely modest, spending only on expenses that are needed or even emergent. It is uncommon to fly first class or reap the typical pleasures consulting offers. As I sipped on my second glass of champagne, I wondered… should I be sitting here? Am I in the right frame of mind? Suddenly the attendant took my dinner order - I requested the chicken and spicy scallops with a glass of the cabernet. Anyways, what was I thinking about? Can’t remember, too busy surfing through the long movies list I plan to fall asleep to.

One More Time

Just before the holidays, while in between roles, another opportunity to work with the Accenture Development Partnership arose. At first, I baulked at the thought of living abroad for an extended amount of time so soon after my stint in Argentina. But after learning more about the role and the client, it was clear to me that this was another great opportunity – one that I could not miss. At the moment, I cant say much about the work, but I can tell you it is with Save the Children, a phenomenal global NGO. Interestingly enough, STC and its leadership team are members of the NetHope board – my last nonprofit client. Over the next 10 weeks I will literally travel once around the world, stoping in DC, London, Tanzania, Mozambique, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam and New York. This time I promise I wont bore you with the work details – just some tidbits from my experiences from all around. I hope you enjoy! Welcome to, Hola me llamo Justin, Numero Dos.

Thats All Folks!

To quote the sage, Porky Pig, "Thats all Folks."
Many thanks to all those who supported me and my efforts to give back to the non-for-profit and NGO community abroad. It certainly was a wild ride! But now it’s time to firmly ground myself back in the US. That’s not to say, I don’t still have my head in the clouds – there are many more incredible experiences that are sure to follow.

Since my return, my sister Bryn was married (Congrats Bryn and Reed!!), and my older brother Michael’s engagement festivities have begun (congrats Mike and Laurie!!) and the wedding is soon to follow. Although I've been back in Atlanta GA for nearly 3 weeks, I'm still transitioning and have yet to catch up with all my friends and family. I promise I will make a concerted effort to exist, shortly.

Also, on the work front, I have been staffed on a role in Seattle, conducting a working capital assessment for a chemicals company. The new role should prove to be very interesting as Shared Services is included in their roadmap for A/P and A/R functions. Hopefully, I will have an opportunity to leverage the experience gained in Buenos Aires.
Until another opportunity arises to incessantly bug you all with the happenings of my life, this is where I leave the blog. Again, thank you for your support.

Very Best!
Justin

PS - Below you will find albums containing all my photos. Double click on each album to see more. I hope you enjoy looking at them half as much as enjoyed taking them!

All my photos - double click the album for more

Argentina - Patagonia - Ushuaia, Calafate and Bariloche


Peru - Cusco, Aguas Calientes, Mt Putucusi, and Machu Picchu


Argentina - The Iguazu Falls


Uruguay - Colonia


Argentina - Mendoza, Mt Aconcagua and wine country


Argentina - Buenos Aires

My new friends from Buenos Aires and all over.

Steve – My roommate and teammate on the NetHope project. A great guy! Good luck in Nairobi!!


Marisa – Accenture Consultant (or I should say Manager now, congrats on the promo to come) in Buenos Aires, who is very involved in local Corporate Citizenship initiatives. Marisa was exceedingly hospitable and made our stay in BsAs seem like a second home.


The Arch Team – This team helps support Senior Managers from all over North America. They helped make our transition to the Buenos Aires office seamless – and furthermore became great friends of ours.


Patrick and Marjian – A fun couple from Antwerp, Belgium. Patrick was working on a similar nonprofit consulting project for Ashoka in BsAs. We enjoyed good times “afterwork” drinking and making comical videos for their friends back in Belgium.

Cy and Tracy – A cool couple from Denver, Colorado. Steve’s old friends relocated to Buenos Aires looking for work and instead found several months of traveling and fun.

David and Darraugh - The unlikely trio met on a bus between Rio Gallegos and Calafate. David, a farmer from Spain’s Basque Country, Darraugh, a med school student from Ireland, and I spent our time in Calafate traversing glaciers and frozen lakes. David, who did not speak a lick of English and Darraugh, who did not speak a lick of Spanish, provided me a great opportunity to further advance my Spanish while living the life of a translator. Darraugh, an avid skier and snowboarder, was able to meet up with me again in Bariloche for the ski extravaganza.

Isabella and Antonio – Met in Ushuaia in our hostel before taking a boating trip around the Beagle Channel. Afterwards, we went out for dinner and drinks. Isabella was from Quebec Canada and Antonio was from Madrid Spain. The three of had very different perspectives on the world and the issues of today, which made for fascinating dialogue. We had a great time - perfect timing, participants and situation can allow strangers to learn so much from each other in such a short amount of time.

If you ever find yourself in Atlanta, please drop a line.
Thank you all for the great memories!!

Have Snow, Will Ski

The last Patagonian locale on my 2 week circuit was Bariloche. Bariloche is known for its ideal location, surrounded by enormous lakes and mountains in all directions. But to be entirely honest, the only reason I forced Bariloche into my trip was to go skiing in the Andes, and unfortunately, this year has been unseasonably warm. Most ski locations have remained closed due to the conditions. While I prayed for snow, I visited and was extremely impressed by the lake district and Llao lloa National Park.

Two nights before my last day, the weather was looking grim. Sheets of rain relentlessly pelted the city. Alas, it doesn’t appear that I will be able to go skiing after all. Oh well, I enjoyed my acquired home, Hostel 1004, in Bariloche. The other travelers here were extremely friendly, making for a hospitable experience. But wait, what is this? At about midnight the sheets of rain turned into enormous flakes of snow. And it didn’t stop there – the blizzard lasted through the next day. My very last day in Patagonia was spent skiing the immaculate slopes of Mt Catedral.

Embarrassingly, I took a serious spill while on my first run of the day. My knee twisted when I landed and left me in excruciating pain. Of course, I continued to ski the rest of the day on my bum knee which has since left me gimp. Since my return to the US, an MRI shows that I didn’t actually twist my knee at all, but instead it was impacted by the blunt trauma of landing on it with all my weight. My tendons and ligaments are 100%, but my tibial plateau is fractured in several places and my kneecap has a pocket of blood resting underneath it.

The good news, no surgery is needed as a result of the great time I had in Bariloche. The bad news, no physical activity for 6 – 8 weeks.

"He’ll live."

From Famine to Feast

My good friend, Marisa, put me in contact with her brother Martin in Bariloche. Martin is a chef at a fancy hotel (I think 4 star, but not sure) named the Casco Art Hotel. I made plan to meet Martin at the hotel on my first night. Since my plane was delayed, I didn’t land in Bariloche until the planned meeting time. So threw my things into my hostel and took the first cab to the hotel. Mind you, this is an extremely nice hotel. Expensive art and sculptors line the ornate property. I, on the other hand, am not fancy. Lacking a shower and shave for nearly a week, I stumble into the hotel looking (and smelling) like a hobo. Nonetheless, Martin sat me down in the dining room and commenced the most exquisite gastronomical event in my life. Plate after plate of incredible food was delivered alongside glasses of wine paired with the dished by the Sommelier. My meals of salami and peanut butter from previous weeks were soon forgotten as I gorged myself into a food coma.





Compliments to the Chef, Martin!

Glaciers, Glaciers, Glaciers!!!

I arrived in Calafate early the next day. Having met a med school student from Ireland, Dara, and a farmer from Cataluña Spain, David, on the aforementioned tumultuous bus ride, we set trail into town for our hostels. After checking in, we decided we’d walk down to the lake and check out the scenery. The lake (Lago Argentina) turns out to be completely frozen in the winter months, so we gave the ice a little test run. Born and bread in Hotlanta GA, it amazed me that a lake could actually freeze to the point that it will bear substantial weight – my European friends laughed at me as I tiptoed around the frozen lake, anticipating falling through the surface any second.

The next day the three of us set out for Perito Moreno Glacier. The sight and size of the glacier leaves viewers absolutely star struck as fragments of the nearly 200 foot tall glacier fall into the lake below causing earthquakelike rumbles.

Buenísima!

24 Hour Bus Rides

Before posting about Calafate I want to start by recommending that no one ever take a 24 hour bus ride. Yes it may save you money, but you may loose your sanity as I almost did. The bus ride from Ushuaia to Calafate includes a short 10 mile stint in Chile for which you must stop 4 separate times, 1) Argentina exit customs, 2) Chile entry customs, 3) Chile exit customs and lastly 4) Argentina entry customs again, followed by a freezing cold ferry ride across the Straight of Magellan before connecting in the Rio Gallegos’ bus stop.
The entirely unpaved road and subsequent bumpy ride made it impossible to read, sleep, or even think. The closest I can describe the 24 hours as, is purgatory. The following is a process flow of the Roman Catholic understanding of the afterlife and purgatory’s involvement, offered by Wikipedia, who else?

Well, I must have needed a soul cleansing.

The End of the World

Ushuaia, also known as, "The End of the World"

After a few (12) hour delay and an airport change (30 miles and $40 cab ride away) I finally caught my flight to Ushuaia from Buenos Aires. After landing much later than expected, I checked into my hostel and decided to walk around the freezing cold streets before sunset. Ushuaia, like most cities in Patagonia, is meager in size and abundant with scenes of devastating beauty. The clichés are all here people: soaring peaks, tumbling waterfalls, sparkling bodies of water, quaint rural houses and of course, numerous cows grazing contently in their Patagonian meadows. Not too many buildings are higher than 4 stories. However, a new ritzy hotel in the city center offers a 12th floor view of Ushuaia’s panoramic. I convinced the ladies at the front desk that I was interested in staying but conditionally wanted to take a look at the view from the top floor balcony. They politely escorted me to the top, and I politely enjoyed the view and snapped a photo for the memory.

“Gracias senora, pero pienso que este hotel es demasiado carro.” translates to “Thanks, but I think this hotel is too expensive for me.” My 30 peso/night ($10 USD) hostel was pretty hard to beat. But in the end, when you pay peanuts, you get monkeys, or in this case an icebox. My room was about 2 clicks above freezing. After reading for several minutes and realizing that I was not going to get a wink of sleep in my freezer, I decided to take a sleeping pill (Doc prescribed me a few before the trip for flights, jetlag and freezing cold hostels). Just then I heard something outside my door. Slightly freaked out, I approached my door and slowly opened it… and a white cat scampered in. I am ashamed to admit that I literally screamed like a little girl. The mysterious white cat skipped out on the formalities and fell asleep on my belly after I revisited my book… 6 hours later, we were rudely awoken by my noisy alarm. Apparently, while on sleeping pills I make a good mattress – the white cat had not moved a muscle since I apparently passed out while reading. The only souls awake, my new friend watched as I scarfed my breakfast before heading to the Tierra del Fuego National Park and finishing the day with a boat ride through the Beagle Channel.

Me and the Roomie

The Train to the End of the World

Furry seals and sea lions

The Beagle Channel

Spain, Canada Portugal and US represent!