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!