I almost forgot I had a blog

Well, technically I'm not on my audit anymore but it didn't even occur to me that traveling to Indy was a travel audit until now, so it's time for an entry!!

So I was lucky enough to come back to my sweet home of Indiana for 3 weeks for an audit! And I even got to stay with my parents and have my own rental car! When I picked up the rental in Michigan, I was given a Mercury Grand Marquis which are usually driven by people who are 65 and over. It was massive! So once I got to Indiana, I made some phone calls and got myself hooked up with a convertible! I've been cruising around for the last 3 weeks "top down, screaming out 'money ain't a thing'" to quote my sister.

This audit also couldn't have fallen at a better time because it fell over the weekend of my sister's wedding! So I got to hang out with her and our family who was here from Turkey up until the big day! The weather for the weekend was predicted to be awful and rainy due to Ike but God wanted to see my sister get married outside so he made it sunny that Saturday. We were so thankful!

The rest of my time here has just been spent playing with friends and visiting with my family who lives here. I also got to have lunch with some people from both summers that I interned down here which was really nice. I was surprised how many people recognized me! Apparently I haven't changed much over the last 3 or 4 years!

Towards the end of the second week I realized that while a summer in Midland was great, I wasn't quite ready to go back yet for the fall and extended my trip an extra week. That brings me to today. I've been putting this week to good use by trying to see as many people as possible. And Friday evening, a bunch of my Kappas from school are getting together and then going to the Purdue football game on Saturday. I couldn't think of a better way to end my trip! I'm anxiously counting down the days until the rest of the crew arrives!!

Well this probably would have been longer and better if I remembered the blog a few weeks ago but what can you do? In a few weeks I'll be traveling to the Dominican Republic for a week long all inclusive vacation. I'm not sure if I'll have internet access there but I'll try to send an update when I get back! After that, I'm scheduled to be in Michigan until the end of the year but 2009 is still up in the air! Who knows where I'll be next!

All my love,
Emel

On the road again...

Well hello all!!

It's been a while since I've written. I've been lucky enough to spend most of my summer in Midland enjoying the beautiful weather so I haven't been traveling much. But yesterday, I left good old mid-Michigan for a little vacation time in Turkey!! Unfortunately, this blog entry is coming to you from Amsterdam. I haven't made it to Istanbul yet and won't for several hours because my flight was delayed out of Detroit and I missed my connection. Somehow I majorly lucked out though because when I went to the transfer desk I'd already been booked on to the next flight...and in business class no less! So now I'm sitting in the KLM lounge sipping on champagne and enjoying the free internet.



My flight over here was pretty uneventful. There was no one next to me but there was a guy in the aisle seat who was as tall as he was unfriendly and I would say he was about 6'5". It didn't matter anyway because they had loaded new movies since my last flight to Europe and I had so much to choose from. I've now seen "The Other Boleyn Girl" which isn't as good of the book but only because the movie would have been 8 hours long if they'd actually made it as detailed. I've also seen the beginning of 21 which made me realize that I still want to live in Boston one day...but only when it's warm. And I've seen almost all of Fool's Gold which is not as funny as I hoped it would be but still entertaining enough.

I'll be spending the next 17 days in Turkey. This might actually be my most active trip ever. I'll be in Ankara, Istanbul, Eregli, Didim, and Cesme. So many people to see and so little time!! But the whole family will be here and I think it's going to be exactly the vacation I've been waiting for.

Being stuck in the airport probably would have been the perfect time to study for my upcoming auditor certification exam. Unfortunately, I couldn't predict this and chose to check the book I brought to study with rather then lug it on the plane. Whoops!

I did however bring a book of word searches and a book called I am Charlotte Simmons by Tom Wolfe. I've only gotten through chapter one but I'm not really sure what's going on. Colleen, I bought this book on your recommendation and I'm not sure why I continue to believe that one day we might actually find a book we both like.

I did go see the movie Wanted on Tuesday night and that is one I highly recommend. It was funny, it had action, and even some good special effects. Go see it if you have time.

Well, this is all for now. Who knows when the next time I'll have internet again assuming I ever get out of this airport. But if I do, please look forward to more posts.

No more plane rides for 2 months!

Well, I'm sad to say that my Brazil trip has come to an end. The good news is that I'm still in auditing for at least 2 more years so there is still time for them to send me back!

In order for my next story to make sense, I have to tell a little joke. 

A man is house sitting for his brother--feeding the cat, getting the mail, etc.  The brother calls to check in.

"I'm sorry," says the man, "but your cat died."

"What do you mean the cat died? How could you do this to me?  You should have prepared me for the shock," says the man's brother.  

"How was I supposed to prepare you?" asks the man.

"Well," says the brother, "first you should have told me, the cat is on the roof, but don't worry, we're calling the fire department.  Then, the next time we talked you should have said, the fire department was doing everything it could and not to worry.  Then the next time I called you can tell me that the cat had fallen, but not to worry--the vet was doing everything she could to resuscitate him.  Then, finally, you could have told me, the cat had died."

"Sorry, I should have though first" said the man, who was quite embarrassed at this point.

"So anyway how is mom?"

"Um," says the man, "Mom is on the roof...." 

I told that joke at dinner one night and apparently they have the same joke here but it has become almost  a common saying where your boss might ask "Are you almost done with those TPS reports I asked for?" and you would reply "The cat is on the roof." a.k.a. I haven't even started them.  

So during one of our status meetings, when our senior audit manager would ask how things are going, I wanted to reply-in Portuguese-"The cat is on the roof".   Unfortunately, I never found a good time to do it so the idea failed but for those of you who know how funny I think I am, please know I'm quite pleased with myself for even coming up with the joke.  It would have been even better if it has actually been executed.

We left work by 6:30 on Thursday because we were pretty much done (I felt bad b/c we only even stayed that late because I had a meeting from 5-6 that wasn't even audit related!). The exit meeting was planned for Friday morning. So I went back to my hotel, ate dinner, and then decided to kill some time on the internet and pack. When you buy internet at the hotel I'm staying at, you have to use it as soon as you buy it. I figured, play on the internet first, then pack. Unfortunately, I didn't know that before my 2 hours of internet had expired the power would go out and I would be left to pack in the dark. Thank goodness for my resourcefulness. I pulled up one of those "this page cannot be displayed screens" and used the white light to light the area around my suitcase which I had previously piled up with all the stuff I needed to pack. I have to say, when the lights came on about an hour and a half later I was already done and in reviewing my work, I have to say it looked pretty good.

My favorite waiter in the hotel has continued to give me a bottle of water every morning while I wait for my ride. I think I'm really going to miss him when I'm back in Midland. Other things I'm going to miss.

1. The dental floss in the bathroom.

2. The toilet seat covers that just have a heart cut out in the middle instead of that weird flappy thing you have to tear.

3. The delicious food that I was able to enjoy.

4. That guy in the elevator that I never saw again.

5. The day I got to have a bodyguard.

6. And of course, all the guys on my audit team! I can't remember another audit where I've laughed so much!

Of course, there is always the good with the bad. Here are some things I won't miss.

1. That game the guys play where they leave me in the conference room by myself.

2. Choosing my outfit for the day from a closet of 7 identical button down shirts (in different colors of course) and a dress.

3. Not being able to leave the hotel by myself. It was like having a curfew all over again!

Clearly the good outweighs the bad!

The plane ride home was pretty non-eventful.  I sat next to a guy who worked for John Deere.  He was friendly enough.  I don't think I mentioned that the guy on the way over worked for Goodyear.  Conveniently, 2 companies that I know almost nothing about.  The John Deere guy was from Kansas City and since I've been there, I did have some stuff to talk to him about so that was good.  I also watched the movie Enchanted which is not by any means an academy award winning movie but I secretly enjoy cheesy movies. 

My flight out of Chicago was delayed--shocking, I know.  But for the first time I ran into someone at the airport going to Midland that I actually knew!  You would think with Midland being so small, it would happen more often but it doesn't.  

Of course, the 70 degree weather that Midland had last week is gone and it was in the 50s for my return.  But it's supposed to creep back up during the week so I have a feeling summer will be here before too long!  I don't have any trips planned until July and that's my vacation to Turkey!  So, if you're looking for something to do this summer, now is the perfect time to come visit me!

I'm Becoming Quite the Sports Buff

So, though I've had some good times here in Sao Paulo, I think last night was my favorite time of all. Even better then the time I went shopping which is hard to beat.

Last night one of the guys on the team took me to a Brazilian Steakhouse called Fogo de Chao. It was absolutely DELICIOUS and quite overwhelming at the same time. For those of you who haven't been to one of these steakhouses before, basically you have this little card that's red on one side and green on the other. If it's green, then the waiters will constantly bring around these giant hunks of meet on spears and offer you slices. They also put little snacks in the middle but I only ate one piece of polenta and one cheese ball (which was also amazing) because really the meat is the best part. Sometimes they bring you stuff so fast that you don't even have time to eat what's already on your plate!
Some of the things I tried included meat from the hump of an ox (which I didn't know oxes had humps), ribs (which I've never had before b/c usually you see pork ribs), and I tried an ox heart which oddly enough has the same consistency as liver...and it's extremely small. I liked all except the heart. I probably could have done without that. They also have locations in Minneapolis, Houston, Chicago, and a new one coming to Indy!! Needless to say, my friends in those cities, you'll know where we'll be going when I come visit-but really, Ben if you're reading this, you're the only one of my friends in one of those cities who I think would actually go.

After eating an abundance of the delicious meats, we still found room for this delicious dessert. It was this papaya cream thing and it tasted heavenly. I don't know if they have that in the U.S. branches of this restaurant because it's apparently very Brazilian but I highly recommend it.

After dinner, we went to a soccer game for the Latin American Cup. It was at the Sao Paulo Futebol Club which is a huge stadium! Don't worry, I took pictures. I also took some videos but really, soccer on video is just as boring as soccer on tv. I prefer to watch it in person. The state of Sao Paulo's team played a team from Columbia and we won! I say "we" because I am officially of a supporter of the Sao Paulo team. I even have a jersey (although, I'm so confused with all this city of Sao Paulo, state of Sao Paulo things that I'm not sure who my jersey actually supports). But it does say my name on the back which I think is pretty sweet. I was very surprised that 90 minutes of soccer actually passed by really quickly and I actually had a lot of fun! The fans are pretty intense here. They have their own cheers and anything and unfortunately the only one I really caught on to was "Sao Paul-o!" The guy behind me was a hard core fan and was yelling things left and right! It was quite amusing. Unfortunately, he was also a spitter and I got sprayed a few times. Ew.


Other stories...

I think my hotel thinks they're pulling one over on me. A lot of times when I order stuff off the menu, they bring me something close to what it says but not quite. For instance, the other day I ordered onion soup and they brought me soup...but it had chicken and vegetables and rice in it. Monday night I ordered this meat thing with rice and mushrooms and it ended up a meat thing with mashed potatoes. I don't know if they think I don't notice or what exactly. And it's not that I'm messing up my order because when you eat at the same restaurant about 15 times you start to memorize what's on the menu. I've actually gotten so good that I actually know what's on the room service menu that's not on the normal menu and vice versa. Mad skills.

It's my last night in Sao Paulo! At 4pm tomorrow I'll be on my way to the airport, God willingly. Keep your fingers crossed that I end up next to a young, attractive, entrepreneur...and not another investment banker from California!

I Can See The Light

The saying says "Time flies when you're having fun" or like a t-shirt I saw this weekend "Time flies when you're having rum" but either way, I can't believe that I only have 4 days left in Brazil! This might be the only trip that I've been on that hasn't felt like it was 3 weeks long. Even the 2 weeks I spent in Illinois felt longer then this (but probably b/c we were getting up at the crack of dawn and it felt like it was 40 below every day).

Friday night I went to Happy Hour with 2 guys from the audit team. It was a nice way to unwind after a long week. Plus we talked about grad school and such and it's always nice to hear other peoples opinions. I also learned the history of Sao Paulo soccer. Way more then I probably ever wanted to know but later in the weekend when I got my jersey, the stuff they put on it made sense. Also, they were playing some killer videos on the screen in the bar including Bye Bye Bye by N'Sync and Mmm Bob by Hanson. Classic.

When I got back to the hotel I ran into my "hotel friend". I call him that b/c I see him all the time in the hotel. At one point we finally introduced ourselves. When he introduced himself, he said "Hi, I'm Milton. I'm an investment banker from California." I replied, "Hi, I'm Emel. I'm a supermodel from Australia." Ok, I didn't really say that but I wanted to because to me Investment Banker is just a made up profession that people use to make it sound like they make a lot of money. It probably didn't help Milton's cause that he's the second investment banker from California that I've met. But he is nice enough and we talked for a while in the hotel lobby on Friday night. And just to make things more exciting, I made up all the facts about my life. I have a pretty good imagination if I do say so myself.

Saturday was rainy so I spent most of the day inside. You don't realize how much the long hours you put in takes out of you until you actually have time to breathe. I think I took 3 naps on Saturday and still fell asleep with no problems at night. One of the guys from my audit team picked me up that night and took me to the area that is comparable to the Michigan Avenue of Chicago except that it's more in the shape of a square then a long street. We walked around for a while and window shopped. Then we went to a restaurant called Ritz where I indulged in one of the most delicous ice cream sundaes I've ever had. I ended up going for a run when I got back to the hotel to make up for it but since it had been raining and the air was cool, that was actually quite enjoyable as well.

Sunday morning, Junior, the guy that drove me from the airport to my hotel when I arrived picked me up at 10 am and took me on a little tour of the coast. We drove to a city called Santos which has a great outlook to take pictures from. Unfortunately, it was a cloudy day so the pictures didn't turn out as great as I hoped but at least I have something to remember the trip by. We then went to Sao Vicente and drove through their downtown area until we got to the ferry. We took the ferry across a little channel of water to the city of Guaruja. We had lunch there and walked up and down the beach a little bit. The whole trip took about 7 hours and the time flew by! While the beaches were lovely and the people were fun to watch, I have to say that my favorite part was when we were walking above the beach and Junior held my camera for me. Apparently people are less likely to try and grab it from him then me which makes sense. Sometimes I wish I needed a bodyguard in Midland...and by sometimes, I mean all the time.


A realization that I had in my little beach excursion is that Brazilians are human after all. I decided that Sao Paulo is like New York in The Devil Wears Prada where the people are super skinny to fit in with the fast times of city life. But then when you travel to the smaller towns like the beach towns we went to, you see that not everyone looks like a swimsuit ad. Now, I can't speak for Rio itself, but not every beach in Brazil is a topless one. And really, I noticed that women kept their tops on but wore skimpy little bottoms. I took a picture. Unfortunately it's not of the most flattering woman but in a way if proves both points I made in this paragraph. I'll be sure to post that when I get back.

Monday, one of the guys came to pick me up in the afternoon to take me shopping. After almost 6 hours, I'm almost finished with all my souvenier shopping! I got the jersey I wanted (with my last name on the back!) and some brand new Havaianas. I also got a sweatshirt to remember the trip by. I also got to try this delicious Argentinian cookie called something that sounds like "alphahora". Good things were happening on Monday! Not to mention that I got a free holiday by being on this audit!

Things to look forward to this week: We're hopefully still planning on going to a steakhouse/bbq. And we're going to a soccer/futebol game tomorrow of Brazil vs. some other Latin American country! I can't remember which one at the moment. I hope everyone had a great weekend!

You Know it's a Good Night When You Learn a New Dirty Joke

I'd like to start this entry out with a funny thing one of my co-workers told me.

"Dyslexic devil followers worship Santa." Apparently he once saw it on a bumper sticker in Midland and I can't help but say that I found it quite amusing.

Last night the boys took me to an Italian restaurant called Familia Manchini. It was absolutely divine. Basically you pick whatever type of pasta you want and then you pick your sauce and they bring you a giant portion of it. We got this ravioli that was stuffed with cheese and basil with a 4 cheese sauce. It was by no means good for you but it was one of the best meals of my life. They also had a great antipasto buffet where you can get whatever you want and they just charge you based on the weight of your plate. They have all sorts of stuff from sun-dried tomatoes to humus to baked cloves of garlic to tons of different kinds of olives to aritichokes to huge blocks of cheese that you cut off as much as you want. And they even had some eggplant dishes! I was surprised to find that eggplant is quite common here on salad bars and it's been quite enjoyable since it's one of my favorite vegetables (even though a few years ago I found out that it's related to the tabacco plant and has absolutely no nutritional value).

Of course, even though after the antipasto and the pasta were completely fulfilling, you can't turn down the offer of something nicknamed "the chocolate volcano". Well, at least I can't. I have to say that it was my favorite part of the whole meal.

The craziest thing about the whole dinner last night was when we ate. We didn't leave the office until about 8:30. We had to stop and get gas and then the first place we went to there was a 2 hour wait for standing room so we didn't actually get to the restaurant until 1o:30 and we didn't even get our food until after 11. This in itself was ridiculous b/c who eats dinner at 11? I'll tell you who? The people who got there before the people who showed up at 12 as we were asking for our check! I mean, I know it's not uncommon to eat a late dinner here but midnight! That's just nuts!

The experience overall was delightful! I even learned a new joke but I don't want to ruin it by typing it out on the blog. Plus it'll be way more fun for me if I can tell it several different times so please ask me about the snake bite joke next time you talk to me. :)

The weekend plans are still somewhat up in the air. Because we've put in so many hours this week it was decided that we can wrap up earlier today and enjoy some time at Santo Antonio (the really fun happy hour bar). In my mind, you can't go wrong with less work and more happy hours. One of the things that I'm really looking forward to is Sunday. The guys have previous engagements so I'm on my own for the day and so I don't have to sit all day in the hotel, they are hiring someone, a bodyguard if you will, to take me out for the day. It's like a dream come true. Of course, I'm going to live that up for all it's worth, wear my giant sunglasses (rain or shine) and pretend I'm someone super famous. I can't wait!

I hope you all have a great weekend! For all the girls going to Purdue for Grand Prix, have so much fun! I wish I could be there to see you all!

Can I Buy You A Drink?

Well, we're coming up towards the end of week two! I can't believe how fast time is flying by. I guess that's a good thing b/c normally it's about this time that I start to get sick of being away from home. But so far, so good.

This audit is keeping us very busy this week. We've started working 13 hour days which means I don't get back to the hotel until after 9pm. Now, Brazil is one of those countries where it's common to eat really late. I just can't figure out how they can eat so late and still manage to wait two hours until they go to bed. And if they don't wait two hours, then how do they manage to stay so thin? Maybe it's good genes.

Last night I got back to the hotel at 9 and was famished so I decided a quick bowl of soup in the restaurant wouldn't kill me. I grabbed my book (I'm currently reading "Devil in the White City") so I'd have something to do while I sat there waiting and went down to the restaurant. The waiter came and took my order and I was sitting there nicely keeping to myself when the waiter brought over another girl and said something to her in Portuguese which she then translated to English as "The man over there would like to buy you a glass of wine. Would you prefer red or white?" I look over and sure enough the guy a few tables over is smiling and waving at me. Normally this would be quite flattering...except that this guy was over 50.

I still accepted because I can't turn down a free drink. Of course the guy took that as an invitation to come talk to me and told me his life story while I waited for my soup...and also while I ate it. This story included how much money he's making these days (which of course is a lot b/c what man would come over and tell me how broke he is after buying me a drink?), the brief affair he had with his 28 year-old former secretary, and how much he travels all over the world for his job. He also kept telling me that it was his last night and he would be leaving in the morning. I don't know if he was expecting me to say "hey baby, why do you let me show you a good time on your last night" or what but I just smiled and wished him a nice trip home.

I finally left the restaurant over an hour later thinking that getting soup was a bad idea b/c I was going to be exhausted the next day. While wine is a great way to help you sleep, it's not always easy to wake up in the morning after drinking it. So I went to the elevators to go up to my room and a huge group of people arrived from outside at the same time. I let them take the first elevator and waited for the second one. There was another guy waiting as well and it was THIS guy that I fell in love with. He saw my book and was like "the devil?" so I held it up so he could see the whole title and understand that I wasn't some sort of Satan worshipping freak. We talked briefly about the book. Meanwhile the elevator arrived and I'm staying on the second floor so it was a short trip up together. No time to ask "what's your name?", "want to have dinner tomorrow?", let alone "will you marry me?". All I really know about him is that he speaks English and is staying on the 6th floor.

A random fact about Sao Paulo is that it has the second highest population of Japanese people in the world. Can you guess where the highest population is? I haven't figured out why the Japanese people chose Sao Paulo. I mean, it's a great city but it's not really in a close proximity to Japan. I guess that's just another one of life's little mysteries...or something like that.

I think that's all I have to report for this week. Keep your fingers crossed that I run into the love of my life again in the hotel. Maybe this time on the way down to dinner! Though it's random, I always try to remember how I meet people so that if I do end up marrying them, I know what to tell my kids. If it were this guy, I could say "We met in front of an elevator...". Maybe not the most exciting story but I have a good imagination and I could spruce it up a bit.

Only one more day of work until the 3 day weekend--for me at least! :) I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Is it Possible to Hire Someone to Carry You Around For a Day?

Well week two is off to a rough start. I woke up this morning and it was pouring rain. The good news is that I love sleeping during thunderstorms. The bad news is that this urge to sleep made me decide to skip my morning workout. More good news...I'm not too worried about it.

The weekend was pretty chill and enjoyable. Friday night we went out to dinner at a pizza place. The pizza is surprisingly extremely delicious here. More then I expected. After dinner, I went back to the hotel and the guys did there own thing. We actually ended up staying in the office pretty late on Friday so we were all pretty beat. Saturday I enjoyed sleeping in and then just hung out around the hotel for the day. I attempted to study for my auditing exam that I'll be taking in June but it's so hard to focus when the sun is shining and there are tons of cars driving by and lots of people to watch.

Saturday night I went out to dinner and a bar with the two guys from my audit team and the girlfriend of one of them. The idea of the bar was pretty sweet. You paid 30 reias (about $22) as you went in and then all your drinks for the rest of the night were paid for. Kinda like New Years in Chicago on a smaller level...and the drinks here were stronger (but they were in smaller cups). My favorite part was that they had all different flavors of Caipirinhas so I had one kiwi, one passion fruit, and one pineapple. All delicious. The bar also had a decent sized dance floor where they played a lot of American songs so that was fun for me too. They even played "Your Love"! It's like I never even left the U.S.

At one point in the night I went up to the bar with one of my co-workers. He ordered my drink for me since he can speak Portuguese and in the meantime I just hung out near the bar. Some guy pushed past me and some other girl to get a drink and this girl must have heard me speak English to my co-worker b/c she turned to me and said "some of the guys here can be such jerks!". I laughed and we talked for a little bit and she asked me where I was from. The "jerk" heard us talking and turned around and was like "Where are you from?" I replied Indiana and then he said, "What city in Mexico are you from?" WTF? I couldn't figure out if he thought I said Mexico instead of Indiana (b/c they sound so much alike) or if he like the rest of world assumed I was Mexican.

Sunday was pretty much the same as Saturday. I sat outside for most of the day. Unfortunately the area by the pool is shaded by a lot of trees so it doesn't get much sun. So instead I sat in the hotel restaurant's outside seating area. It works just as well except for that it's not really acceptable to wear a swimsuit there. The best discovery of the weekend though was that I have free internet in the lobby.

This morning I had a meeting with one of the leaders here regarding the audit. He noticed while I was taking notes that I am left handed. He then proceeded to tell me that it's a known fact that left handed people are more intelligent to which I modestly replied "I know." :) He then went on to say however, that sometimes it's more difficult to form relationships with left handed people b/c they tend to be very strong minded and can be very intimidating but he didn't find this to be the case with me. We actually talked about this for a few minutes and he said that no one is perfect so that's why it's okay that left handers aren't always easy to form relationships with. Of course in my mind I was thinking "Since he said that he doesn't find me as someone difficult to form a relationship with, does that mean I'm perfect?" ;)

I've watched a few movies on tv while I've been here and I decided that they only play the absolute worst movies here. Half the movies I come across on tv are ones that I've never even seen the previews for. For instance, this weekend I watched a soccer movie with the kid that played Ross's son Ben on Friends and George Patrick Owens (I think that was the name). Awful. I also watched "She's the Man" with Amanda Bynes which is also terrible and yet somehow that was the second time I've seen it. My suspicions that they do play the worst movies was confirmed last night when I was flipping through the channels and the movie "Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World" was on. WORST MOVIE EVER.

Well, that's all for now. Keep your fingers crossed that it stops raining by this weekend!!

Sábado is Portuguese for Saturday

Happy Sexta to all of you!! That means Happy Friday for my non-Portuguese speaking friends. Last night on the way home I learned all the days of the week. I also learned how to say "Crap" and what to say if someone cuts you off while driving. You know, the essentials.

Well I've almost made through an entire week of work. Today is going to be the hardest day though. Last night the guys took me out to a bar called Santo Antonio. There we met up with some IS people from work. Everyone was super friendly and I got to try lots of new things. They ordered fried Provalone cheese balls, this Brazilian thing called a Pastel which is like a fried pillow of dough with either cheese or meat in it, and this other thing called Carne Seca which is basically beef jerky that is shredded and put on a hot skillet with oil and onions. Everything was delicious! I also got to try a Caipirinha which is a drink made with a Brazilian liquor called Cachaça, limes, and sugar. I wasn't sure if I was going to like it...but I did!!

With all the eating, drinking and socializing that was going on, the time was flying by and at some point we decided to wrap things up there and by "wrap up", they meant order one more round. And then because they want you to come back and drink again, the bar gave us a round of smaller glasses of beer on the house. Once we left there, we decided to have our last drink at a bar down the street...and by bar, I mean gas station. But they apparently sell beer and they have tables outside. I even met the owner b/c the guys go there so often. Very random but really fun! Needless to say, that since I didn't get dropped off at the hotel until midnight, I didn't make it to the gym at 5:30 this morning. But I thought it was good that I still set my alarm to see if maybe I could do it. I give myself points for trying.

One thing that I loved about the bar is that they have mouthwash in the bathrooms! There's a bottle with a pump and then a bunch of little cups next to it so you just pump some for yourself and then throw your cup away when you're done! I was told it's there for 2 reasons. 1. In case you get stopped by the cops on your way home (which is silly b/c mouthwash has alcohol in it) and 2. For people going home to their spouses, they can just say "oh, i was working late at the office". I didn't really have to worry about either of these things but I used it anyway b/c it was there and I could.

As the days go by, I discover more and more things that I want to do while I'm here. Here is my list.
1. Go to a Brazilian steakhouse (which they call BBQ).
2. Go to the street fair that they have on Wednesdays.
3. Drink coconut water
4. Buy some Havaianas
5. Get a soccer jersey (for the Sao Paulo team of course which I was told is the best team in the state of Sao Paulo--and no, it's not the only one.) I should explain that I am in the city of Sao Paulo that sits in the state of Sao Paulo. There are 26 states in Brazil total.

I think there were more things on that list last night but I've forgotten some of them. Maybe a trip to the beach if there is time!

I miss and love you all!

So much to say!

Well, I've been in Brazil for 4 days and so far so good. I usually don't post again so soon but so many things here amaze or amuse me.

First off, I'd like to share a random story. On the plane on the way over, they were passing out newspapers and I took a USA Today. As I was attempting to do the crossword, I noticed that one of the clues was "Kappa Kappa Gamma women". Possibly one of the top 5 highlights of the flight. Don't worry, I saved it.


If Dow is any sort of representation of the rest of the country, I'm starting to figure out why Brazilian women manage to stay so thin. First off, there is a scale by the door to the Dow cafeteria, so you can actually weigh yourself before you go in. The guys on my audit tried to convince me that you were charged for your meal based on consumption. They said that you were weighed before and after your meal and charged based on the difference. I didn't fall for that one. Later in the week, I also notice that there is a scale in the women's restroom! And they have calorie counts on all the food items at the breakfast buffet at my hotel and on the lunch menu at the Dow cafeteria. They don't tell you the serving size that the calories apply to but I think it's interesting that they're there.

Another thing about this place is that everyone brushes there teeth after lunch. And because it's such a common practice, they actually have shelves in the bathroom that people keep a little kit in with their toothbrush and toothpaste. Seeing as I'm one of those nerds that keeps a toothbrush in her desk at work, I kinda wish that we had the same practice in Midland.

Every day after lunch people take a walk around the block. Dow is in one of the business districts of Sao Paulo (it's so big that I have to assume there is more then one) and it's surround by other company buildings like Deloitte, Pfizer, Bayer, and some big buildings with a lot of offices. And amongst all these buildings there is also...a Hooters. I find that very amusing. It's kind of like when they build a Hooters next to Ethan Allen in some city that I've been in.

The people of my hotel have figured out that I'm not Brazilian (I think my lack of Portuguese gave it away) but rather then speaking to me in English, they now speak to me in Spanish. It doesn't really bother me but I think it's funny.

When I went down to breakfast this morning, the restaurant was packed. I saw some guy wearing a Planet Hollywood shirt...or at least that's what I thought it was until I noticed about 50 other people were wearing the same shirt. And what I thought was the Planet Hollywood logo was really a globe with some red writing on it. I think the conference has something to do with technology.

Wednesdays and Saturdays in this country are Black Beans and Rice Day. Seriously. So that's what was for lunch today. I guess the real meal is actually served with pork but here they seperate it out so I was able to try it. It was actually pretty good. The beans were way better then the ones I had in Mexico. Rice is pretty much just rice. So I can say that I've had my first traditional Brazilian meal! How exciting!!

Well, that's all for now. I hope that all is well back where you guys are reading this!

Crossing the Equator for the first time!!

Boa tarde everyone!!

I have made it safely to Sao Paulo and already am enjoying every second.

The trip started out wonderfully! I managed to kill my 5 hour layover in Chicago with almost no trouble. I made a few phone calls, ate at Wolfgang Pucks, walked to my terminal instead of taking the shuttle service that United offers and before I knew it, it was time to board!
I realized that flying business class (or most preferably first class) is really the only way to fly. I think the guy next to me probably realized that I don't fly in business class that often when I took a picture of myself with my glass of champagne they gave me before the plane took off. And I'm pretty sure he thought I was really mature when I chose to watch Alvin and the Chipmunks as my inflight entertainment. In all fairness though, the only other moving that looked pleasing was Atonement and I've already seen (and read) it. But we got along nicely and if it weren't for me, he never would have figured out how to turn on his reading light or where to plug in his headphones.

I arrived on Sunday morning and made it through customs and immigration with no problems. I met the driver/bodyguard after customs and it made me wish that he was there to greet me when I arrived back in Midland too. There is just something special about having someone hold up a sign with your name on it. It was funny b/c the first question he asked me was "Do you speak Spanish?" and you would think that he would have asked "Do you speak Portuguese?" He did have pretty decent English though and he taught me some Portuguese on the way to the hotel. He looked like a proud father when I thanked him at the end of the trip by saying "obrigado".

My hotel is nice. My room is bigger then my room at home and it has a huge open space in front of the bed. I packed my workout DVDs thinking I probably wouldn't need them since the hotel website said that it came with a "fully-equipped gym". By that, they meant 2 treadmills and 10 sets of free weights. Wow. But the open space, dvds, and my laptop will do just fine for the days that I don't feel like running. AND I figured out how to use the SAP feature on the tv to make some of the dubbed over channels go back to English. That was a great discovery!

It's actually fall right now in Brazil so the weather has "cooled down" to the mid to upper 70s. The humidity is a bit intense but nothing I'd complain about. I'm just happy to be around palm trees. And to make things even better, the conference room I work in is warm too which almost never happens at any of the warm places I travel to!

The best part about this place--the men. I'd have to say that 80% of the people staying at my hotel are men. And 65% of those men are attractive and approximately between the ages 25 and 35. And they're business men so they have to wear suits. Even if I can't talk to them, it's a lot better then the senior citizens I shared my hotel with in Germany. And who knows, maybe some of them know English. It's only day 1 so I have plenty of time to find out. And I should also add that all the women here are beautiful or if they're not beautiful, they're at least thin. So most of the women here have at least something going for them.

Let see…at lunch I ate some fruit that the name to me sounds like "Khaki". It was delicious. I also had some sort of local soda that wasn't all that bad but I think I'll stick to water. They have free hot chocolate and coffee on every floor but I don't drink coffee and who drinks hot chocolate when it's 75 degrees outside (minus the cup I drank this morning just to be polite). And after lunch every day people take a 15 minute walk around the block to socialize. Also somewhere between 4:15 and 4:45 they have a snack break. But I found out that's because most people work till 7 or 7:30. And apparently, we'll be working until 9 which means we don't eat until after 9. So some things will take getting used to!

Well, that's all for this post. I miss you all and I wish that some of you could have come down to play!

Back on American Soil

So, I'm happy to announce that the trip to Mexico ended on a strong note.

Nothing too exciting happened towards the end except for on Wednesday when we went to lunch and found (to my delight) they had CHEESEBURGERS and FRENCH FRIES!! How fabulous!

Wednesday evening when we got back to the hotel, I finally stopped procrastinating and went and took some pictures around Tlaxcala. Our hotel is actually in a cute area. I had seen some stairs I wanted to climb so...I did. And when I got to the top...well, it wasn't that great so I took some pictures and came right back down again.

One thing that's not so fun about these business trips and I'm usually in the pictures by myself. And 90% of the time i'm taking them with me in it by just extending my arm. So, when I finally post pictures, I would like to say that I actually did go to these places and didn't just photoshop myself into them.

We stayed in Mexico City on Thursday night but we didn't really have enough time to go sightsee. We did eat at a nice Italian restaurant so I was thrilled to have the option of eating something other then Mexican. Somehow my second meal in the U.S. later that weekend ended up being Chipotle so the good news is that I still love TexMex!

Friday I managed to make it all the way to Kansas City. There is just something so great about being back in the U.S. The weekend was a blast and of was so great to see Ben, Natalie, Bill, Blake, and Ryan. And of course, I'm sure they would all appreciate a shout out to the fine people at Waffle House without which we might not have made it through the weekend.

Sunday morning, Ben and Bill packed up and piled into the car for the drive back to Minneapolis. I tried to get permission from Northwest to skip the first leg of my flight so I could have some roadtrip fun but that wasn't allowed. Unfortunately, my flight to Minneapolis out of KC was later cancelled (only after spending the entire day in the airport of course!) and it was at that moment that I was wishing more then ever that I had been in the car with Ben and Bill who were less then an hour away from the Minneapolis airport. So I ended up staying ANOTHER night in KC which wouldn't have been that bad if it hadn't been 3 weeks since I'd last been back in my own bed. But I lived to tell about it so that's the important thing.

I was thrilled to be back in Midland for about 15 hours and then I walked out to my car this morning to find that it had rained and my car was iced over…fabulous. Sometimes it's a toss up between food that makes you sick and cold weather! But as long as it doesn't snow during the next 3 weeks I'll be okay. I leave for Sao Paulo, Brazil on April 5!

Let's wrap it up!!

Well, it's almost time for my Mexico trip to come to an end and it won't be a day too soon. As much as I'm enjoying the warmth outside, it's usually during the third week of the audit that I am ready to go back to Midland to regroup. Plus, the more I talk to Ben and Natalie, the more excited I get to see them this weekend!

This past weekend we didn't have to work so Friday evening me and the other lady on my audit hopped on a bus and 3.5 hours later we were in Veracruz!! We didn't actually get there until 10 pm so it was an early night. Saturday morning I woke up and stepped outside to see...RAIN!! Of all the days it could rain! Luckily, our hotel was attached to a shopping mall so I spent the day exploring stores. Some of it was...interesting. The best part was that they had a Zara which I love so I spent a good deal of time in there.

Early Saturday evening we ventured downtown (in a light drizzle) and took some pictures. It wasn't that cool so we then headed to a restaurant that was recommended to us by some people at the site here. I don't know how it happens but I always order the wrong thing on the menu. I even asked the waiter what I was getting and he said "A fillet of fish stuffed with shrimp, crab, and octopus". Ok, sounds good. What he failed to mention was that when it arrived, it would be coated in an usually thick (and unappetizing) layer of mayonaise. But after I scraped that part off, the rest was decent.

Sunday morning I woke up to find the rain had stopped and sun was shining. So I suited up and caught the shuttle to the "Galeria Plaza Beach Club"! It was a fabulous day complete with a warm sun, nice breeze and cold drinks by the pool. I decided not to venture onto the beach b/c I have learned from past experiences that sand is a lot like glitter and if you get it on you, be prepared to have it on you FOREVER.

Three and a half hours later, we headed back to hotel to shower and change. Then we stopped by the mall food court to get these delicous drinks called Liquados which are basically milkshakes that aren't as thick and come in cups the size of Den Pops! Then it was off to the buses. The buses are surprisingly punctual here so we made sure to get there with plenty of time.

Yesterday I woke up not feeling so hot (which I have officially blamed on the chicken I ate on Sunday) and by noon, it was decided that I needed to see a doctor. So, our driver took me to the doctors office where she asked me some questions, poked me (she litterally poked me), and then wrote me 3 prescriptions. I have a feeling those are a lot easier to get around here. I then was taken back to the hotel where I slept from 4:30pm until 6 am and woke up feeling 85% better (so whatever the doctor gave me must be working)! Unfortuantely, one of the auditors got sick and she didn't make it into work today. I think if this would have been a 4 week audit, we wouldn't have made it.

I'm hoping that we'll all pull it together for these last couple of days and finish strong. Thursday afternoon after our exit meeting, we're being driven to Mexico City. Then Friday morning, I'm on the first flight to Houston where I'll meet up with Natalie and Ryan. Then we're all off to Kansas City to meet up Ben, Bill and Blake for some wedding fun!!

Elbows out, side to side

It's finally Friday and tonight me and the other lady on my audit and I are off to Veracruz!! We're staying at the Galeria Plaza Hotel which we picked mainly because it's attached to the mall. But it also looks nice and is supposed to have a great outdoor pool where I hope to be spending most of my time. Currently the weather forecast shows high winds so keep your fingers crossed that the indoor pool is below a glass roof on the top floor.

I finally figured out why they only make Spring Break a week long. If you stay in Mexico more then a week, you get sick of the food. I did try octopus this week and fresh guava. And I drank some sort of white powdery milky substance at lunch that smelled a lot like Christmas but didn't taste as good. They put some sort of sauce on everything and I think that's what has made me get sick of it. I've decided to stick to the basics of soups and salads for the remainder of the trip. I figure, 10 days of authentic Mexican was enough to satisfy any craving. I might actually be set for the year.

The other staff auditor on this audit is Brazilian and while his English is fantastic, we sometimes stumble across words that he doesn't know. For instance, the other day I said "Are you mocking me?" and he didn't know the word "mocking". So, I explained it and now I can say he's not leaving this audit empty handed. Another word I taught him is "baller". This one might not have be as useful but it's quite amusing when he points to random guys on the street and says "That guy is such a baller" in his sweet Brazilian accent. He tried to help me learn Portugese for my next audit but it's a very difficult language. I could barely get out the sentence "Where is the bathroom" so he said they'd probably know what I was talking about if I just asked in Spanish and that IS one of the things I know how to say in Spanish!

There is some construction going on between where we work and our hotel. At one point, the road splits and one side goes downhill and the other side (which is 2 lanes) goes up hill. Right before the road splits, there is a sign that says "Good traffic" which points to the side that goes up hill and another that says "Bad traffic" and points to the side that goes down. This in itself, I find amusing. But on top of all that, 95% of the time, we choose the "bad traffic" side!! We also pass a giant blowup Godzilla that we haven't figured out what it's there for. And you also see signs for bull fighting and cock fighting (which is apparently legal here).

The other night we went to dinner with some of the people from our sight. We went to an Argentinian restaurant which was quite delicious. And the people were so funny! They told some great stories about some of the spring break places and kept doing impersonations of people from other Latin American countries. It's meeting all these new people in addition to all the traveling that I love this job!

When I told the people here that I spent the best week of my life in Acapulco, the started recommending all these other places to go. They pushed Cancun really hard which I thought was wierd since there are so many other nice places in Mexico. I was sad to bring up the point that I don't have Spring Break anymore! Its one of the sad facts about getting older.

One of the people on this site bears a very strong resemblance to Mr. Bean. It's keepiing up with the fact that I'm constantly finding movie star look-alikes on all my trips.

I hope you all have a great weekend!

Weekend fun...and some work

Well, it's Sunday evening and what a weekend it's been!

Saturday we were stuck counting inventory at the plant all day. However, I truely believe everything happens for a reason and this time was no different. Had I not been in front of my computer all day, I never would have received an e-mail from my sister telling me....SHE'S ENGAGED!! It took every ounce of self control I had to not jump up and down screaming in the conference room when I got the news!

For those of you who think that being an accountant is no fun, you would be mistaken. Saturday while I was counting inventory, I got to play "dress up". The attached picture shows me in my hard hat and goggles. What you can see are my sweet Dow issued steel-toed shoes. Next to me is the in-charge auditor (who strangely enough was also a Kappa at Wash U in St. Louis.

When we finally made it back to the hotel there wasn't much else to do but relax and wait for dinner. And that's exactly what I did.

Sunday, our driver came to pick us up at 10 to take us out and about. Oh, but I would like to first talk about breakfast. Every day I get this delicious fruit and yogurt cup with granola for breakfast. It's beautiful when I get it and it tastes even better. I like it so much I even took a picture of it but since I don't have my camera cord, that will have to be attached at another time. However, on the weekend they have a huge brunch buffet. Frankly everything is so covered in sauce that I couldn't really see what it was so I stuck to the fruit section but everyone else seemed to be enjoying their meals so I'm sure it was good.

Our first stop for site-seeing was a city called Cholula (which some of you might regonize at the hot sauce you see at a lot of Mexican restaurants). We thought there were going to be pyramids but for some reason there wasn't (and the reason was lost in translation). But there were ruins of an old sacrificial alter where children between the ages of 6 and 7 were sacrificed so it would rain. There was also a church that we had to climb several steps to get to but the view from the top was worth it.

Our next stop was a city named Puebla. There is large cathedral but strangely enough it's closed on Sundays. I can't explain it. There was also a huge "art" fair. I put art in quotes b/c while there was jewelry and other hand made items there was also a lot of...junk. Old locks with keys, keys that go to nothing, tiny empty bottles (some with a little leftover stuff that seems to have molded), coin collections, and all sorts of other stuff that would just clutter a house. But as the saying goes "one man's trash is another man's treasure" so maybe someone found there treasure there today. We walked around for a while, had lunch and then headed back to Tlaxcala.

On the way home, we discussed the possibilities for next weekend. The original plan was Mexico city but now we're leaning towards a weekend on the beach in Veracruz!! Nothing has been decided yet but that's where my vote is going. I need to do something to fix this sweet tank top tan I got today.

I hope everyone had a good weekend!

Blending right in!

Buenos tardes everyone!

Yes, it's true, I'm using Spanish jargon on a daily basis now! Now when people ask me if I speak Spanish, I reply "Si, un poquito" which means "yes, a little." But then they usually start speaking to me in full-blown Spanish after that and I usually just stare at them blankly. But i'm getting better! I can even ask for the check at dinner!

So the other night, I ordered a steak for dinner and they asked me how I wanted it done. I wasn't sure how to say medium well so I just said "medio mas!" and even though it came out well done, I like to think I got my point across.

In other news, I've tried some new foods here in Mexico. Some good, some...not so good. For instance, I found that I really like Cactus!! It tastes a lot like okra. I have also discovered that I don't like corn fungus (which really shouldn't have been much of a surprise) and this sauce they called mole (which is supposed to rhyme with ole!). They told me it has chocolate in it but I know what chocolate tastes like, and that isn't it. The options at lunch the other day were pork and cooked cheese and since we all know my feelings on pork, i went with the cheese. Who knew something so simple could taste so good!

The in-charge auditor and I were joined by another staff auditor on Thursday. He spent the first few days of the audit on another site but will be completing the rest of his work here with us. This is a good thing b/c he tells some really funny stories. And he's on my next audit with me so if 2.5 weeks in Mexico wasn't enough Emel for him, he's going to get 3 more weeks in Brazil!!

I went to go do some testing the other day and I had to take my laptop with me. As I was closing everything down, the auditees saw my desktop picture which is a picture of some of me and the Kappas from KPs wedding. Needless to say they loved it and they told me several times that all my friends are beautiful! They'd also liked to be invited to the next wedding so I gave them Annie's number. (Just kidding Annie!!)

This weekend we have to count inventory on Saturday (boo!) but Sunday we're going to hopefully see some pyramids and go to a city called Puebla for some sightseeing. I brought my camera on this trip so I hope to get some good pictures!

People here keep asking me if the weather is too cold because it dropped into the the 60s for one day. I'd like them to come spend the week in Midland with me so they can see what cold really feels like. I look forward to our walk to the cafeteria every day b/c it's the only time I really spend in the sun! Hopefully that'll change this weekend!

As always, I've brought some books along on this trip. They've come in handy since we have a 40 minute drive to work everyday. So, if anyone needs any suggestions, here they are.

Atonement by Ian McEwan or something like that. I'm a little sorry I saw the movie first b/c now I already know what happened but it's still an enjoyable book.

A Time To Kill by John Grisham. I have yet to not like a book he's written. I believe that this was actually his first book but he didn't become famous until he wrote another one and then everyone went back to read A Time to Kill.

I'm signing off for now but hopefully the inventory count and day of sightseeing will provide lots more entertainment next week!!

I love you all!!

Spring Break--Corporate Style

Hola Senoritas!

Well, I'm out on another audit and this time they sent me to Mexico!! It's kinda like Spring Break 2004 and 2006...except not at all. For one, I'm about 2 hours south east of Mexico City and am surrounded by land and mountains. Second, instead of spending my days baking in the sun enjoying all inclusive beverages poolside, I'm in a conference room working. And instead of prancing around in a swimsuit, I'm stuck in workclothes and I'm actually freezing in the conference room so the whole outfit is complimented by my Northface fleece.

But there are definately some perks.

For one...it's about 60 degrees warmer here then it is in Midland and there isn't even any humidity! There isn't a cloud in the sky and i'm definately geting my moneys worth from my sunglasses. Two, our hotel is super cute and if my room had balcony doors that opened, i could walk right out onto the pool deck and hopefully I'll be spending some time there Saturday and Sunday. Also, we're in downtown Tlaxcala so we have tons of cute restaurants we can walk to. Last night when were were walking around they had all these booths of jewelry and stuff that we walked around to look at. While the lady here with me is super into all that stuff, I prefer to look. They do offer all that hair braiding stuff that they offered on the beaches of Alcapulco so maybe i'll come back to the U.S. with a sweet new hairstyle.

I do have to say that I was relieved to find when I arrived, 2 sealed bottles of water in my room. That was the one thing lacking for most of the trip to Germany.

There is currently talk about 2 of us going to Mexico City next weekend just to explore a bit more. One of the auditors wants to go to a town where there is supposedly good pottery. Now, call me crazy but I could care less about the pottery and would rather go to the big city!! Plus I heard the accomodations there are amazing and I want to see what it's all about!

Of course, my lack of Spanish isn't really helping me at all while I'm here. I've actually already received an e-mail back from one of my interviewees that said "I don't speak English." Sweet. And more then once I've had people just look at me and assume I speak Spanish. Even my customs guy refused to believe I didn't know what he was saying! Also, apprently having an L at the end of your name is a very difficult thing to pronounce here so I'm enjoying all the creativity with the pronunciation of my name. I also had a little deja vu when the guy who picked us up in the airport were waiting for the other lady to withdraw some money. He looked at me and said "Do you speak Spanish?" which is a key phrase that I memorized so that I could respond "No." He then replied "I don't speak English" and we went back to standing in silence.

Even though Farley and I are not in the same area, I feel some bonding going on between me and her. It's about 7900 feet above sea level here and I was a little short of breath during my workout this morning. But I figure, if her training in Arizona will get her more red blood cells that will get her Eugene then far be it for me to deny the benefits. Maybe this will be the first step in my quest to become the next American Gladiator.

I miss you all and if anyone wants to come play, they gave me two beds (with extremely hard mattresses) so if anyone wants to bask in the "luxury", come visit. It wouldn't be the worst thing to hang out by the pool while I worked all day! Otherwise, just look forward to more e-mails!

Sleepless in Seattle

I got to go play with Kathryn over the weekend and it's made me miss being back at Purdue and playing on campus.

For those of you who have never been to Seattle, I highly recommend it. Kathryn and I were the ultimate tourists starting bright and early Saturday morning and not stopping until she dropped me off on Monday morning at the airport. I'd like to say that we saw Seattle from land, air and sea.
On land, we walked everywhere! Starting from her cute little apartment (which I'm quite jealous of) all the way downtown to where they have the most Victorian buildings in a square of about 20 blocks. We also saw everything in between. We went to the fish market where they let me hold a crab!!
We drank tea at the original starbucks, and I was even talked into buying jam from some cute vendor guy. We ate the world's best mac and cheese, saw a statue of a Russian dictator, saw a troll under a bridge and ate Pho!Needless to say that when we finally fell into bed at night it didn't take long for us to pass out! And I got to see the U of Washington campus which is absolutely beautiful and while I will always love Purdue, it would have been nice to have amazingly huge buildings of beautiful architecture and a football statium looking out over a lake. We also did one of those bus/boat tours when the bus actually drives right into the water and turns into a boat!!


That was when I decided I wanted to live in a floating house on Lake Union. Our driver was a little quirky but that just made it all the more interesting!

Now, we didn't actually fly over Seattle to see it by air (well, I guess I did to get there but that's beside the point) but we did go the top of Smith Tower which is a really tall building downtown that actually has a caged in deck on the 35th floor that you can walk out onto. We happened to choose the windiest day ever to do this so it did feel like we were flying! And I'm pretty sure if we had a fear of heights before that adventure, we conquered it that day! And we found out that people actually live in the point of the Smith tower and that's when I decided to live there (notice a trend?)!!

Other random things: we met a guy who was trying to find himself by getting people's e-mail addresses to send them a website link that didn't exist yet. If you just read that sentence and said "huh?" then you're pretty much in the same boat G-spach and I were in. We just smiled and backed out of the cheese shop he found us in (but not before I gave him my old purdue e-mail address b/c who am I to judge someone's way of finding themselves?). We also are pretty sure we saw some ballet dancers and what could only be there bodyguard. We followed them around for awhile…on purpose or on accident we're pretty sure we're on the bodyguard's hit list.

The theme of the weekend though I'd have to say was car trouble!! It all started when Kathryn picked me up at the airport and in the 30 seconds it took me to get into her car, a cop knocked on the window to tell her that the tags on her car had expired. Well it was her roommates car and I can only describe the inside of it as Colleen, Goody and my room senior year at it's worst multiplied by 50. So Kathryn kindly thanked him for the information and tried to end the conversation right there but unfortunately he wanted to see licence and registration and all that other stuff. Thankfully the seattle police were on an off night and since they were taking to long, he let us off with a warning.

Later in the weekend, we rented a flex car (which is actually a great concept where you can rent cars that are parked around the city for a few hours or days at a time). Unfortunately, there was a slight mix up and we ended up at the wrong car. Then when we got that sorted out, we did out adventure and came back to find that someone was parked in the spot we're supposed to leave the car in! So we let them a "friendly reminder" as the flex car company calls it which pretty much says "listen up bitchass, we're towing your car b/c you were such an idiot. Maybe you'll know better in the future."

When I got back to Detroit on Monday night I got to my car and got in only to find that the driver's side door wouldn't latch shut. Now, I live 2 hours from the Detroit airport and as strong as I like to think my arms are, they aren't strong enough to hold the door closed while steering with my other arm for that long. So I drove to the closest decent sized town looking for someplace open 24 hours. I finally found a walgreens and of couse they were closed but a lady outside of it had an elastic thing in her truck that she gave to me and came to help me fix my car. Of course as soon as that happened, the door decided to latch making me look like a huge idiot or possibly some person who was actually hoping to rob a walgreens while carryng around her laptop that she was too afraid to leave in the car. Ugh, what a night!!

But now I'm back in Midland and enjoying a few nights in my own bed until Friday when I pack up and leave for Houston! I figure if Dow gives me 5 free flights to Texas a year, I might as well use them when it's bitter cold in Michigan and I know Nat loves visitors!!

Happy Valentine's Day to everyone!! I love you all!!

Happy Fat Tuesday!

I'm getting ready to embark upon a tour of the western hemisphere and I thought I'd send out a little note before I leave.

This weekend I'm off to the great state of Washington to visit Miss Kathryn Gramelspacher. I can only imagine our weekend will be full of Starbucks and Pho which are the only two things that I know exist there. Rumor has it that KG is living in the top of the space needle and one can only imagine the view. It will be a treat!

Next weekend I'm off to the giant state of Texas!! I'll be visitng the new Laskowski family and Ryan and I will officially duel it out for the love of Natalie. Rumor has it he's a little jealous of my facebook status and the fact that my phone number has been memorized. I can't say I blame him but let's face it, I met Nat first.

After that I'm off to Mexico--Corporate Style. In other words, I'm not going to be near the coast, I'm not going to be drinking an abundance of cerverzas or taking any siestas. But I'm sure it will still be an adventure. I've heard that the people are not as friendly when you can't speak Spanish so I'm doing my best to at least LOOK Mexican by leaving my hair curly, and hoping for the best.

My trip home from Mexico is going to route me through Kansas City, Kansas where I'll be attending a wedding that one might say I invited myself to. I'm sure it will be a great time because Ben and Nat and Ryan and Bill Kercher and Blake (who you might remember from the Laskowski wedding of '07) will also be in attendance. I have never been to a wedding that wasn't a grand time so I can't see this one being any different!

Finally, I'll round off my tour with a trip to Brazil where I will be equipped with a bodyguard and will be working with two other Brazilians. I might even attempt a side trip to Rio b/c it's one of the only 2 places that have impressed my dad (the other being Hong Kong if anyone is curious). Regardless, it's another trip to another country where I don't speak the language which I can only hope will provide you guys with entertaining e-mails at the very least.

After that, I think i'm scheduled to spend May and June in the beautiful state of Michigan which actually isn't bad b/c summer is the only reason I agreed to live in this state. So, if anyone wants to come visit, that'd be the time to do it!! There is no saying where I'll be starting in July (except that I will be in Turkey but that's for a personal vacation).

I hope that everyone is having a good day!!

I miss you all!!