Mike

"Water fills up half the bucket"
"A half full bucket of water"

"How are we gonna take this to the next level?" - Bobby C, Day 1 - 11:37 pm, Fellici's

Unforgetable Quotes!

1) "Phillis, If you would stay up and hang out it would go a long way to making me think less about the Amazonian crocodile's female genatalia every time your name is mentioned." ~ Jeff O.

2) "Now that we got our bags and toiletries, I wanted to let you know that I spent more time in the bathroom primping this morning than on my wedding day." ~ Ben

3) "My only goal of the trip is to not die in the rain forest." ~ Tony

4) "I think that watching "Predator" in Portuguese reveals much more depth to the characters than watching it in English." ~ Jeff O.

5) "I knew it was a tarantula and not just a spider when it looked at Jeff and said 'qué pasa hombre' " ~ MK

6) "Good Morning XXXX!" ~Yelled through the wall and ceiling to adjacent rooms by everyone (Demond, Phil, MK, Jeff) every morning since every last sound could be heard everywhere

7) "I am going to just keep on making up new rules at cards whenever I want since no one can remember the rules and I want to win" with about 6 more expletives added in than quoted here. ~ Demond

8) "Preventative Cipro usage without onset of symptoms is not recommended as it can cause significant stomach problems and allergic reactions" ~ CDC 

Welcome Back

Hope everyone had a good trip back. It does not sound like there were as many issues on the way back as there were going. I had a few requests to add a poll to see how many people got sick on the trip, so let us know. Also, if you caught piranhas comment back with your name and how many. Thanks for all the posts and pictures.

Lar Doce Lar!!!

For all you non Brazilians, that's "Home Sweet Home!!!"  HAHAHAHA

So giving a recap of today's activities:

Our first flight was fine and on time.  But getting there was another story.  Waiting at the hotel Tropica was almost as much fun as watching paint dry!! At least some were able to utilize the time and buy souvenirs.

Our second flight was also fine and on time.  It was great to see that we didn't lose anyone with the gate change in ATL.  Way to go!!!  Also looked like everyone got their bags in PHL!  

It's finally great to be home!!!

Special Thanks to our tour guides Sergio, Gilton, and Shawn for the great trip!!

And another thanks to Prof. Newbert for giving us Tues!!   So with that I think we're done, see you all on Thursday!!

Good Bye!!!

Top 10 Facts, Questions, Quotes and Things

10. Would we have been able to get anywhere if our bus didn't have reverse?

9. How many people were awake during the Honda video?

8. Do you know the definition of this word, "Competitor"?

7. Do you think the Japanese translation was just for Pete?

6. How long does it take to respond to a simple questions? 5 min, 10 min, 15 min .... .... nope 45 mins!

5. Who or what is SUFRAMA?

4. Did you notice a common theme with each company located in the middle of no where?

3. When asking a question in a foreign country, remember to speak sllllooooowwwwly.... ..... .... and try not to use too many big words.

2. What was your sales forecast for 2009? or what is your profit margins? or how do you know if a monkey can see colors or not?

drum roll please......

1. How would you respond to being made fun of by a local adolescent?

a. Not respond

b. Curse back

c. Make foul gestures

d. Make foul gestures/kiss/laugh

(I think we all know the answer to this one with proof!) HAHAHAHAHAHAHA

From your true number 1! ;)

Visiting a Native Family

Well, we lost another couple of folks to traveler's stomach... All but three made it onto the boat for our trip to see a "native" family. In Amazona, a native is considered a mixuture of European, African, and Indigenous decent. We left the hotel around 9:30 during a heavy down poor. It took about 30 minutes to reach the village from the hotel - needless to say - we were pretty soaked when we arrived. The faimily we visted were the relatives of one of the boat drivers during the week. His mother and father had made a trip to down river to Manaus. The family resided on the banks of the river on a plot that provided all of their necessities. Mike, our guide, explained that although no luxuries existed, the natives lived the three "H's": hard, happy, and healthy. In fact, many natives who had left the forest for the city, are now beginning to return due to the lower stress level and healthier lifestyle.

In the household we visited, the parents and three of their youngest children still resided there. Two older brothers, now both married, as well as an older sister, who was also married, all were there visiting for the day and helping out while the parents were away. An eight child, an older daughter, had rececntly given birth to a very healthy looking baby boy. Also visible were two pet dogs who were very friendly and well behaved.

Then Mike began taking us through the various parts of the family's property. They had a large cooking surface that was used to prepare tapioca to sell in town. For their personal cooking, the family had a much smaller cooking surface. While we might catch twenty fish and freeze some and eat some, the native families may choose to eat all twenty in one sitting, relying on the Lord to provide more tomorrow. All of the family members present (except the baby) were actively participating in preparing various foods for us to try. We tried "Brazil" nuts, a fruit that was somewhere between a banana and a pineapple, tapioca (with and without butter). Courtney and Marietta were both adorned with red ink that the Brazilians had exported to Europe as a dye in the past.

Marietta was very excited to finally see the Asahi berries that were used to produce a very healthy and flavorful drink among other things. In order to get the berries, two of the sons (one married, one much younger) tied a piece of cloth between their two feet and climbed about 25 feet up the tree trunk to the fruit.

We also had the opportunity to see the Rubber tree being tapped. One of the married sons made a small incision in the tree bark and we all watched as the latex dripped slowly from the fresh scar. Mike explained the same tree could be tapped on four sides continuously for 15 years before it was "spent". Then the tree could still be used for seeds for other rubber trees. The native family had also offered for sale many different crafts produced locally which many of our group took advantage of. Unfortunately, the dolphin swimming was cancelled due to the early morning delays caused by the rain. Everyone got a big lunch and packed up for our boat trip back to Manaus. Hopefully everyone's luggage makes the entire trip with us this time around...

Last Look at the Beauty of the Amazon...

Welcome to the .... Amazon Rain Forest

Friday, March 6th


The day began early, 5:30 am. We took a boat out on the Rio Negro to see the sun rise. Much to our disappointment, it was too cloudy to enjoy the full effect of the sunrise. However, the setting out on the water was serene and beautiful, setting the tone for another day out in the Amazon.

Breakfast was served from 7-8:30, just prior to our journey into the rain forest. The tour in the rain forest lasted about 2 hours, enough time to see a number of plants and creatures throughout the rain forest. Some had the opportunity to sample the unsavory mint leaf that probably will be felt well into next week. Others, not to name names (Marietta), enjoyed the maggots that grew inside a nut. We also discovered natural sources for aspirin, ben gay, and a treatment for malaria.

After arriving back at the hotel, we ate lunch and were given about three hours to recover from the early start (pictured). The next event was the piranha fishing excursion. The group was divided into two teams who competed against each other to see who could catch the most piranhas. Pictured above is Simone hoisting the winner's haul. When we arrived back at the hotel, we were presented with the Villanova FTE class of '09 plaque that will forever hang on the wall of the hotel. The duration of the evening was spent with dinner, consisting of a piranha soup containing the haul from the afternoon's fishing excursion, and then an evening of social festivities.

Huntin' for Cayman

"Make sure you have a firm grip on its throat or else it will bite you"

We're Here!

Tower 8 - destination for the Villanova group. This should be a wild time...

What a View

The panoramic shot of the River Negra on our boatride to the Ariau Towers hotel. Calm, beautiful, and no bugs...sweet

Into the Amazon

Today was by far the best day on our trip!!!  We started off by checking out of the hotel, and beginning our consulting projects.   

We all split up into our corresponding groups and "consulted" as best we could with each of the firms.   

Paulette - My firm was great.  Family owned and operated.   It is a graphics company, it basically makes the boxes and manuals that the Brazilians find when they open their new TVs, DVDs, or other equipment that was manufactured here.   They are looking for a marketing plan to expand and get more business in Manaus.  

Jeff- My firm was also established in Manaus.  It is an organic herbal remedies company that includes products of cosmetics, herbal supplements, and herbal medications.   Most products made from amazonian flora.   We will be advising them on enhancing their supply chain.  (Liberatore would be proud!)

Phil - (this is Chirs, Yonggang and Troy's group) We started the day off at a different site than the one we had visited a few days ago.   We met again with Bruno our previous presenter, and he presented us with our true global strategy problem.  He is importing lots of goods, but does not seem to have the same volume in export.   He told us to help him find new export opportunities for Manaus.   

After everyone was done consulting, we went to the hotel Tropical, which is the nicest hotel in all of Manaus.  (Five stars!).    We got a few hours to relax, have lunch, and even squeeze in some pretty good souvenir shopping.   (Rumor has it some even bought some cuban cigars!).  

At 3PM sharp, we walked down a hill, and onto our boat that lead us up the rio negra for about 2.5 hours deeper into the wild jungle/rainforest.   We had a great ride.  Some drank a few beers, some played cards, while others tried to sleep as much as they could.   We were pleasantly surprised about the beauty, and the lack of mosquitos.  

We arrived at this amazing hotel around 5:30.   We were greeted by a brazilian band, and dancer!  It was pretty nice to have a necklace placed on our necks as we entered the new stage of our trip.  

This hotel is like swiss family robinson... LIVE.   We have a 6.7 mile walk over watertop and into the jungle.   All the rooms are airconditioned and with balconies.  The only problem has been roomates discussing which bed each roomate will have (there is a queen and a twin size bed).   

The wildlife is crazy.  We got up close with monkeys (baby and mama) right along the railing on the way to the room.  We have also seen parrots, birds, and amazingly large fish in a tank.   

We had dinner (buffet) and one of the best meals thus far.... afterwhich we got into a long boat (all 30 of us) and went into the dark, creepy, wet, forest........... in search for caymans.   

Caymans are like alligators and crocodiles.  There are three types and the one we saw (see pictures) can grow up to 3 m long.   He was only 1.5 years old.   Everyone touched or held him (even Simone)!!!

Wednesday in Review

Wednesday was jam packed -- to say the least! We had the opportunity to visit three companies. The first was a local holding company. Most significantly, they were a bottler and distributor for Coca Cola. They have one of the largest industrial refrigerators at their site. Management was proud that other companies come to observe their operations. In addition, their assembly lines are quite impressive. They can wash and refill up to 1000 bottles per minute. This company was committed to the preservation of the rainforest and its surroundings. There have been numerous distinctions among how companies value the rainforest. While some keep the jungle at the core of their operations, others suggest that they aren´t able to operate cost efficiently and that customers do not care.

We spent a good amount of time looking at the plant and then participating in a q & a. Afterwards, we hit up studio 5 (a mall very close to the hotel) for lunch. There is a restaurant behind it called Felicce (Demond is spelling for me right now) and some people went there.

After lunch, we hit up Sony. This was definitely the coolest visit of the day. They operate under 6 Sigma (I bet you can guess who was excited!). Interestingly, only certain models are produced in Brazil. We saw everything being manufactured, from the mother board (?) to the actual finished product. Prettttty interesting. Afterwards, they had quite a nice little snack set up for us.

After Sony, we visited Honda. At this point, the day had been long, but everyone seemed pleasantly surprised to actually see the motorcylces being test driven. They had an off roading course and one that was paved. (We didn´t see that part, just on the power point presentation).

Oh yeah, we got hats there and little bags at Sony. You can have mine, no problem at all.

Oh wait, the day was not over yet. We came back to the hotel and hit up a local Manaus soccer game. It literally poured. Hopefully someone will have pictures of that (MQ?) because the rain was so heavy and the players never stopped playing.

Well, that pretty much sums up Wednesday. Bon Dia if you get this in the morning!

I Have My Passport and Visa!!!

Yellow Fever Shots..... Not Required for Entry

Malaria Pills.... Not Required for Entry

Passport and Visa...... REQUIRED for ENTRY!!!

Having a Third Party Wait Until the Week Before Your Departure Flight to Request Your Visa and Getting it Back to You in Time for the Return Flight....PRICELESS

I hope you all are enjoying Brazil as much as I am enjoying backwards North Carolina.

Goodbye sugar cookies

Chris,

We leave today for the Aria Towers. The thing I'll miss most about our hotel here is its unlimited supply of sugar cookies. I've never eaten so many cookies in my life.

Magellan

Brazilian dancers, or aerobics workout.

A good view of live dancing at an outdoor restaurant in Ponta Negra. We took a cab ride here from our hotel. The cabbie was playing Guns N Roses the whole time on his DVD player.

There was also a guy playing acoustic guitar after the dance/aerobic session. He was not bad, playing Elvis, Santana, Gypsy Kings and others.

Check out the following video. Looks like exercise than dancing to me.

Some buildings in downtown Manaus, and Lunch

Lunch at La Farruca.


A few apartment buildings/condos:

A few of us in the shopping area downtown:

Dancing Under the Stars

Please Don't Stop the Music

Tuesday, 3/3: Mercosul Line and more nightlife

Alright, we'll make this quick cuz we want to hangout by the hotel pool.


7:00 AM

"Kannan...Kannan..." - I heard a distant calling voice in my dream. Oh no! It's not a dream. Umman has been trying to wake me up for a while!
The plan was we all had to leave at 8:15 AM today (so unfair!)
mmm...should I really get a shower or may be I can skip and sleep for a few more minutes?????
After a serious dilemma for a while, I thought to myself...."Nope...I'm taking shower today as I am already stinking"

8:00 AM
We had our breakfast...(bannanas....yum...yum..yum!!!)

8:15 AM
The tour guide announced "Guys...There is change in the plan. The bus will depart at 8:45 AM"
Reena sadly said..."We could have slept a little bit more"...followed by her unique laughter :-P

9:00 AM
The bus departed to Mercosul Line-Maersk.

9:30 AM
.A couple of guys made nice presentations on the busness operations of the company!

11:30 AM
We walked around the terminal to see the carriers and other stuff...

Lunch
We divided into two groups one of which went to "McDonalds" and the rest went to the restaurant "La Farruca"

2:45 PM
The bus departed and arrived at Uninorte University. mmm...nice and cool auditorium with good air conditioning...would be great to take a nap here!!!
The presentation started and for the most part it covered the stuff that were dicussed during our "Manaus Free Trade Zone" visit.
Oh..man! The presentation was a little long indeed!
"OMG..I can hear some snoring..." When I turned back...Almost everyone was half asleep after a nice lunch...

At last the presentation ended...Yes the presentation really ended :)

4:00 PM
The professor then called for a quick meeting in the university auditorium to discuss about the consulting project that we are gonna do. He split the clas into 3 groups and

then announced the team leads - Matt Kennedy, James Sacony and Courtney Alexander.

Then we had a quick meeting with the teams to discuss the plan of action for the next day...(You know what...There was not really a plan of action!).

5:00 PM
Then the bus departed from the university and reached the hotel after stopping at a place where some of us exchanged Reais for Dollars

Then some of us spent some time at the pool and then went for dinner, show, dancing...mmm...yet another nice day!!

A few pictures to follow....

The first firm we visited was Mercosul Line shipping company.





The speaker went over logistics, transportation, exports/imports for their customers.

Mercosul Line handles the shipping domestically within Brazil, transporting goods from Manaus down the Amazon river system to port cities on the coast. From Belem, Forteleza down to Sao Paulo.

Update about comments

Did anyone buy a Power Ball ticket in Plymouth Meeting or Delaware before they left? The two winning tickets were sold there. Also, the comments don't show up on the main page but there is an icon under the posts that will send you to the comments if anyone has time to read them or wants to add comments.

The pictures I have seen so far look interesting. Enjoy the rest of the trip.

Live Entertainment in Punta Negra

A few of us decided to venture out and see the Manuas nightlife. Sergio, our tour guide, planned our transportation to and from Punta Negra. We ended up at an outside venue that provided food, alcohol and live entertainment. Enjoy the video of the live entertainment...More videos to come.

Who's up for a shot or 2 or even maybe 3?

Jeff O, Jeff B, Phil, Pete, Matt K, Marietta, Brian, Sergio and Demond all took part in having atleast 1 shot of Cachaca. Others had 3. Cachaca went down smooth but left a burning sensation in your throat and chest.

Oh how did I forget about this wonderful item....

Cachaca - 98% proof

Bufalo Restuarant

This wonderful meal included unlimited meat, a salad bar, 1 Caipirinha, a dessert and another beverage of your choice. Thank you Villanova for picking up the tab!

Yummy!! Nothing like a cheap lunch at McDonald's with some buds!

I know MK enjoyed his 24 nuggets!  

I want to swim with the Manatees

Manaus Free Trade Zone? Where is Chris to lead us in a discussion about Chester, PA?

Let me think about this one...

Banana Anyone?

Out for a stroll from the Mall

What happened to my luggage?

Girl Talk

Here's a breakdown of our day today:

930 - We met with the coordinator of economic and business studies at Suframa, which helps manage the Manaus free trade zone. I was surprised to see how many companies do business here...LG, Pepsi, Nokia, Honda, Samsung, etc. The speaker told us they make motorcycles a lot faster here than in Japan. I thought she said something like 20 seconds but Eboni just gave me a weird look when I said that so I could be wrong.

1030 - We headed over to the CBA, which is a big R&D center sponsored by Suframa. The place has 25 labs and a biodiversity showroom.

12ish - We went to this pretty cool restaurant right on the water. The menu consisted pretty much of all fish, with some batatas fritas and arroz mixed in. Courtney and I split the fish. I probably ate about 90% and it came with some delicious plaintains.

3? - We went to Inpa, which is the National Institute for Amazon Research. We met with two doctors; one was from Massachusetts but he's been living in Manaus for the last 33 years. He talked about deforestation and global warming. He mentioned that if Brazil opens up a proposed highway that it's going to link half of the Amazon to this arc of deforestation on the eastern coast of Brazil. He's got a really cool mustache. The other doctor was more into human psychology. She started a program 15 years ago to make children more aware of the environment. Inpa is surrounded by a less fortunate population who used to come into the center, sleep there, kill the animals, etc. So she started a program called the Young Guides of the Bosque da Ciencia where these kids spend time learning how to become guides. I think the program has been pretty successful and they've been starting similar programs in other parts of the city.

We came back to the hotel after that, caught a little R&R and then went to a Brazilian steakhouse. I'll leave that part to Demond. I think he's going to post some pictures too.

Glad to hear you made it to work. Let's make sure it's a little warmer when we return.

Opera House, Manaus

Day 2

The lack of technological infrastructure in this emerging market economy led to the internet just crashing in the middle of typing a long blog post, so we are gonna make version 2 short and sweet.

Airline lost people’s bags

Got to the hotel at 5 am

At 1:30 we went on a tour of Manaus (opera house, banana market, floating dock)

After the tour, several people purchased new undergarments

Then many of us went to the local brewery/restaurant/nightclub and had dinner/drinks

Live band/dancing/beer chugging contests. A good time was had by all. Some more than others.

Blog time for Team CSN

Chris and all virtual travelers,

It's our day to blog so I figured I'd send you a good morning blog bit and then tell you about our day later on. We got our bags this AM around 6. When we woke up, I told Eboni about a nightmare I had last night. I told her that she lost her bags and that she had to buy and wear a bathing suit for the remainder of the trip. To which she responded, "Well that REALLY must have been a nightmare." I didn't mean it like that of course...might of been the malaria medicine.

The weather is pretty nice here and not as buggy as expected. We toured Manaus a bit yesterday, saw a whole lotta bananas and some cool house boats...not the kind you find in Seattle but big ones with a lot of hammocks.

Hope all is well in PA. I heard you're expecting some snow...maybe Lockheed closed for the first time in a decade?

D-Money has some stories to tell you for later on.

Talk to you soon.

What a Day...

Oh what a day, what a day... so we get to the airport in Philly and before we leave we're already one more short than originally planned -- Troy (umm Troy be happy you missed the ride with us... more to come on that). A lot of us met up in the small bar right next to our gate. Here's a picture of Pete and Demond relaxing before the flight. The flight to Atlanta seemed like it was more than halfway full of Nova students -- spring breakers, int'l econ class to Panama & us.

We're laying over in Atlanta and come to find out there's a bit of a snafu: a combination of a lot of people, a lot of luggage and bad winds doesn't make for a pretty picture. So, el capitan gave us our options:

1. leave 30 people behind

2. leave 160 bags behind

3. de-fuel & layover in Ft. Lauderdale to re-fuel (oh and we can't get off the plane either)

Apparently el capitan picks TWO options on our behalf (again more to come from the second group on that one). Option 3 was one of the two and we were off to Manaus after our quick stop in Ft. Lauderdale. I will say, though, that the seats on the plane to Manuas were pretty sweet -- TVs in the back of the headset with a lot of movies to watch, games to play, and even full cds to choose from and create your own playlist.

I'll stop here, as I know that Reena can't wait to tell you about what happens next...

Did you get your shots???

Picanha

You have to try the Picanha!!!

Photos of Manaus

Manaus

Manaus is a city in Brazil, the capital of Amazonas state. It is situated at the confluence of the Negro and Solimões rivers. It is the most populous city of Amazonas, according to the statistics of Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics and is a popular ecotourism destination. Manaus belongs to mesoregion Center Amazonense and microregion Manaus. It is located in northern Brazil, 1,932 kilometers from the federal capital, Brasília.
The city was founded in 1669 as the Fort of Sao Jose do Rio Negro. It was elevated to a town in 1832 with the name of "Manaus", which means "mother of the gods" in tribute to the indigenous nation of Manaós, and legally transformed into a city on October 24 of 1848 with the name of Cidade Da Barra do Rio Negro, portuguese for "The City of the Margins of River Negro". Only on September 4 of 1856 did it revert to its current name.
Was known at the beginning of the century, the golden era of rubber. At that time it was known as Heart of the Amazon and City of the Forest. Currently its main economic engine is the Industrial Pole of Manaus in large part responsible for the fact that the city holds 7 largest GDP of the country today.

It it the second largest metropolitan area in northern Brazil and the twelfth in all of Brazil, with 2,006,870 inhabitants (IBGE / 2008). The population at 2008 was of 1.71 million people and it is the eighth most populous city of Brazil according to data from Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics, the IBGE. The city gradually increased its participation in the GDP of Brazil in recent years, rising to account for 1.4% of the economy of the country. Currently, the city is one of 12 most influential cities of Brazil. Manaus alone represents 10.89% of the population of the whole North Region of Brazil and 49.9% of the population of Amazon.

More information can be found here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manaus

Trip Details

Villanova School of Business Full Time Equivalent (FTE) Program Global Strategies Management will be travelling to Manaus Brazil from February 28th, 2009 until March 8th, 2009.