December 9, 2007: Big Game and the Holiday Party

Each year, the last football game of the season for Cal ends with a good old fashioned rivalry: that of Cal and Stanford. It's truly unfortunate for any red-shirt wearing Standford fan to enter the Cal student section, as they are often chided and harassed ("Take off that red shirt"). In full disclosure, I did not attend the actual game; instead I opted to watch the game on Emily Walling's flat screen TV in the comfort of her home.

We did, however, attend the Haas tailgate prior to the game. Unfortunately, Maiken and my alcohol content did not warrant a long stay, albeit long enough to witness our classmates recreate their college-day tailgating activities. It's extremely important to give these guys credit - a few of the old engineers managed to design and construct a Cal tailgate "wagon," complete with two keg spouts, two beer pong extension tables and a built-in TV. The "wagon" made its debut at the first home game, and has never disappointed. Somehow it has made it through a seven-hour rode trip to Pasadena to witness Cal's disappointing loss to UCLA (although I think it blew a flat) and was quite the spectacle outside of the Stanford stadium.

This year marked the twenty-fifth anniversary of "the play," and the first time that Cal has lost to Stanford in six or seven years. If you've never seen it, follow this link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7aCDfJH6eRY

While the Big Game signals the end of the football season, it also signals the beginning of finals (ew). However, the annual Haas holiday party marks the middle of finals, which often means that the pre-final jitters warrant a long evening of alcohol consumption in preparation for a rough week. This year's holiday party was at the Wax Museum in Fisherman's wharf; the long-time obsession I have had with Harrison Ford was slightly diminished due to this ghastly replica:

Until next time ...

November 20, 2007: Let Sleeping Dogs Lie

Even though Emily turned thirty nearly a year ago (seriously, it was only 2 months ago), the pictures finally resurfaced. Her parents were gracious enough to host a large number of Emily's friends at their home in Napa.

And here's the birthday girl with her husband, Jason -

At least her parents were entertained by our antics ... or at least they were mildly amused ... or tolerant. In all seriousness, they were incredibly generous - and have always been supportive of us crazy Haasites.

After some candle blowage, we were shamelessly willing to jump in the pool ... HAPPY BIRTHDAY, EMILY!

November 17, 2007: It Never Rains in California

Although late to the blog (which I should be consistently updating; the public documentation of second year business school should be a requirement).

They say that one should relish in second year business school, as the work load mysteriously becomes lighter, the beer flows heavier and we transition to the second years we said we'd never become - the second years that continuously provide unwelcomed advice to the first years ("relax, grades don't matter") and are mysteriously absent from most school social functions.

By my second year, at least, I have learned what I like and what I don't like, although not evidenced by my choice of quantitative classes. While I may not able to calculate EBITDA, I fully understand the concept (and know exactly who to contact to figure it out for me). Not only that, I can successfully say that I can read a 10-K and identify issues with the financial reports (well ...)

My point is, the learning is amazing, and fun. No matter how you look at it, I have been able to meet incredibly intelligent and interesting people along this road - individuals I know will always be in my life.

That being said, we have been definitely finding ways to amuse ourselves. First, Emily's birthday up in Napa ... fortunately, pictures from that event have not quite surfaced; at least not the incrimating ones.

The beer mile ... Ken Wallace's annual beer mile, to celebrate his birthday. The event takes roughly 30-40 minutes, depending on how fast you can slam 4 beers, and how quickly you can run 1/4 of a mile in a random-ass outfit. Each lap around the track is followed by a beer chug. Although tempting, most of use decided to spectate ... and we helped the runners celebrate (provided that they could stand up straight). See James (Elisabeth's boyfriend), er, cat-in-the-hat to the upper left. We chose to cheer on from the sidelines while taking incrimating photos.

Homecoming came and went (with a horribly disappointing loss, after being ranked #2 in the country), then the big 32 (much to my dismay) a week later, and then Halloween. Embarassingly enough, I attempted to use the glasses as an inspiration point ...
Thanksgiving this year will take place in San Francisco for me, as I plan on heading home to KC for a week stint over the holidays. Then, on a trip with some classmates ... more on that later!

Tuesday, August 14, 2007: La-La Land Revisited

My Santa Monica ... I am about to start packing up and getting my act together to return to school. Here's a picture of Main Street, which is one of the cutest streets - it's kind of like a cross between Union Street and Fillmore Street in San Francisco, with a beach vibe. I really love this area - it's somewhat LA, without being totally LA. I feel like if the universe would combine a dash San Francisco and toss in a little Hawaii, it would pop out Santa Monica. The surf is a little lacking, but up and down the coast there are surfing options. The location is very central to most places - 20 minutes to work (barely any LA traffic), 20 minutes to the airport, 10 minutes to Westwood, 15-20 minutes to Brentwood. Hollywood I have steered clear from, as well as some of the other hotspots. I like where Elisabeth and I live - it's our quiet little space in a mad city. AND we are four blocks from the beach, which I try to get to at least once a weekend.

Here's a picture of the beach as you walk up - one thing that's great about it is the length and depth of the beaches - tons of sand ... lots of water. There's a path for bikers and for walkers/runners along the beach as well, which makes for lots of pleasant walks.

This weekend marks the last weekend I will be down here - I will be a little sad to leave ... just when you get used to your routine, you change it!

Michelle Tom (Amato) is in town visiting, as she is planning to move out here in September/October. Michelle and Alex couldn't stay away from the West Coast!

I leave to return to school on Sunday, which means a lot of packing and a lot of shopping required ...

July 22, 2007: Product Freak

I am about half-way through my Neutrogena Internship down in LA. I still can't believe that it's gone by so fast; I'm trying to wrap my head around that I only have three more weeks of normalcy before moving back up to Berkeley to start my second year of business school. What I wouldn't give to start all over at Haas as a first year!

I have been pleasantly surprised by LA - although, as I've learned, I'm technically not living in LA while in Santa Monica. Santa Monica has by far impressed me; I feel sort of like I'm in a beachier town of the Marina, with less pomp and circumstance.

I had a feeling that I would love working for Neutrogena, and Neutrogena as well has far surpassed my expectations in regards to the type of work, the products and the people. I definitely get excited to go to work in the morning! I'm working on the men's line as well as the regular hair line. Specifically with the men's line, I'm looking at the shave category and identify the strategy with the current men's shave products. A big step for a girl who hates to shave! (or at minimum am addicted to Intuition ...)

And then ... there's my obsession with product. I have managed to collect enough product through the company store as well as samples that we have. I have managed to load up a 2.5" x 2.5" shelf in our closet. Guess what everyone is getting for gifts!?!??!

I suppose that's it for now - I'll have more exciting news later!

June 27,2007: Look Kids, It's Big Ben!

A little late to the post ... I must admit, leaving Brazil was relatively anti-climactic. We were in a mad rush to complete our financial sustainability report on the Mamiraua Institute, our recommendations for becoming self-sustaining, and our presentation on our findings. We were down to the wire - thank goodness our presentation was pushed back ... and then back ... and then .... well, you get the idea. We were to present to our 4 main stakeholders, two of which were in Belem and were unable to attend in person, one didn't show up, and the fourth spoke only Portuguese ... which would have sucked for her, given that all of the materials and presentation were in English. We zipped up all of our materials and then shipped them off to somewhere. Anywhere. We were done!

Here are some amazing pictures Maiken took out of the window on our way back to Manaus -

Anyway, we ended up spending 1.5 days in Manaus, one of which was Stephan's birthday. Before I get to how we celebrated his birthday, I need to explain how frakking fantastic it was staying at the Ibis Hotel in Manaus. It had HOT, RUNNING WATER. CENTRAL AIR CONDITIONING. And a RESTAURANT that served food prepared in ways OTHER THAN FRIED. Oh, and the Universal TV station which had movies in English.

When we arrived, we all took hot showers. I have never had a shower feel so amazing before in my life - I couldn't get out. And to sleep without a mosquito net was ... well, sad, as I loved my princess trap. But still, thinking about it now, I still get this warm, relaxed feeling.

So, Stephan's birthday. We had been all over Manaus already, so we ran a few errands, i.e., helping Steve purchase a hammock that his wife would like (I love the fact that Maiken couldn't pass up the opportunity to purchase a hammock either - I don't think the two of us left anywhere without purchasing something).

We told Stephan that he could choose any activity that he wanted for his birthday; lucky for us, he wanted to go see the waterfalls. To make a long story short, we made a wrong turn out of the gate (right outside of Manaus) and ended up driving 2 hours in the wrong direction. And, here's the car, with Steve pissing in the background. I'm sure he was excited about this picture.

And the scenery along the way ... as you can tell, there were a crapload of potholes, so an entrepreneurial Brazilian spirit I'm sure is making a killing. Funny, yeah?

Anyway, our night ended up at the Pier, watching local Brazilian dance and eating fried mozarella and drinking beer. Ah, Stephan ... welcome to 31. It's a bit over-rated.

After a whirlwind 24 hours of travel, the bird has landed ... in LA ... somehow. Although now this news is old, I got into Berkeley on Saturday night at 1am on the 9th, packed up for LA until 3am, went to bed; woke up at 9am, got in the car at 1pm, picked up a freaked out Jackson at 3pm in San Francisco and started my road trip down to LA ... with a howling cat. I arrived at midnight, started work at 8am the next day ...

June 6, 2007: Rain Drops Keep Falling on My Head Continued ...

So, you must think that I am kidding about the amount of time we spend talking about showering here ... here's proof that we spend most of our nights discussing different shower strategies -

Note, you may not be able to see the image, but the sound is hilarious enough.

Ciao for now, as we are heading out tomorrow to Manaus ...

June 5, 2007: Ants in My Coffee

Morning Rituals
We are fortunate that our hotel provides breakfast, as I think I've mentioned before. Mostly bread, butter, variations of dishes with manoc and tapioca, and fruits that I'm scared to try.

Milk is often boiled and served in a thermos, as most is not pasteurized properly. The cute, little old woman who manages the breakfast station usually leaves a little plate that captures the droplets of milk that don't make it to your coffee cup. The really agressive ants manage to always infiltrate the milk dish. I cringe to think that they have the ability to crawl up the thermos and enter my morning salvation.

And then there's the low-hanging fruit for the other ants with little concern for their caloric intake: the sugar bowl. Every morning I try desperately to strategically spoon the small grains of sugar that have not been claimed by the ants. To no avail, I consistently have additional protein during morning ritual. Mmm. Not so bad.

The Little Black Dress
Every morning on our way to the Institute to model revenue-generating activities (of which we are increasingly doubting the implemention), we drive by several small shops that carry some interesting clothing items (those whose goal is to expose muffin tops and quadruple boobs, which are usually out and about and large and in charge).

Anyway, I noticed the cutest little black dress in a shop. Our timing is always off, as the stores are open only from 8am to 6pm, which we miss due to our work schedule. We finally have the opportunity to check out the dress one morning, and as we approached, i felt my nose cringe ... The dress shop was part of a meat market. That smelled. Like raw meat. And you could see. The meat carcasses the size of a medium-sized person hanging from hooks.

And the kicker was, the dress had sold the day before.

Wanted: Chinese Takeout
Be careful what you wish for ... Although we try not to make a habit of it, Maiken and I have a tendency on occasion to talk about what we miss. Most often, the discussion surrounds types of food or the temperature we wish our shower was set to. One day, we ventured to say how much we would love to have chinese takeout while watching our favorite Brazilian TV show, the tele novella. The tele novella is a night-time soap opera. Keep in mind that I only know numbers and Portuguese, but somehow I understand exactly what's going on, i.e., Matheas just got dumped by Camilla, who decided to marry another rich guy.

The next day, following a suggestion of one of our clients, we dined at this little fish place that did have a little bit of an interesting smell. Once you adjust and order, the fish was extremely good. And at $5 reais (roughly $2.50 USD) for fish and beer, you can't beat it ... until the next morning when you realize that your clothes smell like fishy chinese takeout, and now your entire clothing collection smells like it.

Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head
Showering in the Amazon is not quite what it is cracked up to be. I think we spend half of our morning discussing the new strategies we tried to mitigate the amount of cold water dripping down our backs. I realized early that there is a limit to our water benefactor - sputter, sputter, spit, spit ... and the water shuts off.

I am the lucky one who usually gets caught in the non-shower, fully covered in soap. You rarely have a choice other than to stand there with your eyes closed, hoping that the soap does not penetrate your eyelids and make your eyeballs burn. During the reprieve of the icicle shoots dispersed through the shower head, your body compensates with additional heat ... you start warming up.

And then you squint your eyes tighter because you feel the soap gradually conquering the eyelid baracade. Then, you are flanked - not only are your eyes starting to burn (and its second defense - tears - move into action), but you feel the cold water spitting again. You have moments to dispell the hopes of warmth while the water returns to its former glory.

A New Species
It is not uncommon in the Amazon to discover a new species; in fact, it happens often. I just never expected to find a new species in our toilet.

Perhaps out of sheer laziness, we never opted to switch dormitory hotels rooms to rid ourselves of the unpleasant odor that would eminate from our bathroom. Or, perhaps it was out of hope that the smell would magically disappear by the toilet fairy, if we left her a glass of clean water on the sink.

Nevertheless, we had the brilliant idea to dump bleach in the toilet ... in the shower ... in the sink ... on the floor ... anything we could to rid ourselves of the decaying poop smell in our room. After little success (outside of feeling giddy from the fumes of the bleach), we decided to go where no man has gone before - we dumped bleach in the contraption above the toilet that forced the flushing.

We must have awakened the sleeping smelly giant, because he metaphorically spewed forth much additional odor. No monster, no matter how stubborn, can defend itself against powerful Brazilian bleach. We hope that we have rid the world of an undefined parasitic black cloud that hovers in bathrooms all over the Amazon.

Fazer o que.

May 26 - May 27, 2007 - Part IV: Fried Green Ham

All work and no play ... Given that the Reserve at night is fairly quiet, and there are roughly 20 people situated in an area that is the size of Maryland, you have to take advantage of civilization when you can (outside of the village shops, of course). The Eco-Lodge has a small bar - yes, a BAR. No one who stays there really hangs out there, but we did ... and you can see the results of that night below ... After 3 caipirinhas apeice (basically a straight, rather large martini made with cachaca (cheap-ass liquor with a kick), lime and sugar), it's easy to make faces like this ... Not that Maiken and I aren't quite as good as the boys.

Being the good sports that we are, when we returned to our own floating lodge, the research station, Maiken and I offered to make grilled cheese, as the only items we had left to eat were the whitest bread I have ever seen, and warm cheese (type yet to be determined). Needless to say, Cesar had to laugh as he ate it, as the bread was mostly burnt and the cheese unmelted.

The next morning, we were expelled indefinitely from the kitchen, as one of the house maintenance crew made us tapioca pancakes, to save them all from our lack of cooking skills.

To finish up the weekend, we ended up at a Brazilian waterhole ... it's quite likely the most surreal moment I've had in a while; at first, I thought it was just the river re-directed into a "pool"-type area, surrounded with a bar, grill station, Pepe Morano cheezy Brazilian music, lots of women who should NOT be wearing brazilian bikinis, and of course, plastic chairs and beer. Turns out that the water is actually from a natural spring. This place is in the middle of nowhere; you drive for miles and then here's this popular hang-out for all of the locals. Food was unbelievably cheap - for a skewer of chicken, rice and beans, it cost $3 reais (or $1.50).

Probably the funniest event of our afternoon at the Tefe watering hole was that they ran out of chicken, beef, rice and beans when we ordered. So, we were left with sausage and manoc flour. I've never eaten so much sausage in my life.

Anyway, here's a picture of Stephan and Steve making their incessant crazy faces - seems to be a trend here for some reason ...

Well, that's all for now, as we are going to struggle all night to finish up our project for presentation tomorrow at 3. I do have some other posts to make, so hopefully I'll get to them at minimum late tonight when I'm stir crazy and slap happy.

We are on our way out of Tefe on Thursday (it worked out well, as nothing will be open due to a Catholic Holiday); the plane only leaves to Manaus two times per week. We will be in Manaus until Saturday (that flight as well is limited) and then we will be back in Berkeley late Saturday night ...

Ciao for now -

May 26 - 27, 2007 - Part III: Ain't No Holla Back Girl

I struggle to find the words to accurately describe our time in the Mamiraua Reserve; it is truly an amazing place. I doubt the pictures do the Reserve justice. The beauty in the Mamiraua Reserve (as compared to the Amana Reserve) is that it is a flooded forest, in which during certain seasons, no land can be seen for miles. Only approximately 1000 tourists are allowed into the Reserve annually, as not to disturb the delicate ecosystem. The picture below is amazing - it shows how the river remains extremely calm, so calm that it may be difficult to tell what is a reflection. I can't help but mention - this river is a PERFECT waterski lake ...

We are not quite sure why Cesar let Stevie Ray drive the boat ... but Steve was on a mission to find monkeys. I just figured we had the three boys on the boat - we really don't have to search too far to find monkeys ... Note, we still carry the paddle in the event that the engine decides to crap out again.
As part of its eco-tourism efforts, the Institute that protects the Reserve assisted the local communities create an eco-lodge to provide a source of income for the local population. It is a floating lodge, with amazing food, caipirinhas (which I'll discuss later), and eco-tours. We stayed at a research station about 1/2 a mile away from the lodge.
Me sitting on the dock of our research station; we called this the princess chair. God, it was gorgeous.
We were fortunate to be able to take a canoe ride through the rain forest; the "trail" via canoe can be hiked during the dry season. As you can see, Maiken tried to trick the mosquitoes into thinking she was part of the rain forest with her camoflage ... It didn't work. They are too smart for that. And, they seem to know exactly where you aren't covered with Deet - your earlobes and behind your ears. Lesson learned.

Again, these pictures don't do the forest justice. Plants and trees literally just grow out of the water. The larger picture below is one of my favorites. I absolutely love how you can't tell where the trees begin and end. On our canoe ride, we were able to see a spider the size of a baby's head, which kind of freaked me out. The monkeys (squirrel monkeys, howler monkeys, and the red-faced monkey) were the most adorable - unfortunately, they moved so quickly that it was hard to get a picture of them. The howler monkey, which is actually quite small but carries a big presence - it literally "howls" to protect its territory. At first, it's strange, but after a while it's funny. I think we have all mastered the howler monkey's howl. In fact, we often wake each other up with the sound of the howler monkey ...

The the reflection of the sunsets over such calm, tranquil waters is breath-taking. The next two are also amazing shots.I will say, that we celebrated our trip through the Reserve with some cocktails at the Eco-Lodge ... but more on that later.

Also, it's Stevie Ray's birthday today! He has finally joined the club of the +30, or twenty-ten. We can now invite him out with us old farts. Don't worry, Kenia, we'll make sure that he doesn't vomit.

Ciao Ciao for now - or as Menaka would say, Chalo.

May 26 - May 27, 2007 - Part II: Monkey See, Monkey Do

Who ever said that there wasn't civilization deep in the Amazon rain forest was completely wrong - there are little gems if you are able to look hard enough.

I wish I were speaking of the flowers to the left, which I think are actually fruit that are used to give meat color (yes, I said meat, as in the meat you eat), but I'm not. Interestingly, another use of these blessed fruits are natural sunscreen and ... war paint. Well, maybe I'm stretching it a little bit, as there really aren't tribal wars. At least that I know of. But when you spread the fruit on your skin, you are intantaneously a lobster man, albiet a UV-protected lobster man.

Anyway, back to the civilization part. There is a STORE at the river entrance to the Mamiraua Reserve. A STORE. The outside (shown to the right) is misleading, as I can assure you, salvation awaits you inside.

Just LOOK at the picture below - there are meticulously-made jewelry! They are probably some of the most unique jewelry I have seen in a while; most of the jewelry is made of seeds of fruits and plants indigenous to the area, and assembled by local artisans living in the villages.

Not one to pass up the opportunity to purchase baubles and baskets, er, contribute to the local economy, I felt free to purchase anything and everything. In fact, if our estimations are correct, I paid about one-third of the monthly income for a small family living in the Reserve. No wonder the shopkeepers are smiling -

Here are some sample pictures of the jewelry made by the women above - the variety was truly amazing.

I have yet to update on the the entire rest of the weekend, of which the stop to paradise, er local shop, was on the way. The pictures of the flooded forest are amazing - and I would hate to not provide my colorful commentary on the trip ...

Otherwise, we are neck-deep in trying to pull together our fundraising and financial plan to fruition for the Mamiraua Institute.

Ciao for now -

May 26 - May 27, 2007 - Part I: When the Lights Go Down in the City

Life is rough ... as part of our work for the Institute, it was required that we spend a weekend in the actual Mamiraua Reserve. When we took our little tour of the lake of Tefe, we were mesmerized by the pink dolphins, scenery, floating houses (and floating bar, by the way) right in the middle of the lake. Although quite impressive, I was still completely in awe of the Reserve, and the continued vastness of the many rivers that comprise the region.
I think I found out why either I was always meant to be a Brazilian or I was one in a prior life - no one is ever on time (except our taxi who takes us to the Institute to work every day). We were originally supposed to leave Saturday morning around 7am, but true to form, I was running late. I was actually more behind than the Brazilians ...

Cesar, the Manager of Operations, accompanied us on our three-hour boat trip (a fancy canoe with an engine hanging off the back) down to the Reserve, in part to show us the eco-tourism route and in part to try out the new fuel-efficient engine purchased for trips such as this. Well ... if you haven't thought of Gilligan yet, you should - the engine crapped out pretty early on. As I couldn't provide any sort of mechanical engineering to help our cause, I relaxed and enjoyed the scenic view of the river ... Besides, I'm sure that the boys were cursing the engine in Portuguese words I didn't understand (more on that later). Steve was our savior - he paddled the distance - just kidding, of course. The engine flooded a few times, but was fixed.
The Mamiraua Reserve is a flooded forest during certain parts of the year, in which the trees literally grow out of the water. The amount of growth is astounding - for example, we were speaking with a local woman whose father founded the tiny village (30 households) on the edge of the Reserve. About 200 meters away, a huge island in the middle of the river stands; fifty years ago, the island didn't exist. I'm not certain that this picture (or any) do the region justice; here we use a "short cut", which during the wet season, is a tributary to the larger part of the river. We got stuck here again, from some of the leaves and branches in the water.

These pictures are of the village that we visited. As poor as these individuals seem, they also seemed really excited to have us there, and were very accomodating for all of our, er, Stephan's, questions (he is our token Brazilian, remember).

As much as I would love to provide more information for your reading pleasure, we are packed with meetings all day today with the client. We are fortunate to finally meet with all of the different sectors of research and sustainability on the ground here, so better get cracking on my "Adopt a Dolphin" campaign while I attempt to rid my memory of the smell of deet.












These beautiful pictures compliments of Maiken. More on the weekend later ....

Much love and aloha - Ciao for now.