Credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena ...

Teddy Roosevelt said something like, "It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out where the strong man stumbled or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, and comes up short again and again...who does actually try to do the deed; who with great enthusiasm spends himself in a worth cause; who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly. "Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs even though checkered by failure, than to rank with those spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat."

And finally - I wouldn't be me if I did not make some overdue shoutouts. My definition of a shout out is mentioning / calling -out someone for a contribution or a thing they have done.

So let me begin, shout outs to AmCham for being great in country partners. For the Pisco Sours, great facilities and inroads to small businesses in Peru. Shout out to Kunal and Matt for suffering through a working lunch which included an additional hour of Monica, Marjorie and me shopping. Shout outs to the amazing Peruvian small to medium sized businesses who allowed us to consult their businesses and offer recommendations for implementation.



Next phase of shout outs ... Shout out to the Alums, prospective students, visiting faculty and other guests who attended our official dinner once in Lima. We had the best time and a life changing view of ruins right in the heart of Lima... Shout out to whoever had the guts to hold that nice gold clutch ... it really looks good with your eyes ;-)


Lastly, I would like to give an IU shout out to Chair Whalen, Pam Roberts, Amanda Bannon, Professor Garcia, PhD Candidate Denise Williams, Tania Sanchez, Monica Olivia, Colleen Powers, Mike Seeger, Scott Maloney, Chris Ryan and anyone else who contributed to the launch, planning and execution of this trip. We appreciate it and future MBAers will be fortunate to have it ...

Super finally, a shout out to the entire globase team for 2009 ... there will never be another first and it was us ... glad to have shared it with you!!

All good things must come to an end

It was a bitter sweet moment when I placed my foot back on American soil. I was happy to be returning home to see family, yet I already missed the food, weather and people I met in Peru.

GLOBASE was an amazing experience to take my MBA skills and apply them to a business in Peru. Working with Mili Blume and her staff was a mutually beneficial experience. I learned about the Peruvian business climate, exportation strategies, and how businesses compete on a local level. Hopefully, Mili benefited from our consulting recommendations in attending trade shows, e-commerce, and inventory management. I cherish my relationship with Mili and hope to remain in touch with her for a very long time.

Finally, I cannot forget to mention the two highlights of my trip; Machu Pichu and Paragliding. I am forever thankful for the opportunity to see one of the 7 Wonders of the World as well as having my heart beat through my shirt while floating 300 feet above the ground below.

The next time I got to Peru, I will bring my wife and consider buying only a 1 way ticket!

A Picture is worth...

I can write for days about my experience here in Peru. In lieu of boring you; take a look at these six thousand words:

Guess who?

Our hotel hosted a surprise guest for a private party tonight...Marc Anthony, a.k.a. Mr. Jennifer Lopez. Although he was here in our hotel, we had a scheduled event to meet one of our distinguished alum. I must admit, meeting Marc Anthony would have been nice, but we had a great time meeting Alphonso Brazzini, a Kelley School of Business alum from 1969. Mr. Brazzini is the owner of the JW Marrriott here in Lima. Senor Brazzini is an amazing host and shared many of his personal stories with us. His hotel is the best in Lima and has hosted President Bush on several occasions. As a matter of fact, Colin Powell was staying at this hotel on the day of September 11th. Spending the evening with Mr. Brazzini at his beautiful hotel is another example of the great time we are having in Lima, Peru.



BTW, you can check out the JW Marriott in Lima here:

http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/limdt-jw-marriott-hotel-lima/

Photos as promised

Various photos from our travels thus far:

Oh how sweet it is ...

Well, we finally made it to Lima! Our hotel, Casa Andina, is pictersque.

So of course a few of us just could not get a good night sleep w/o checking out the town ...

We found a 24 market and decided to purchase water, juice and some fruit ...
A Brazilian friend of mine suggested we try golden passion fruit also know as maracuya. The aroma of this fruit alone was inticing but the taste ... Oh how sweet it is ... the taste was perfect - a blend of the bitter, in the seeds, and the sweet in the juice--

... Until tomorrow

The Checklist...

I remember the days when my mother and father sent me off to summer camp in upstate New York. "Do you have your toothbrush, socks, enough money, etc?" They made me write out a checklist so I wouldn't forget anything. Well, these are the final hours before our trip to Peru and I think I packed all of the essentials:

• Passport
• Suit
• Socks, t-shirts, and boxers
• tooshbrush and deodorant
• charging cords for various gadgets (ipod, laptop, etc.)
• UNO cards

I even set up a Skype account so I can communicate with my family while I am gone. Mom and Dad would be proud of me; by the way, I need to call them and ask to borrow some money!