Back in the (former) U.S.S.R.

From Africa, a friend and I flew on to St. Petersburg, Russia and met up with two friends.

I think St. Petersburg was my favorite city on the trip, basically because it is so beautiful architecturally. The buildings look like pastry confections that you want to lick. Also, we were there during White Nights so it's daylight 22 hours per day, which was an unexpected bonus. It was a dark twilight from 2am to 4am, but even then the sun was coming up on the horizon. The Hermitage Museum was incredible, for its architectural beauty as well as its stunning collection of art. There were very few Western tourists. Maybe this is just because Russia is unbelievably expensive (why?) or maybe it's just an undiscovered gem. Either way, it was nice not to be surrounded by throngs of people who look and talk exactly like me.

Moscow was also cool--namely the experience of seeing Lenin in his mausoleum (it's a surreal experience from start to finish) and the metro stations which are also like little cupcakes. I thought St. Basel's cathedral looked smaller in real life than it does in pictures, but the entire Red Square ambience is very regal and impressive. The Russian gruff exterior took some getting used to, but once I accepted that it's just not their cultural norm to be ebullient on first meeting I started communicating better. Many people don't speak English and many things are not written in English, so it was the most challenging and fun from a communication standpoint. We learned that if you just keep smiling and insisting they will eventually give in and play charades with you. The other crazy thing about Moscow is the stray dogs--they are everywhere, and they use the metro as a form of transportation...including transfers and stops. They must be the world's most cosmopolitan strays.

Pictures will be posted ASAP.

Safari Time, Baby

After Kili, we spent a week in the Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater. All I can say is that seeing all of the animals was amazing, but watching them be surrounded by tourists in jeeps (me included) was disconcerting and...well, icky. Nonetheless and irregardless, it was full of National Geographic moments. We used Moshe, Tanzania-based MEM Tours, who are HIGHLY recommended! We had the best equipment and guides in the park by FAR.

There were three highlights for me. First, the morning we watched a herd of elephants for nearly an hour as they approached and then crossed the road on which we were waiting, undiscovered by other travelers. There were about 20 female elephants of various ages and several babies. At one point I was sure we were going to get rammed by a mother elephant who wanted to cross the road where we were--our guide didn't want to start the car and scare her but she clearly signaled that we were unwelcome and in her way. It was a tense few minutes but they eventually moved on. They were so majestic and it was almost magical to be there alone with them.

Second, the day when our guide spotted some vultures circling in the distance and went off road (not exactly allowed, by the way) where we eventually came upon a tiny gazelle lying paralyzed but alive. The vultures were landing, approaching, and pecking, and I was sure the poor thing was going to be eaten alive before our eyes. Then, commotion, chaos, pandemonium. Gazelles running in all directions and vultures suddenly disappearing. A lioness appears trotting toward us on the horizon. She zeroes in and pounces, holding the gazelle's neck in her mouth and paw on its chest until it suffocates minutes later. It was a private moment at which I shouldn't have been present...tresspaser and interloper. However, it was a painful, heartbreaking, and beautiful statement of life.

Finally, watching the sunrise over the Ngorongoro Crater. So beautiful it brought tears to my eyes (so do the AT&T commercials, but whatever).

Climbing Kilimanjaro

Big news! Angelina Jolie had twins and I have returned to my poor neglected blog after two months of post-graduation travel. I have only one week before I begin my new job, so I have some serious virtual reminiscing to do.

Phase One: Tanzania and Mt. Kilimanjaro.

I think this phase can be best summarized with the phrase: "Holy crap, this is gorgeous but sweet baby Jesus what have I gotten myself into and why am I the only one with a tiny backpack covered by a trashbag, shut up and stop complaining the porters are carrying your real backpack on their heads."

The seven day mountaineering adventure was unexpectedly challenging. In retrospect, it seems clear that a proper training regimen would have limited my social calendar to a mere five nights a week but what am I, a hermit?

Highlights:
* Redifining the Swahili phrase "pole pole" (slowly, slowly), but doing it while not dying.
* Rosera flower tea.
* The most amazing view from a latrine in all of human history.
* Learning to play mafia.
* Measuring life in meters and hours before I make the final push.
* Indescribable natural beauty, even with no shower for seven days. (Ba dum dum)
* Viewing the world from 19,000 feet through tears of joy and exhaustion.
* Ani asking a waitress for "salt and pepper" and being served "assorted paper." Sorry, that's just funny.
* The most challenging and worth it experience of my life.

Graduation!!!

Graduation day has come and gone, and I am officially a Wharton and Lauder alum!

The Wharton graduation was memorable, and by memorable I mean it took place under a torrential downpour of biblical proportions. For two hours. All the same, what I will remember is lining up outside the stadium with my cohort-mates, entering Franklin Field and feeling breathless, watching Jarvis give a fantastic commencement address, and Thomas Caleel telling me to "smile!" as I walked onstage to receive my diploma. It was a great end to a phenomenal experience. I wish I could do it all again.

After the Wharton graduation we headed to the Lauder graduation, where I delivered the commencement address. My speech involved the use of several of my classmates who served as audience "plants"--interjecting during my speech in their target language to question, challenge, and comment (much like the interactions in a real Lauder class). While I was worried this interactive approach could totally bomb, it went off without a hitch and the audience loved it. I have received so many nice comments about it, and I feel so relieved and gratified that I was able to do justice to the people and program that made my time at Wharton so special.

All told, a day that I will never forget. Hasta la Vista, Wharton.

Tomorrow night I'm off to Africa to climb Kilimanjaro and do a Serengeti safari, and then it's off to Russia, Siberia, Mongolia, and China on the Trans-Siberian Railway. I will post as often as possible. Thanks for coming on my b-schoool journey with me, now we're off to other adventures!

Wharton Beach Week

Yesterday was graduation, and more will come on that in the next post. But before we get to that, a few pictures from the crazy five day pre-graduation shangri-la that is known as Wharton Beach Week. Beach Week is a chance for Wharton students to move their non-stop party train to South Beach...there were open bars, yacht tours, beach parties, bbqs, clubs, open bars, beach parties, and open bars. I also gained a new signature cocktail--champagne and vodka. Why use mixers when you can just mix your two favorite alcohols together? That pretty much sums up Beach Week.

Follies Head Writers Get Punk'd 2008

Last year as Assistant Head Writers we unwittingly created a new Follies tradition, which involved kidnapping the Head Writers and making them do a crazy drinking activity. I say unwittingly because we were told by second year writer Ahin that this was a tradition. when it in fact was not. However, this activity immediately entered the annals of Follies myth and was passed along to this year's first years by some scheming second year writer as yet unnamed.

Last year Ahin invited the Head Writers over for dinner and we barged in halfway through the dessert course. The chosen game was Edward Fortyhands, in which forties are taped to a person's hands until they finish them. We also recorded a commemorative song for the occasion (one that was too obscene to make the actual show) and played it on repeat in the basement where we banished Niels and Julie until they finished their Old E's. Good times.

So I should have been suspicious when I received a similar dinner invite this year. In my oblivious naivete, however, I did not see this one coming. When loud bangs came at the door and the first year writers busted in on our dinner with multiple 30-packs of Miller Lite, I was totally shocked (and a little frightened). This year's festivities involved playing Wizards, in which a person must tape their empty beer can to the bottom of their full one until they have created a staff as tall as their height. Good thing I'm 5'1".

The entire evening was unforgettable, hilarious, and a fitting end to an incredible year of Follies mayhem.

I'm off to Wharton Beach Week in Miami tomorrow morning so expect a report next week on what promises to be total insanity. I handed in my thesis today, so that leaves only my Modern Architecture final next week before I am DONE DONE DONE! Graduation, here I come...

The Joeys!!

At the end of each year, Lauder students get together for a Follies-style roast. As a "Joey" (one of the secret agents tasked with gathering gossip and mocking my classmates), it's my responsibility to put on a fabulous, fun event with lots of laughs and copious amounts of booze. Obvi. Special thanks to Georgetti's Catering in New Jersey for the incredible food.

This year's event was no exception....what happens at the Joeys stays at the Joeys, but I think we went out in serious style.

Wharton Prom

A lot has been going on in the last few weeks, and since I've come down with the flu after gasping across the finish line, it seems there is no time like the present to catch up on the blogging.

First up, Wharton Prom. This was a lovely evening filled with cocktails, fancy dresses, prom photos, and losing my keys (don't ask). It was so much fun!!!!