May 2014

Escape from the stoney faced living gods It was possible to escape from the Moai today, and see a different side of Rapa Nui, but to do so, I had to scale the largest volcano (there are 70 on the island) and view one of the more interesting “competitions” that distinguished the civilization that followed … Continue reading »

Rapa nui means “navel of the world,” and if that’s the case, this belly button is wearing a jewel–the remains of the Polynesian stone gods that put Easter Island on the map. Most of the island is a national park, designed to protect and preserve these world class treasures.  They’ve been attacked by wind, water (rain … Continue reading »

Rapa Nui or Easter Island? It seems appropriate that I landed on Easter Island on a Chilean national holiday, one that celebrates the valor (rather than the success) of the Chilean navy, since it was that navy the claimed Easter Island in the mid 1880s. Surprisingly, the first European to visit arrived on Easter, 1722–and … Continue reading »

Goodbye to my new best friends My new best friends are in the airport, on their way back to the states.  I’m in an airport hotel, awaiting a flight to Easter Island, half way to Papete–in the middle of nowhere. Today, though, we were somewhere–along the Pacific Ocean.  We visited two sister cities, Vina del mar, a … Continue reading »

I had some expectations before I started this trip–about Brazil and Argentina. Sao Paulo was, I discovered, not the place to go to fall in love with Brazil, but the place to go to do business. It was rather like going to Shanghai without Beijing (without Rio? The Amazon?). Argentina was every bit as con … Continue reading »

What’s not to like about a sleepy Sunday in the Andes?  Santiago is sheltered by the Andes, and so we were able to drive about 25 miles out of town to a resort/farm/ranch (fruit trees, honey bees, vinyards) about 4500 feet high, surrounded by snow-capped peaks.  We spent the day hiking, or horseback riding, or sitting in the sun … Continue reading »

It’s chilly in Chile, where we landed two hours ago, a country nestled between the Andes (crossing at night was not too exciting) and the Pacific.  And it is chilly here–around 10 degrees for a high, and dry; our guide said average rainfall is 8  inches, and a desert in the north is supposedly the driest place … Continue reading »

At the end of a long day, we found out it takes two to tango, which was Argentina’s gift to the Jazz Age. But before then, we had a non-typical FDIB (Faculty Development in International Business) trip—we had some free time in the afternoon.  Our main visit was to the UADE—a private school in Argentina that … Continue reading »

Buenos Aires, the harbor city situated on the enormous delta of the Rio de Plata, has a population of around 3 million.  The area around the city is roughly 13 million of Argentina’s 40 million.  Thus, it gave us a wider look at life in Buenos Aires when we went about an hour out of the city … Continue reading »