Day 12: Hoi An Or "Buy-Everything-in-sight" Day

We finally bid adieu to Hanoi and flew to Danang airport. During the flight, we sat next to a friendly American man, Sam, from L.A. In between jobs, he was traveling around Vietnam and regaled us with some of his tales. When Arianne tried to shock him with her tale of the 80% male flight to Bangkok and her strong suspicion that they were traveling for sex tourism, Sam just responded, "Well, maybe I should find a girlfriend so when I go there I won't be harassed by prostitutes." We just nodded. The flirt bait was out, but we weren't biting. Sam didn't press any further, probably suspecting that the two American women traveling together were indeed a couple.

A car from our hotel, Ha An, met us to drive the 39km to Hoi An, a beautiful seaside town largely untouched by the successive wars. Our hotel itself was set in a lush private garden just a few steps from the Old City, home to more than 500 custom tailor shops.

After a quick lunch of fish, fried spinach, and rice, we proceeded to walk about town admiring the many shops and farmers market. After scoffing about how we would not succumb to the tourist traps, we found ourselves in a random store looking at beautiful fabrics with Vietnamese women eagerly taking our measurements. $70 later, Arianne had ordered two beautiful dresses suitable for the upcoming summer wedding season.

That night we dined at Mango Rooms, a Mick Jagger favorite, according to Lonely Planet. It did not disappoint. At this open-air tiny restaurant (that allows you to walk through the kitchen, just in case you had any concerns about the hygiene), we feasted on fresh seared tuna, fresh spring rolls, a mango citrus salad, and two cocktails, Pinky (with passion and dragon fruits) and the Mango Daiquiri.

Afterward, we followed the loud music and voices to Before & Now, a pseudo-hipster Euro Pop- style bar. Just as we prepared to settle down with our Tiger Beer for some people watching, a trio of men about our age descended the steep staircase. They looked starkly out of place...and yet oddly familiar. Where had we seen these dudes before? I hadn't believed the stories to be true, but my classmates swore up and down that you could not go anywhere in the world without running into your fellow HBS-mates. Arianne groaned, having been happy to avoid the sense of familiarity for more than a week. She quickly glanced down, hoping not to be noticed, and warned Wisam of incoming trouble. Lucky for us, the threesome could not be bothered to have noticed anything more than their own hubris and did not engage us in an awkward convo. The trifecta was led by an open-shirted, fake-n-baked Rico Suave who shall not be named...for the purposes of this entry we will call him HBS Douchebag. Suddenly mesmerized, we watched as he strode up to a young (possibly American) woman who looked to be no older than eighteen. He charmed her and her less attractive friend and promptly guided them to a more private table in the back of the bar, minions in tow. Arianne rolled her eyes predictably, and glanced the other direction just in time to see our friend from the Hoi An flight, Sam, enter the bar with a beautiful Dutch woman named Emma. He was clearly smitten, greeting us and introducing her. After catching up, we went back to our private conversation while Sam put the moves on Emma.

Downing a few more drinks, we made our way back to Ha An for bedtime. By comparison, this proved one of the latest nights we spent out and about.

Click here for Complete Hoi An Pics

Day 11: Halong Bay Cruise Or Good Vacation Karma

After a 4am arrival, we headed back to homebase, Hanoi Elegance 2, for a shower and breakfast prior to our boat tour of Halong Bay, a designated World Heritage site.

Our tour guide, Zoom (probably not how it's spelled in Vietnamese, but he did say "like your camera"), kindly showed us to our private car and driver...clue #1 that this would be a ballerific day. During the 3 hour drive, Zoom told us lots about the local area and Vietnamese culture:
1. Major exports (coffee beans, cashews, textiles)
2. Motorbike-related accidents per day (in Vietnam): 100. Motorbike-related deaths per day: 36!
3. Major annual rice harvests (1 in the north, 2 in Hanoi and central Vietnam, 3 in the South)
4. Vietnamese funeral rituals (in the countryside the dead are not cremated but buried - with a spoonful of rice and three coins in the mouth - in a temporary plot. After 3 years, the family visits a shaman and asks if it is a good time to gather the dead's bones. If yes, the family digs up the temporary plot, at night, and if the body is sufficiently decayed, this means that the deceased is happy in their next life/new home. If not, then that is very bad luck, and the family must return to collect the bones later. The remaining bones are cleaned, gathered into a clay coffin, and reburied in the permanent family plot. The anniversary of the deceased is celebrated each year by the family with a large party with lots of food).

Upon arrival at Halong Bay Harbor, Zoom escorted us to our private junk, where the chef, captain, and crew waited to take us on a "3 hour tour," very Gilligan's Island. We first docked at a nearby beach to visit two caves: The cave of "Heavenly Palace" and the cave of "Wooden Stakes," where a famous Viet general hid the weapons that defended the country against Mongol invasion centuries ago. The Heavenly Palace cave was filled with beautiful stalactites and stalagmites (yup, we remembered the difference!), illuminated by colored lights and fountains.



After the cave visit, our chef served a much-too-large lunch of seafood spring rolls, squid, fresh fish, stir-fried beef, ginger chicken, water spinach, french fries, and rice. Of course we couldn't possibly finish it all, despite our best efforts. Following lunch, we headed up to the deck to sunbathe and to observe the many islets and even a functioning floating fishing village. It was all very beautiful. Bottom line: Halong Bay is HIGHLY recommended.

In the evening, we were driven back to Hanoi and delivered to our hotel. It's been a long day, and Wisam already fell asleep, so I guess I probably will go to bed, too.

Click here for complete Halong Bay Pics

Day 10: More Rain in Sa Pa or "How to Entertain Yourself in a Small Town"

By breakfast it was apparent to us that trekking would be wet and miserable. We opted to meet Daht, pose for a pic, give him his tip and hang out in town until our train back to Hanoi departed in the evening...hence me writing this post from the Internet cafe.

We retired to Highlands Coffee for some more Vietnamese deliciousness and played some UNO with a couple backpacking kids for a few hours. Suddenly we were both glad we weren't touring the international hostel circuit any longer...definitely too old for that stuff.


The rain stopped (shocking!) just before our scenic drive back to Lao Cai rail station. We met up with our Spaniards again and began possibly THE most uncomfortable train journey in the history of Vietnam.

Click here for complete Sa Pa pics

Day 9: Trekking in Sa Pa or "The Rains in Vietnam fall mainly on my vacation"

Around 5:30am, the train stopped in Lao Cai in northwest Vietnam. The rail station is actually only 2.5km from the China border...not that there's a lot to do in a border town. According to Lonely Planet, it's not worth visiting unless you really have a thing for border towns. We were met by guides that loaded us onto a bus with a bunch of other Western tourists, and we settled in for the hourlong drive to Sa Pa town, way up in the mountains. We climbed higher and higher into the mists, enjoying the lush vegetation.

It had already begun to rain, and little did we know, it would not stop for the duration of our trip. We had breakfast and checked into the "high-end" (according to Lonely Planet) Chau Long hotel, which resembles a castle. The owner bought out competing hotels and expanded so as not to obstruct the beautiful valley views.

That afternoon we met our personal tour guide, Daht, a native of a neighboring town. He led us on a 5km trek to Cat Cat, a local Hmong village. We saw an amazing waterfall, rice paddies being planted, and the traditional life of ethnic Vietnamese. It was awesome...and wet.

After a nice hike, we rewarded ourselves with some MORE Vietnamese coffee and pastries, followed by much-needed showers and a siesta. Daht had promised us another tour if the weather let up, but it did not. So we enjoyed a nice dinner, some CNN, and quiet time, hoping that tomorrow's weather would prove better.

Click here for complete Sa Pa pics

Day 8: More Hanoi Or "Hail to the Ho"

After a late start (everything in Vietnam closes for lunch), we visited Ho Lao prison aka the "Hanoi Hilton." Once known as the largest prison in Indochina, this facility housed Vietnamese political prisoners that resisted the French occupation up until the 1950s. The site witnessed unscrupulous acts of torture and abuse against Vietnamese revolutionaries. To be honest, I was too freaked out to walk down the narrow aisle of death row cells.

Thereafter, it was used to detain captured US pilots during the Vietnam War in the 1960s and 1970s. The most famous prisoner was, of course, US Senator (and not president...holla!) John McCain. On display are his flight suit, parachute and personal effects he had at the time of capture. He couldn't have been happy about that. As far as the pictures revealed, the pilots apparently didn't have it too bad. Lots of pics of them playing basketball, attending Mass, eating Christmas dinner at a set table. I don't get it.

Afterwards, we stopped at Quan An Ngon for a delicious pho lunch and some meat dumplings. Yum!



Next stop: Ho Chi Minh complex. Or as we renamed him, "H to the Izzo." We caught the 3pm changing of the guard, by accident, and were discouraged from photographing the act. Nearby was the One-Pillared Pagoda (underwhelming) and the Ho Chi Minh museum (there are 3!), which is basically a bunch of propoganda about how the Ho inspired worldwide movements toward independence...by virtue of his bringing communism to Vietnam. We intend to go to another "Ho" museum in the city named for him to see if this theme persists.

After a hot and humid afternoon, we retired again to Le Pub for some cold beers and Kindle time (why am I still reading Twilight?). This time we discovered the lemon and mint smoothie was a refreshing hit.

Our hotel sent a bellboy to accompany us to the Hanoi Rail station, where we would take an overnight train to Sa Pa in the northwest for some trekking and visits to local ethnic villages. Each sleeper car had about eight compartments with two sets of bunk beds each; we shared ours with two Spaniards named Israel and Natalia, who were lovely enough to offer us Oreos in order to bridge the language barrier. Arianne made some small talk with her limited Spanish, but sooner rather than later we all settled in for sleep and the bumpy ride to Lao Cai.

Click here for complete Hanoi pics

Day 7: Walking Tour of Hanoi or Death by Motorbike

I know we keep talking about food, but it really is so much better than the crap we put in our bodies back home! The day started with fresh fruit and french toast while we watched some music videos in the hotel restaurant. Apparently Ne-Yo is a BFD here...who knew? We keep seeing his face everywhere.

Apparently all tourists here bought the Lonely Planet Vietnam guide, so we saw many "others" taking the same walking tour suggested by the book. On Hoan Kiem Lake, we visited the Ngoc Son Temple, where there is the remains of a giant (magic? good luck?) tortoise, which is 160 kilos and 2m long! No one is sure if there are other tortoises in this urban lake, and if so, how they survive in such an urban setting. But if you see one, good luck should come to you!



After a lukewarm beer at Cafe Les Arts, we hit up the famous little spot for some Cha ca, or fish grilled with veggies and served with rice noodles and a sweet sauce. Not to be missed!



There we waited out the afternoon rain showers before heading to our hotel to arrange for tickets to an evening performance of the water puppet show. This tradition is over 1,000 years old and uses a live Vietnamese musical ensemble, call-and-response, and marionettes floating on waist-deep water to tell pastoral legends and fables about the land. It was really entertaining.

For dinner, I had the BEST.FRIED.RICE.EVER and Wisam decimated her bun cha. After a mere 3 Heinekens, this jetlagged chica passed out in the middle of flossing, woke up long enough to finsh Twilight Book 3 (still awful writing) and drift off to sleep.

Click here for complete Hanoi pics

Day 6: Monsoon or Thailand gets two thumbs way up

Slept in and enjoyed a late breakfast on the beach at our hotel, Waterfront Bhoput. Then the rain started. No matter, we had an afternoon flight to Bangkok, and then on to Hanoi. Just when we thought we were home free, T.M.I. Michael insisted on giving us aride to the airport.

The following is why Bangkok Airways, a low cost carrier, kicks Delta/NWA/Continental's ass with its hands tied behind its back. We arrive at Koh Samui airport an check in. Unfortunately, our flight is delayed, says the agent. But there is an earlier flight boarding now for Bangkok. Would you like to be rebooked? How much, we ask skeptically. For free. SOLD. She then apologizes that there might not be enough food for us...on this 45 minute flight. Not a problem.

We touch down in Bangkok and set about killing a few hours before our connection to Hanoi. May I say, the BKK airport is just beautiful. Lots of cool statues and very ornate decor. After an attempt at some really awful dim sum, we found some delicious fruit smoothies and checked out the duty-free shopping. Wisam educated Arianne regarding the "vacation fallacy": whatever shiny bauble you think you must buy immediately, be assured that you will see it again before the end of your trip.

Apparently it takes at least two Harvard MBAs (almost) to find Terminal F. Maybe it was lingering jetlag; maybe we're just retarded. You take your pick. But find it we did, and once I distracted Wisam with some CNBC at the gate, everything seemed to fall into place.

The flight to Hanoi was uneventful (just the way we like it), but upon arriving at immigration, we noted the health screening area (!). Silly us, we thought Vietnam wouldn't bother with such trivialities. Au contraire. The communists keep it mad real. Arianne's heart was racing because she still had the sniffles and they sat her down to take her temperature. Amazingly, we once again narrowly escaped quarantine. There's not enough Kindle time in the world to make that palatable in Vietnam.

A car was waiting for us to take us to Hanoi Elegance 2 (don't ask me where 1 is) in the Old Quarter. Again it had been a long day and we passed out promptly.

Click here for complete Thailand pics

Day 5: Feeling pukey

Not much to report. Caught something (not swine flu!) on the flight and just wanted to chill by the pool with my Kindle. Oh yea, and I'm reading Twilight. Terrible writing. Compelling enough to want to finish the series, though.

For dinner Wisam ate the most amazing stirfried vegetables on the planet, pausing only to say, "This is so damn GOOD."

Day 4: Chaweng Beach or Little Thai Woman Kicks Arianne's A$$

After a delicious breakfast (Michael complained that a customer said on TripAdvisor that the cook didn't know how to cook eggs, but I thought they were fine), we made our way to the white sands of Chaweng beach, apparently one of the top-rated in the world. We settled in for some Kindle reading and sunbathing with our mango fruitshakes. Yum! Arianne loved the crystal clear, warm waters. Very reminiscent of Destin, but without the rednecks.



After lunch, we decided to hit up one of the country's many many many spas for a massage. Wisam got the hot coconut oil massage, while Arianne insisted on the "Deep Thai," whatever that was. Apparently Arianne had at least a year's worth of built-up stress knots in her back, because a woman half her size took it upon herself to beat the crap out of them while she silently burst into quiet sobs, covering her mouth so Wisam couldn't hear her pain and think she was a wuss. All in all, totally worth the 800 baht ($20 USD).


We had dinner at 56, one of Bhoput's town restaurants, sampling pad thai and fresh vietnamese spring rolls. Arianne made the mistake of downing two "56 Cocktail"s, probably the equivalent of a seco limonada in Panama (rum, sugar cane and lime). Luckily she made it back to the Waterfront in time to pass out.

Click here for complete Thailand pics

Day 3: Dim Sum = Dim Joy! Or "Am I speaking too quickly for you?"

Wisam dragged Arianne's lazy ass out of bed bright and early to hit up the hotel gym. Probably a good idea.

After finding our first choice restaurant closed - indefinitely, we wandered around until we found a lovely little dim sum place called Dim Joy, on Keong Seik Road in Chinatown. DELICIOUS. Especially the pork buns, pancake, and the custard buns.

We mastered the Singapore subway and visited the Thian Hock Keng "Temple of Heavenly Bliss," the oldest Buddhist temple in Singapore, built by sailors to pray to Ma Po Cho, goddess of the Heavenly sages. It was rebuilt in 1841 and is on Telok Ayer Road.

The Singapore National Museum was a favorite. In addition to the air con, we enjoyed a very cool Christian LaCroix exhibit of stage costumes, including Carmen and Othello. The Singapore historical exhibit was interesting and included a fun audio tour guide.



That evening, we took a flight to Koh Samui, Thailand. While waiting to board, Arianne checked the online news and noticed that Tokyo had just confirmed its first three cases of swine flu. The passengers on the flight with the infected Canadians would be detained in quarantine for the NEXT TEN DAYS. We would have likely suffered the same fate...BULLET. DODGED.

After some really disturbing turbulence over Malaysia, we landed safely at Koh Samui's beautiful open air airport, where we endured yet another health screening. This was becoming a pattern! The son of the owner of our hotel, The Waterfront at Bhoput, met us there and drove the 4km to our sweet little B&B. Arianne was glad Wisam could understand him, because between the cockney British accent and a slight stammer, she only got about 40% of the message. Michael, our overeager driver, proceeded to share with us on arrival, every meticulous detail of the room, including the new photograph on the wall and how the makeup mirror worked. We were tired and cranky but smiled politely. A favorite moment: when he paused and asked: "Am I speaking too quickly for you?" Arianne had to hide her chuckling. When he finally left, we settled in for a good night's sleep.

Complete Thailand Pics: http://picasaweb.google.com/Arianne.Graham/Thailand#

Day 2: Aporkalypse Now or "I had a thought..."

The ANA flight to Singapore had a very cool cockpit cam, about which Arianne got extremely geeked out. She tried to entertain Wisam with random thoughts, musing every other minute: "So, I had a thought..." We decided that the much nicer plane, food, and fewer people with masks was a sign of our impending good travel karma, considering the adversity we had experienced thus far. Also, we were pretty impressed that we hadn't killed each other in the midst of our freakout. We even passed the thermal scan screening at the Singapore airport. So much more civilized.

Upon arrival, we finally located Arianne's suitcase (yay for clean clothes!) and headed to the swanky Swissotel Merchant Court in the Chinatown district.

We feasted upon curried vegetables, beef rendang, and chicken at the very chic Blue Ginger restaurant. We also enjoyed sectionmate Mogan's favorite, Tiger Beer.

After dinner, we hit up LongBar, a so-called hotspot at the ultra-luxe Raffles Hotel. DO NOT GO HERE. We were overcharged for pints of Tiger and were subjected the most hideous cover band I've ever heard, along with Americans doing some crazy, seizure-like dance...(ever seen Elaine on Seinfeld?)

Click here for complete Singapore Pics

Day 1: Or the Southeast Asia Extravaganza Kickoff

Bags packed, immunizations received, and parents calmed, A&W left cold-ass Boston for Singapore, via Minneapolis/St. Paul (MSP) and Tokyo-Narita...all in all, uneventful.

We passed our five-plus hours in MSP chillin at Rock Bottom Brewery, stealing Sweet'n'Low from Starbucks for Wisam's insatiable coffee fit, witnessing victims of the recession try to relentlessly upsell everything at Brookstone (Wisam bought a highly enviable travel pillow and blankie. I recommend the slim travel speaker. We decided our Kindles are way more fab than the Sony e-reader!), making fun of Midwesterners (Man at newsstand taking my bottled water money: "Would you like a giant bag of peanuts today?" wtf?)

We also spent a ridiculous amount of time making off-color jokes about swine flu...this would prove fortuitous. Arianne (who, thinking ahead, stole some from the student health center) thought it would be funny to put on medical masks and take pictures in the airport. Indeed, many folks on our flight had them on all the way to Tokyo.

Upon arrival at Narita, the announcement is made that government authorities would board the plane with thermal scanners as a swine-flu precaution...even the flight attendants seemed surprised at this. Suddenly our jokes became less palatable. Japanese in hazmat suits walked by, scanning us and dismissing individual sections (which makes no sense, given the recycled air). A man two rows ahead of us was escorted off the plane in a hurry (!) by authorities, and those surrounding him, us included, were given red dot stickers (!) and masks and told to sit tight. Needless to say, we became quite unnerved! Still, jokes persisted - including many about the Toyota Production System and finding a way to pull the g@dd@#n andon cord!

All of a sudden, we were informed that we were free to go, after no further inspection and no added explanation. We realized we had missed our connection to Singapore, but this turned out to OK. NWA agents assured us that we were rebooked on the next day's flight and would be put up in a Tokyo hotel for the evening. After standing outside in the freezing rain, minus Arianne's bag (sad face), we defected from the group and took a rogue cab to the Radisson, where we dined with our new friend, Tim Allen (not THAT Tim Allen), a software consultant from our flight that insisted on buying us champagne to celebrate our upcoming graduation. Apparently not only HBS kids pop bottles...I've been in the bubble too long. We also met a "Main Street" woman that proceeded to tell us how Wall Street bankers and "poor people who couldn't afford the houses they were living in" had decimated her retirement fund. Ah, global financial crisis explained...

On the upside, we got to shower and get a little less frazzled before boarding another long-haul flight on ANA to Singapore the next day.

Click here for complete MSP/Tokyo Pics

Lyrical Whimsy: Or Everything I need to Know About Ari can be summed up by a James Morrison Song

"Once you've had a taste there's no going back." - Under the influence

"You give me something that makes me scared alright...this could be nothing, but I'm willing to give it a try." - You give me something

"Sometimes I just feel so full of love/it just comes spilling out/ It's uncomfortable to see/ I give it away so easily." - Wonderful World

"I can't explain why it's not enough/Coz I gave it all to you/And if you leave me now/ Oh just leave me now/ It's the better thing to do." - The Pieces Don't Fit Anymore

"I've got one last chance to get myself together/I can't lose no more time it's now or never/ And I try to remember/who I used to be" - One last chance

"I'm not lost/Just undiscovered" - Undiscovered

"I can't forget her." - The letter

"I can't do nothing if I can't do something my way...call the police/coz I've lost control/and I really wanna see you bleed." - Call the police

"I'm still here/but it hasn't been easy/I'm sure that you had your reasons/I'm scared/Of all this emotion/For years I've been holding it down/I love to forgive and forget so I/try to put all this behind us just/know that my arms are wide open/ the older I get, the more that I know/ It's time to let this go." - This boy

"

Wait for the Beep: Or Why I Hate Customer Non-Service

I think people on the other end of the customer service hotline hate talking to me as much as I hate waiting on hold to tell them my problem so they can fix it. Surely we can come to some sort of mutual agreement?

And whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy is it that I'm generally on hold for something my dad needs done? No comprendo.

Happy Trails to Me: Or Last Day at Work

When I woke up this morning, it suddenly dawned on me that today would be my last day at work...for threeeeeeee years (okay, not counting summer internships). That seems like a long time, but I bet it will fly by so quickly.

I am quite sad at the thought of leaving my current position. I work in a hospital with a bunch of really great people, and they seem pretty bummed that I am leaving...maybe that's just because they haven't hired my replacement yet.

But I am also over-the-moon excited about all the new changes coming up in my life. Suddenly any door I want to enter could potentially swing open - and I just have to figure out where to start. Here goes nothing.

Well, maybe I'll take a little beach vacation first. :)

It's a Small World After All: Or Sangria Brings Out the Truth

I am still reeling from the shocking encounter I had last night!

A few weeks ago, I went to an HBS happy hour in Buckhead to meet some alums and prospective students. One young lady, T, turned out to be a Gtown alum who was there when I was, but we didn't know each other. We swapped info and decided to meet up for drinks and tapas at Noche, one of my favorite places in Virginia Highlands. Well, after too many sangrias (for me) and some yummy dishes, the weirdest thing happened.

Last night, after we grew tired of discussing b-school applications and GMAT scores, T and I got onto the topic of growing up in Atlanta. She mentioned she went to Pace Academy. I said, "Oh! My ex went to Pace. Do you know O?" Well, not only did she know him, but her best friend, who also went to Pace, lives near him in another state and is still good friends with him. T even recalled hearing about "some girl up in DC" that O was dating. And there I was, sitting in front of her a year later! How extraordinary. The two of us could not get over the coincidence.

Straight out of the Twilight Zone, I tell ya...

It's about that time again: Or what I have done lately (Part II)

It was bound to happen again, and hey, I like lists!

Recently I have:

• Rented a U-Haul


• Been on a roadtrip


• Had trouble sleeping


• Seen a funny movie with a good friend


• Had a hissy fit


• Hurt someone who loves me and begged for forgiveness


• Been angry


• Been jealous


• Doubted my self-worth


• Been humiliated and ignored and offended


• Been cut off emotionally


• Worrying and biting my nails


• Been spending lots of time with Molly


• Been spending lots of time with Charla


• Seen Beyonce and Robin Thicke live in concert


• Had too much to drink


• Met a cadre of new people


• Had butterflies in my stomach and alternately, that sinking feeling


• Encountered a former coworker


• Not been working out as much as I would like


• Been trying to avoid social networking sites for my own well-being


• Had a philosophical/political debate with my intellectual equal


• Been tricked into a kiss, and I followed it up with a swift kick to the nads


• Seriously considered the possibility that there is something wrong with my outlook on this whole love thing


• Bought a laptop (er, had grandma gift one to me)


• Said goodbye to a friend


• Said goodbye to my favorite city, Washington, DC


• Asked myself: "Is healthcare a right or a privilege?"


• Wondered where the hell my money has gone


• Completed four online courses required for registration in my MBA program, along with a lengthy checklist of "Honey-Do's"


• Played along


• Patronized someone


• Wondered what the hell just happened

A long time ago, in a blogosphere far, far away: Or the Return of the Mack (the Mack being Ari, of course)

The ostensible ego in me keeps drawing me back the blogosphere. Honestly, how long could I really go without talking/writing about myself? It's all just too predictable, if you ask me. Somehow, someway, I knew I'd be back...and you knew it, too.

Cliff notes: Let's recap the last year or so, shall we?

Summer comes and goes: When we last saw Ari, the healthcare practice at her ho-hum consulting job was falling apart at the seams. No, matter...it was summer, and lots of fun left to be had...including a few regular trips to Assateague Island. The best of the last few shining moments of what would be her last summer in Washington...for the forseeable future.

Professional props and pratfalls: The fall started off with a bang and a great surprise - a promotion and a long-term project in Atlanta! Ari became very excited about the prospect of seeing Moms and Pops more often and settled into a fairly cushy gig...or so she thought (to be continued)

Hoya Paranoia! The winter didn't seem too cold as the Hoyas fired up the basketball court, dominating the Big East and making their first appearance at the Final Four in a looong time! Ari didn't miss a moment as a first year season ticket holder...she even witnessed the best.weekend.ever with some fellow Hoyas in Atlanta for the tournament.

All is not lost! Poor, pitiful Ari (tongue firmly in cheek) was nearly sideswiped in March by some unexpected news: her company's practice wasn't doing so hot, so she got laid off! Not to worry, as always, Miss Ari landed on her feet and found a cool new position just a week later...but it could only get better from there...

So long, sucka!

When you wish upon a star: Unbeknownst to many (except a small, determined band of friends and family who greatly tired of hearing about it) during much of '06, Ari had been hatching a plan to leap from working to graduate school. After studying for the GMAT during the winter and working and re-working scores of essays and personal statements, Miss Ari learned her fate:

"Congratulations! On behalf of Harvard Business School, I am genuinely pleased to
offer you a place in the MBA Class of 2010."


"Congratulations! I am pleased to offer you admission to Harvard University ’s John F. Kennedy School of Government ..."


You've heard the saying that it takes a village to raise a child...well, it takes two cities, multiple prayers, countless friends and family members, and a lot of anti-anxiety medication to get Ari into Harvard! Seriously, though, anyone who has ever been through this process can attest that it is a loooong, sometimes lonely, journey of self-reflection, but I wouldn't change a thing if I had to do it all over again...except I wouldn't apply to so many schools, thus saving myself a few hundred dollars.


So, there it is: for the next three years, I will freezing my tookus off in Boston, studying both business and public policy (healthcare and international development are my focus areas). In 2010 I hope to graduate with two master's degrees and the inspiration to achieve pretty much anything I set my mind to do. I am still, four months after receiving those letters, overwhelmed, humbled, excited and terrified about this transformational experience. Just don't ask me what I want to do after I graduate...I can't even think that far ahead.


Summer 2007: All in all, it's been interesting. I've been working at a hospital with people I absolutely adore, living it up on a beach with new classmates while saying goodbye (for now) to old and dear friends, and just generally trying to mentally prepare myself for the next steps. As my parents and I can both attest: no 25-year-old should be living at home. I've definitely worn out my welcome, and I will probably have to write to the Vatican to ask that my parents be canonized for what they've had to put up with this year. They still love me and are proud of me and support me no matter how awful I've been...and for that, I owe them. Big time.


As for the blog, well, I expect this will become a place to capture my next life experiences for posterity and preservation. Hopefully I can keep up. You've been put on notice, blogosphere: The mack is back.

Gossip Folks: Or Why You Can't Keep a Secret

So, today we had this big to-do over a conference call announcing the departure of two executives from our firm. No real warning, some people had suspected but not confirmed, etc etc etc.

Now, the manager officiating at said conference call says, just before adjourning, "You know how the rumor mill is here. Let's not substantiate or contribute to it." Or something to that effect. I didn't hear it all, I had to go pee.

Meanwhile, less than an hour later, what am I listening to? The girl in the next cubicle over recapping the story of the two executives...hmm, very interesting. You think this is bad? You should hear what they say when someone finds out two coworkers are sleeping together.

45 Calories and Counting: Or Why Coca-Cola Blak is the Shit, Yo!

Alright, so I know I'm all late to jump on the bandwagon...but in all honesty, I was a little afraid to try it. Mixed reviews, crazy concept (uh, coke and coffee? get the eff outta here), whatever. Anyway, so I'm at a client site, bored outta my freakin mind, and I see it in the cafeteria. Gotta try it, right? Whoa...can I say love at first guzzle? I am a fan for life. You know what they say, once you go blak...