EMBA International Trip to South America: Travel Journal, Day 9

2010 Travel Journal » Day 9 - September 12

Now we're in a country that speaks Portuguese, so until tomorrow, tchau!Today was a long day of travel for all of us. We were up and gathered in the hotel lobby by 4:00 a.m., then off to the airport to catch a LAN flight for Rio. Wonderful Fran, our English-speaking guide, did a great job convincing the LAN personnel to average out our luggage weight for the entire group instead of charging us individually. No one had to pay if they had over 50 pounds total weight on their luggage! Thank goodness the class this year really took it seriously when we told them not to bring too much clothing, and we all extend our extra thanks to Fran. She stood at the LAN counter and told each and every one of us goodbye. Fran has many places to stay if she ever comes to the U.S., and we hope that she will. We love you Fran, and promise to stay in touch! Here's a picture of Fran sitting at the front of the bus, probably looking back to answer a question from someone on the trip. We will miss you Fran, but some of us will come back to see you one day!

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The plane took off a little after 7:00 a.m., and after a layover in Sao Paolo we arrived in Rio de Janeiro at about 1:15 p.m., tired but happy to be here. We all made it through the many layers of government officials that meet you when you arrive in a new country. Our English-speaking guide, Edison, was waiting for us in the lobby of the airport. He was a sight for sore eyes! As long as we have our English speaking guide with us we know we're in good hands.


We arrived at the hotel and all of our rooms were ready and waiting for us. At 5:00 p.m. we met in the Arpoador Meeting Room for the Chile welcome reception and orientation. After the reception everyone had a free evening, and I think a lot of people were in bed very early because it had been a very long day.