Wharton experiences

In the past four months, I've experienced a whirlwind of experiences. The opportunity to learn about the world in a great school with distinctive people from diverse backgrounds has been a blessing. A few memorable moments at Wharton so far have been- spending every summer evening socializing with my 865 other classmates; attending the learning team retreat in Iroquois springs and playing fun team building games; attending the art museum gala; running an electric car company as a simulation for leadership; having CEOs come talk to us in class; hearing the CEO of Chipotle, Martha Stewart, John Thain, speak at CEO lectures; attending the Phillies game; attending a theater workshop and a meditation workshop; snow in Rittenhouse park; the weekend hangouts with the desi gang; fun in the classroom with the cohort; the umpteen themed parties- white, 80s, follywood, Halloween, prom; - but the best of all have been the random small dinners with 8 - 10 people at someone's place or at a Philly BYOB, which have helped me make a few close friends with similar interests. The people, the variety of activities and ample time on my hands are all making sure I have a blast here at Wharton.

Cheers to a successful semester and 1/4th of an MBA!

Locals in Peru

The hospitality, sincerity and simplicity I saw in the rural areas in Peru simply awed me. My husband and I celebrated our 2nd anniversary up in the Andes. Our friends surprised us by a simple cake baked by a hardworking cook. He took special efforts, woke up really early and baked a cake without an oven! It was a truly special anniversary. The locals made it extra special- a little girl with a beautiful smile, a small mischievous boy and a yound lad with a sweet voice sang and made our day!

We had carried a few gifts- crayons, notebooks, soccer balls with us for the kids. The attraction for all materialistic things is universal! The kids came running when we opened the goody bags. We played soccer with the kids. A very unique quality to note was that the young boys returned the soccer ball after playing! They just didn't relaize it was a gift for them. The honesty of returning something that didn't belong to them touched all our hearts.

We were then invited to a local house to see how the locals lived. The simplicity in their ways was evident in the house. The only source of entertainment was a broken 15 year old casette recorder. The one room house was built of mud and hay and had a clay oven in a corner. They offered us baked potatoes and macaroni for lunch. The man of the house is a shepherd and the women made a few handicrafts and worked in the community farms. This close knit community of Patacancha was a wonderful way to end our Lares trek.

Wonderful tales of Peru

Peru was not on my top 10 places to visit this year- but we would have missed out on an incredible experience if I woudn't have taken up the offer! 5 of our friends, my husband and I recently returned from an exhilarating trek in Peru. Over the next few posts, I'll take up a certain aspect of Peru and put it in my words and perspectives for you. Hope you enjoy my experiences.

The first thing that I have to admire- (not about Peru) is my camera. Oh how I longed for it when we lost it in Puerto Rico. I think without this beauty, we would have missed out on capturing a lot of these wonderful memories..