I arrived extremely tired on Sunday night, the heat and extreme humidity making the search for the few bare essentials that I checked in with Cargo in Joburg (ok, 65 kg ;-)) not exactly pleasant! My driver Ricardo was a good sport, and walked with me from the information point to the Airfrance office (the girls at the Information desk did not really master English, so 'airfreight' was misinterpreted and became 'airfrance') back to information and finally to the cargo terminal outside of the airport - only to get a surprised look from the security girl stammering as if it were a generic excuse, "It's Sunday" so customs does not work off course...Come back tomorrow as of 9 am!
So I arranged to have a driver pick me up from the hotel at 8, and to make a long story short, I came "home" with my luggage (and a broken suitcase) at 2 p.m., learning my first new Spanish word along the way, "tramites", which basically means administrative process, bureaucracy, terribly frustrating waste of time (the latter is my own interpretation). I probably lost 1 kg walking from oficina 1 to edificio corporativo (3 km away) back to officina 1, then oficina 2 - oficina 3 - oficina 1 - oficina 2 - oficina 1 - oficina 3 - the freight hall to inspect the goods - oficina 3 - oficina 1 - outside to pick up federico with a pass to load the luggage - freight hall - edificio corporativo...I kid you not! The consultant in me saw unbelievable potential for process optimization! And I know that my friends in South Africa sometimes complain about their country going to the dogs, well, the whole process in Johannesburg took less than 1 hour!!! Anyway, partner in crime Federico ("I am so sorry and so ashamed about my country") pointed out that at least I recovered my stuff and did not have to pay customs (unlike the young guy who was charged with USD 250 for importing a cell phone - categorized as a hazardous electrical equipment), so after a couple of deep breaths I was able to relax on the way to the hotel. A quick shower later and I jumped into a taxi for my 3 o'clock with the Accenture guy who helps expats to find apartments - no time for lunch...Needless to say I slept like a baby that night!
I pretty much worked from my little flat in Palermo Hollywood this week, a breezy place, with trendy cosmopolitan restaurants practically on every corner. My favourite - Osaka - makes the best peruvian sushi (an absolute must-try)! Except for the two Italians whom I met at the gym, and the Canadian businessman met at breakfast who happens to know the founder, CFO and Legal Officer in Montreal, I pretty much kept to myself - breakfast, lunch and dinner "solita".
So, Friday was the big day, my first social event, dinner with Luciana and Javier, brother and sister, whom I met during my trip October last year. A taxi drove me to Villa Urquiza, off limits from the regular Bs As map, and we had dinner in a typical local family restaurant - no frills, but packed! Off course around 22.30! And for those of you who have ever been in Austria, a schnitzel there would stand no chance against the milanesa which was brought to our table - too large for the three of us! It was an exquisite night, full of laughter, in mixed English - Spanish, the first time I really relaxed! And such nice people - you'll surely read more about them in other posts!
Today, I had lunch with Eleonora on the patio of the restaurant of the Evita museum, close to the zoo park, such a nice day as well! Eleonora is the CEO of a local foundation who supports youngsters to start a business. We met during all my business trips and she's already offered me to introduce me to her grown kids (her daughter is into photography and arts) and the rest of the family!
So, as I said, everything is only getting better since my arrival!
Hasta luego!
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