Wednesday, 30 July 2003
It has now been two weeks since I arrived in Bishkek , Kyrgyzstan, and to say the least, my assignment with the MBA Enterprise Corps has not been uneventful. Our assignment actually began in Washington, DC, with a 3-day orientation where all Central Asia volunteers met, mingled and participated in team building exercises. In addition to the nights in “Reggie’s Bar” inside the Hotel Lombardi where we stayed, the volunteers also spent a day participating in a ropes course, where we were responsible for testing our ability to work cohesively. We passed with flying colors, but given the “touchy feely” attitude of the camp directors, I have to assume he tells every team this. As it was, the weekend was a great way to get to know the other volunteers, not to mentioned determining what everyone’s fears were.
This year’s group of volunteers was roughly half the size of last years. Given that the number of volunteers so small, I thought I would give a shout out to each and mentioned something about them:
In addition to yours truly, two other volunteers will be heading to Kazakhstan:
David Feige, MBA Thunderbird, who has a tremendous advantage over the rest of us because of his head start on the nuances of the Russian language prior to the assignment. Dave will be heading to Ust-Kamenogorsk, which is located in one of the coldest areas of the region. Dave went to school in my hometown of Phoenix, often referred to lovingly by its locals as the “fiery pit of hell”, so I have to wonder how he will adapt from Sahara-desert like summers to Siberian-like winters. At least the sunblock SPF75 will still come in handy.
Eric Willingham, MBA University of Georgia, will also be going to Kazakhstan and will be stationed in Ural’sk. Eric probably should have applied for a contestant spot on Jeopardy instead of this assignment because of his amazing knowledge of useless information and trivia. Well, it’s not ALL useless. Of course, we cannot mention Eric without his new bride, Andrea, who has been with us and will be with us for the duration of the assignment. They were just married a few weeks prior to the assignment, which makes this little endeavor their honeymoon. How sweet. As a personal goal, Andrea has promised to train Eric to remove his PJ’s before he gets dressed in the morning.
Two volunteers will be heading to Tajikistan …
Patrick Kadian, MBA Case Western Reserve University, who before joining the MBAEC served with the Peace Corps in Africa and Central America. Patrick speaks some strange tongues, including Zarma (he wrote a Zarma dictionary while working for the PC in Africa), used to plow crop fields with oxen, and is accustomed to digging small foxholes to crap in. The thing I cannot figure out is that even with all of this experience in the most remote areas of the world, he still cannot manage to find his way around town without getting lost. Someone get this guy a compass.
Beau Taylor, MBA New York University, spent some time in Holland on an exchange program prior to being assigned to Dushanbe, which like much of Central Asia has terrible toilets and horrible service, so he should fit in quite nicely.
David Ford, MBA Emory University, will remain in Kyrgyzstan after our language training and head to Osh. Although he is very talented and will adapt well to the local atmosphere, he is unable to eat bread or any wheat products … anything that contains gluten. Since this region thrives on bread and pastas, he will most likely finish the assignment at or around 100 pounds. I’m taking the under.
Diego Etcheto, MBA University of Pennsylvania (yes, that’s Wharton as he always reminds us), will be heading to Uzbekistan. Diego is a different sort of cat. The guy looks like someone straight from the cover of Men’s Health Magazine and is experienced with several different cultures. He spent four years in the military prior to obtaining his MBA, and as the tattoos on the inside of his lips can attest, he has been trained well to defend. He is one of those guys you love to hate.
That rounds out our Central Asia group. Everyone is great, and thus far, we have all been very receptive of each other. Of course, we have only been together for three weeks, so time will tell.
It has now been two weeks since I arrived in Bishkek , Kyrgyzstan, and to say the least, my assignment with the MBA Enterprise Corps has not been uneventful. Our assignment actually began in Washington, DC, with a 3-day orientation where all Central Asia volunteers met, mingled and participated in team building exercises. In addition to the nights in “Reggie’s Bar” inside the Hotel Lombardi where we stayed, the volunteers also spent a day participating in a ropes course, where we were responsible for testing our ability to work cohesively. We passed with flying colors, but given the “touchy feely” attitude of the camp directors, I have to assume he tells every team this. As it was, the weekend was a great way to get to know the other volunteers, not to mentioned determining what everyone’s fears were.
This year’s group of volunteers was roughly half the size of last years. Given that the number of volunteers so small, I thought I would give a shout out to each and mentioned something about them:
In addition to yours truly, two other volunteers will be heading to Kazakhstan:
David Feige, MBA Thunderbird, who has a tremendous advantage over the rest of us because of his head start on the nuances of the Russian language prior to the assignment. Dave will be heading to Ust-Kamenogorsk, which is located in one of the coldest areas of the region. Dave went to school in my hometown of Phoenix, often referred to lovingly by its locals as the “fiery pit of hell”, so I have to wonder how he will adapt from Sahara-desert like summers to Siberian-like winters. At least the sunblock SPF75 will still come in handy.
Eric Willingham, MBA University of Georgia, will also be going to Kazakhstan and will be stationed in Ural’sk. Eric probably should have applied for a contestant spot on Jeopardy instead of this assignment because of his amazing knowledge of useless information and trivia. Well, it’s not ALL useless. Of course, we cannot mention Eric without his new bride, Andrea, who has been with us and will be with us for the duration of the assignment. They were just married a few weeks prior to the assignment, which makes this little endeavor their honeymoon. How sweet. As a personal goal, Andrea has promised to train Eric to remove his PJ’s before he gets dressed in the morning.
Two volunteers will be heading to Tajikistan …
Patrick Kadian, MBA Case Western Reserve University, who before joining the MBAEC served with the Peace Corps in Africa and Central America. Patrick speaks some strange tongues, including Zarma (he wrote a Zarma dictionary while working for the PC in Africa), used to plow crop fields with oxen, and is accustomed to digging small foxholes to crap in. The thing I cannot figure out is that even with all of this experience in the most remote areas of the world, he still cannot manage to find his way around town without getting lost. Someone get this guy a compass.
Beau Taylor, MBA New York University, spent some time in Holland on an exchange program prior to being assigned to Dushanbe, which like much of Central Asia has terrible toilets and horrible service, so he should fit in quite nicely.
David Ford, MBA Emory University, will remain in Kyrgyzstan after our language training and head to Osh. Although he is very talented and will adapt well to the local atmosphere, he is unable to eat bread or any wheat products … anything that contains gluten. Since this region thrives on bread and pastas, he will most likely finish the assignment at or around 100 pounds. I’m taking the under.
Diego Etcheto, MBA University of Pennsylvania (yes, that’s Wharton as he always reminds us), will be heading to Uzbekistan. Diego is a different sort of cat. The guy looks like someone straight from the cover of Men’s Health Magazine and is experienced with several different cultures. He spent four years in the military prior to obtaining his MBA, and as the tattoos on the inside of his lips can attest, he has been trained well to defend. He is one of those guys you love to hate.
That rounds out our Central Asia group. Everyone is great, and thus far, we have all been very receptive of each other. Of course, we have only been together for three weeks, so time will tell.
