Moscow Metro

The metro here is an experience that I am so glad I got see it! They have these escalators that go super fast, steep, and even with the speed and the drop- it still takes 2 minutes to get from the ground level to the subways! 2minutes of standing there speeding into the underground. I must admit- I got a bit claustraphobic. It was that feeling of "ehh... what if?" I can't even imagine what happens if it stops! Nothing is in English, all Russian, but all the stations are listed on the signs, so as long as I match the letters I've been good. It is crowded like exiting a pro football game- people everywhere, crowds to get onto the escalators, and everyone's walking super fast! The older stations downtown are built like 5 star hotels back in the soviet era. Marble, gold, beautiful lanterns and some propaganda mosaics which are works of art! And everyone just runs through the stations- I was such a tourist stopping to look and photograph the elegant tunnels. Then the trains- they are oldies' but good metal boxes that get you from point A to point B. It really feels like I'm in a different time being surrounded by all this luxury in hundreds of feet under the ground in a laberyinth of tunnels and stations, and these trains really complete the feeling.

Moscow2

The street that I'm staying on is a main street leading right to Red Square. Lana (Russian Territory Manager- my equivalent here in Russia) has been a great tour guide as she lived here for 18 years and knows the language. Here are more pics of our walk down to Red Square.

MOSCOW!

I am in Moscow as of yesterday and what can I say: I LOVE IT! It is sooooo surprising because I was so nervous coming up here; I don't speak the language, the currency is way crazy, everything is Super expensive, and this is not my market, so I'm "helping out" but it's complicated. My hotel is great and new and there is a starbucks across the street, and a great grocery, and a 20 minute walk to Red square! Last night we actually walked to red square and I walked around in it! I saw the Kremlin, Stahlin's tomb, and the square. It was unreal :-) So amazing, I can't really explain the feeling of walking in the square where you see all the videos from History where the tanks are driving down it, and seeing the "THE" building- the Kremlin, it was Surreal.

well what a crazy weekend!

For some reason I was up on Friday at 8am with no alarm, so was like- this is a sign, I need to go to the beach and have a coffee on the beach. Walk??? No- Drive. So I have my coffee and watch the waves, and drive back to my place and "BAM!" I get hit by a bus! There was a new traffic pattern where I live as there as has been non-stop construction. So I get out, it's an Indian guy who doesn't speak english, and it's a bus full of 40 workers! The police come, and they speak Arabic, not english. And of COURSE today would be the one day- the ONE DAY I would be wearing my most american J.Crew- Ken doll outfit- blue and white plaid shorts, a light blue polo shirt, with white flipflops, drinking a starbucks! AH! I'm sure the Indian bus driver was like "holy shit- I hit an american republican from Long island!" So my car was demolished. Thank god I had upgraded to an SUV rental because had I of been driving a camry, I don't know that I'd typing this right now. Because the driver had no insurance- and NO license, we both had to climb into the back of the police car and go to the police station where we gave our statements, and I was found to be "not at fault" - thank god (I've heard the people who drive rentals always get the ticket because we are expats and Budget literally has a replacement car to me the same day), but I was not at fault, so justice prevailed. Or they thought the J.Crew American probably had a good lawyer- either way I was glad. And the picture is of my new SUV! YEAH! I got an even bigger one! When I got home, I walked into my apartment to hear workers talking in my master bathroom. I cautiously walked in and they said there was a water leak and they were going to be working on it for the next day... or two. So to let them do their thing, I went to the mall and when I got back there was no sink, no cabinet, and a hole in the wall! No note from the workers- I mean why should they tell me whats going on!?? and so I just closed the door and was thankful I have a second bathroom. Ordered a bottle of wine from downstairs, and sat on my balcony and drank my day away. Thank goodness room service has a full bar! :-)

Happy Birthday!

So today my blog is 1 year old! I can not believe it has been a whole year since my parents dropped me off at the Columbus airport with the car full of my apartment, and away I went. Looking back at this blog, it has been an amazing year. All the countries, and people, and sight seeing have been more than I ever could have imagined when I signed that contract to come over here. The job has been stressful, tiring, exciting, and rewarding, and today just happened to be a Presidential Jet Trip to the market. At the end of a long two days of store visits in my market, we sat down at Starbucks and the President of LBI told me my market is vibrant, compelling, and most importantly- consistently performing over plan. He was very impressed with all the stores. Then my VP told me he was extremely proud of me and how the market has progressed the last year. :-) (Deep breath) So that was the best feeling. And what a nice surprise that it was 1 year to the date of me coming here! And you might be asking; so are you coming home? And....I have signed up for another year. With all the work I have done here forging relationships with the business groups, and all the new countries we will be opening this year, I have decided to give it another year. So the preview for the next year: My trip to Moscow is next week! YAY! Istanbul is now officially in my territory- so now I go there every 6 weeks; new stores in Egypt so going to see the pyramids, Warsaw Poland... has stuff I'm sure..., Doha, Qatar is a new market as well, and this assignment will end with Lebanon! And of course I'll be back up to Jordan to see the Dead Sea in a few months, go through Ramadan again, and be back to the US for meetings and family fun every three months or so! I hope you have enjoyed the adventure the past year, and look forward to seeing everyone when I'm back in the states!

Muscat

I got back from Muscat last night. Training was great- we had so much fun by the end of the week, and the women got more out of their shell once they got to know me, and the selling classes were hilarious! These women were so animated and having them play the "local omani women" customers was a blast for them :-)
It felt good to leave on such a good note. Being this was my first new country of the year, I felt a bit out of practice on day 1, but then got back into the swing of things.
My pictures of the city aren't uploading right for some reason- they are all on the side, so these are the only 2 that came out right- the omani national clothes for men- with the little hats. Me at the rooftop bar.

Muscat, Oman

After the week with the family in the US, I flew back to Dubai and landed Sunday night. Had 8 hrs in my apartment, waking up at what was 12midnight to my body, got to my office, printed out all the training tools, back to the airport at 3pm and flew out to Muscat, Oman for my next new country opening. Horridly jet lag. Like I have never been this jet lag in all my travels. Ugh.

My hotel here is a business hotel, and is decent for what it is. Because muscat is such a resort/tourist town, and this is already high season, the rates at most the hotels were over 400usd a night, so we are at the Park Inn. The best part is the rooftop bar which is where I am sitting right now typing this up. 360 degree views of the city. Mountains on the one side, Indian ocean on the other. The city is very much traditional. The architecture is very arabic with the pointed Arabian arches, low rise buildings, smaller pointed windows, the skyline is dominated by mosque minerretes. The men are all in dish dashas all sorts of colors, my new favorite is the dark green one. And being that it is Oman, they wear these little hats, so cute! The hat almost always matches the color of the dish dash too with heavy embroderie of gold thread. The women wear the normal black burka and the head scarf.

To start out- it is hot here. Being on the southern tip of the Saudi peninsula, it is as close to the equator as you can get in the gulf and boy could we tell. We walked to lunch and I got an instant tan on my bald head. It looks good :-).
The office we are training at it in an apartment complex. Yes, I am being serious. The training room used to be the master bedroom, with bathroom which the staff have to come into the training room to use throughout the day. Ackward, lol, to say the least. Finding the apartment was a game all in itself because it is above a shoppinng center.

The training today went well. The staff is 100percent Omani women, with the managers being phillipinos. When you see the picture you are going to be like "whoa". It was interesting because with the culture being so traditional and me obviously not doing my homework last week on the city and culture, I wasn't sure of how a man teaching this class was going to go. But my fears were unwarranted and they loved the training and were engaging and happy.

Then we went to leave and the manager said one of the girls would take us to the mall. We were glad because taxis a 20 to 30 usd like in bahrain because all the taxi drivers are locals. We walked outside and again, being a traditional country I was wondering how this was going to work, and she pulls out her keys and tells me "yella" which means come on, and I got in the car with her. Lol, I know it sounds so stupid but I was like "are we going to get arrested? A women driving, with a man in her car no less!". But no issues, it is a progressive country in most respects as I learned and we got in the car and she put on her Enrique englasias cd and we jammed it out driving to the mall. Talk about an experience. I never thought I would be in a jeep Cherokee with a woman in a full albiya, headscarf and Chanel sunglasses singing to enrique riding in downtown Muscat. What a ride I'm on. :-).