Start of a New Trip

October 1, 2010

Yerevan Musings, Inaugural Edition

Good evening,. all.  It's approximately 7:40 p.m. Columbus time and we just entered No. Atlantic airspace, north of St. Johns, on the way from Cincinnati to Paris.  I am one of about 20 people awake on this full flight of about 270 passengers...too early to fall asleep, but I will probably regret it tomorrow.

The plane left Columbus about two hours late today, cutting it a little too close for my liking to get the connection in Cinci.  Delta blamed the bad weather in NYC, but I don't buy that because our plan was just doing the Detroit – Columbus – Cinci shuttle all day.  This is the first time I've flown Delta in about 20 years, so I'.m stuck in the back with cramped seats and babbling vacationers from KY.  Also flanked by a couple of dudes with wicked colds, and who never learned to cover their mouths.  Never thought I would miss the perks that came from flying United all of last year. 

We are scheduled to land at deGaulle airport in Paris just after 6 a.m. local time (midnight Friday in Columbus)   But, with a tailwind of 138 knots, we expect to get there an hour early.  That will give me 8 hours to kill, instead of 7, before Air France whisks me to Yerevan for the next two weeks.  Hope French coffee is decent.

It's a relief to get this trip underway...there has been too much prep time involved over the past month without having a chance to field test it.  No doubt changes will be required eaxch night for the next day's training, so I've brought roughly three times more material than could be covered in the time allotted.  It's also a bit unsettling that I have yet to speak directly with bank management about their expectations – all of the arrangements so far have been made by Bankworld.  At least the bank in Yerevan agreed to delay the start of training until Tuesday, giving me Monday to meet wityh them and make any necessary adjustments.

I only have one full weekend in Armenia, so I need to make the most of it.  The consulate in DC only issued me a single-entry visa, so any thoughts of visiting nearby Turkey have been stomped.  But, there seems to be more than enough in the city of 1 million (1/3 of Armenia's population) to keep me on the move for two days.  It may help that I am here on a solo project – unlike Baku where I was part of an on-site team – so I can reasonably expect to field no social invitations.

If this training goes decently, Bankworld is planning to pitch it to a bank in Tbilisi, Georgia.  It would be nice to get some additional mileage out of the prep.  They have also asked me to be available for projects in Azerbaijan and Vietnam next year, should their shortlist bids succeed.

OK...we land in 3 hours, so time to get some reading done and a quick nap before facing French customs.  More from the airport. 

    

October 2, 2010

It is now 6:58 a.m., and I’m sitting in Charles de Gaulle airport, Paris, planning my next 6 hours until the next flight boards.  Originally, I had this stupid idea of just firing up my laptop and using the airport wifi (don’t all airports now have wifi?).  Unfortunately, here, only the first ten minutes is free….from there it’s 4.9 euros (roughly $6.15) an hour.  I have nothing THAT important to say….especially when you statesiders are peacefully sleeping right now.  On the plus side, the gate seating areas each have multiple outlets by the seats for PC & phone recharging, and Samsung has several central kiosks for additional recharging.

Virtually nothing in this airport is in English….good thing we all have encountered enough French and pictures to figure things out.

Just finished breakfast at the one restaurant that is open at this hour.  A little serve-yourself café.  A fruit cup, raisin roll, OJ, and coffee cost just under $21.00.  I am in the wrong business.

The various terminals are connected here with a clean, fast, totally automated train that comes around every two minutes.  Most impressive.

One of the customs inspectors told me it only takes about 30 minutes to get into Paris by train from here.  Too bad I don’t have a visa to enter France….they are not hard to get or expensive, but combining that with the hassle of getting back through security just makes it not worthwhile.

Time to wander around the terminal a bit…the old legs still need stretching from the flight.  Later!