How is Latin America, you ask?

Yesterday, we had a half-day kickoff for our meetings here. I was very impressed with the Regional Director. First of all, he showed up! He gave a wonderful kickoff message and plans to stay with us for this meeting. He is committed to this change and it is clear his people know that.

The people (two levels below him in reporting structure) were from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Columbia, Mexico, Puerto Rico and Venezuela. (Sorry Stew, Panama is not represented...) Some are much better in English than others, so every now and then we stop and let them translate for each other. I can pick up about 10% of what I hear, but it is beautiful to watch.

I gave my half hour overview and I felt very good about it. Today is the workshop which I will just observe and take my notes. Thursday morning is my day to conduct my Change Management workshop. After which, I will spend time with Ken and Frank discussing my opservations and recommendations, at this point. I think I'll recommend another trip to Europe; think that would be a good idea?

I will not tell you what kind of drink I had in the bar, mostly, because I can not recall the name, nor what was in it, but it was OK, a fruity rum drink. We went to dinner at a Brazilian Bar-B-Que. I was hoping to go to one of these and this one, I am told is upscale in price. They serve the meat on a huge skewer.

The waiters come by and slice off whatever kind of meats you want from this large skewer and you take whatever meats you like, form Lamb, to Pork, to fowl, sausages, and several cuts of beef. It is not seasoned in any way, other than rock salt, and then exposed to the fire. It was quite good.

There are four of these restaurants in Brazil (three in Sao Paulo), and one in Dallas, Houston, Atlanta, Chicago, LA, DC, Philladelphia, and Minneapolis. If you get a chance, I'd recommend it, but you should go easy on the breads and salads, or you won't have room for the meat. I have been avoiding fruits and vegetables that might be washed in the local water for fear of the after affects anyway.

So far my stomach is doing fine. By the way Ken's cold is much better. He had flown in yesterday morning and he was falling asleep at the table. It was nice not to be the one doing that, for a change!

It was really interesting to hear the dialog about soccer. Frank was a professional soccer player at 17, in Germany. (He is only 37.) He had a horrible injury that ruined his career, plus some bone/cartilage issues thoughout his body. When he introduced himself to these people, he said he comes from a country that plays real soccer; that the Brazilian teams play nice soccer. This set a tone for some friendly table talk, that I am sure will last throughout the session.