The Last Blog

     Well our trip abroad is now officially over. Myself and five others left yesterday around noon and set off for Prague while the others stayed in Vilnius and departed earlier this morning for Warsaw for a 7 hour layover, then to Amsterdam and finally back to Atlanta. When we arrived in Prague, we still had several hours of daylight since we arrived around 3:30. We set off and went and dumped our bags off at our hotels by the airport and the girls’ dropped their luggage, that was to be checked, off at our hotels before we set out to go into down town Prague. Our hotel was right by the airport so it made it very convenient for everyone to be able to get their stuff checked and ready to go on the plane in a reasonable amount of time.

     Prague was a awesome city and seemed to have more sights to see everywhere you looked. We ventured to the top of what had to be the largest flight of stairs in the entire city to get the best view possible. It was simply amazing to say the least. From there we went back down the hill side this time instead of the stairs and ventured back toward where we started after getting off the bus in down town. There was some sort of music festival going on in one of the town squares with delicious smelling food. There we met several students from North Carolina and they talked about what they had been doing in the town since their arrival a month ago. We then went and dropped the girls’ carry-on bags off at their hotel and went to find some dinner. After that we went through several of the shops close by. After getting a t-shirt or two, we went back to our hotels and called it a night. Unfortunately we were yet again encountered with a hotel that thought charging their guests for internet access was acceptable, so I had to wait until the 9 hour plane right back home to type it out for posting when we reach stateside.

     This morning everything went smoothly with getting all of our bags checked and getting through security other than the fact they decided to keep a socket (as in ratchet and socket tool) for some reason or another that was in my bag. Other than that, everything was a smooth as could be. As I’m finishing up summing our last day and a half worth of experience, we are currently about two hours outside of the US boarder and I think we’re all looking forward to getting off this plane.

      This has been an incredible experience and I highly recommend it to anyone even remotely considering it. Thanks so much to Dr. Shook because without him and his easy going personality, we would have never been able to do everything we have. I have extremely enjoyed getting to learn about the economic situation as well as the way businesses function in Eastern Europe. I would also like to thank all of our followers of the blog and twitter. All the friends and family back home keeping up with us have really motivated us into sharing our story and I hope that it has at least entertained you all if nothing else.

-Derek Godwin

What is your competitive advantage?

                Today concluded our final scheduled day of our journey through the Baltic States. It consisted of a morning company visit, and an afternoon visit to parliament that was followed by a farewell dinner hosted by Vilnius University. Half of the group will be flying to Prague tomorrow for the night and then returning back to Atlanta on Saturday. The other half of the group leaves Vilnius Saturday and has several connecting flights before their return flight home. Michael and Mary-Elyse will be staying in Europe for continued travels with their respective family members.

                With the trip coming to an end, everyone will be reflecting on the past three weeks in the Baltic States of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. Each individual member of the group will have a different perspective on what the trip meant to them.  I personally have taken more out of the past three weeks than a blog entry can begin to describe.  When college students study abroad the first things that probably come to their minds are typically “Spain, France, Italy”; I would be lying if I said I didn’t fit that stereotype when I first considered traveling abroad this summer. When people hear the three countries “Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania” who knows what the first thought is that comes to mind.  Just a few months ago I did not have the slightest clue about those three; other than Lithuania which triggered something about basketball in the back of my mind.

                Three countries meant three unique cultures and three different currencies. I have been able to formulate a new outlook on each country. All three independent states have an incredibly interesting history and it has been a fascinating experience furthering our knowledge on the deep impact of past events first hand from citizens of each state.  It has been one of the most beneficial learning experiences I have had during my undergraduate tenure at Auburn University.  We took our knowledge from our week of “boot camp” and applied that over the past three weeks. We have been lectured on the economic status of each country and the direction each one plans to head in the near and distant future; this gave us a great foundation going into company visits. The numerous company visits have given us the opportunity to interact with all sides of what goes into the heartbeat of a business: members of sales and marketing, finance, research and development and even a CEO.

                 Thanks to everyone who kept up with our blog.  The Baltic States will not be the same without us. Signing off from Vilnius, Lithuania.

Patrick Markham

The end is near.... : (

Today we had a full day of exploring, and we got our full share of interesting sights!

We started off in a city about 30 minutes away from Vilnius called Trakai, where we got to walk around a neat old castle. Our tour guide was fantastic; She was a historian and definitely knew her stuff!!

Next we went to hear a lecture at the Faculty of Economics. We had heard about the Lithuanian economy on other economic visits, but it was nice to hear from them exactly how they handled the economic crisis. All the Baltic countries are compared to each other and usually grouped together, but after traveling to all three their differences are obvious. They like to have their independence from one another, as well.

Next the group went to a KGB Museum in Vilnius that is actually located inside an old KGB prison/office. It was definitely creepy being in an actual building where horrible events occurred, but we all enjoyed learning about Lithuania during Soviet control.

Next a bunch of us stopped at the "Pizza & Coffee" shop across from our hostel. Delicious and large... really large. The slices were basically the size of our heads!

Tomorrow we have our last company visit, and it is even some student's (those staying in Prague friday night) last full day!! We are sad it is coming to a close, but it has definitely been a fantastic experience.

- EMMA & STEVEN

Another Day in Vilnius!

Today started early with breakfast at our hotel, then we headed out for a day of company visits. Our first company visit and tour was of Arcus Novus, a satellite communications company. The bus ride was about 20 minutes but seemed odd when we started driving on dirt roads in a rural area. It was later explained that a rural location is better because there are no tall buildings and not many other obstacles that could potentially disrupt the signals given off by the satellite dishes. The tour was no too bad and kind of interesting seeing how it all works.
After our visit, we headed back towards town and took a lunch break that was finally relaxed and not rushed!! I went with the half of the group that had Italian while the other half of the group ventured off for Greek food.
After lunch, we headed to visit Fermentas, a biotechnical company that develops, manufactures and distributes products to customers such as researchers and pharmaceutical companies, just to name a few. We all agreed the presentation was quite interesting and incorporated various business components which related to us much more than a lot of scientific information.
After our visit, we chilled for a few hours then headed to dinner, which is highly regretted amongst the group and still remains a sore subject. To tell the story nutshell, waiting 2 hours (no exaggeration!!) for Chinese food makes 13 starving college students a bit upset. Despite the traumatic experience, we managed to stop by the grocery store on the way back to the hotel to get some good snacks to compensate for the tragic dinner!
- Kristen and Matt

Walking Around in Vilnius

Today marked our first full day in Vilnius. We visited a small biotechnology company called Profarma. Honestly, the science was a little over our heads. Fortunately, we did know what cells and DNA are, so we were not completely lost. However, it could have been better. Afterward, we received a tour of the university, which is fairly large and an easy place to get lost. It was very interesting, though. The university has a rich history in Vilnius, and we enjoyed the tour. The library had an excellent collection of older books, including more than 300 of the 1200 in Europe from the first 50 years of the 16th century. They also had an interesting observatory, filled with old telescopes and such. We climbed up into a tower, and the staircase was a tight fit. They also have a church with a very impressive pipe organ. Overall, we enjoyed the tour, although our feet were tired, and more walking was to come.
After lunch, we took a two hour walking tour of the city. The city is filled with architecture from various periods, including the Baroque, Classical, Gothic, and much more. There were many churches throughout the city, and they were all impressive. Vilnius, unlike Riga and Tallinn, has car traffic going through the old town, so that was something else we had to look out for. After the tour, we had dinner at 3 PM (Seriously, our welcome dinner hosted by the University was at 3 PM). Fortunately, the food was delicious. However, we were all hungry later, so went out to get a snack in old town. Now, we are tired from all the walking, and ready to go to sleep. That is all for today. Looking forward to tomorrow.

Written by Daniel McClendon and Joseph Guthrie

Welcome to Vilinius

Yesterday we visted the hill of crosses. It was extraordinary and fascinating!! There were literally millions of crosses that spanned the horizon. The bus ride was very long and bumpy. Underdeveloped roads are no fun to travel on. I slowly gained my appetite back as we drove past cows. When we finally arrived in Vilinius, we were very impressed with the hostel. Who would have known that out of all three places to stay, the hostel would be the most impressive? We all enjoy watching the world cup on flat screen T.V.s with no static, and multiple other channels. The free wifi is also very appreciated, as well as the moonlight in the bathrooms. We all hit the sack early since we had to get up early the next day, and prepare for another week of exciting company visits and tours of the city.
Sincerely, Steven Spry

From Latvia to Lithuania

Today marked the end of the week in Riga Latvia. We all kind of did our own thing today and explored the city a little more than we had previously. I started the day by going to some of the underground shops that are tucked away underneath pubs and restaurants that reside on the ground level. After that I took a walk through one of the parks that populate a large amount of space in downtown Riga. From there I walked down to one of the malls and made a lap around the very confusing mall which had three floors and it was really strange that there were only escalators that went up and none going down. After the mall, I met up with the group and we headed to a local bar around the corner from Hotel Riga to watch the US versus England match which apparently had several England fans in attendance for the event. When that was over, most of us went over to club essential to get a feel for the nightlife experience that Riga has to offer. The place was massive to say the least and was very interesting that they played mostly American music. The place consisted of several floors, and many different environments ranging from a lounge area covered in white pleather and green accent lighting to a full on techno dance room. One room had a local DJ that was apparently very popular in Riga who was the one playing all the American music and this room had several areas to sit around and hang out so this is the one we stayed in. We then went back to our hotel to pack our bags up and prepare for our noon departure to Vilnius Lithuania. I think we all had fun in Riga and the only thing I won’t miss is the internet in our hotel and my scary shower that loved to get piping hot or ice cold with no warning. Now we are all looking forward to Lithuania and one last week in Eastern Europe.