In good company

Every year, around this time, the firm invites the spouse to join the partners in their global meeting. D has been able to make it to all the meetings every year, though sometimes not for the whole duration as it sometimes coincided with the children's mid year assessment, like the one in New York several years ago.

The very first one she attended was in San Francisco. Then, we were in Prague. And over the last 9 years, she has enjoyed Boston, Beijing, Istanbul, Washington DC amongst others. 

The special thing about the spouse program is not only do they get to enjoy guided tours, they often get privileged access, like to the basement of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston to learn how the masterpieces are preserved and restored. 

We also get to visit iconic places like Francis Ford Coppola's vineyard, Rubicon Estate, in Napa Valley. Speaking of celebrities, she also got the opportunity to literally rub shoulder (and pose) with Hugh Jackman and listen to leaders like Colin Powell, Hilary Clinton, Madeline Albright. These are people who make history, for better or worse. But nothing quite matches the emotion we felt when we had the chance to visit historic sites like the Nazi concentration camp, emotions that become seared in our memories so that horros such as these will never be repeated. 

The guide themselves are also special: always local and well-informed, and occasionally a meaningful representation of the country's progress like the youth who guided us in Istanbul and Beijing, young people who may not be that well versed in their country's history but are keen and eager to connect in th English language from people from all over the world.

This year we had the meeting in Miami and like previous meetings, D went on these tours while I attended back to back meetings the last 4 days. Miami is less historic but interesting nonetheless, especially for its artistic vibe, Art Deco in particular. 

Miami may be the gateway from South America to the first world and while the Spanish language from the south are readily heard, and the food and beverage similarly prepared, the environment is thoroughly different: more orderly, more sterile... In other words, not South American. 

We are now thoroughly re-orientated to the developed world and ready for our next leg to two of the most 'man-made' cities of the world! All thanks to a great privilege made available by a great firm!