Red Metro, Green Metro, Yellow Metro, NONE...Wait, What???

Before I get into the details of a rather interesting day (transportation wise), I will start off with a picture taken yesterday at the one and only, make your jaw drop, magnificent Duomo!

The Famous Duomo

Every major city has a public transportation system, and with every public transportation system there are workers who make the daily commute to and from work simple, smooth and easy. Well, at the same time those same workers have a powerful voice...and they sure know how to use it. Today, ATM (Azienda Trasporti Milanesi, Milan's public transportation provider) held a strike which crippled Milan. 

I got my first taste of the strike at about 9 am after I arrived at Lambrate Station to find the doors closed to the green metro line closed.  Apparently, this was an organized strike which lasted during the non-peak travel hours of 8:45am-3pm and 6pm-until shift end. I eventually made it to work early in the afternoon, but on the positive side, I had myself a nice cardio workout! 

My after work commute was a bit easier because I knew I had to be on the Metro by 6 pm. I found myself intermixed with hundreds of others trying to make it in time. To stay true to the blog name, I have to add a rural analogy in the story...picture trying to corral a heard of animals through a chute into the opening of a trailer...a lot of shoving and pushing, right? It was the same. However, despite the strike, no one was bent out of shape, no riots where caused, and life moved on. It just adds a little flair to the dynamics of the city...which I love!

I leave you with a video taken on the last ride home on the green line....

Bienvenido a Milano, Italia!

Here is your first insider look into the remarkable city of Milan, Italy; aka Milano, Italia in Italiano. I have a feeling after this blog post I will have a lot of disgusted friends and family, but here goes nothing! LOL! 

Looking SW on Via Luigi Settembrini

Arriving at the Malpensa airport yesterday (Sunday, March 2, 2014 around 8:00am), I actually got my first glimpse of the city around 10 am. Why the two hour difference you ask? Well, Milan has two major airports...one serving mainly domestic and European Union flights called Linate (LIN) and one serving most of the international flights called Malpensa (MXP). The main difference is the location of the airports; LIN is about 4 miles east of Milan's center where MXP is about 30 miles NNW. However; don't let distance scare you away from MXP because there happens to be an express train called MalpensaExpress connecting the international traveler directly from the airport to various train stations. With day one in the books, I have already utilized Milan's extensive public transportation system including: trams, buses, subways, and trains.

Question for the readers: For my internship, I want to do a little survey. What do you currently know about Milan, and what would you like to know? Please comment to this post or email your responses to lance.husak@gmail.com. Your participation will be greatly appreciated, and don't be afraid to reply with, "I know nothing." Remember...Milano Loves You!

Friend Launches Women2Business Blog

The most powerful way for a startup to spread new and exciting information is through organic means; especially if you don't have the funds available to launch a full-fledged advertising campaign. When mentioning "organic," I'm describing the natural spread of information, like through word of mouth. For this reason, I'm going to introduce you to a new blog with great potential.

When I was in Buenos Aires, I met a vast amount of unbelievable, talented, young professionals who had the drive to change/better the world. One of these individuals was Annamarie, a German/American studying business economics at Universidad de Belgrano passionate about female leadership in the business setting. 

Recently, Annamarie and a friend just launched Women2Business, "a blog encouraging young women to strive for success and self-fulfillment in their private and professional lives." I encourage you to check out their blog as I'm positive it will bring in new perspectives on the topic. Good Luck, Annamarie!

All You Need To Know And More!!!

Buon Giorno!

If you guessed "Italy" to my post "Full of Surprises" you are correct! I will be interning in Milan, Italy from March 1st to May 30th. I've added a new page to The Rural Iowa blog explaining all the details.

Page: What's Next?

If you have more questions or comments, post them and I will respond. I look forward to sharing my experience with all of you!

Ciao,

Lance

Bald Eagles in Central Iowa

There I was...a typical Generation Y messing around on my Samsung Galaxy S4 having the time of my life (sense the sarcasm lol), all until my attention was diverted by some particularly curious stares coming from the chair next to me.

"What's that out in the field?" Said the mom. "It looks like a big bird." (I could only hope she wasn't talking about the yellow one you can find on tv.) 

"Looks like there might be some white on that bird!" She shouted in excitement as she watched it take flight.

Full of Surprises!

Don't you say it is about time for me to dust off the cobwebs which have called this blog, "The Rural Iowan," home for the past 5 months? Well, I do! During the next couple of days I will be cleaning and updating portions of the blog with current information. Until then, how about we play a little game?

The Rural Iowan Returns

D-Day has arrived; a bittersweet feeling actually. A part of me misses home, but another part of me will miss what I have created down in Buenos Aires.

Finishing up the rest of my packing early, gave me the time to get my hair cut at least one time in Argentina. The reason I waited so long was because I was scared I wouldn’t be able to communicate how I wanted to have it cut, and would have walked out of the barber shop without hair. LOL! (That was not the case, and everything went fine.)