Wednesday, March 7th 2012

          Woke up this morning and got ready for the day, then had a light breakfast in the hotel restaurant with Hilda, Ken, & John. It has been such a blessing to have all these talented and knowledgeable business people here in Peru with us, learning from them through conversations and being able to watch how they each individually conduct business in person has been a learning experience that could never be mirrored sitting in a classroom.

We got on the bus around 8:30am and rode across town to the Topitop headquarters in Lima. Once we arrived and made it through the gates and security we were brought into a conference room where one of the plant managers greeted us and showed us a video on what Topitop does. He also explained to us where the name Topitop came from, and which brands they manufacture apparel for (including Under Armor, Hugo Boss, Life Is Good, Abercrombie & Fitch, Lane Bryant, Old Navy, The North Face, Hollister, their namesake brands, and many more.) We were fortunate to also have the opportunity to briefly met the owner and founder, Aquilino Flores who recently had a story published about him in the Wall Street Journal (insert link here). After meeting the owner we were given a tour of the manufacturing facility including the dying, finishing, embroidery, printing, & packaging centers. The nice people at Topiop provided everyone in the group with a lovely gift bag & shirt as a parting gift before we got back on the bus and returned to the hotel.

Añadir leyenda

After getting back to the hotel, Ashley, Meghan,  Caitlyn, Mr. Coats, & I went out for lunch where we had some of the most delicious ceviche I have ever tasted. After lunch Mr. Coats returned to the hotel & the ladies & I walked around the shopping center by the waterfront for a bit and then down the avenue along the beach.  It was beautiful!
We saw parasailers and some amazing sculptures along the coast.

Añadir leyenda

 And we even saw wild Guinea pigs too!










After our excursion to the beach we walked back to hotel, stoping to get coffee and to see the stained glass windows at one of the churches on the way back. Knowing we had to make it out to the markets before it was too late we headed back out to shop at the Indian markets for presents and souvenirs. I parted with the group who continued on to see the local water park and returned to hotel exhausted by the long day. Caught up on some homework for my other classes and went to sleep, cant believe we are halfway done with the week and this trip already.

 Time flys when your having fun!

 - Katina Gad