CSC is challenging and our first weekend

Ok so long time without adding a single entry, now I have to keep it going.  We have been very busy at work during the week and we are trying to figure it out the best way to help our clients. I have to say that my colleagues at work are making the whole process a terrific experience, we are teasing everyone about many things, you wouldn't believe it. Viv is giving me a hard time specially, but it's really good fun and everyone is good sport so no hard feelings. Vijay has officially been named our camera man and I'm surprised how many pictures he can take in a single day.  Anyway, going back to the topic at hand I would like to tell you that our project is really really challenging, I mean, bringing so many people with this variety of skills is not an easy task and putting them together to find a solution that would be beneficial for an entire region is amazing.  We will have to overcome many difficulties to do so, but at the end I think we will succeed.
We had a great weekend and we shared many things, we laugh and talked about ourselfs, there are so many things to share, 24 hours per day is not enough. We went to Cesme beach, it reminds me of Cancun somehow. We swam (some of us just tried not to drown) we played some beach games Bharat suggested (by the way seeing Bharat falling over the beach sand was priceless) he is a nice person always telling very interesting stories. After swiming we didn't know there were showers and we returned to the hotel covered with sea salt; I have to tell you that two of my team mates Zoran and Subra are  good men and hilarious, they are always making fun of many things, they make me laugh so hard. Sanjay has explained me many things I didn't know about IBM, he has opened my eyes, sort of speak, in terms of what I can do to continue growing. Sara is great fun, she likes Mexican food which I think is amazing; arriba arriba, andale andale she said and I couldn't help but laugh haha. Frank and Bich Ha are a dynamic duo, Frank says something and Bich Ha  says just the opposite, they are really good people and make feel at ease when they are around. Rosana and Iliana are adventurers, I can not believe they went all the way to Cappadocia, that requires some guts, and they did it, they are lots of fun too. Oh Kazufumi-san showed me some taido moves, he is a great man he is always laughing and willing to talk, he is very respectful and I admire him for that.  My room neighbor Tsubasa-san won the race we had at the beach, he is incredible fast, he is married and loves his wife, I always wanted to learn more about Japan's culture and he is briefing me, for which I'm very grateful. Serina is briefing me on Indian culture, she is very polite and considerate when I don't understand something she clarifies.
All of them are fantastic, I appreciate and respect them all.  I'm learning so many things out of them that I just want to say thanks in everyway I can.

And now my thoughts are now focusing on my beloved ones, I would like to thank my parents for their amazing and continuous support during so many years for encouraging me to do things others do not even dare so I could achieve my goals, to my brothers who believe in me, to my girlfriend for being honest and be the voice that reminds me to follow my dreams whatever it takes.

Time to sleep, here are some photos

Meeting the customer

Day 4

Today was a productive day, we met the customer and presented our workplans, they have high expectations and are willing to help us in every way they can. I'm afraid communication will be a lot more difficult than what I expected to be, so we have to make sure there are no misunderstandings and define the scope. We are On the forming stage and it will be very interesting when we get to the storming stage with so Many people with such many different ideas.

We didn't have lunch because the Meeting was held at 1 but we had an early dinner: Turkish pizza.

Second day working

I'm happy we had this Meeting with the client they have the vision and we have to enable them to achive it, everyone had questions because we are trying to achive something the client can use and it's valuable. They took us On a trip to Urla a very nice town. We ate traditional Turkish food and it was fantastic


Then we head back for the university to continue working

Izmir arrival

Day 4

It was a very busy day, early in the morning we have a team briefing by Seda and Sirri, they were very nice and explained somethings about DOT and our hosts, we had such a lovely time, after the briefing we had lunch and headed to the airport. I'm still amazed by the beauty of this great country.

 The picture above was taken on a street near our hotel in Izmir. You can see the beauty of the

 We are now on location and we are going to stay here one moth I hope is a productive one,  so I'll start everyday with an early run by the sea (except on Sundays), to be fresh and prepared for each day.

Day 3 Final

Here are some picutres of what we did today.

 Ok, here is the explanation, The first photo is from the other room they gave me, they changed my fron the street view to the sea view.  The second photo is from the Cisterna,  it's an acient place where many columns were placed underground to store water,  2 columns in this place have a Medusa head as the base.

 Third photo Medusa Head upside down. 

 After visiting the Cisterna we went to the blue mosque, a holy place for Turks, it's a beautiful place, it has a main square which is depicted on the next photograph and there are towers surrounding it.

 Unfortunately the entrance to the mosque was closed and we decided to take lunch and then head on boat to meet the European and Asian side of Turkey.

 In th picture above you can see from left to right: Tom, Sunjay, Serina and Viv. 

 Still at lunch, here are from left to right:  Bich Ha, Kazufumi-san and Tsubasa-san.

 And at last but not least:  Subra and Vijay.

 The picture above is traditional Turkish food, Kebab with mushroom (Kebab is meat with spices) the food is delicious, similar to Mexican food but it's flavor is a lot stronger and spice.

 There are mosques everywhere in turkey, I was amazed by the number of towers that you can see by looking on all directions. 

When we were on the boat there were a castle and more mosques, which to me shows the respect the Turkish pay to the Islam religion. There were also Turkish flags anywhere on sight and I think that shows they are very proud of their country.

The castle

 Group photo

 Inside the Blue mosque, wear shoes is not allowed so we have to take out our shoes.

 The columns holding the structure are incredible big the design is very elaborated.

 Me posing

 Another team gathering before dinner

And finally Seda joined us at the dinner, a traditional Turkish meal. I want to thank Seda in particular for the supreme job she did with the logistics. We are heading for a terrific project start.

Tune in for #IBMCSC news

Meeting the team

Day 3 continued

Well it has been a long day,we traveled a lot and i met some companions, others will arrive today. Istanbul is beautiful and we visited the blue mosque and the surroundings. There are tourists everywhere, and I noticed Many differences between our cultures. Anyway it has been a terrific start and o can't wait for tomorrow.
iyi geceler everyone
I'll add pictures later.

Long long trip

Day 3

Finally made it after 24 hours, I'm looking forward to meet all the team tomorrow.

Here is a picture of Taxim square. 

Day 1: Flight day.

Today I'll be leaving Mexico, I'm on my way to Turkey. It's very exciting and I hope you'll enjoy the post about what we will be doing for IBM Corporate Service Corps program.

Here is a picture of the people I'll be working with.

Here is an explanation of what is Corporate Service Corps, written by Sara Willet:

1) What is the IBM Corporate Service Corps?

The IBM Corporate Service Corps was formed in 2008 to provide IBMers with international leadership opportunities while solving problems for communities in emerging markets.  Think of it as the Peace Corps for business.  IBM sends its employees to volunteer for 4 weeks in an emerging market country.  The participants get an incredible experience working in a foreign country.  The host organization gets highly skilled volunteers. And IBM gets leaders trained in working with international teams and emerging markets as well as an enhanced reputation in those growth markets.

The CSC application process happens once per year and includes basic information about your performance ratings at IBM as well as 3 essays.  Each year there are thousands of applicants and only 500 people are admitted to the program.

Before departing

Just 3 days, left.