Rewind ... Dubrovnik, Croatia is my favorite city ever

(Catching up on old blogs.  This one is from Tuesday, 18 Sept)

Dubrovnik, Croatia is my favorite city ever.
To be fair to the other great cities of Europe, Dubrovnik is a bit of a fairy tale.  The old city center is a walled city and closed to traffic.  As such, it's like a real life Disneyland.  No (or few) real businesses in the city center but lots of local artists selling their wares and cafes set into picturesque old buildings perched on the edge of an unbelievably blue-green Adriatic sea.

I'd say more but there really is no more to say.  Just awe at the beauty of the city and surrounding sea.  Click on the collage below to see it in more detail.

Time Warp

I am convinced that Turkey is in a time warp.  Ever since I landed in Istanbul, time has been flying.  For example, last night we went out for a 'quick dinner'.  There were only 4 of us so we didn't even have a big group to coordinate.  It still took us almost 2 hours for dinner but it only felt like an hour. 

This afternoon we've been working from the hotel.  Bharat suggested we stop at 3pm for an afternoon break.  I remember looking at the clock at 2:30p ... and now it's suddenly 4:30p.  I don't know where the time goes.

I guess good work and good friends make for a good time!

#ibmcsc Turkey 8

Work day 2

Check out Zoran's blog for some good work pictures from yesterday:
http://zoransmavihizmet.blogspot.com/2012/09/day-2-on-client-site-this-time-i-have.html

#ibmcsc Turkey 8

It’s like Christmas!

A good day working with the client today.  After some intense questions yesterday, we modified our original workplans and statements of work to reflect the latest information and presented a draft back to the client to make sure we were on the right track.  Tomorrow we’ll stay at the hotel to work on the formal project plan and present it on Friday.

Lunch was on the university campus at the small cafeteria in the TechnoPark.  Even though it was just campus cafeteria food it was still much better than the IBM cafeteria!

Rice, a bean ‘soup’, chicken with potatoes and carrots, and dessert

Tonight we also had a team meeting to plan some of our weekend excursions.  Looks like Cesme this weekend and Ephesus next weekend.  But everyone also took the opportunity to bring out the gifts they had brought from their home countries.  I have a huge stash already and I think some are still saving their gifts for later.  Thank you everyone!

Origami paper – Kazafumi – Japan

Beaded bracelet – Antonio – Mexico

Beaded bracelet – Rosanna – Brazil

Carved elephant – Sanjay, Serina, Vijay, Bharat – India

Frida coaster – Iliana – Mexico

Handmade doll for Elly – Rosanna – Brazil

Embroidered bag – Bich Ha – Vietnam

Mavi Hizmet shirt with our team logo

#ibmcsc Turkey 8

Rewind… Istanbul to Zagreb to Split to Dubrovnik

(Catching up on old blogs.  This one is from Monday, 17 Sept)

Late last week Sunday night we caught a flight on Croatia Airlines from Istanbul to Split with a layover in the Croatian capital of Zagreb.  We had a 1/2 hour layover in Zagreb and, while we knew it would be tight, figured it was manageable because the Zagreb airport isn’t all that big.  We forgot that it was an international flight and we would have to clear customs during that 1/2 hour!  Our flight was 10 minutes late getting into Zagreb which caused a few more heart palpitations.  Fortunately, the outgoing flight was also 10 minutes late, the Zagreb airport is really, really small, and it’s practically deserted at 10:30pm.  We cleared customs, ran down the concourse, re-entered security, and made it onto the flight.

The lovely staff at Villa Paula met us at the airport even though it was 11:45pm and drove us to the hotel.  It was sparse but was clean, crisp, had a beautiful view and the staff was wonderful.  And only 39€ per night!

Monday morning we had a leisurely breakfast at the hotel and then went back to the airport to pick up our rental car.  I think the manager at the hotel thought we were a little crazy.  "Two American girls driving around Croatia by themselves!  Oh my!"  Maybe we were :-)

 

"You want to go where?"

So off we went down the Croatian coast from Split to Dubrovnik.  It is a beautiful drive.  The mountains were taller than I was expecting and the vegetation more sparse but since it reminded me of western Colorado that was OK with me.

 The coast is peppered with beautiful small towns clinging to the hills along the coastline.  We pulled off in one of them for a lunch along the beach.

(Click on the picture for a larger view)

A quick geography lesson ... did you know that to drive from Split, Croatia to Dubrovnik, Croatia you have to go through Bosnia and Herzegovina?  Fortunately the border checkpoint is very simple.  You'll have to take our word for it though because we decided taking pictures of the border was perhaps not the best idea.

After about 6 hours, we arrived in Dubrovnik.  It's really only a 4 hour drive but we stopped a lot along the way for pictures.  We were booked at a place called the Hotel Adriatic - Annex.  A little bit cheaper than the Hotel Adriatic proper but with the same beach access and decent looking pictures on the website.  Let's just say the pictures lie.  The carpet was thread bare, the walls were in serious need of paint, the cleanliness was questionable, and the bedding and decor looked like it was left over from the former Yugoslavia.  So after 5 minutes standing in the room trying to decide if we dared to lay down on the bed, we headed back to reception.  They graciously agreed to upgrade us to a room in the Hotel Adriatic (not the Annex) for a 50% upcharge.  We paid it.   The main hotel was about 100% better than the Annex (which I guess is a good deal considering we only paid 50% more) but that's still not saying much.  In a nutshell, don't stay there.  The only redeeming factor was that our new room had a balcony and this was the view.

 

Finally, we walked along the water to some much nicer looking hotels and restaurants for dinner.  The food was decent, the view was great, and the dessert was delicious.   Overall, still not a bad way to spend your birthday.

#ibmcsc Turkey 8

First day of work

A short post for today...
Today was our first day of real work at the customer site: Izmir Institute of Technology.  We had some great meetings with the IZTEKGEB project team this morning, then a tour of the campus, a short meeting with the college president, and then out to lunch in the nearby town of Urla.   The food was amazing.  It's normally a buffet type restaurant but since we had a large group they set out a selection vegetable dishes for the first course, then 3 meat dishes (2 beef, 1 lamb), and finally desserts and Turkish coffee.  Then we spent a few more hours with the client to define the scope of the project and then back to the hotel around 6pm.

A few people went out for a walk and shopping along the sea shore but I decided to call it an early night and spent the evening in my room catching up on my blogs.  I also had a really nice long Skype session with Z & E.

#ibmcsc Turkey 8

Introductions

Monday was our kickoff with our host organizations.  This morning we had time to prepare a few remarks and them met with the hosts at the Chamber of Commerce building a few blocks from the hotel.  The presentations went well and we had a nice social hour afterwards with our hosts / clients.  Tomorrow we go to Izmir Tech University to meet the full project team and start the real work.

Sub-Team 2 with our translator
Nazli, Sara, Zoran, Viv, Bharat

Kickoff presentation

Reception

View from the reception

This evening, a few of us decided we needed a few groceries and Seda had said she’d seen a supermarket ‘on the street across from the Swissotel’.  We knew where the Swissotel was.  The problem is there are about 6 different streets that radiate from the block where the Swissotel is located.  So after wandering for a few minutes, Viv decided to ask someone for directions.  She hesitantly approached the first couple we saw walking down the street and asked “Do you speak English?”  

“Yes, what can I help you with?” the stranger replied in perfect English. 

A little too perfect. 

“Where are you from?” we asked. 

“San Jose, California” he replied. 

But, despite being as far from home as we were, he actually did know where the supermarket was!

Proof that we found the grocery store

Elly, the Cheetos were purchased in your honor.  I’m too far away to share them with you but just go ask Grandpa for some … I’m sure he has a stash somewhere he’ll share with you.

#ibmcsc Turkey 8 

From Istanbul to Izmir

Sunday was our official kickoff day.  We started with a team briefing at the hotel in Istanbul and then all flew together to Izmir. 

Zoran might kill me for posting this but I have to tell you what a feat it is for Zoran to be on the team with us and how glad we are to have him.  Without Zoran we might have lost Viv forever! (see Viv’s blog for the full story… it’s a good one.  I'll update this page with the direct link when she posts it.)  Anyway, Zoran is deathly afraid of flying so it was a huge commitment for him to fly all the way from Australia to Istanbul and then get on another plane a few days later to fly to Izmir.  Thank you Zoran for taking the big leap to be here.

 

In Izmir, we checked into our hotel.  I think we’re spoiled!  While not as luxurious as Taxim Hill in Istanbul, this hotel is pretty great compared with what other CSC teams have had.  For those left at home - never fear, we are well taken care of!

And finally dinner.  Our hotel is only a block from the water so we had a beautiful walk along the water and dinner at an outdoor seafood restaurant.

#ibmcsc Turkey 8

First Impressions

It's after midnight and I still haven't posted updates from Croatia but I wanted to jump ahead and blog my first impressions of the team while they were still first impressions.

Most of the team flew in sometime yesterday so today was our first chance to meet as a group.  Nothing formal, just a loosely formed plan to meet in the hotel lobby at 10am and go sightseeing.  We all 'know' each other in the sense that we have each other's Blue Pages picture and have heard each other's voices on the phone during our weekly calls for the last 3 months.  But it's a whole different thing to finally put a real person with a name and a voice.  To me, the pre-work calls were something to get through as a requirement for getting to Turkey but I didn't feel like they were particularly successful at helping us to really get to know our team mates.  Maybe that was just me and the fact that the calls were at 6am U.S. Mountain Time and I was barely awake.  But the amazing thing is ... after 5 minutes of meeting in person I felt like we'd all been friends forever.  I'm sure the pre-work helped with that but it's amazing what meeting face to face can do.

Now keep in mind that some of us had been in Istanbul for a few days, some just flew in late last night, so trying to decide what to see as a group was challenging.  'A bit like herding cats' is the way Viv put it.  But we set off towards the old city and somehow managed to keep all 11 people in tow while navigating the funicular, the tram, and the crowded Istanbul streets.  I'll post more details about the sightseeing later but I wanted to post the following picture tonight.  We started at the Basilica Cistern and inside they had a photo 'booth' setup where you could dress up as sultans and princesses and have your picture taken.  I'm not even sure who first suggested that we get one but before you know it, 8 of us were dressed in our finest royal gear and our first (partial) team photo was taken.

Front Row (L to R): Antonio (Mexico), Sara (U.S), Serina (India), Tsubasa (Japan)
Back Row (L to R): Sanjay (India), Frank (U.S), Subra (U.S), Kazufumi (Japan)

Then some more sightseeing stuff (more on that in a future blog) and finally a late team dinner.

The Team

So, my first impressions ... 1) This is going to be a fun group that is open to goofing around as well as working hard and 2) It's amazing how 15 people from 8 different countries can enjoy a 3 hour Turkish dinner together and I'll bet no one in that restaurant would have ever guessed that we all only met a few hours ago.  It's going to be a good month.

#ibmcsc Turkey 8