Today, April 4, was the first official day of our Social Sabbatical. It is already April 5 and I need to go to bed soon but I will write something up quickly before I doze off.
We went to SAP BA office for the kickoff. Our MD of the LatAm region kicked off the session. We also had the chance to meet the team members from all the NGOs that are participating in the SAP Social Sabbatical program. SAP chose four local NGOs for the program - Socialab, Ensena Argentina, Puerto 18, and Junior Achievement Argentina. There are twelve of us that are part of the Social Sabbatical in Buenos Aires. We have been split into groups of threes to work with one of these NGOs. I think I already mentioned that I will be working with Junior Achievement Argentina along with Fariba and Vipul. We finally got to meet Matias and Felicitas. Matias is the project manager from JA Argentina and Felicitas is the training coordinator. Before showing up in BA, we had a conference call with them and also exchanged a couple of emails. Finally we get to put faces to the voices we heard. We also got to meet our translator/intern Lucia at the kickoff.
After the kickoff, we went to the JA BA office in the city center to have our first discussions. The JA BA staff were just as excited as our SAP colleagues to meet us. The office is tiny and there are only 12 staff members there. The people in the office were very welcoming and greeted us with smiles and a kiss on the cheek. I wish all our customers did that!
Felicitas spent quite some time with us explaining how JA BA is organized, how the volunteer and student selection process works, the various programs that are offered, and reviewing some of the training materials. Matias later joined us as well. A lot was shared. Both Matias and Feli went through the JA program as students. They worked for JA for free for a while before becoming staff members. Both are quite passionate about JA and their work. They also have a wealth of knowledge and they are willing to share. Matias is an accountant. Feli is a lawyer. Yet both are doing something quite different. If you are passionate about something, then it really doesn't matter what you study.
We had a late lunch. We went to a shopping mall near the office in torrential downpour. Lu recommended an Argentinian fast food shop called Lomitos. It was good. We went back to the office after lunch and spent another hour re-capping what we heard from them. Someone in the office made us coffee. Lu helped us get a taxi back to the hotel.
As I was getting in the taxi and kissed Lu on the cheek, I realized that I forgot to do that to others when I left the office.
I worked out at the gym. Before I left SF, I told my buddies that I plan to work out a lot in BA.
We went to another good restaurant for dinner tonight. I had a salad and sparkling water. I split an order of veal sweetbreads and some Argentinian sausage with Rob and a few others. I kind of missed my roommate Ashley and my buddy Al from SF. The menu had a section of offals. They'd have loved it.
We went to SAP BA office for the kickoff. Our MD of the LatAm region kicked off the session. We also had the chance to meet the team members from all the NGOs that are participating in the SAP Social Sabbatical program. SAP chose four local NGOs for the program - Socialab, Ensena Argentina, Puerto 18, and Junior Achievement Argentina. There are twelve of us that are part of the Social Sabbatical in Buenos Aires. We have been split into groups of threes to work with one of these NGOs. I think I already mentioned that I will be working with Junior Achievement Argentina along with Fariba and Vipul. We finally got to meet Matias and Felicitas. Matias is the project manager from JA Argentina and Felicitas is the training coordinator. Before showing up in BA, we had a conference call with them and also exchanged a couple of emails. Finally we get to put faces to the voices we heard. We also got to meet our translator/intern Lucia at the kickoff.
After the kickoff, we went to the JA BA office in the city center to have our first discussions. The JA BA staff were just as excited as our SAP colleagues to meet us. The office is tiny and there are only 12 staff members there. The people in the office were very welcoming and greeted us with smiles and a kiss on the cheek. I wish all our customers did that!
Felicitas spent quite some time with us explaining how JA BA is organized, how the volunteer and student selection process works, the various programs that are offered, and reviewing some of the training materials. Matias later joined us as well. A lot was shared. Both Matias and Feli went through the JA program as students. They worked for JA for free for a while before becoming staff members. Both are quite passionate about JA and their work. They also have a wealth of knowledge and they are willing to share. Matias is an accountant. Feli is a lawyer. Yet both are doing something quite different. If you are passionate about something, then it really doesn't matter what you study.
We had a late lunch. We went to a shopping mall near the office in torrential downpour. Lu recommended an Argentinian fast food shop called Lomitos. It was good. We went back to the office after lunch and spent another hour re-capping what we heard from them. Someone in the office made us coffee. Lu helped us get a taxi back to the hotel.
As I was getting in the taxi and kissed Lu on the cheek, I realized that I forgot to do that to others when I left the office.
I worked out at the gym. Before I left SF, I told my buddies that I plan to work out a lot in BA.
We went to another good restaurant for dinner tonight. I had a salad and sparkling water. I split an order of veal sweetbreads and some Argentinian sausage with Rob and a few others. I kind of missed my roommate Ashley and my buddy Al from SF. The menu had a section of offals. They'd have loved it.
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