After the end what is next

'Ok it is ended but what is next, what is waiting for us ' this was most commonly asked question after the program finished. Now I am back to İstanbul, back to my job and it has almost been a month after arrival. Time passes so quickly, unconciously, even without letting you know that it is passing away.
Work here, is not like in WFP, more chaotic, hectic, dynamic, cannot say peaceful but can say more buerocratic than last year. I found it much more complicated and we are spending meaningless time on such tools, just to keep what we are doing, but I think we are missing the main point which we should care.

coming to the end of the story...

And this is the end of the story. More or less one year is over and we will have the debrief session while briefing session is still like yesterday for me.

I am already so excited to see all other friends and to listen to their stories.
If I summarize this experience in a word it was a “lifetime” experience.

One year before and after, nothing is the same...

last weekends, last activities

We are coming to the end, but before finishing this lovely journey, I wanted to add some more good memories to my heart.

So this weekend I went to San Felice Circeo national park, in the 90 km south of Rome. I took riding lessons, rode in the national park, cycled to Sabaudia, San Felice Circeo and some other places which I don't know the names.
I stayed in Baia d'Argento, it is in the middle of Sabaudia and Circeo.
It was very easy to reach there. I took the Cotral bus from Laurentina station to Circeo and after 2 hours I was there, just for €5.5.
Apart from riding and cycling, plenty of activities you could do. There are tennis courts, flying schools, and windsurfing school, trekking, hiking possibilities in the park and you name it. But I got the impression that during summer it is getting so crowded, so April May is best time in my opinion.
The place, I went for horse riding is Sea Horse Riding Club . They are very good at that, and know what they are doing. The place is in the Circeo National Park and there are so many things to do.
Sabine (riding trainer) is a German and really kind, speaks Italian, English and of course German. After my first and bad riding experience, I've decided to overcome my fear and went there. While talking to Sabine, I felt that I will do it, and in a few minutes I was on a horse, and at the end of lesson, I was tottering. So you see how brave I am :)

The place I stayed is called Bahia di Buzios, they are neighbours with the riding club. You can hear the horses from your room. It is a family running house Marisa speaks very well English. She and her husband, they were both so kind and bicycle service was the best thing to have there. B&B is in a quite place, has a big garden, and the only thing you hear in the morning is singing birds.

Just go there and try it, to see how beautiful is the nature there.

it is getting closer

More or less 9 months is gone and 2 months is left. I've already started doing some evaluation of the last months. How was it, did I really find what I want, was I able to make most of the time, was I good for WFP, was it good enough for me, did it worth everything? Really...
There are so many questions that I ask myself. Still thinking but no matters what I decide at the end. At the end it is obvious that this year has added much to me.
There is still so much to do, I 've just had a new project so maybe instead of thinking answers to these questions, I should be back and work a bit more :))

Spring in Italy

In January I was planning to go to the north for skiing, but when March arrived I saw that it is already Spring here. It is 19 degree, trees are blooming, weather is smelling fresh, birds are singing spring songs... So it is happy, I am happy, and having a coffee outside is just a pleasure.
Maybe this weekend I go to parks and take some blooming tree picture. It is lovely being here.

WFP is helping the ones in Haiti, and need your support...

and you can help them by donating and also visiting their sites. http://www.wfp.org/
You will see how many project is going on there. WFP is running very big operation in Haiti.
Unfortunately, when an earthquake hits a country first few weeks we see it in the reports, TV and media, and unfortunately after one months, you rarely see or hear it, and after two months you see nothing.
It has already passed a month by now, and there are many people facing, without food, without home, without anything. WFP was there just after the earthquake hit, and they are still there and will be for long time. There are hundreds of WFP employee have gone to Haiti to run the operations, and they are still going.

If you are wondering how you can help them to support the operations in Haiti, here are some examples.
- You can place your loved ones faces to the Wall. Here is the link to the Wall. Basically what you need to is, you donate and create and interactive card and share it with your loved ones,
- You can donate by clicking the link,
- You share the links, spread the word, make it possible...

To follow latest news in Haiti, this is the page http://www.wfp.org/crisis/haiti.

What I have learnt about Christmas...

Yes Christmas season is nearly over. As a person lived in different religion area, yes I knew Christmas, as 25th of December, but I didn't know these details about Roman Catholics traditions.

- 8th of December, is celebrated as 'The Feast of the Immaculate Conception of Mary', click to link to read more about it. But it mainly means "the conception of the Virgin Mary without any stain ("immacula" in Latin) of original sin" And starting from 8th they put some little status in or in front of the churches, animating the that period of time. Starting from immaculation till Christ birth. These status called 'Presepe' in Italian, it means 'nativity scene'. They keep it until end of first week of January.
On this day, it was holiday in Rome, but not at WFP :(

- 24th of December as Christmas Eve. It is the day before Christmas. But then I learnt that in some cultures Christmas is celebrated not on 25th of December, but on 6th of January, and it is said that, this is they has different calender systems that time.
And another thing I forgot, they have biig cake (could be with raisins, or cocao or plain) and we have that cake with prosecco! :) It doesn't have to be on this date, but around Christmas they eat it. It's called Panettone. immm the one with raisins is delicious.

- 6th of January as Epiphany day. In some cultures they celebrate the Christmas on this date. It is a celebration for having the Christ in person. In Italian they call it Befana and it was holiday here(not in WFP).
Apart from it's holy meaning, on these days, the witch La Befana flies with her wooden groom and brings sweet things for children (of course chocolates). I like her story so much, just click the link and read more. It is also what I heard here. On this day they hang big socks on their doors and in general they fill them with chocolate.

Being a child here, around December especially, sounds full of fun and presents and chocolate. What a child wants!

ps: I've just learnt that, if the children do not behave well during the year they get some candy, look like coal! Yesterday after the lucnh we had coffee at a place and I saw that candy. You'd think that it is burnt sugar. Black and in some weird shape!
Well, nothing for free.

Wall Against Hunger - The perfect gift in 3 steps

Maybe some of you know maybe not. WFP has a great project called "Wall Against Hunger", you click, you donate and you put your note on the wall!
You feed a child in honour of your loved ones and put a photo with your message, and send it to them

It's really cool, check it out!
http://wall.wfp.org/

Life in Italy

As you may know, Italy has very good opportunities for many outdoor activities. There are many mountains, lots of natural parks, lakes and etc. But the important thing is to reserve all these natural resources as they are. And this is something that Italy does well.

To cut it short, these days I am enjoying Italy's lovely trekking paths :) On the first of November I went to 'Parco Nazionale d'Abruzza' and had a long trek around d'Abruzzo and Molise. And this Saturday again joined the group SentieroVerde and went to 'Monte Lepini' and the path was unbelievably great. We walked nearly 7 hours and enjoyed the colours of autumn with lovely people.

Besides having walked on colourful paths, the style of Italians how they do these tours, is really admirable. There are some kind of organizations, but they are not commercial, and when you join their tours, you just share the cost of journey.
You pack your lunch, they supply you the guidance and kindest hearts :)
Just to give you an example, last Saturday, the cost of trekking on Monte Lepini, having great time, enjoying the colours, and building new friendships, was only 6 euros.

As these were just starting, will be contuined. I am also invited to their cross-country trips. I have never done it before, but why not to try here :)
Last but not least, another good thing about these people are, they also welcome the disabled people. The first week there was a guy with crutches and he completed all the path. I've admired him and the trek leaders of course.

to be continued...

My sister is coming

My sister is coming on this Thursday :) I have many plans to do with her. I am already very excited and looking for the moment she will arrive.

What am I doing these days

It has been long time I didn't write anything to my blog(you see, I was very busy, :)
For nearly a month I was working on Technical Support ToRs document, which has never written before. As we are trying make our processes align with ITIL, this was one of the study we should be completed shortly. With this ToR doc, we are aiming to clarify the process dealing with OMIS and ICC. During the whole month I met with very different people around, and collected as much info as I could, and finally understood the workflow between SD, OMIS and ICC (I know these acronyms are crazy) and drew work flows and wrote the basic and alternative flows. It is not finished yet, but most of the work is done. At the end of this study now I am much clearer about the work processes here, and I think they have also much clearer idea, compared to past.

And it is not all, before that I started working on runbooks, especially service runbook, but of course service runbook could not exist without server runbook, so I also involved server runbook template study. At fist I searched internet hoping to find a well-prepared template but it was not possible. I also asked all my friends around, but they never did before so they couldn't help. At the end, I sat down and prepared one, and after some negotiations, I think next week I will finalize it and add to the ToR doc.

Last, but not least, I am also working on 'applications takeover project', which means that, there are many applications around, they are running live but unfortunately not under ICT control. So whenever an incidents happens with the applications they are not able to request help from ICT, unless it is not under ICT portfolio. So we have started an initiative, are contacting with the application owners and explaining the project and starting a takeover project, which leads everyone to a happy end.

Language lessons

When I first arrived Italy I understood that I have to learn Italian while living here, to make the life easier and enjoyable. During the the office hours it is all ok. But when I leave the office and and in the heart of Rome, especially when I am in the market for shopping, I realize that language is really a communication barrier in front of me.
Till today I was studying on my own. It was ok, but not efficient as I need.
Here in Italy everything is on hold during summer, even language schools. It was same at WFP. When I asked about the lessons, I am told that, they are on holiday now, and will be starting in the September. And finally today, Italian course for beginners is started. I think I was the first person registered :)
But actually this was obvious that I would attend Italian lessons, it is not the news. The news is I also started French lessons. Yes I am studying both Italian and French.
In my team two widely spoken languages, apart from English of course, are Italian and French.
A few weeks ago when we were chatting with some colleagues, one told that, I could study both. That time I didn't think that it is a good idea. But now, I see that, it was a good idea.
Last week I made my mind up and decided to take both lessons and started French lessons on Friday.
So now on Monday and Friday, I am attending French lessons, on Tuesday and Thursday attending Italian lesson.
Will see how it goes :)

WFP open session and global warming

A few days ago internal communication sent the below email. That day I put a notification to my calender, to not to miss this opportunity. These meetings are important to understand the WFP, its mission and future plans well.
"Rome Colleagues:
With August holidays behind us, we resume our every-other-Thursday forum at HQ this Thursday, 3 Sept., promptly at 8:30 in the Gazebo behind the cafeteria.
We kick off the fall with an informal "open session" with two deputy executive directors. Please join Chief Operating Officer and DED for Operations... and DED for Resource Management and Accountability... for a conversation about issues of the day.
Come with questions about any pressing issues; remember, this is your forum. Chances are, if there's something you don't understand, others don't understand it either. If you would like a certain topic to be addressed but are uncomfortable speaking in public, feel free to email me your question in advance.
To increase communication between HQ and the field, this Thursday, for the first time, we are patching in field staff by audio , so staff in country offices will be able to benefit from the conversation taking place. Please arrive on time so we do not keep country staff waiting.
There will be an opportunity for general announcements at the end. "

Today we also had field offices connected to the meeting. I hoped my other Vodafone colleagues were there.

My main understanding, from this meeting was, WFP is taking care of global warming as much as food aid. Because as we all know, global warming effects to the food productivity and then same story. Less food, and less nutrition...

To stop global warming, do something today. For example change your bulbs with the energy saving ones. Today EU banned the wasteful energybulbs on 1st of September, just 2 days ago. To read about it check this link out.

PS: I was not sure to put the director's name, so put ... instead.

Trieste and It's lovely people-1

I had an unbelievable 3 days in Trieste. The first day we arrived there with Serena and had our lunch at Scarpon. If you go Trieste go there and have pasta with sea food. It was the best I've ever had. It is not the only thing we had but I will not write all :)
After lunch we walked around, had some coffee, did some shopping and said bye to each other.

Then I headed up to the Castello di St. Guisto.
This is Trieste from the Castello di St. Guisto's window.


After the castel I went to the Napoleonica for walking. It was already 7:30 so I couldnt spend much time, just did 1,5h walking in there. But I like the idea, in the city there is a lovely path. You can do walking, jogging... By the time I left there, it was already dark.

The next day, early in the morning I met with the group, we splitted into groups and got on cars. Serena arranged this tour for me, thanks her again.
We stopped at a Rifugi(hut). Then started for 4h trekking to Mount Matajur. After 2,5h we reached to the summit.
Matajur is on border of Italy and Slovenia and Austria.

Below you see my picture, my left side is in Slovenia, right side is in Italy :)
After we left M.Matajur we we went to river to swim :) I didn't know this plan so didn't have my swimming suit with me. But Anna had two pairs and gave one to me :)
After good swimming we went to a pizzeria and of course had a pizza. We had a nice chat during the dinner, we talked and laughed a lot. Yana, she is Ukranian and a ballet teacher, asked me, if I wanted to spend Sunday with her? We promied to meet at 9am. She would come to my hotel at 9. Then they drived me to my hotel.
The next, at 9 she was there waiting for me....
tbc..

FerraGosto, Trieste, couch and trekking

Next Monday the 17th is holiday at WFP, in lieu of 15th. It is FerraGosto. And I am not missing this opportunity to do some excurtions and going to Trieste (then Venice). Trieste is a city on the north-east part of Italy, has good trekking possibilities, the activity which I like most.
But I made my mind very late and till now couldn't find a guided trekking and a couch yet.
I forgot my GPS in Istanbul, my friend (actually my boss in Turkey) will come to Rome and bring it but on 17th Monday. But it is late for this trip, of course. It is good to have a GPS, espacially when you are trekking on the mountains which you don't know well. Anyway, If I can't find anything I will do my best and will try to do some on my own :) Lets see.

If you ask what FerraGosto is, it is Assumption Day, Assumption of Mary. And here in İtaly it is kind of festival.
From wikipedia "The Assumption of Mary is the traditional belief held by Christians of the Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Anglo-Catholic, and some Protestant churches that the Virgin Mary at the end of her life was physically taken up into heaven. ..."
If you want to read more click the above link.

Accomodation mission accomplished, what is next?

This weekend, I've moved to my lovely apartment at Monteverde. It is very well connectedten minutes to center and fifteen minutes to WFP office. The area is very peaceful, quiet and lovely. You have your breakfast with singing birds, take a deep breath of fresh air.
Where am I? In Rome, at Monteverde area, on Via Pietro d'Assisi street.
If you come to Rome, don't go without saying hello.

Here is my garden, and unfinished breakfast :)










And this is my living room with garden view.

thanks to Google Translator :)

These days I am struggling with the language here. I have just received a mail from the local bank here, but it was all in Italian.
And what I did is pasted all the letter to Google Translator and cliked 'translate' button, then a magic happened and all the letter was translated in English. This is really a great service.
Try and use it, and it is very stabil and reliable.

Here is an example part of the letter to show how powerful it is:

ITALIAN PART
Luglio 2009

Autenticazione forte per l'accesso a SCRIGNOInternet Banking

Gentile Cliente,

La informiamo che a partire dal 23 luglio 2009 sarà possibile personalizzare il livello di sicurezza dell'accesso a SCRIGNOInternet Banking.

L'autenticazione forte, già obbligatoria per le operazioni dispositive, potrà infatti da Lei essere resa necessaria anche per il normale accesso alle funzionalità informative del servizio.
...............

ENGLISH TRANSLATION
July 2009

Strong authentication for access to SCRIGNOInternet Banking

Dear Customer,

We inform you that from 23 July 2009 you can customize the security level of access to SCRIGNOInternet Banking.

The strong authentication, which is already mandatory for running the operations, you may indeed be needed even for normal access to informative features of the service.
............


You see, it is great :)

thanks to Google...

sitting at Caffe Good at Trastevere, one of the best of Rome

Yes today is Sunday and there is lovely weather here, and I just had a great "pizza quatro formaggio" at Carlo Mente and now having a cup of coffe at Caffe Good.
Yesterday I walked for nearly 5 hours around Testaccio, Monteverde, Quatro Venti and ended up at Trastevere. There was an occasion here at Trastevere, this is a very lively place, lots to see. Even you can spend hours just sitting and watching the people. I took lots of pictures by my mobile, yesterday and today and will upload soon. You should see them :)

back from sweet home and still looking for an apartment :)

After a lovely weekend, lets get back to work :) I saw nearly all my family. I especially wanted to see my little nephews, becuase the last time I saw them was 4-5 years ago. And they are not little anymore. But they both are so sweet. Play, jump, sing we did every kind of funny things.
Now I am back to my work. As time goes by I am getting used to here. I am learning projects and understanding my role, getting used to Italy, Italians, Rome, Romans :)
And I am still looking for an apartment. The one in Parco Leonardo was really very far from city, just a stop far from FCO airport. So I wanted to take my time to check some other close to center. Today I checked one in Testaccio, tomorrow will check one in the same area, wrote lots of mails to landlords/landladies. By Monday I wish I would sort out this.

heyoo I got my Carta D'itentita :)

After you arrived Italy, you have to apply for Carta D'itentita within 30 days if you will stay long than 30 days. I applied for it in the first week And yesterday I received a mail from Protocal Unit, which is saying that my Carta D'itentita is ready. This morning I went there and collected my card.
This card is important because, it means that you have the residential permit to stay in Italy. If you will stay more than 30 days in a foreign country, you have to have residential permit.
This is my first time of course, I am learning :)

This time everything is going well. I had my Codice Fiscale, created an account in a local bank, activated internet banking, sent SAI to HR.
Today in the evening I have two appointments to see some apartments at Parco Leonardo. This is a newly constructed place, and all apartments are brand new, very modern, with good and safe environment. Hope one would suit to my needs and we could agree on details. Will see.

Eeeeend, I am going to Istanbul tomorrow and will be back on Monday morning:)