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 :)