This blog deserves and update :P

Thanks Karuna for reminding...I just got back from the shop, today's plan is not to do anything and cook :P

Well, it's also something strange from me that I don't want to do anything, and I'm just alone for the weekend in the house, my predecessor left, Oksana on part-time job (hiking...I would love such a part time job :)), but in the same time I'm now in a mood that it's better if nothing happens, I don't meet people and stuff. I did not became anti-social, far from that, just I need time when my brain is digesting that nearly three weeks behind me. Not like thinking deeply of what has happened, just let leave things as they should be, nothing extraordinary to happen (ok, buying 250 gramms of minced meat was kind of hard still to explain to the butcher, but I managed :P). I think this is the feeling when you want the world slow down...but I don't want it for long...just wait a bit until it accelerates again :P

So, just a brief outlook to the last 10 days (as I checked the blog it's been 10 days I wrote). They have been busy...I think the frequency of my updates do show that I was running arund crazy.

"It is not necessary to change. Survival is not mandatory." ~W. Edwards Deming

I just found this quote, laughed a lot on it, but then I realized that this is what is happening with me in the last few weeks. Yeah, again a very smart saying, change is important, we all know, but where lies the real change, well not in structures, in really simple things.
I think the best example for this is todays shopping and cooking. I went to the shop with the desire of: I want salad, I want green, something light, but still filling. I think those who know my original eating habits (meat with meat, sidedish possibly meat) understands the way it describes changing on the ground level. And also that I want to cook, and not for the sake of saving money (ok, it's also on the list :) ), but just to enjoy the process of running in the kitchen for about an hour and then eat what you made (burnt :P)

Also my predecessor left. Many people would think that, wow, you are now left alone, it must be scary. It was, before it happened. And I think it is my nature that before things happen I'm afraid of them, but when they happen I'm up to them. It's been anyway strange for me in the last few days before Saba left that I'm relying on someone and not making my own decisions. In the last days it made me feel uncomfortable and strange...this is kind of realizing what happened in the last one year, I pretty much got used to be on my own and take the necessary risk (the calculated one, haha :) ). So in the same time it was scary to be left without my Slave Master and to be alone, and also gave me back my belief in independence and free choice.

Other things are also just happening. I needed to learn all arabic numbers (how they look like when you write them down), cause I'm preparing for financial audit and it's funny to sort out bills of you don't know what is on them :) So, it came and happened (I'm still not an expert, but improving).
Also the matter of turbulent environment is well described by one of the situations, just happened:
So we were preparing to present a grant proposal for 10.000 Euros, doesn't really matter what exactly it was about. So, we had Szaki type of preparation for two days, creating the ppt, feedbacking it with supporters from USAID/SABEQ, even simulating the presentation (my MCP, Lana should have done the AIESEC part, me the grant itself).
Well, we were going into the presentation with the belief that everything is set up (this is why we had to send the presentation in advance). Then it turns out, that the projector gave up and is not accepting the signal from the laptop any more (2 minutes ago it did :P). Fighting with the laptop and equipment, and suddenly the head of the grant committee said: ok, if this is not working, let's test how well you know your own grant without ppt and notes. Our supporters for the grant in shock of what is going to happen now....but it went well, we got the feedback of being well prepared...and we got the grant too, just to menion results too :)

So this was one of the good stories of the week, besides trying to understand financial arabic at the auditor (thanks Lana for helping out :)), having 2 interns coming to a new partner, being on the first networking event, leading working groups on deep changes....yaaaay, it's sooo much different then at home. Much more open and faster (well, 2 or 10 LCs also make a difference, but still).
Oh, yeah, and this week I had only phone assistance and did not get lost on my own :P The achievement of the week!!!

Also to mention things besides work...Yesterday we have been to a concert of Zade Dirani. To be fully honest I did not know who this guy is, I only knew that the concert is in the Roman Theater and it's for free with invitation (what we had). So this was the start up. I got a bit interested in this when I read about this guy promoting cooperation and peace in a way of merging musical traditions, having many nationalities in his orchestra.
After the concert I must say it was absolutely amazing! Not just the fact of seeing the old Roman Theater full (about 5000 people) and having the feeling of going back in time to the Roman ages, but really good music and an amazing atmosphere. For how stuffed the theater was, look at the picture ;) And it was also great to meet people not just in AIESEC environment, but something totally not work related, it was simply amazing to see them out of work, people can be so much different, they open up, you start to feel some kind of bond with them.

So, everything is happening around and I think this post is already a long one, though I just scratch the surface of all the things happening, or what I go through. But it's always good to write things down.

And I don't know when my next post will come. Next weekend we will have national conference, then I need to arrange my visa extension and also change flat as we are moving to a new one (oh, yeah, I nearly forgot that we will have an office finally , weeeeeee). I'm trying my best, but I need to find time somewhere I don't know.

And as I said this post is becoming long, so I'm finishing :)

A week ... just running away

Oh, yeah, it is running away and I think it was not even the fastest one, I'm just getting back now to the usual jet plane an MC member is taking at work :)

So, the last week in nutshell (and just to be true to myself, in numbers): 3 Business meetings, 2 visits to Irbid (yeah, countryside rocks :P), 1st SG meeting (amazing!), 1st skype chat with mum :), dealing with 20 excell sheets (at least 5 in the same time), 1st time alone in a taxi (and not getting lost!), 1st time cooking absolutelly alone (and there was only a bit of smoke :P), meeting and meetings and more meetings to come like an endless flow (fun to have people around...it charges me up), about 200 e-mail sent, 1st ever rugby match visited (Yella Jordan!), having free weekend (yuhuuu, new discoveries in life!), 1st live chat with my MCP...and having less then 1 week until I will be alone to handle ER and Finance in Jordan!

Well, I guess you see that things are happening around me, mainly work, but June, July is usally like this. I hope when the full team will come together we can hang out a bit, see more from the city (yeah, that means more photos :P).
What I'm also glad about is that slowly I'm back to my usual productivity. Why it is cool? Besides being happy of being productive it also means that slowly I'm getting used to the environment...or at least I get used to have strange and new things around me every time...and that I learn not to get surprised on anything :) Slow process, but it is going on ;)

There is something interesting just reading back one line, about learning not to get surprised. It's in a way like taking things how they come, but on the other hand is making your way whatever is happening. It is easy to get lost in here (and I'm not meaning that where you go) just simply everytime something new and somthing different is coming and it is sometimes really hard to keep the speed. It is like a race or a competition with time and I just realized that if you go into deep surprise on everything new 2 things will happen: 1. Many other things you will just miss, so you won't understand things, 2. you just feel down that again, you were not fast enough to adjust course, method, style of speach (spelling...sorry Firas). It is a deadly intersting race though. It's not like you have the court, the curve and you just race with known people or oponents. It's like you want to get through fast in a jungle, and you don't know what you find under the next leaf, behind the next tree (or crazy taxi driver :P They are anyway fun :)). So welcome everyone in the big race...let's join yours and test your acceleration and try and impress everybody around you (if you can...the challenge is yours)

Ok, I think I'm getting philosophical, just simply this is my mood. Writing down things helps to digest (not your dinner :P), so I'm guessing you gonna get a few of such post in the next year...such as life.

And yeah I know the common request...more photos :)

Photos

I hae uploaded a few photos to this website:
http://szakiinjordan.freeweb.hu/

It will be refreshed continuously, just my internet is not the best ever to upload photos :)

Traffic, shoping, moving...so things which supposed to be usual

Ok, so I thought of sharing some exciting things happening with me in these days.

The very funny in these things is that they used to be usual activities, part of everybody's daily routine...but what we were always saying to new people: abroad you have to set up your new daily routine. And that is really true! It's not just to set this routine for yourself...but how to set anything in a country where that is the smallest thing, that you don't understand what is on the bus, or the wall....you don't even know if that is a graffiti or a word (well, graffiti here is toughly punished, so you can get that it's a word, but if anyone would ask me what does it say, I could not even tell how many letters I can see).

So the first thing: traffic and moving in the city. To all Budapest people hating BKV! BKV is something, modern, precise and organized! Enjoy it! Anyway I have noticed that back home people have the tendency of not recognizing the small cool things. Bitching about building the 4th Metro line? Here you are lucky if you see a bus! Which is anyway expensive, unpredictable and drops you off really far from everything. So people here rather use taxi (well, the pricing is also no the same...here a kilometer is about 25-50 HUF (see, one zero less!). Although still it seems for me that travelling will be the biggest cost here (a full price adult BKV monthly ticket would last here for like 2 weeks or half a month if you are lucky). It's also another funny challenge to know where you are going...and to tell it to someone who only speaks arabic....fun, I will learn by time :)

Other expereience: Shopping! First taks: recognize a shop! If that is done, then find out what you need, pray that they have something similar. Not like me buyoing bread. It took me three rounds in the shop, because here bread is something like small plates, and about 10-15 pieces makes up 1 kg. The taste though (it's of course different) is really good, I like it quite much (at home I would have never eaten this much bread :)). Especially with a good soup :). So I took a few rounds, finally also found bread. Then getting back home. Fine....which is the street? Here they all look sooo similar, so I was wondering around for half an hour (it was around 8 pm, so getting even dark :)). Then I wrote an SMS to Oksana (this time I still did not have a Jordanian phone), that which is our street. The funny thing that just when she replied, I found the street :) But from now on for sure I will know where I live :)

But anyway, now I have my phone, so if I get lost I will be able to find my way. But also now I know that from any part of the city I just drop into a taxi, and ask the guy to drive me to 2nd circle (we have 9 in Amman) and from there it's like 2 minutes on foot.

I know that sometimes daily struggling is not that much interesting. I just wanted to show that what people are talking about: that you loose reality on everyting, that's actually really true. And this is the fun part of it! Take this, because it teaches you to like what you have and appriciate every small success in life (like finding your home...or bread :P). And take this attitude home. It's not just about being smart and creative and being able later on to find your way in any environment, it's about an attitude, of aiming for more, but still enjoying what you already have!

And just a few words about work (yeah, I'm not just getting lost in the city, but also doing stuff :P). I was at LC Irbid (yeeeeey, the first LC to visit, out of two, but still! And again a countryside LC....AIESEC Hungary, now laughing :P). It was good to see an LC meeting, getting to know my first VP on my team (thanks Amal for the great chat!) and getting to know how things are working. And naturally transition is going on. Today I had finance...it's getting to be clear know, as I started to do it, not just talk, but for the first time General Ledgers, accounts receivable, etc. was kind of confusing. It's not only about not knowing how finance works in this country, but the point that so far I have learnt and done these thing in Hungarian! Though I was lucky to work in the MC, so that these words at least made sense, but connecting them to my accounting experience and knowledge is fun. And for the next week we already have some company meetings set, so I'm really getting into the work now. It's cool, because that connects me to people and kills the feeling of being stuck in a house with some internet.

So, just all based on these: it might sounds hard...and it is, but if you have a chance to live abroad on your own for a longer time, then just go ahead and do it. I'm here for 3 days and it already thought me stuff!

Arriving to Amman, Jordan

Ok, so finally I put my feet on the field of Jordan I just landed a day ago in Amman, Queen Alia International Airport...but the way to here is a kind of funny (not that weird) story.

Well, then let it come from the beginning, so first thanks to those people who came to the airport in Budapest, or sent an SMS, called or stuff. Well after I boarded the plane (that also took a while) the fun part was coming. I was going by Royal Jordanian, so I could not understand anything. That's really true that you feel that they say much more things on their native language (this time arabic) than on English. Well this can sound like 'ok, and what's the deal?'. The deal is when an upset passanger started to make a debate around something which I did not understand at the beginning...but I could get that even though we are in delay we won't leave until the guy won't sit down. Later I could get what they are mostly talking about, and trust me it was something like a ridiculous detail, but made a whole plane waiting for half an hour. But then we could finally go:)

At the end of the flight there were not much clouds up in the air, so I really had a lovely view of the Middle East from 35.000 feets. Unfortunately my camera was not strong enough to get a good view, and later I had to switch it off because of the landing, but trust me that desert might seems uninhabited, but definitely it is something makes your brain move...I don't really know how it does, but because I was looking out of the window like 5 thoughts at a time were coming to me.

Ok, and then landing...fine keeping the half an hour delay...then going to the row for the visa (which took me another half an hour, but I must mention that they were done with about 100 people in this half an hour, so hats off). I started to feel bad, that Oksana and who knows who else is waiting for me for an hour know, but such as life. Then finally after two more luggage checks I could exit....and finding noone there. Ok, I said, go one more round, and one more...still noone. Then, though it is expensive, let's call Saba or Oksana....and then...a nice ladies sound in the phone started to speak arabic. The only word I could understand was 'shukran' meaning thank you. Very good, but what do you thank for. Luckily the voice continued in English, saying that I'm in the Orange Jo network, and because of new regulations I can not make calls....well this was the state of entering panic. But then immediatelly I started to say myself: will panic help you? No...so let's find out something else. I went a round to get a public phone. Of course I did not even find any, not to talk about the fact that I would have needed a phone card for that, which I had no idea where I wil get, but anyway that intended to be the next step, but as I could not find any public phones I desperatly needed C option. So I though of changing roles. Usually coming out from an airport you find people showing nice sheets of paper stating names...so I thought of 'let's have a sheet saying: AIESEC' anyone recognizes this name for sure will be able to help me, at least to give a call to Oksana, that I'm lost :) But suddenly Oksana and Abeer (my team mate) appeared before me starting to write the paper, explaining that they thought I will arrive to the other terminal and they were searching for me like for one hour. So it was fun to find each other, but after a bit of stress we managed. Based on this just one advice to anyone going abroad: don't panic, you have more alternatives then you have ever thought of and your creativity can reach levels you never knew existing :)

After the funny meeting everything went smoothly, getting into the car, having a small night sightseeing (and seeing not much) when driving to Oksana's and Saba's place where I will stay for 1 month. Arriving there, chatting, sending e-mails that I'm alive, etc. and then getting to bed about 1 am. Another fun thing was to realize that electronic plug points are similar to the Hungarian ones...but not fully the same. Why is it interesting? Because I could plug my shaver, battery charger, phone charger, but not my laptop...cool, but the problem is already fixed, I got an adapter for it for 500 filsz (about 120 HUF), so it's all right now:)

The next day, as it is a working day, we just entered about heavy transition with Saba (meanwhile getting adapter :P). We went to a caffe, where we could get wifi. Or at least she could, becuase mine just resisted to connect. I got a bit pissed off, as we have no office I got scared that then where I'm going to get internet, even a slow and bad one, but still connection to the world. Well, after 2 hours my wifi suddenly decided to work without any problems. I guess it also need time to adapt to the reality :P

Oh, and one more thing...I finally have stuff to do, which I'm happy about, though I still really feel disconnected from the flow of information, but it will change by time (hopefully).

Tomorrow I'm going to Irbid with Oksana and try to also make some pictures, so tha I can publish the first few photos :P

I guess this is it for today, have fun!