Finally - My first above the line project on the run

So, yes, finally my first large scale Above the Line project launched....and because it is launched I can even write about it (place of free advertisement is always welcome :P).

What it is about? (I guess the arabic advertisement on the right is entirely self explaining for Hungarian/English speakers).
So for the coming days Umniah prepaid subscribers can call any international destination and talk for 50% of the price (after the 5th minute).

What is the point? Did you ever try catching up with family or friends abroad in 1-2 minutes...impossible. So imagine if you could call a friend around (Well, me calling Hungary is not the best example.....but let's say Egypt) and for 400 HUF you could talk for 10-12 minutes...

So it does have a certain sense :) We will see how it works...meanwhile I keep preparing the rest, I just needed to really share the first one :)

The Team

Just could not stand not posting this picture :)

This is my team at work...at Umniah. Part of the Marketing department, the Core Products division.

We are (or yet rather Tala and Ahmad) behind all the voice based products as owners, whether they are pre or post-paid.

Definitely an interesting job, giving an excellent exposure on all aspects of marketing...so it is being fun and a nice challenge. Hopefully soon I can post more on what I'm doing exactly!

From left to right: Tala Hamarneh, Ahmed Alasker and guess who (the alien on the right).

Our manager though is not on the picture, so the total team is 4 people.

Anyways, just wanted to give a small snapshot from work :)

A week to negotiate :P

So, I’m writing this post at work, from one of my friends notebook, as my PC over here denies to work for more than 5 minutes in a row (having fun always having it shut down :P)

But anyways, I was not intending to give a full report on my advancements in technology (though I’m learning a good amount working in product development, thus seeing how complicated IT can be :P). My sister asked me to sometimes turn not that very philosophical but to also tell what is happening to me.
While usually not much, I mean nothing unusual, Jordan is not any more the exotic destination, but rather some sort of a second home…so I also live somehow as it would be home. Sometime I go out, sometimes I stay home…nothing like what it feels very special to share.

Until last week! Because obviously there are always surprises and last week a few things what are typically Jordanian just piled up on me. Well, nothing to really worry about, all is sorted and going pretty well, not easy, but cool J
So, what exactly is the line of activities to do – the first round is to be outside of work. Here you go with the list: Residency application pack, Ministry of Interior (Belugyminiszterium), Flat negotiations and deals, Flight ticket for January.

Let’s go step by step. Pack for residency. Usually it is easy, I have been through the process itself, but now of course it is different, as I need to renew it…so no one really have an idea on how to do it, what do you need, etc. So it starts if I need an HIV test…I did it, and then turned out that I do not need it, or I do not need it at least for the ministry part of the procedure. Then the recommendation from AIESEC, for which I needed certain things to be written, in certain format, which for sure turned out only after waiting 4 hours in the Ministry to be sent back home in less than 2 minutes :P

Oh, yes, the ministry itself, lovely place. You only need to wait like 4 hours to get along in the queue, but then it is usually fast to be sent back home to bring a new piece of paper, or change something on another one…always to be told one-by-one, for sure not all points given in one pack :P. So in total I spent 6 hours in the Ministry of Interior. What helped? Well, that is the other typical Jordanian thing. As obviously I do not speak Arabic it is indeed a challenge to communicate with ministry representatives who do not speak a single word in English, despite the fact they deal with foreigners every day for many years of their service. What to do then? The following lessons to be taken care of:
· Do not panic – they don’t really appreciate if they see you nervous….allthough why would you be calm after waiting 3-4 hours, and not understanding a word over what is happening to you :P
· Smile – this truly does open doors!
· Speak 2 sentences in Arabic. Just saying hi and asking how they are in Arabic is totally breaking the ice! They become super helpful, seriously!
· Again don’t panic – coz they will ask or tell you stuff, maybe tell you that you should pay one more visit – just stay smiling, they might end up actually helping you out (this did happen to me by copying my Hungarian national ID – what they do need for the process, though I have certain doubts if they will understand a single word in Hungarian :P)
· And say thank you as many times as something gets along, even it is small Generally pamper them and be nice – so they feel their importance and power – they are like the secretary, who things she is the decision maker…she is not, but she is the gate to the actual situation, if it is blocked, you can complain whatever J
So, cool, one down, now comes the waiting, and on the 2nd of November inshallah I’m going to get an answer – if I get it, then it becomes faster and easier….inshallah of course :D

Then let’s get to the flat situation. Nothing really fancy again, I just wanted to negotiate the rent :P And I did get a discount, not big, but I got J Why is that an achievement from someone who have spent years in partnership negotiations??? Have you ever tried negotiating anything, when it comes down to money!, with basic English and in many cases just relying on body language??? Definite experience! Good advice here – have paper and pens with you, drawing and trying to find out what is on the paper is the best exercise ever, stretches your brains a lot J Back to the stone age almost…but it is a true fun (besides the stress that if it does not work you might get kicked out the next day :P). This one as well is sorted

Flight ticket – good European approach: book online! Aha, as it would be that easy! I book my flight on Royal Jordanian, just to discover when going to pick my ticket up that my flight (no, not the booking!!!) disappeared. Not cancelled, or anything, but simply no sign of it any more in the system, though I booked the day before :P.
Telling me, that there are no flights for the dates what were kind of carved into stone, with other stuff to fix, well, that was not my favorite situation…and honestly I freaked out when they told there are flights only on other dates and for more money (the money is the smallest issue here). So what happened? Again the Jordanian approach – start calling J And forget online crap :P And I did find Egypt Air, on the right dates, for the price what also RJ offered for the new dates…sweet…so I booked on the phone, carefully noting down the dude’s name, who took my booking and then went myself to pick the ticket up, triple checking everything before I actually paid. And yessssss, I have my ticket J Getting back to Hungary for 2 weeks on the 1st of January (prepare for the New Year’s Eve after party!!! I need to recharge my party levels :P)

So, then what really happened? Nothing unusual over here. Just a normal week with a bit of extra stress and finally also solutions to long time pending issues. Which feels pretty good! Totally easing up (though not solving) my mental state I have been writing about in my last post.

Enough of talking, this have become a novel kind of post again :P But now at least writing about actual happenings and not about philosophy :P Comments are welcome!

The missing piece

Have you ever tried to completet a puzzle (with at least a few hundred pieces) and encounter the situation that it somehow doesn't fall into place?And then in most cases discover that most probably a piece is missing, but there are so many you just do not know which one it is?
Well, I kind of have this feeling :)

Because if I list down what is in my life, you just can not find the gap on this list. I have my place, more or less stable :P, work is great, I kind of also have free time :) and I do spend it (even if I go out a bit less, so that I can go home in January), I have my friends here...etc.The first reaction, coming naturally, is that I'm just missing home and family, which I do...but this is not it.I'm not entirely sure if I would have had the same situation if I would have stayed in Hungary, but I think the answer is yes. Coz thinking through the difference of my life here and how it would be in Hungary, well, not that very significantly different.

My usual approach would be that it must be some detail, what I did not take good care about....but it does not feel like.
And now another discovery, just looking back at this very post...full of "feel" and assumptions, haha, seems like I'm slowly learning to listen to my instinct (or I might just have too much time to think, lol).

Anyways, I didn't mean to go overly philosphical. Just when people ask me how am I doing (and now I'm not talking about the daily random nicesties) I'm stuck on how to respond. Because I'm good and doing really fine - and that is true...but not full heartedly...and it is not bad, I do not mean to express I feel bad...just missing that one piece, which I have no idea what it is :D I will scream when I found the piece :)

End of "deep" post, again I managed to reinvent the wheel and shake the world with my wisdom over myself :P

That one month again

Recently I was reading back a few of my previous bogposts...finding some interesting titles :)

One of them said: One month notice...well, here I go again. It has been one month since I'm back to Jordan, so here are a few comparisons and reflections.

Last year around the same time I felt much less at ease with my life and my lifestyle than this time. And no, it is not about the fact that I obviously know my way around much better than I did a y

ear ago (around Ramadan I was already more or less on track), I would look for the reasons somewhere else.

Place number 1 being myself and the effect on my personality of the last year and the recent decisions I have made. Decisions of coming back, decision on leaving AIESEC (and its reasons behind).

Story number 2 - my status. Hmm, this might not be clear, but being on a leadership role vs. being a "random" intern (if I'm an intern, at my company I'm handled totally as junior officer - which I'm truly grateful for!).

Even things around me are totally different or what I do with my days.

Good example is the holiday (though am starting to get a bit bored of it....busy life is suited for me much better :P) - and again the point is hidden in the tiny details.

How much do you see me online? When last year everyone was used to see me there, most of

the time working, but even in my free time being stuck on my laptop, watching movies, being online, chatting or anything else. In comparison this year I barely opened my laptop - and I do feel great about it, even if I keep watching movies, though now on TV :P, because it somehow makes me feel that I have a life.

Or the other point of enjoying every minute of cooking or cleaning around the new place I moved to (hopefully settled for a long time in here) - the point is not the cleaning, but that I care about what is around me, I care about the details and I enjoy caring, enjoy the small fragments of life, a phone call, a random gathering, sudden discovery of a good film on TV or a good random chat with anyone I like (and if I'm online).

I know it sounds a bit cheesy, or like "ok, what is this bullshit again....how can you enjoy cleaning

for 3 days???". But despite that sometimes I think this, in general I feel really good about this new ability of being happy about the small things. Makes me balanced, keeps me going and gets me recharged. And this is awesome....coz I know that my usual sense of responsibility or persistence can keep me going - but it is like getting into a new challenge while charging batteries :)

Challenge? Well, not in its usual sense for me as I'm not (yet) collapsing under workload or I'm not learning a totally new field and handling high risk and stress projects....but I do learn a lot. About myself - now that I have time to think and digest (the last few years at least :)) - about marketing and the telecommunication industry, as my job is truly turning out to be an awesome opportunity.

Through my current job I also do learn to appreciate a lot of things which I thought again to be natural. Like that I can keep sensing the market and in the same time handle numbers and statistics; the ability to learn and understand fast (I definitely delivered a decent surprise to my boss on this matter), the sense of clear but diplomatic communication. Natural, right? For anyone still, or right after AIESEC they all seem like usual traits for 'survival', but well, not in the

corporate world where these small things turn out to be real assets and surprises. (I had my first month evaluation with my direct manager - I was surprised how surprised he was :P He needed convincing that I do not have telecommunications background :P)

About place number 1, the decisions and the reason behind them - this is the part what is hard to formulate into a post...or I guess even in a discussion it would be hard to do. One thing I feel now, that I have made the right choices (though fully only time will judge them) and this does make me feel at ease ;)..and I hope later on I can share more than this.

Besides the philosophic stories I did upload a few more pictures from the company Iftar we had. Iftar is meaning 'breakfast' in arabic, but is usually heard like this during Ramadan when it constitutes the first meal - around 7 pm :P. Here usually companies do organize a gathering for their employees in the form of an Iftar during Ramadan, lovely networking and good fun (though I did not win anything on the draw, hehe). It is good to see around 500 people together, being able to connect to people also informally (I was truly waiting for this opportunity) and enjoying a dinner (khmm, breakfast) together :)

Also another Iftar, the last one during the Holy Month, when I cooked together with a few friends. We spend a whole evening together, from shopping to eating, through cooking....and the necessary shisha (or how it is called here: argeeleh). And the good point is that they live like 200 meters from my place :D looking forward to more fun with the Tunisian gang (unfortunately no pictures yet).

Also my kung-fu trainings have started with the boys, and did have my first arabic class (damn, I need to do the homework :P)...and I really enjoy both the trainings and feeling that I do give in conscious effort into my arabic, really looking forward to some improvements :)

And I guess I could point out many small fun stories...stories of normal hangouts, of daily and lively snapshots. But point being here - even now I'm not someone who has nothing happening with him (and I can put this up on the list of small things taking me forward).

P.s.: Do keep kicking me for more regular updates! With less laptop usage comes less attention on this matter, please do not let me become lazy with my blog and personal updates!!!

Strange....or the opposite

So...I have been for long time delayed with a normal update...so here it comes, already with a controversial title, which actually holds the most important part of the story.

So usually when you go to a foreign country, you should feel very strange...basically for a longer time. But you need to feel alien and have the confusion of not understanding a single thing happening around you.
Well, this is the part which did not exactly happen to me, it was rather re-integration again, seeing things familiar, getting used to some details again.

And honestly speaking, this was one part of feeling strange, I felt the situation strange, coz I did not feel like a total alien. This is most probably just a stupid game of expectations, that when I go back to Hungary you expect to feel home pretty fast, and whatever other country you are in, you do have different expectations.

This is not to say i did not have a down period...actually the first 2 weeks. Getting away from my family, mum, sister and dad...and also leaving friends I feel connected to, was truly not easy. Rather on the opposite, it was way much harder than last time....I mean the first time I left. And then I'm also using now this paragraph to express, that I'm still missing all of them, and I really love them.....and this does not change, rather becomes stronger, with me leaving them again.

So I did have a down period....also that it is Ramadan now, so truly sloooooooooooow. To much freetime at the beginning.

And now comes the part which makes me realize that I'm not a stranger at all here. I still have a lot of 'idle' periods, which is totally normal at this part of the year, with Ramadan.....but things are just filling up :)
I could basically arrange everything what I would need to set up a normal life here. Yeah, am still ahead of moving once more, but then that flat will stay my home at least till the end of next June :P
I also have a bank account...finally :P, Have insurrance, a normal contract, a place to stay.
Also it seems I figured how I'm gonna learn arabic...and have my gym done too :P I will be teaching kung-fu to the brothers of a friend...in return I get my own training in arabic. Lovely, yeah? Looking forward to the first training - tomorrow, yalla :)
Also I do catch up with friends here......and I have time to cook, to just enjoy having a life, it is absolutely re-filling!

So as you can see things are lining up fast, and this is excellent....and why you might get a short response or slow with updates...two reasons :P I either write from work, where I can not really take my time to express that I do feel good :) Or that my mind is just again so full that things come and go....but full with different stuff, of arranging a decent life over here, fun, ya??
(this post also took some time to come alive, I have thoughts of it million times, but when I got the time to sit to the laptop....they were all hiding very well, up to now :D :D)

These cool things are stil weird though...finding my place and other being able to find the right "bracket" for me. Am I an intern, an ex-MC or just a random friend?
But this is also findings its own track now :)

And work, hmmm, excellleeeeent :) After 3 weeks of working my first product idea is already running for multiple approvals...and seems like I could figure something what has never been on this market before :P Hope its gonna work :) How the company finds me? Good question, end of next week I have a first month evaluation with my direct manager (who I must say is an outstanding boss, happy to have a very cool line manager :)), so am gonna get the details of how they feel, and that I also can tell how I feel :P
And it is really great to have work....I mean that it is a constant and important part of my life, but that it is not my entire life. Do not misinterpret me, I would never regret my last years, they made me who I am, but I did and still need this new way of life. And that this lifestyle is charging me up, getting my old energy and drive back, is totally endorsing the decisions now I have made. I must say that although I do miss still many things from my current life, I'm HAPPY and Balanced.....good :P

The weird picture was made on my welcome party over here, at a very nice, but super far place....this party was also part of that feeling I already wrote about with the confusion of "brackets". But it is fine, it is all getting sorted :)

We have also been out to downtown with interns, was just awesome having 8 people from 8 different countries, haha :) People looked a bit weird on this big group of totally mixed foreigners, but I guess this is something I'm getting used to again pretty fast.

Ok, I guess I more or less put down what I wanted....and I will try hard writing more regular updates and posts ;)

There and back again

So, this is to re-confirm that I'm indeed going back to Jordan, on an internship, hopefully rather on a career....well that one we will see.

But this post came alive, beacuse it is not all that simple! No, no point thinking that I changed my mind, or that I'm not happy with this opportunity....but I few things did hit me, a few things are just running around.

I feel .... excitement ... which everyone thinks is natural.... and fear....which most people can not get why.

If we look deeper into this whole situation, then you discover, such as I did, that it is ain't about just going back or hanging around. It is ain't about who do you miss who do you not miss. And last but not least, this fear is ain't about the choice I made.

Then what it is about? It is about that I made a choice!
Not which option I picked....I am totally sure the same fear would squeeze my stomach if I would stay in Hungary.
It is simply I guess that kind of a change of life I have been talking about in previous posts. And that it is all easy to say, that "yeah, I need to make the next step" - the obvious message what everyone can get, but to take the risk and do make a step. This is what this whole mix of feelings is about. I make the next step...and only time will be able to full judge if I did it right or wrong.

With this fear in my heart it is hard to take the critics and it is hard to say to any one that you are true, or you are false.

But getting back to me being natural, all this what I wrote is right, there is a fear of risk in my throat, but I have always been someone lead by conscious decisions. This is meaning that despite the feeling of I can not be sure of my choice, I made it and I'm committed to it.....and I'm sure of it.

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And with all this comes a different line of thought.

I had an intersting conversation with my sister...well, the topic is kind of AIESECy, but could give more if you read between the lines.

This was about whether our interns have talent or not, are they really outstanding individuals or not. Well, quality is always a question, but I think we miss the point.

Whatever great that person is, who decides to go to a basically unkown country, to an almost unknown company for a job described in 5 lines is undoubtedly an outstanding person.

Looking around of people at my age there is one very clear thing distinguishing such people (whether they are AIESEC members or anything else). And this is that they play at their own risk!

Easy to say, to make a choice, easy to say that people will help. Not easy at all. It seems like, because these people make this choice and stand firm to make it happen. Seems they have no doubts, no fears and are affraid of nothing, not even from the unknown.
Some of them more, some of them are less concerned on this matter, but they are the ones who either have less fear, or the ones who do not let themselves to be guided by their fears.
And what is this, if not a remarkable talent of any person possesing this?

The last point for me on the matter is that it is all inside of I guess most people.....but there are only a few who has the guts to use this, and that even if it looks like something small, we all need to start valueing small things in life, as they are the spice of anyones life.

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Ok, pretty phylosophical post, never mind :) It was just good to write it all down, so that I don't forget these things....who knows when the thrill of making such a choice will ever come back :D

The End...or a new start

This video is to kind of sum up my one year in Jordan. Nevertheless this blog is not yet done, I do belive after being home for 10 days, that re-integration is an equally fun part of an international experience, and I also think that it could be of a nice mirror to Hungary.

What comes after? We will see then ;) Enjoy the movie!

Feels like ages

It feels like ages since I got back from MENAXLDS. Not just because time flies so fast (what a true cliche), but also I think I faced a lot of things I did not beforehand and many things are just happening so rapidly.

It is only one month, actually even less :P And I'm already getting nostalgic on my stay in Egypt, hehe. Though I managed to get some new very cool pictures (thanks Firas :P), just one of them over here to showcase my "Jordanization". (I'm on the right....just to make it easier, lol)

But anyways, I remember the times I first go education on the AIESEC Experience....and that I always thought till now that Heading for The Future is the easiest stage :P Well, not really true....and now I also understand why we mark the start of it with the decision to leave, even when you are still in a current role. It is just a different mindset a different way of life.
It is visible in so simple things. I do have the same amount of work....but after 7 pm my brain just shuts down, I'm just hanging around and slowing down totally, until the point of being almost useless in work related things. Is it good? I don't think this is the right question......do I need to change it? No....then what? I need to change the way I work, how to concentrate, and I also need to figure what to do in that time what is given as extra (given as anyways I can not really use much of it for work, even if I would want to).

Also having this job hunt on me...well, the methods in Jordan are pretty unusual for me, only through network, so I noticed that if I want it to work out here I need to put my learnings from here on a test. If I want to come back to Jordan to work I need to get a job latest till the beginning of June :P. So I have one and a half month.
Even though it is 'just' a job it feels like there is much more behind it, coz I need to forget my old way of life and thinking....not forget what I learnt, but to use it in a different way, as I'm not any more applying for e.g.: VP External Relations, but like corporate account manager and such :P It is like a new continent to be entered, the expedition is pretty well equipped, but that is not enough, you still need to get through the passing, the sea storms and stuff safely and successfully....this is how it feels like :)

Also I'm afraid of going home. Not the reverse cultural shock or these kind of things....though obviously they are part of the game....but rather a new way of life, living again with family, losing a lot from that independence what I value here a lot (with all its benefits of being home it still does not seems like an easy transformation back? process).

My brain is randomly all around, I needed to fix up what I want, how I want it. By now I'm more or less clear...time to put things into action, time to take again a nice deal of risk and jump into something new......

I'm equiped, let's start the expedition :D

Satisfaction

There is a song called satisfaction, it just popped up in my mind when I tried to search for a 'normal' title for this post. Not really one of my favourites, but it randomly turned up inside.

Anyways it might be a very nice title for this piece of writing, representing all the million thoughts running up and down my brain.

It is midnight over here when am righting the beginning of this post, so my brain is half dead, but still running on this point.

Since coming back from MENAXLDS in Egypt it feels like being in a new era of my life. No, I'm not meaning that the conference changed my life or anything like this, but it did accelarate a few things already in my mind and brought to light a lot of them, so that I could chew on them these recent weeks.

And why is the title? Coz I think the main point what changed is what are the things satisfying me, what are the things am looking for or appreciating in my life.
Many people told me I don't have a balanced life, basically having my work as life. And I did not mind it at that point in time....and I think that time it was the balance. Well, not any more. I want something more in my life then just work....I want the life part of the story as well :P I want something new, some new experience (not saying that my AIESECy life could not bring new every day, but still I need something different).

I have sooo many plans with my non existing free time, it is hard even to list it down. It just started with going to the gym as a normal activity, but extended to be the "it would be sooo nice to do" list which I don't even have the idea when I will be able to reach to the end of it, if that would ever happen (knowing myself this is not a threat that I reach the end of the list :D something new would anyways pop up before :D)

Hard to put it into words this new concept. But I do value more free time, I do value more an honest friendship or a good chat, a nice movie....and I do want something different from my life and my relations which is kind of hard to express (especially in written format).

I know this post ended up to be pretty philosophical and rather (unusually) fluffy from me, but I just thought it is better to write, better to share, that might move things forward....inshallah as here we would say :)

Cairo, pyramids and differences

So, I want to dedicate this post to 2 major things - a bit of sightseeing in Cairo, and the experience of managing things on my own in this immense city; and the other one is a bit of a cultural insight.
(and the first round of pictures are uploaded to

Cairo...20 million people in one place, if you are fast on the highway it takes 4 hours to get around it. And total craze...I thought traffic is crazy in Jordan, well I feel safe back in Amman after the days of Cairo :P

Everyone talks about the legandary pyramids and they are indeed awesome! But did you know (besides people who have already been there) that the Gizah pyramids are actually part of the city? That it is surrounded on 2 sides by blocks of flat and to check out the sphinx you need to walk max 200 meters from the first fast food restaurant? That was an interesting experience :P
Also the camels....yeah, I finally got to ride a camel, but after this I can barely imagine how people survived full days on their backs....it is super inconvenient. So I shifted to horse, thinking that the horse is led by a dude and I just need to stay on the horse, well I was wrong. 2 minutes after shifting the guy gave me the lead, yeah do it alone (for this you need to know that I have no idea how to ride a horse, the last time I was on a horse was at least 10 years ago, it was a pony and it was led in a circle and I was screaming on top :D). But I managed to survive the experience, by the end I was pretty fine with the directions, well the speed controll was never working (I dunno if my horse or I was more stubborn on what we want :P).

It was also really an experience managing taxis in Cairo. You need to argue and bargain for each and every ride. There are taxi meters, but of course not in use. As foreigners we will usually the ones targeted to be ripped off, with not really high success :) we either always had argumentative people, with or without basic arabic knowledge or someone speaking arabic....usually the first version. But by the end of 3 days in Cairo we all knew the key words: numbers and NO.

But sticking to the sigthseeing: before the conference was the birthday of the Prophet...so we went to see the celebrations. Well, they were scary :) a looot of people just shouting and singing in a language I have no idea about. But this whole march did lead us to a beautiful place in Cairo, Khan Khalili - the market. Every kind of things you can imagine...and you can of course bargain for. I was amazed on the effect of knowing a few really basic things in arabic...prices got halfed in a matter of a second. I had very fast a bunch of other foreigners from the faci team hanging up to come bargain, though I don't think I'm the best in it :D

We have also seen the Mohammad Ali citadel and went to a religious garden (sorry I forgot the name) right above Islamic Cairo/the old city. Well the view was amazing from there and we could here the prayer for basically every corner of the city. And obviously we had like half an hour just for pictures....I felt like a japaneese tourist (or I can say a normal young arab guy put on every possible picture, it is insane how much time people can spend here with pictures).

And about the culture...well many people say that all arab countries are the same (though they usually have the picture of a Gulf country in mind). But it is sooooo not truueee, gosh, I never ever imagined such diversity in a region! Even when we say that Central Europe is diverse, it is nothing to the diversity and variety of MENA. Also the so many different ways of being muslim and still being a good muslim. Nevertheless there are common points everywhere, but I would never ever dare again boxing in this region into "arabs" or "muslims" it is just so surficial and has no value at all behind it. I have been facilitator on this conference, and as someone trying to lead people and pass on messages I can assure anyone who tries making one box out of the region: you will not succeed then. Besides knowing that they are all really different cultures it is also true that people are really proud and sensitive of their identity.

Sensitivity of identity, just something random popped up in my mind writing this line. 15th of March happened during the conference itself. I was never a big fan of national holidays, I always somehow felt they are rather a waste of time. But I was wrong again. I think I have never been that proud to wear the tricolor than this day. Feels interesting reflecting on this point. I was not shouting out loud to everybody, but I was proud to be the only hungarian and I was proud celebrating my national holiday.

I guess it is enough of random insights for today....though I have a lot just popping up in my mind. I though that this conference will not give me that much...but it was the best choice I made before heading for the future. Ok, back to work, yalla :P

MENAXLDS....the afterlife, edition 1

heeeeeeeeeey :P

Back and alive after MENAXLDS 2009 :) Sitting in Cairo airport, dead tired but in the same time recharged, sounds cool, ya?
As a very fast start up, here you find the introduction of the Faci team, so that you know with who I was working all this week:

MENAXLDS Faci introduction

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There is a lot to write about, besides the conference I have been tavelling a bit, mostly seeing Cairo (and between Sharm el Sheikh and Cairo feeling like canned meat in a minivan for around 9 hours, yaaay).

As a faci team I truly had the pleasure to work in a team which was committed and reeeallly open. And I think this openness was some sort of a key, we moved forward understanding each others concepts fast, bonded with light speed. A true multicultural team (around 10 countries, 4 continents) as an amazing experience on how you can get the most out from diversity.

Learning and next steps....well, if I'm honest I do confess that I went for a holiday. Even though that many of us know that a conference is not about sleeping, but hard work especially as facilitator, but the change of atmosphere the flow of new things, ideas, meeting new people just makes it at the end a very refreshing journey. Of course I did learn from it and I belive it helped me reinforcing that I am making the right decisions with regards my future.

Pictures are being collected and very soon uploaded ;) Also a bit more structured and concrete post is to come, I just wanted to send the first message of me being alive.

Ehh, just one more fun thing for the Global Village - finally I have experienced the full traditional Jordanian outfit, see the picture just above :) But sooo much more pictures to come :P

MENA, MENA, MENA.....

I'm in Egypt, just sitting on the pre-meeting of MENAXLDS 2009 :P and this is just to indicate my excitement of how much I look forward to my last international conference as active AIESEC member!!!!

I have already spent one day in Cairo, was indeed amazing and sooo many things happened. I'm excited like a little kid when getting the new bike :P And the Jordan delegation is arriving in less than 2 days, yehaaaa, first delegation as full member country!!! Yalla Jordan!

stories and pictures coming later! (most probably after the 23rd of March, hehe, I guess I will not have any more time to wirte even this short blogpost :D )

Long time....for what?

It's been a long time since I have posted anything over here (sorry guys :P)

Why? I was not always in the mood (or when I was I did not have my laptop :P) or I just did not have time or did not find anything to write about...but mainly the first reason.

Even though a lot of things were going on. Not neceseraly travelling or something, rather thinking deciding, looking into the future, etc (the usual crap for this part of the year).

Some great news: I'm going to Egypt! From the 10th till most probably the 22nd of March. For MENAXLDS, the biggest regional AIESEC/youth congress :P And as facilitator. It was one of my dreams to be facilitator on a bigger international conference and it is finally working out :) And obviously I'm not just staying for the congress, but hoping to have some sightseeing in Egypt.

And the world is small. I would have never imagined meeting Karuna at MENAXLDS - an Indian friend, with who I worked in Hungary and the next time we meet in Cairo...funny enough, right?

I also made my choice on what is next for me (more or less clear on it). One thing is for sure...I'm gonna work, outside of AIESEC. The Country? Yeah that is still a question mark, though whatever happens in July I will be in Hungary for sure. I was thinking for a while to apply as MCP for Jordan, but I realized that I'm out of "fuel" I wanted a good job and if I want a job, it is time to look elsewhere.

But if we are already at the job part...work is just simply crazy. Deadline after deadline (and the question is where I will reach my dead-line....can't wait to be in Egypt!). And I usually tell myself that the next period will be easier, and somehow it never happens :P I know I should not complain, I achieve and I do like my job, but somehow it is not the same, it is not enough any more (am I becoming more demanding, or it is just another sign for the need to change?)

And I wanted also now to write about so many things. My Christmas (the let's say not really existing one), about the Gaza conflict and how I lived it through here and about many other random topics - like I signed up for gym, which I never thought I will ever do - , but somehow at 10:30 pm they ran away :P

Nevertheless, the point of the post is to show you I'm still alive and moving :D Have a good day all of you!