Holidays in Brazil

I have decided that I will be posting more on this blog these months. I think it is a really cool way how to stay connected with my friends as well as share the experience I am going through. Also now the time is quite relax so I can use the most of it.

I was thinking about the last weeks since I came to Brazil and they have been really chilled. I don't remember when I felt so much calmness and peace. I am feeling really happy about my life and the way I live it. I have a great job that I enjoy, but I have also enough time for myself and my personal life... That's so great! It may sound like a very obvious thing, but for me it is not. I remember time when this was not happening at all therefore I am so much grateful for it now!

I have realized that I haven`t posted anything about my holidays in Brazil. I spent almost a week there after IC. Firstly I went to Rio de Janeiro and spent two days there. It is an amazing place to be. I didn`t expect so much but it turned out to be one of the most beautiful places I have been to. I enjoyed my two days so much there and I regretted leaving so early. Here are some pictures:

Sittng at Copacabana beach

View on Rio de Janeiro

Statue of Christ

After Rio de Janeiro I moved to Salvador. After 2,5 hour flight we ended up in a completely different part of Brazil. This part has a lot of African influence. Experience in Salvador was very different than the previous one. Me and Tina were staying with Felipe and his family which made us feel Brazil as local people. We had great time there, we had fun and there was good care taken of us by Barca who was our guide as well as translator. Communicating with my poor Spanish was not very useful therefore I needed a lot of help. We did a lot of sightseeing in Salvador, visited many different places and tasted various (sometimes weird:-) food.

Drinking coconut with Tina and Barca
On the beach with MC 07/08

Enjoying the sun on the beach

Brazil was a very nice experience, great days of relax as well as getting to now new country and culture. It was my first time in Latin America and I am sure that I have learnt a lot from this experience. I realized the value of things that are obvious and sometimes for granted in Europe but many people still lack there...

IC 2008, Sao Paulo

IC 2008 in Brazil ... 600 delegates, 200 alumni and 150 external guests...

IC was a great experience. It was very intense but unforgettable. I think I have challenged my own limits as never before. Having ten days of ER agenda meant that we had to be 10 days in formal clothes, smiling and taking care of our guests. It doesn't sound that difficult but in reality it takes a lot of effort to handle that. Especially if you don't have half day of to relax and be alone for a while without interacting to anyone. IC was a very different experience than last year. Mainly because I had completely different delegates than the rest of AI team. Our ER team had our own external guests to take care of. That means that we hardly showed up in plenary, interacted with delegates or were involved in session delivery. Our days were full of meetings with different partners and dry-runs of partner launches. Whole day we were interacting with people who are at least ten or twenty years older than we are. Sometimes it was really exhausting but it was worth when I think about people I spoke to or when I think about different conversations I had.For me IC was also about reconnecting. I was extremely happy to meet friends I have not seen for a year or more. Even though my agenda was very busy I tried to find some time every day to be with people that are important to me. It was also so cool to be again together at least with a part of our MC. Even though we have been going through different experiences during last three months we still belong to each other. We had good time together remembering our experience from the last year. It was also very interesting to listen to their stories from the countries they currently live in.

Update

I almost forgot that I have not update my blog for a while. Why? There are always many things to do that I hardly remember to do that. So what's new with me...

I am not in transition any more. I am already handling my own responsibilities and enjoying my job role. Since I posted the last time, I managed to have several company meetings in the Netherlands, Belgium and the UK - really exciting job. This seems to be also the right time to explain a bit about the work that I am doing. I am responsible for three current global partners, I am handling development of Developing Leaders Day for IC in Malaysia and my big focus should be also on new sales in Europe and hopefully also outside. I am working in the ER team with 5 more people. We have a great time together, starting with ER drinks, ending with our really specific sense of humor. :-) I am really happy to see that ER culture is kept on all level of the organization.

I am not living in our house anymore. I moved to Hofdijk which is the place where the most of AI members live. I like it very much as we stay together as one big family. My parents came to see me in Rotterdam as well. It was so cool to show them the place where I live and also to travel a bit around Rotterdam.

I am so happy that Rotterdam has become my new home. I love coming back, I have great people around and I am enjoying my job.... What else to wish more...? Hmm, I know... Let's see.