The Real Work Begins…

Monday, 9/9/13 @ 5:45AM  --  The sun rises over Uberlandia, peaks over a nearby high rise, and the morning rays come beaming through my window.  (My hotel room faces east.)  Today, neither a wake up call nor an alarm was really necessary.  Our work starts in earnest today.

Since the CSC team wasn’t expected in the lobby until 9:50AM, I had time to go for a 30 minute run along the main avenue (Avenida Ramon Pacheco) in front of the hotel.  As I ran along one of Uberlandia’s main thoroughfares, it was interesting to see the flurry of activity at 7AM.  Store keepers were washing their front entrances with a hose.  The local medical clinic already had a queue out both doors.  Traffic, both cars and  ever present motorcycles, zipped by.  Prior to today, I had only seen Uberlandia during a weekend.  This was the first chance I had to see Uberlandia during a normal work day. 

Everyone has been asked to assemble on time, so we can promptly arrive at the mayor’s office by 10AM.  We all piled into two buses and off we went; none of us really knowing what to expect.  

When we arrived, the mayor was there with his full team, which included his entire 8 – 10 person staff.  In the meeting room, numerous NGO directors & presidents also attended.  Along the side of the room, all 19 CSC participants – IBM & JPMC – lined up in a long row of chairs with our college & university interns sitting behind us.  (Two interns have been assigned to each team as extra translators and to support us if there is any local research required by any of the CSC teams.)

The meeting lasted about 1 ½ hours and there was quite a bit of formality and fanfare.  At the end of event, the room cleared out pretty quickly, but Bruno (our local IBM CSC consultant) asked me to stick around to be interviewed by the local media.  The interview only lasted 3 – 4 minutes.  However, it was exciting to be a part of something so significant, in a city on the other side of the Equator from my Tampa home. 

At the mayor's office, we met up with Toni, President of the Ipe Institute, and several members of his staff and went to the Instituto Ipe Cultural to formally start our assignment.  Throughout the afternoon, our Brazilian hosts were warm, cordial, outgoing, and hospitable.  It became quickly apparent they were all extremely passionate about their organization.  We discussed the Ipe Institute in-depth hearing about its history, goals, objectives, and organizational make up from key Ipe members.  Before we left for the day, we were treated to cheese bread (an Uberlandia specialty made out of yucca flour and a local cheese) and carrot cake, along with some strong Brazilian coffee. 

By the end of the day, both CSC teams (IBM / Joel & Hajira & JPMC / Leslie & Paul) felt it was an exceptionally strong start to an interesting assignment.   Tuesday is our first full day at Ipe.  Already I knew this assignment would forever change my perspective on life and it will truly be a very positive life altering experience.  

#ibmcsc brazil