It's Sunday mornign as I write this update, but I think by this time, I have had a chance to meet almost all of the fellows. My first interactions were with Dr Marcelo Knobel and his wife, Keila. Marcelo, Keila and I spent time together at the St Peters School closeby to the EF House here. I admit I know nothing about Nanotechnology and even more minute details about Brazil, but I was impressed at how informative Marcelo was in giving his talk to the students of the school. The popularization of Science is something that I am also very interested so it was great that we had some time to talk about progress and challenges that we faced in each of our countries.
Olga Girstlova is the CEO of a family-owned IT company in the Czech Republic and we spent time chatting during our trip to the my coordinator Jan Campbell's home - Olga is interested in setting up an Entrepreurship University back in her home and is always on the look out for contacts. Her background in IT and interest in Entreprenuership gives me quite a bit to talk about with her, though Olga is very well travelled and has a wealth of information to share.
Gunvor from Finland, made for very interesting conversation last evening during dinner that probably had nothing to do with either of our fellowsips, but it was fascinating to find out about languages and cultures from her. Her husband, Henrik, is also a part of the group through the Spouse program, and shared details about his interest and involvement in the pharma industry. It was almost funny how we talked about our different backgrounds with respect to society and lifestyles - so different and yet there we were, having some of the most fabulous lasagna (courtesy the hospitality of the Campbells) I have ever sunk my pallette into. Oh - And I can't talk about language and culture, without introducing all of you to Emine. I first ran into Emine at the breakfast area when I saw someone waving in my direction and instantly felt comfortable. I think Emine speaks some 5 different languages and is the Policy Coordinator for Fundamental Human Rights and Citizenship at the Hague in the Netherlands. You'll all be thrilled to know that Emine has also recently joined as a Mac user, increasing my list of "cool people" by yet one more.
Ah yes, the photograph on this blog is of us having dinner at the Campbell's home last evening..
Having minimal involvement in IT and disabilities in Pakistan, I was keen on sharing my limited experience and some of the progress that we have been making at home, with Caroline Casey, who is the founding CO of the Aisling Foundation in Dublin, Ireland - Being a HUGE fan of irish music, I was thrilled to be able to talk to Caroline, and then when she expressed how surprised she was at the awareness levels in India and Pakistan about disabled in the workplace, I beamed all the way back to the hotel!
Yoichi Iwamoto and his wife, have to be two of the most gentle people I have come across - Yoichi is also a fellow journalist; the deputy editor of the International News Department at NIKKEI in Tokyo, and I really hope I get more of a chance to talk shop with him.
Gregory from Moscow, was someone I had the chance to interact with at Dan Geisler's office and I definately want to be able to sit and talk to him later on. Gregory runs a website that spreads the awareness about different religions, targeted to the people of Russia - the medium of the internet is definately going to play a more crucial role in spreading the holy word and making people better understand aspects of different religions.. Speaking of religions and tolerance, I briefly introduced myself to Fatin Bundagji from Saudi Arabia, and in the 2 minutes we spoke, we realized that she had lived in Karachi and spoke a bit of Urdu and I had lived in Jeddah so many years ago, where she continues to reside now.
Finding myself awake at 7am this morning (again!), it was a pleasant early morning to see Caroline and Fatin at the gym in the morning... I took a break to go back to my room where I watched Rocky Balboa run up the steps of the Philadelphia Library and then went downstairs again where Susie and I had breakfast this morning and ended up having a long discussion on technology's role in medicine. Her interest is in the area of HIV Aids and well... frankly speaking, I find everything pretty interesting! So yes, breakfast was great.
This leaves me with about 3 fellows who I am sure I will meet either during the day today or tomorrow. But Sunday, though a day of rest for a few of the fellows, is an excited day planned for myself, Fatin and Rafael where we take the train to meet with the ex-president of the EF and Swarthmore College, Theodore Friend. I really look forward to it.
My family keeps asking me if I am doing okay here. I keep reminding them that I am amongst seasoned travellers and friends.... and then they fear that I might not return back home.. :-)
More later!
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