WENA LDS 2010

Stella and I were faci's at wena lds 2010 in malta. Our faci team consisted of people from Colombia, Germany, Denmark, Malta, Belgium and Greece and us. The conference focused on leadership and not so much on AIESEC. we had a pre meeting for 2 days where we went through all the sessions, worked on new ones and played a lot of foosball. we were in a fishing village in malta so we got to see the colourful boats and walk around a bit along the water as well.

the conference itself was very interesting and very challenging. It was nice to see something new in AIESEC again. when you have been in the organization for 5 years, things start to get a little routine. the format of the conference was in homegroups. so each delegate was placed in 1 of 10 homegroups and each session was based in homegroups. you could meet and get to know 16 other people really well as you worked with them in team building activities, discussions and of course parties as well. each homegroup has its own style and bonded in its own way. it was really cool to see new aiesecers coming into the organization with such motivation, passion and excitement.

there were of course some challenges in the faci team, especially with working styles. There were two clear groups in the faci team - the mediterranean group (of 4 - greece, malta and italy) and the german group (of 3). Ana (from Colombia but on the Swedish MC) and myself were somewhere in the middle - we understood both sides. It wasn't a bad thing at all! It was just very interesting to see how each group thought and worked. Coming from Canada and now living in Spain, i could understand and defend both sides and also sometimes play the intermediary. but it was very cool to see how different people thought and worked and also to see the realization each side had. the cultural understanding showed on their faces and challenged how everyone thought. it was a very intense 5 days with people from very different cultures - it was very frustrating, very fun, very challenging but awesome at the same time.

See the full gallery on posterous

Posted via email from nithya's posterous

Malta

I was selected as a facilitator for the Western Europe and North America Leadership Development Seminar (WENA LDS for short :P) which was hosted in Malta. We went a few days before the conference for touring around and for pre conference. malta itself is an interesting place. it is only 316 sq km and has around 450,000 people, so the size of a small city. you can drive across the entire country in 20 minutes but because of the traffic, its more like an hour and a half. malta has been invaded by pretty much everyone (english, italians, spanish, french, arabs) so the maltese language is half arabic and half everything else. you can also see the influences of the british in the slang the maltese use, the italians in the food and the arabs in the architecture. Usually its a balmy 20 degrees in the winter, but not when we were there. it was rainy everyday except for the last 2 days and it was REALLY cold. but the people were amazing - very warm and hospitable. they were willing to show us around, drive us around and of course brag about their food. another weird thing...each house had a name! instead of a number on the outside of the house, it was a name (one was named cockburn..i would not want to live there...)

See the full gallery on posterous

Málaga

Continuing on the tour, i made my way to málaga. when the bus arrived to málaga, we arrived to rain. this wasn't the normal kind of drizzle rain, it was raining hard... like cats and dogs some would say. during the trip to málaga, i was in meetings, had an opportunity to actually work! and get to know the members of AIESEC there better. i even did a couple of little speeches in spanish (very proud of that!). Camby also took me on a tour of the center of Málaga! It's a cool little place with a muslim style castle (the alcazaba) and the birthplace of picasso! enjoy the pictures!

See the full gallery on posterous

Posted via email from nithya's posterous

Zaragoza

I was in Zaragoza for 4 days over the weekend, continuing my whirlwind tour of Spain for work. Zaragoza isn't a huge city but it had a lot to see. The first night i was there, we went to "El Tubo" which is an area of the city that has lots of bars and restaurants. We went for tapas. Now, i was under the assumption that tapas worked the same all over Spain. Well. I was wrong. we ordered patatas brava (thick cut french fries with "hot" sauce) and croquetas - they were 9 euros each! I was not impressed. We went to a pintxos place after where they have cut pieces of bread with different toppings (ham, salmon, combinations of things) laid out along the entire counter of the bar. You picked whatever you want and at the end, they count the number of toothpicks you have and charge you 1.20 euros each. It was fantastic!

Continuing with the food theme, I ate SO MUCH that weekend. I was staying with Teresa's family for the days i was there. They were incredibly welcoming, warm and hospitable. I really did feel like i was at home. Teresa's sister works as a baker at a french bakery. Every morning when we woke up, there was a giant platter full of amazing things from the bakery. Teresa's dad loves to cook (he even wears a chef's hat when cooking) and cooked for 5 people every meal (when only 2-3 of us were eating). I don't think my plate was ever empty!

In terms of work, we went non stop the entire weekend! We had meetings, trainings, discussions - it was really great actually. I felt very productive, a little tired at the end of it all but very productive.

As a team building activity, we went to a horse stable on Sunday morning. Teresa's dad goes to this place every weekend or something, so they gave us a great deal! It was only 10 euros for 2 hours of riding and we used the place for a meal as well. The place (the Poni Club, yes Poni with an "i") is set up like a cottage with the stable attached. We learned about the horses (Spanish, English, Arab, purebred, mixed), how to clean them, about the organization. We also cooked and ate there as well - BBQ. Now it is March and winter in Spain, but the weather was perfect. It was around 22 or 23 degrees! So we sat outside, ate, took in some sun (even darkened a little :P). Actually riding the horses was awesome! They showed us how to ride properly, took us on a walk through some of the countryside which was very pretty and showed us how to take care of the horses and show our appreciation. Teresa's dad was leading my horse and showing me what to do and at one point said to me (when i wasnt understanding), "I thought you could speak spanish!" and i said, "i can! just not with horse related words!" At the end of the day, it was just us left, cleaning up and ready to lock up. Teresa and i looked up to find one of the horses just hanging out, but not in the stable. We called Teresa's dad to confirm and he said no, the horse shouldnt be out of the stable - thats right, an escapee. So Marco picked up the rope and was ready to get the horse back! Marco and Ruben jump into the pen, a dog is barking at the horse and because of all of these things, the horse gets spooked - starting to run around the pen. So i decided to be a horse whisperer and calm the horse down. Sure enough, he calmed down with my awesome technique and we could get him back to the stable.

On Monday, i went on a tour of Zaragoza. Isabel (studying tourism and doing a placement at the tourism office) took me on a very informative walk through the center of the city. Zaragoza has a lot of history - roman, muslim, christian. and they all have buildings and sites to represent them. There is also the Catedral Basilica de Nuestra Señora del Pilar - a giant church that has a pillar in it. a saint apparently saw the virgin mary over the pillar and decided to build a gigantic church! the part i liked the most was the 2 holes in the ceiling and 2 missiles on the wall. apparently during the civil war, the two missiles were lodged into the roof of the basilica, but never exploded.

See the full gallery on posterous

Posted via email from nithya's posterous