Sunday, October 26, 2014

Diwali in Istanbul, the Grand Bazaar, the Fellowship of Turkish Delight, and a trip to Asia! #ibmcsc turkey #ibmcscturkey



Diwali in Istanbul
On Thursday evening (after I finished my last blog post), we celebrated Diwali with our #ibmcsc teammates from India: Deirdre, Sonal, Partha and Prayjot. Diwali or Divali also known as Deepavali and the "festival of lights", is an ancient Hindu festival celebrated in autumn every year. The festival spiritually signifies the victory of light over darkness, knowledge over ignorance, good over evil, and hope over despair. [Source: Wikipedia] We especially need something to overcome all of the very bad news we've been hearing from around the world! Certainly the Diwali feast was good news with a variety of chicken and vegetarian dishes topped off with some baklava. Thanks to all the cooks for sharing their holiday with the #ibmcsc turkey team!

Kayseri Ministry of Education STEM Team

Friday we worked at the IBM Turkey office. I must say it felt a lot like “home” with IBM branding and interior offices with Made with IBM throughout. We dug deeply into our interview findings and sorted through key themes and possible recommendations. A key theme that’s emerging is the need for partnerships – a multi-member coalition – to rally business, government, non-governmental organizations, student organizations and their constituents to enable STEM across the school system and in businesses – and to support it over the long-term. We had a follow-up call with the team from Kayseri, a region that has already implemented STEM education, Ömer Bay led the discussion backed up by his knowledgeable team. They provided more detail on how they’ve implemented STEM and what their future plans are – a seven step process where they’ve achieved up to #4: 1. Feasibility study 2. Implementation – selection of schools and teachers 3. Training of teachers  4. Integration into curriculum 5. Integration into all Kayseri schools 6. Integration into all Turkish schools 7. Accreditation and patents. They graciously shared their insights into best practices. Teşekkür ederim !


Egyptian spice market
Fellowship of Turkish Delight
Saturday was our day to explore Istanbul's famous Grand Bazaar. The vendors amused us with their various enticements into their shops:
“It’s my birthday today – everything is half price.”

“Come in and I’ll sell you something you don’t need.”

“Can I tell you something?”

“It’s my turn now.”
It’s as entertaining as it is overwhelming with so many shops, so many colourful items for sale, and so many people. It was a real challenge to keep the seven of us together, but we managed to do so and enjoyed a dinner on the Galata Bridge before we returned to enjoy some fresh Turkish Delight with the newly formed Fellowship of Turkish Delight!

Galata Tower
"If you really need to shed blood, try ketchup"
Sunday was equally adventure-filled as we made our way to Asia. Along the way we saw the Galata Tower and a clever design company called Aponia (see right), and wandered down some passageways and across the Bosphorus to Eminönü where we caught the ferry to the Asian side. Great views of the Atatürk Bridge and the Dolmabahçe Palace, along with the rest of the European side. A great weekend of exploration and inspiration!

Back to business this evening and for the rest of the week!

More anon…

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