Our manager, Sue, was here this past week, so we
were six in number and
walked down (the hotel is up on a hill) to check out some of the local
restaurants
during this past week. Being six in number allowed for more of a
sense
of security, however, one of the folks on our team said he felt
uncomfortable
every time we walked down to dinner. I guess I would have felt
uncomfortable if
it were just two of us, but I didn't think anyone would be so stupid as
to bother a
group of six people. But, of course, one never knows. We
did have
some good food, including tapas at Las Tapas de Madrid. I learned
about tapas
when I was in Madrid in 1995. I guess it's like having a meal of
starters
(appetizers). We let the guy taking our order select a sample for
our table and he gave
us a great selection. There were no complaints from anyone about
the
food, wine or beer. It was obvious the restaurant was an 'in'
place because it
was full of locals and was very noisy. It was a fun evening.
There have been many times when we visit an IBM site to do our system
security audits when we are relegated to whatever space is available,
sometimes
not very appealing (maybe because we're auditors?). ;-)
This time we
are on the penthouse floor and share a couple of offices facing the
mountains
surrounding Caracas. The view is marvelous. It is very
green and the
different cloud formations over the hills are also interesting to watch.
We have encountered the normal setup problems when we first get to a
site in setting up for printing and connecting to the network.
There is a
local help desk here, but most people speak only Spanish. The
other day I
had a need to call about a problem and some guy answered who spoke no
English.
After a couple of frustrating minutes, he called for a colleague who
spoke a
little English, at least enough to know what I needed. The next
day I
had a need to call again and, sure enough, I got the same guy who spoke
only
Spanish.
However, this time, as soon as he realized who was on the phone, I
could hear him say something roughly translated as "Hey Jose, it's the
GRINGO!". Now I've never been called a gringo before but I guess
'if the shoe
fits.....' ;-)
That's it for this week. I don't expect there will be anything
very exciting happening during our stay in Caracas. I am not
normally in a hurry
to leave a site that is outside of the USA. I like to take in as
much
culture and sightseeing as possible in the four weeks we normally stay
in a
country. However, this team is unanimous about trying to finish
up a week early
and head home. If everything goes well, we'll be out of here by
August 28.