¡Buenos Aires unplugged!!
This is my digital diary on an exceptional experience in May 2022: exploring a new culture, learning a new language, meeting new realities and enjoying the good vibes of lovely people. All thanks to SAP Social Sabbatical (SoSa) program, an incredible opportunity to leave your comfort zone behind and face the unknown.
Three, two, one… ready for takeoff!
And so, a long overseas journey starts. Our Social Sabbatical month in Argentina — a beautiful country with so much history and fascinating landscapes leading to the end of the world. On board, 11 SAP colleagues from all over the world, who join forces to succeed on their mission: support start-ups with social impact in emerging markets.
But before we get to our local engagements, let me take a moment and praise this amazingly stunning city and its people!!
Buenos Aires, we are excited and happy to make you our home for a month. I am not going to lie — among all the butterflies of excitement, there were also uncertainties, thoughts, and questions before we got started. Yet, we immediately knew — together we can manage it all. Especially, with all the good vibes and support from colleagues onsite, who know the city all so well and you cannot but feel their love for Buenos Aires (Bs As) and Argentina.
Even though autumn officially occupied the city at this time of the year, we were greeted by sunshine and almost summary temperatures. Simply, the best start to explore and fall in love with Bs As. Getting together with everyone from the SoSa team, followed by a kick-off day with many impressions only paved the road to a very busy first week. We met our local host organizations Nilus, Tekoya, Unplastify and Red Activos and directly dived into their business world.
Thanks to our exceptional project assistant (PA) Juan Cruz Lufrano — from Bs As, studying Creative Advertisement and getting ready to launch his own clothing label –, we were able to bridge over any language and cultural barriers and enjoy great conversations with the lovely team members at Nilus. And if you wonder: Nilus is the social enterprise, my SAP colleague Niels, our PA Juan and I are supporting onsite. Because Nilus is so special, I will dedicate the next chapter to their mission and passion and incredible efforts. Stay tuned 😉
And by the time you realize, a week has passed by. All the little fears are gone, and one feels at home. It’s been crazy 10 days, very intense, reenergizing, exciting, roller-coaster like in the best possible way, with lots of surprises along the way and exceptionally many lovely moments. We finished the first week with a football tournament kindly organized by SAP Argentina, visited so many cool places like La Boca, San Telmo, Puerto Madero, Recoleta, Plaza de Mayo, and our lovely city-home: Palermo. Ah, what a journey… To be continued next week.
Muchas gracias y hasta pronto 😊
