Kick-off at the IBM Morocco Office

We had our kick-off meeting last Saturday at the IBM Morocco office in Casablanca, which was a stone throw away from our hotel.  I would say that the kick off meeting went quite well.  We were able to meet some of the IBM leaders such as IBM Morocco’s Country General Manager, Abdallah Rachidi Alaoui; HR Country Leader Najlaa Hachami; Innovation Center & Technical Exploration Center Program Manager Asmae Chaarani; and Business Development Manager Ali Aqallal to name a few. Being able to meet these high ranking officials made me realize that what we’re doing is really of importance to IBM.  I do hope that we’ll be able to achieve everything that we were asked to do so that everyone’s happy. :-)  And oh, we were served some sweet pastries and of course, the much awaited “Moroccan mint tea.”  Loved it!!! It was an instant hit to the whole team, especially to Jailan Adly (CDC Program Manager) who had named the drink as the “Moroccan Red Bull”

The meeting ended by lunch time and we headed to Rabat that afternoon.  Our coaster had some down time due to flat tire thus our beloved Boutaina Alami (CDS Country Representative) and her ever so kind husband offered to give us a ride to Rabat. 

We ate dinner at K.Moon which was a really nice upscale restaurant. I have noticed that the servings here in Morocco are really big that even I (who have a very large appetite) am having a hard time finishing all of it. I just do hope that by the end of this stint, I wont be gaining much weight at all. >.<

I had the Tagine de poulet beldi which is chicken with marinated olives, saffron and some citrus-y ingredients in it and Pastilla aux fruits de mer which is basically seafood pastry with noodles in it.  The food was ok except that I liked the ones I had the night before better. 

Pastilla aux fruits de mer

Tagine de poulet beldi

We also had our first experience of having our hands washed with orange blossom scented water in unique silver container in K.Moon.  Check out Rahul and Andrew's excitement in the pic above! :-) The scent was just lovely! In a Moroccan home hand washing is done together at the table with a basin and jug.

We'll be having a walking tour tomorrow to get the feel of the area. Very tiring day indeed, need to rest now. Goodnight!


#ibmcsc morocco