Molly's first post... of many

Thanks Jessica for setting up such a user-friendly blogspot for us. I'm excited to document our pre-trip journey.

I spent today working on my electronic presentation for our meeting next Saturday. I have been sifting through electronic files of digital pictures (boy do I wish those were more organized). I have also taken this opportunity to do complete my Education and Language report on El Salvador. My presentation is coming along well... but as I keep reviewing it, I keep seeing things I want to change/add. I'm excited to show it to the rest of the group to get their feedback and suggestions.

While this is a lot of work, rest assured I've made some time to do some fun pre-trip activities.... can you guess what it is? SHOPPING!!!! I keep telling my husband Kevin that I have to plan ahead... he thinks it just another excuse to stimulate the economy. I've purchased some nice travel wear that will be cool in the warm climates, wrinkle resistant, and hopefully will still look nice after being schlepped all over Central America.

Speaking of my husband... Kevin and I have both been working a lot lately. While we see each other daily, I found myself missing him this week, as we saw eachother only in passing. Perhaps this is yet another method of preparation for this journey. I know I'll miss him more than I realize, but at least it will be for such a good reason.

I always look forward to our group meetings, as it gives us an opportunity to learn more about each other. I know we'll be leaning on each other a lot for support during our trip, so learning more about one another and our likes/dis-likes will make this much more fun.

I suppose I'll sign off... and save more for later!
Molly

** We were blessed by another weekend of beautiful weather.... hopefully it's not the last one!

A Message from Amy

Well, I'll give Jessica a break from blogging since she so far has been the leader in setting up the site (thanks Jessica!!).

I'll start by saying that this is such an exciting experience for all of us - the GSE team (of course!) but also our friends, families, co-workers and sponsoring clubs. I can't believe how much support I've received from those around me and how interested people are in learning about this journey we're about to take together.

I also visited a Rotary meeting this week at the Mile High Club (my sponsor). This was my third visit to the club, and people are starting to recognize and remember me, which is great. But probably the biggest surprise was that the guest speaker was none other than my former boss, who is now CEO at the Denver Botanic Gardens. He, naturally, gave a presentation on the gardens, plans for remodeling, community relations, and the workplace culture....while obviously a completely different topic than the economic development talks that I'm accustomed to hearing from him, the message was incredibly relevant. And that's what he talked about - Relevance.

And by relevance, he talked about how in our own lives - whether we work in economic development, or gardening, or we're out traveling the world - we should always think about how these experiences are relevant to our day-to-day lives, and how our actions are relevant to those around us. He talked about a number of things, but this is what I took away: our actions have an impact on those around us and on ourselves, and this is something we have control over. When we travel to Central America on the GSE exchange, we have the opportunity and the responsibility to make that impact be a positive one.

So, I'll leave it with that. Que este viaje sea llena de experiencias positivas, tanto para las comunidades de America Central a que vamos a visitar, como para cada uno de nosotros!
~Amy

The Extra Mile

In my job I visit a lot of Rotary clubs. I have visited Rotarys in large metropolises (Chicago, IL) and small cities (Brenham, TX) and it is always fun to get a feel for the club's "personality" (and yes, they are different). But no matter what club I visit they welcome me with open arms. What has made the biggest impact on me has been Rotarians' willingness to help - living up to their motto: "Service Above Self".

Today I was able to attend the Rotary District 5450 State of the State Address with keynote speaker Govenor Bill Ritter. To open the event the District Govenor, Steve Cantrell, updated the audience on Rotary's advancement in eradicating Polio. It is truly amazing what this club has done for children around the world. I learned that the spread of Polio has been limited to 4 countries. Rotary will not stop until Polio is wiped from the world.

What a perfect example of people working together to make a difference...

~ Jessica (GSE Team Member)

GSE What?!

An amazing trip - YES! But this opportunity is much more than that....

"The Rotary Foundation’s Group Study Exchange (GSE) program is a unique cultural and vocational exchange opportunity for businesspeople and professionals between the ages of 25 and 40 who are in the early stages of their careers. The program provides travel grants for teams to exchange visits in paired areas of different countries. For four to six weeks, team members experience the host country's culture and institutions, observe how their vocations are practiced abroad, develop personal and professional relationships, and exchange ideas. "
- Rotary International Website

Colorado Rotary District 5450 will be exchanging with Central America District 4240. Our journey will take us to Nicaragua, Costa Rica, El Salvador, and Panama!

Hello World!

Welcome to the 2009 Rotary GSE 5450 Team blog! We are excited to begin blogging about our preparations and experiences to keep our families, friends, employers and Rotary districts up to speed on our GSE experience. There is no doubt that we are in for a wild ride! Enjoy!