GSE team visits Rotary Club of Summit County

This morning the team attended the 7:15am Summit County Rotary meeting at the Holiday Inn in Frisco. I was very proud to introduce this group to my home club, and to give the team a chance to see Rotary in action at 9097 feet. The club has been hearing a lot from me about our GSE preparations, but meeting the team makes it more real.

Thanks Amy, Jessica, Molly, Naomi, and Gale for driving through the snow to get here yesterday and then driving through more snow to get back to Denver today. My family was very happy to meet all of you and to see who I will be traveling with for a month in Central America. And thanks again to Bee, Dick, and Roy for hosting the team in your homes.

Just 19 more days!

Rolando

Learning about the Rotary Foundation

Yesterday, Rolando and I attended the Rotary Foundation Seminar in the Denver Tech Center. As I'm learning more and more about Rotary, it was great to also learn more about the foundation... our sponsor for the GSE trip.

We heard many speakers discuss the various aspects of the foundation including Polio Plus, annual giving, water projects, RAGM (microfinance), GSE, Ambassadorial Scholarships and many more. Hearing firsthand how these experiences/programs have changed people's lives was so inspirational. More exciting was the thought of how in two months, I would be one of them... so affected by the Rotary Foundation.

It was great to see Karen Sekich again, and meet Rolando's fellow Rotarian's from Summit County. We'll be attending the Summit County Rotary Meeting in just over 1 week, so it was fun to meet some of the people we'll be staying with.

The Rotary Foundation does so much for so many people, and as Tom Wolfe pointed out, this is the one charity that truly gives everything it gets and more. It can be hard to choose which charities are worthy of our hard-earned money... the Rotary Foundation is definitely worthy. Often times it seems that your money (whether the amount is large or small) may not make much of a difference. However, it's obvious to me, based on the sheer size and power of Rotary, your dollars work hard when given to the Rotary Foundation.

Molly

**Sounds like Jessica and Rolando had a great time the night before at the dinner. We'd love to hear more about it!

In just one month.....

Who can believe it? One month from today, I will definitely NOT be sitting on the couch typing in our blog with American Idol auditions on in the background. Don't laugh at my choice of entertainment... I was trying to come up with more ideas to add to Naomi's extensive list of presentation possibilities. I've still got nothing..... Although, Naomi and I kicked around a few things that just may work..... the group will discuss next time we meet!

I've found one of the more interesting parts of this process in preparation to be trying to explain this to other people. I was chatting with family members during Christmas, and was not being very eloquent. I finally said, "Well, it's like this thing, and I'm going with these women, except that we have this man as our leader!" When all of my family started looking at me like I had joined a cult, I decided I needed a much more scripted and eloquent way to elaborate when asked the inevitable.

I have finally gotten it down, and can describe this experience in such a way that makes sense to people. So many people are just vaguely familiar with the Rotary Club, and yet some people seem to completely understand. At any rate, I have a feeling the words I have picked to explain this experience won't come close to capturing what we're about to embark upon. It's such a huge, encompassing experience, it's hard to find just a few words to describe it.

Best of luck to all of us as we try to pack lightly, choose gifts that represent us and show our gratitude, remember our passports, put our Colorado lives "on hold" for 30 days, and prepare to experience a lot!!!!

I'm so excited!
Molly

What makes us American?

As we get ready to embark on our month long sojourn to Central America, where my team and I are going to present ourselves as representatives of our Rotary district 5450, of Colorado, and of the United States, I'm asking myself, who are we?  And how do we differ from our soon-to-be hosts in Central America?  My desire to grock who I am in relation to the people of Panama, Costa Rica, El Salvador, and Nicaragua, countries I have never traveled in, amongst a language of which I am not fluent, stems specifically at the moment from one thing.  Our presentation.  OK, not exactly our presentation, which seems rather together, but the post presentation, talent presentation.  What little show, act, or action can we do that is culturally specific to the United States, or maybe specific to Colorado?  As a group, we have talked about it, stewed on it, joked about it, and ruminated to no avail.

So after talking with Molly last night, I thought I would post some ideas that the two of us came up with, along side of others that my prodigious team mates came up with during our meetings:

• Each of us five read an impromptu or written stanza of a poem to commemorate our experiences to date.  Straight version or Julie Andrews, "My favorite things" version.
• Before leaving, create a short 3D animation, JibJab style, with our heads superimposed on the characters, dancing about on the screen.
• Stage an old style Wild West shootout, complete with cowboy hats and cap guns.
• Get the audience singing a rousting round of Row, Row, Row Your Boat, in round of course.
• Compile a little music medley of typical American Music that we play and each dance a bit to.  Including Jazz, Country, Motown, Rock and Roll, Rap, Blues...  Heck, we could throw in the Chicken Dance!

So what do you think team?  Did reading this grease any wheels, or cause a commotion?  These ideas may all be too silly to consider.  Or maybe one of them could break down any cultural barriers left and give our audience a presentation to remember.

Naomi

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!!!!!

2009 is the year we're traveling to Central America. When I was discussing this trip with friends and family over Christmas, I couldn't believe it was 7 weeks away. After realizing that... I started getting nervous about everything I have to do.

I finally ordered some of my host family gifts, have begun looking for a functional piece of luggage, and am checking into a new digital camera (to replace the VERY OLD one I have). However, it still seems that there's so much to do. On top of that, I believe Kevin and I will finally be moving in mid-January. We're still early in the process of selling this home, but we feel confident this contract will stick. Therefore, we have a lot of packing to do... as I work to pack up this home, I'm also working to ensure I don't pack up things I need for my trip!!! Wish me luck!

I just wanted to post a quick message to everyone in my group... wishing you a VERY happy 2009. May we travel safely, healthfully, and well!

Molly