So this past weekend I went and attended a big time Rotary meeting. It was way more fun than I had thought that it would be. For starters, there are four outbounds in my district (I'm not going to use last names); Natalie is going to South Korea, Erin is going to Germany, and Hailey is going to Argentina. There are seven inbounds; Elisa and Eliot are from France, Timo is from Germany, Bruna and Marina are from Brazil, Inaki is from Spain, Valentina is from Chile. We got to meet each other and hang out, and we got really close. Along with making some great friends, we also got to talk about the challenges that the inbounds faced, and that the outbounds would face. It was great because they got to share advice and offer suggestions about what to do. We had the most fun when we got to walk around Asheville and just relax. We ate at the Mellow Mushroom and introduced the inbounds to cool stores. The other place that we had the most fun was the pool, we could relax there without having to be dressed up. It was a time for us to be real with each other and have fun getting to know one another. The pictures are all on facebook if anyone wants to see them.
We got to go to "break out sessions," the one most of us attended was called Rotary 101, a basic history class. I learned that Rotary was started in 1905 and today is one of the most well-known civic organizations in the world. It was really interesting, we learned about the five different areas of service (club service, new generation service, community service, international service, and vocational service) and what different clubs were doing about them. I also learned that Allen, the District Governor for this year helped achieve the goal of eradicating polio from India, which is awesome!
This weekend was really great. I met many people, learned about Rotary, and got my first glimpse of what life will be like next year. It was a wonderful experience, and I am glad that I got the chance to go. If you have any questions about Rotary, or the exchange, or Brazil; feel free to ask. I'll do the best I can to answer them correctly :)
