Vitoria - de novo - Rotary/Rotaract 4410 District ConferenceMay 28, 2006
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Thompson - are we done yet! (note fun meters - off the...
Michelle & opening remarks of Rotaract conference
Rotary presentation - this is for Don...
| So, at the last minute on Thursday night, at the invitation of Thompson, I decided I would catch a bus to Vitoria to take part in the combined Rotary/Rotaract 4410 district conference. This turned out to be a really fun trip where I met lots of fun people including the GSE team from Atlanta, about 50 Rotaractors, and several Rotarians. The bus trip took about 8 hours and Thompson was at the station to pick me up when I arrived. The bus was about an hour late so we had to hurry to get some of the last minute items completed that Thompson was responsible for WRT the conference. Once it was all done we headed out to the conference which was at a conference center/complex/waterpark about an hour outside of Vitoria. I spent the majority of my time with the Rotaract conference and, because I am currently the District Rotaract Representative for district 5960, was invited to sit at the head table. They had a Copo do Mundo dance party in which everyone dressed in the colors of Brazil to celebrate the World Cup of soccer. They also had some fun games in the water park. Water slide relay, straw swimming relay, alkaseltzer race, tube race... lots of stuff. On the last day I spent some time with the GSE team walking around the park and then joined them for a meeting about their experience with the program to date. It was cool to hear their perspectives. Thompson and Michelle were the main organizers of the Rotaract conferece and worked really hard to make it all come together. Everything seemed to run flawlessly. So the conference ended, and we packed up and headed back to Vitoria. Thompson, Michelle, and I went back to Michelle's house and spent some time talking (in Portuguese) with her parents and brothers before heading back to the bus station for the long ride back to Rio. Everyone was really great and I can't wait until the next time I get to visit. We got to the bus station with only a few minutes to spare. One thing that I don't yet understand, and probably never will, is why they turn the airconditioning up so high on Brazilian busses... it was like a meat freezer all the way there and back... carumba! The bus back left at 9:30pm and arrived in Rio at 6:00am the next morning. I thought I would make it to class but I didn't thaw out in time :) |
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