how I got started in GSE

For me it started when I thought I was going to do a nice thing for a friend. In 2002 our district also had a GSE exchange with Brazil. At the Elmira Club, Dick DuBois was our GSE committee chair. Week after week, Dick stood before the club asking for volunteers to host a member of the incoming team. It would be for a week, you would be responsible for providing a bed, some meals, and hospitality to welcome these people into our country. And, like so many others on so many occassions, I sat there thinking that someone else would step forward - someone more appropriate to the task, or someone who had more time, or someone who had a nicer house. And week after week Dick still asked and we all sat there. So finally I decided that I would help Dick out of this bind. I volunteered to take one of the team members. I had no idea that I had just stepped onto a path that would significantly change my life. I met Washington Dias (who stayed with me) and Patricia, and Janice, and Telmo, and Jose Neto. We became friends. At the end of their stay in Elmira they said "come to Brazil" ... and I couldn't think of any good reason not to. So I went - the first of now seven visits to this wonderful country and these terrific people.

I have traveled pretty extensively through Brazil. Brazil as a land mass is equal in size to the continental United States. Brazil ranks fifth in the world in terms of population (the US ranks third). Over 188 million people make their homes and lives in this tropical country. The image above gives you an idea of where the population of Brazil is concentrated - mostly along the coast. There are vast stretches of country in the northwest that are almost impenetrable - the Amazon Rain Forest. I've traveled to the north east coast; inland to the historic city of Ouro Preto; south to the canyons of Gramado. Everywhere I've gone, the people have been so warm and welcoming to this foreigner who does not speak their language. The colors of flowers and trees; the sounds of music and laughter; the majesty of ocean beaches. Brazi it truly a land of wonder that most Americans don't consider in their travel plans. And it is relatively easy to get to ... a 7-hour flight out of New York airports overnight lands you in Sao Paulo, the largest city in Brazil and, with over 19 million residents, just slightly smaller than New York City. Brazil, for the most part, is east of us here in New York. That came as a surprise to me - I had always thought South America was directly south of us. Depending on the time of year, Sao Paulo can be 1 to 3 hours ahead of us in time zones.

I am coming to realize that, while having had many wonderful experiences already in my travels to Brazil, I will have to be vigilant in order to remain "in the moment" for this entirely new experience as a GSE team member. The past has been part of my preparation. There is much preparation ahead as we build a team. Our work and our pleasure will be in becoming part of families and communities in the unique way that only Rotary can open for us.


And it's only day 2 for me.