The little ambassador

Mr. Eduardo Moreno Ortiz gives me a smile after I gave him a pin from the Rotary Club in Ponte Vedra Beach. This year's theme for Rotary International is "Make Dreams Real." I'm certainly taking that literally.

So, there I was at my first Rotary party, pretty sweaty after hiking 30 minutes to meet Mr. Ortiz, then 15 minutes up the mountain to a private home in the Sierra Nevadas. Needless to say-no heels with my dress. I was VERY nervous to say the least. But once I had given the obligatory two kisses to Mr. Moreno, we talked the whole way to the home. He is a professor of architecture at the University of Granada, which is perfect for me because I always want to know what year everything was built and who built it.

The home was perched on a cliff, with a terrific view of the Alhambra Palace, especially with the moonlight. So after a few introductions and a very fiery conversation about the former dictator Franco, I was left to fend for myself. And that's where the fun started.

When one of the Spanish Rotarians learned I was from Florida, he took me by the elbow and steered me toward two Germans, who spoke English, and wanted to learn more about the university. After only five days here, I am proud to say I did very well. The University of Granada is over 700 years old, and there are about 60,000 students here. Thank goodness we learned all of that in class the morning before the part.

At this special meeting, there were Rotarians from Iceland, Thailand, Scotland, The United States, Austria and a woman from Sweden, who was an exchange student herself to of all places….Jacksonville. The Granada Rotary Club was hosting the travelers on their way back from an EEMA-Europe, Eastern Europe, Mediterranean and Africa-Rotary Conference. There were so many languages floating through the room, but everybody found someone to talk to.

After my marathon translation, where the Spainard had hold of my arm with a vice grip the entire time, I found some new friends, two ladies from Wyoming. When it was time to leave around midnight....mind you this started at 8:30p.m., I gave Mr. Ortiz the pin from Ponte Vedra. He loved it:) I believe I will be speaking at the club's regular meeting in two weeks. Should be interesting.....But I can truly say I now understand the global scope Rotary provides. Where else would I meet Rotarians from Kansas City, Taiwan, Reykjavic........?