The Great Number 8

Rotary goodness abounds: Last Saturday I spent the day with the Rotarios de Rotary Distrito 4890 at their 83rd Annual District Conference. And, again, I can't help but be struck by the similarities between Rotarians here in District 4890 and the Rotarians in my sponsor District back in Florida, District 6930. From the sunny state of Florida to the romantic city of Buenos Aires (and I can imagine everywhere in between and beyond, as well) Rotarians are hospitable, interested, generous, and above all, absolutely committed to making significant contributions to global civil peace. Rotarians' commitment to civil peace is evident through the development of a number of initiatives: at the micro-level, individual Rotary clubs undertake community-based and international service projects, and at the macro-level, Rotary clubs unite and support various international programs, like the Ambassadorial Scholarship that I have the privilege of being a part of, as well as the ambitious and extraordinary Polio Plus campaign.

Check it... Rotary's 'Humanity in Motion':

End Polio - Rotary International from Rotary International on Vimeo.

In the mid-1980s, Rotary International endeavored to eradicate polio on planet Earth. At the time there were an estimated 350,000 cases of polio in the world. Today there are less than 2000 cases of polio in the world. Thanks to the collaborative efforts of Rotary International and other international organizations like the World Health Organization and UNICEF, the global incidence of polio has decreased by 99% in 20 years. When – not if – polio is eradicated, it will be the second disease in the history of humanity to be completely eliminated (the first was smallpox) from existence. A significant achievement, to say the very least. Never doubt the potency and possibility of the combined altruistic efforts of committed global citizens. Thank you, Rotary International – and Rotarians around the world – for being a blazing symbol of humanity's tremendous capacity for collaborative achievement.

Like I said, Rotary goodness abounds: evidently, given my impassioned previous paragraph, and also because a few days following Distrito 4890's Annual Conference I had the great pleasure of attending, for the very first time, my host Rotary club's Thursday lunchtime reunion. The Rotary Club of Monserrat meets for lunch every week in one of the wood-paneled, regal-feeling rooms in the Centro Argentino de Ingenieros. And, again, I can't help but notice the uncanny similarities between Rotary meetings in Florida and Argentina, incredible, given the thousands of miles(/kilometers) of separating distance, as well as the miles(/kilometers) that separate the United States' pastiche culture and Buenos Aires' porteño culture (a taxi driver once captured the porteños' and Buenos Aires' ambiance with unusual precision: 'Buenos Aires y los porteños son gris, melancolia, romantico y bohemio'). It's therefore curious that I note far more differences between intra-District Rotary clubs than I do when making cross-District club comparisons.

Check this, even more curious: my observation on cross-cultural Rotary clubs' similarities was confirmed this evening, when perusing the Internet for Rotary videos, I came across this gem of a film clip from a Rotary meeting in 1950s Cuba. The extraordinary film clip comes from the Rotary Club de La Habana during the mid-twentieth century – a distinct country and an entirely different era. Yet similarities are glaring: the arrangement of the tables, the podium, the distinctive Rotary wheel, even the water glasses. Remarkable, indeed.

For those of you cherished reader-friends that do not know, my family is from Cuba ('mi familia es de Cuba' is one of my token phrases here in Buenos Aires – I am so frequently asked why, given my North American-ness, 'hablo muy bien el castellano'). I am part of the first generation of United States-born children in my family, which makes me Cuban-(United States of) American. The United States has given my family and me freedom, optimism, possibility, privilege and unyielding opportunity, and for that, she is deeply locked in my heart. Cuba - hundreds of miles away from where I grew up, and hundreds of worlds away - dances through my veins and flavors my blood.

Cuba lives in my soul.

Christina, my Colombian-(United States of) American mejor amiga (and former Rotary becaria here in Buenos Aires – my esteemed predecessor), once relayed to me a story of a Rotarian expressing to her precisely why she was such a querida ('loved') becaria: 'claro, porque tienes la alegria de las Latinas' ('clearly, because you have the joy of the Latinas'). Christina then said to me, 'Natalie, you have it too – you have la alegria.' And, I know I do. I know I have la alegria. I can feel it. La alegria comes from my soul.

It comes from Cuba.

Yet I have never met Cuba. Because of this, I feel a distinctive nostalgia for her – a nostalgia for a place that exists only in las memorias de mis abuelos y tio abuelos, a nostalgia for what could have been...

I digress.

Please hold on, precious reader-friend... just give me a second to return to Buenos Aires, a second to pull away from my passionate embrace with romantic ideas and nostalgic yearning... in 3, 2, 1... (Do you sense my melancolia? My tone – so romantico... Buenos Aires must be seeping into my soul...)

And, I am back.

And, I have to confess – speaking of love – that I really do love my host Rotary Club of Monserrat. My host Rotary counselor, mi 'padrino,' is Orlando. He is the club photographer, always attentive and diligently documenting the meetings (and he was tasked with documenting the District Conference – I was proud, mi padrino, trusted with ensuring that the four-day event was appropriately captured!). The other gentlemen, the Rotarios de Monserrat are wonderful – gracious hosts, fantastic conversationalists, fascinating people. I had to leave la reunion early to make it to my Derecho Internacional Publico class on time; I was genuinely disappointed when I had to interrupt one of the reports on club philanthropy to despedir my hospitable host club. I will absolutely return for a lunchtime rendezvous very soon, and I will absolutely keep you, dear reader-friend, up-to-speed with the Monserrat Club's fascinating undertakings.

Enough about me, mi romanticismo and Rotary... how are you, cherished reader-friend?? I'd really love to know... : )

De Buenos Aires, siempre con amor y cariños, Natalie

p.s. I am feeling particularly filled with love, gratitude and appreciation for man's capacity for extraordinary acts of peace as well as this world's capacity for being an extraordinarily beautiful place. Thus, I have attached the ensuing photographs as evidence that the beauty and glitter I see is not entirely constructed in my mind... it's really out there... B E A U T I F U L and GLitTeRinG... (from the Patagonia collection!)