It’s one thing to visit and be a guest at another Rotary Club meeting here in the Philippines. It’s another to be a guest and a speaker at a Rotary Club in the US.

I’ve attended a meeting of a sister club here in Batangas (hello, Rotary Club of Rosario Batangas!) and also a meeting of the Rotary Club of San Jose in Occidental Mindoro, District 3810. But this is the first time that I’ve been to a meeting in Virginia, the US of A. ?

I met Prescott through a co-worker in the US. At my previous virtual work, we have a Slack channel where we share our volunteer activities, so my co-workers are all aware that I am a Rotarian.

Back in July, my co-worker, Caitlin, met Prescott, a Federal employee and a Rotarian. She mentioned to him that she knows of another Rotarian from the Philippines, me.

Prescott reached out to me via email, and due to the nature of his work, he cannot maintain communications with me. (Think Pentagon + Federal employee + Philippines = cannot communicate.) So he introduced me to another member of his club, Steve.

The Crystal City Pentagon Rotary Club is composed mainly of Federal employees and they are a congenial group. Started on time, ended on time. Very clear agenda, with allotted time for each. I was given 15 minutes to present, and 5 minutes for follow up questions.

I am so looking forward to collaborating with them. But even if nothing comes out of it, I’d still treasure the opportunity that has been handed me.

I also met RID 7610’s DGN, Peter Anderson. Yey!

One thing to look forward to is meeting them in person at the International Convention in Taipei next year.