Day 7, Buga and Calima:
We arrived and they checked us into a beautiful colonial hotel. We took a quick stroll around town and saw the basilica then headed into the country. We took a beautiful drive around Lake Calima and into the town where one of our hosts has a ranch. After seeing his horses and a quick snack we saw the hydroelectric dam and drove into the mountains for the most impressive dinner and dancing experience of our lives.
Today we head to Tulua where we eagerly anticipate the wonderful surprises we know are coming when we shake the hand of the next smiling Colombian Rotarian.

Day 5, Palmira:
We arrived at a school for the deaf in Palmira that the Rotarians had built basically from scratch. There were 5 class rooms, a bakery, a full medical office with audio testing equipment, a fully air conditioned auditorium, and an onion garden. It currently serves close to 50 deaf children. There is much stigma attached to being deaf here so they actually go into poor neighborhoods and try to convince parents to allow their kids to attend; that they can be more than beggars and bathroom cleaners. Later we went to a Sugar cane museum and plantation. The sugar cane industry is a huge part of Colombia and especially here (in Palmira and the state “Valle del Cauca”). We saw a 300 year old home and how the industry has progressed throughout the years. Later we sipped Chilean wine on the veranda of a Rotarian and watched the sunset on his impressive bonsai tree collection.  

Day 4, Popayan:
Visitng a Coffee growers collective and learning about the process by which they are standardizing, cooperating, marketing and valuing the coffee all these small growers bring in from the mountains. The Rotary club de Popoyan is quite young but really active. They donated all the testing equipment for the lab. “Juan Valdez” is not a company but the branding effort of all of these small growers (interestingly the brand itself was created by an American marketing firm). We met with the director then got a lesson in coffee tasting which was very educational. Later we went to the Red Cross and visited with a Rotarian/Doctor who is doing basic health projects all over the country and the world. Their anti personnel mine work was especially inspiring. The previous night we got to experience our first salsa dancing experience in a great night club. They even gave us lessons which most of us desperately needed.

Day 2, Cali:
Attending a meeting of Club Rotario San Fernando in Hotel Dann Carlton in Cali. The hotel was amazing, the food was wonderful and we gave our first presentation. The presentation went well and the club was so welcoming. We all exchanged flags “banderines” to bring back.

4/27/09
We have arrived safely and we are fully immersed in our experience here in Colombia, SA, Rotary District 4280. It has been hard to get time and internet connection to update this blog so for more current info please see our Facebook page which for some reason has been easier to stay on top of (www.trinyurl.com/rotdist5520)
We are learning so much on a daily basis that it is hard to believe. We are learning the history, the language, the culture, the food, the music, the people and the about the amazing works the Rotary does here. It is truly mind expanding. We have rarely been welcomed more warmly and with more flair than we have been here. Yesterday we drove for 30 minutes up into the hills surrounding Buga and Calima to a ranch “una finca” and there were 35+ Rotarians waiting for us with signs, freshly cooked steak, and live dancers. We dined and laughed well into the cool evening surrounded by coffee plants, Orchids and birds of paradise ( flowers). It was so overwhelming that some of us broke into tears.