Highlights of May 28 Zoom Meeting

Before the meeting was called to order, Polly Schumacher was complimented on her patriotic red, white, and blue apparel.  She said she knew she was a few days late but was still celebrating the Memorial Day holiday.  Our inbound Rotary Youth Exchange student, Marcella Sousa was welcomed.  It was a pleasant surprise to have Erwin and Joan Reimann in attendance.  Erwin explained that there had been an upsurge in COVID-19 cases in South Dakota, and - on advice of their doctor - they decided to wait at least a couple of weeks before heading to the Black Hills for the summer.

 

President Jim called the meeting to order, and asked John Pennypacker to offer the invocation.  John chose to share the following Scottish Blessing titled "If There is Righteousness in the Heart:"

 

If there is righteousness in the heart,

there will be beauty in the character.

If there is beauty in the character,

there will be harmony in the home.

If there is harmony in the home, 

there will be order in the nation.

If there is order in the nation,

there will be peace in the world.

So let it be.

 

Allan Cady was asked to share a patriotic moment.  In light of the recent Memorial Day holiday, Allan challenged Rotarians to teach their children and grandchildren ten things:

Allan also shared they had enjoyed a Zoom meeting with their family the evening before, and it helped them feel close though they are far apart.  He said he would commit to work on teaching the ten things he listed to his grandchildren.  He feels very fortunate to be in our country - even during adverse times.

 

Allan and Polly Cady were on a lake.  Allan wanted to fish, so had all the gear on the boat, but decided he should attend a Rotary meeting.  Polly chose to stay on the lake.  After Allen left, Polly rowed out into the lake and put the anchor down, got out her book and started reading.  Before long a fish and game officer came along and told her he would have to cite her for fishing in a restricted area.  Polly explained she wasn't fishing, and that she was just enjoying her book.  The officer said that there was evidence to the contrary and he would have to take her in and charge her.  She had all the necessary equipment and for all he knew she could obviously start fishing at any moment.  Polly said she would go along with the officer, but only if he arranged to have law enforcement at the station to meet them.  He asked why, and she said she was going to request that he be charged with attempted rape.  He said, you know nothing like that happened.  Polly said, "You have all the necessary equipment, and for all I know..."  The officer left without citing Polly.

 

 

Pam Cohen introduced Marcella Sousa, the inbound Rotary Youth Exchange student who spent the school year in Flagstaff.  Even though Flagstaff has been her Arizona home while on her exchange, Mesa West Rotary has been her host club.  Pam helped Marcella with the presentation by sharing her screen, showing Marcella's PowerPoint slides.  CLICK HERE if you would like to download or view the presentation.

 

Marcella's first slide showed her family.  She said that she has missed her dog the most.  They had the dog with them for a year before she left, and she spent a lot of time cuddling the little dog in her lap.  Marcella described herself as a very family-guided person.  One of the photos on the slides was of her grandparents - her mother's parents on the left.  A middle photo was of Marcella with her sister and their parents.  She said her sister is also planning to go on an exchange to France.

 

In another photo on that first slide, where everyone is dressed in white, are cousins and an exchange student from Taiwan who was with them for a year and felt like one of the kids.  Another photo showed a group of students in school uniforms.  Whether attending public or private school, uniforms are worn.  Marcella said she was lucky.  She was able to attend private school.  A photo where everyone is laying down was taken outside a classroom.  She and her classmates stayed in the same classroom all day and the various teachers came to their classroom to teach them. Because the students were together all day long, they became close friends.  One day when their teacher had left and the next one had not yet arrived, they went outside and laid down together as a group.  When the next teacher arrived, she felt close enough to them that she enjoyed a friendly relationship with them, so she spontaneously joined them.  The bottom photo on the introductory slide was Marcella and some of her closest friends when the girls dressed as good-looking boys.

 

It was Marcella's uncle was who said goodbye to her at the airport.  The day before, her parents and her sister had departed for Portugal where her sister was going to participate in a dance competition.  

 

When the slide with the Brazilian flag was on the screen, Marcella explained the significance of the colors.  Green represents the forests.  Yellow represents the wealth of the nation's soil including their rich gold reserves.  Blue represents the seas around them.   The significance of the Stars and their placement is that the single star at the top represents their capital which is its own territory, and the 26 stars at the bottom represents their twenty-six states.  She also noted that they use and "s" rather than a "z" when spelling the name of their country.  

 

The country of Brazil is 47% of the South American land mass.  It is sixteen times larger than France.  There are five regions.  The north region is both the largest and the least inhabited.  The northeast region is her second favorite.  It is dry, has a rich culture, and her favorite shrimp dish is prepared there.  She said there is a beautiful beach there where her family has travelled every year since Marcella was born.  She was only seven months old the first time she was taken there.  It is a thirteen-hour drive from their home.

 

The Central-West region is the home of their national capital.  It is famous for cattle breeding.  The southern region is the safest to visit.  There are lots of Italians.  There is a lot of European cultural influence there because of the large numbers of immigrants from Europe in the 19th century.  Marcella said the Southeast Region is the best (she declared she was not biased because it was her home.  She said it is the richest of the regions.  They are one tenth of the territory with two fifths of the population.  She said Rio de Janeiro is beautiful and the people are nice.  She said if you visit Brazil, you should start in Rio, then go everywhere..  She also said Rio is not the safest city in the world, so be careful.

 

The primary religion in Brazil is Roman Catholic.  There are many beautiful churches.  A photo of a white church was the one where her parents were married.

 

Marcella was asked about her plans after she goes home.  Many in her family have studied law, but Marcella is leaning toward journalism.  She is not sure which she will finally decide. She plans to take the summer off and not rush into anything.

 

It was noted that Marcella's English skills were quite good, including her command of American slang.  She said she studied English before coming here.  In fact she has had English classes every year - but it was British English.  Originally, Marcella didn't think she would be doing her exchange in the United States.  She wanted to use her exchange to learn another language and culture.  She thought she would be going to France and took some French classes.  It turned out that France had too many inbound exchange students for the hosting spots available.  She and a couple of other students had to find other placement.  When the Youth Exchange chair in Brazil asked her if she would like to go to the United States, she enthusiastically agreed.  She said it is really hard to get spots in the United States.  

 

Marcella's mother has always taught her "if it doesn't work out, something better will come along."  It all worked out.  She said she has loved everything about the exchange.  She first got interested in doing an exchange when she and her family had attended a birthday party for a friend of her parents.  He was in Rotary and his club actually is her outbound sponsor.  He talked to them about Rotary Youth Exchange.  Marcella's mother got excited.  They only had three days before the deadline to submit applications.  The Rotary forms were on their dinner table with the family helping to fill them out.

 

Marcella repeated that she is very family-guided - said it is the way of Italian families - the way they grew up.  About three months into her exchange, she admitted to missing her family very much, but said maybe in college she will study abroad again.

 

Donna Goetzenberger, who is Youth Exchange Chair for our district shared the following:

 

Marcella was not at all sponsored by Flagstaff Rotary or Rotarians, neither the club, nor host families.   Mesa West 100% sponsored her in all things as Flagstaff ROTARY was unable to support her financially, or with club's support of a counselor or a youth exchange officer from the club. Nothing against them at all, I totally understand that happens sometimes. But I just want to make sure that Mesa West is given full credit where credit is due.