A Quick Update from the Florida 6950 GSE team

Daphne, Kelly, David, Carole and I had an absolutely wonderful time in St Thomas. We've now been to St Croix and will be leaving BVI/Tortola for Kingston, Jamaica on Friday. It has been a busy, rewarding experience. Again I find myself in the place where I want to blog but don't have the few pictures available to me to add to the section. I promise to get a few pics from different team perspectives when I get back and have unlimited computer access.

But in the meantime, I want to let the USVI St Thomas Rotarians know that I had the most rewarding, exciting experience right there in St Thomas. I told AG Don that wherever I was, I would turn for whatever reason and literally have my breath taken away by unexpected beauty. I was so fortunate as to be hosted by Deepak and Geeta Samtani. They took excellent care of me during my stay in their home. I took over sometimes and they just let me. "Big ups" to Rohan who allowed me to steal his room for several days. I am so pleased to say that I've made several new forever friends, especially Deepak, Geeta, AG Don - I am going to annoy the snot out of you during District Conference. You are going to be asking yourselves, is she ever going to leave us alone?! But the answer is a resounding NO! I made a point to not really say Goodbye before boarding the sea plane (totally cool btw) because I knew we would be reunited in Nassau. Absence has made this heart grow fonder. I miss you all so much.

Sorry for the lack of focus and non-linear thought. But again, thank you St. Thomas Rotarians. You have made a lasting, positive impression. I hold you dear to my heart.

Relaxing at Don and Susan's

On Tuesday evening, AG Don and Susan had the team and the hosts at our condo for our last fellowship event. Again with an almost full moon, it was a relaxing evening. It was also DGNN Diana's birthday, so we sang happy birthday to her! A few candid shots from the event...

Attending Rotary Meetings

Each GSE team prepares a presentation to be used at Rotary Club meetings and at the District Conference. The presentation covers their jobs and their personal lives. The Team Leader also talks about their Rotary District, 6950, from Clearwater-St. Pete in Florida.

Our visitors got to attend and present at three Clubs: RC St. Thomas Sunrise, RC Charlotte Amalie and RC St. Thomas II. All the Rotarians in the audiences were very impressed with the team members.

The Team at Rotary Sunrise

Carole

Daphne

Alex

David

Kelly

GSE Vocational Days

A major part of the GSE experience is vocational exchange. Team members work with locals in their vocations, to exchange ideas and learn how their work is done in the local area. On Monday and Tuesday, our team members spent time in vocational exchanges, as follows:

• Team leader Carole worked with Monique Sibily-Hodge, Asst. Comm. of Tourism
• David worked with Jason Charles at the Economic Development Commission
• Alex worked at two spas, Paradise Gate and the spa at Antilles School
• Kelly worked with the graphics department at local TV station TV2
• Daphne worked with several marine biologist and environmental specialists

Hopefully, they all learned something about how thes professions are carried out here in the islands, as well as contributed ideas to the locals.

From the Team

We just want to extend our very sincere gratitude to the St Thomas Rotarians for the incredible time they have shown us on island. What a kind, generous and gracious group! Thank you all so much for inviting us into your homes and into your lives. You have truly made us feel like part of the family. We are thrilled to have made so many new friends and look forward to staying in touch and hopefully visiting again one day.

Your grateful friends,
GSE Team Caribbean 2008

Carnival Village - Again!

Deepak, Susan MacFarland, Don and Susan and Kelly, Alex and Carole made it back for a second night at Carnival Village. It was an early night, since we're all going to the Rotary Club of St. Thomas Sunrise meeting on Tuesday morning, at 7 pm! Carole and Kelly managed to avoid the camera this evening... :(

Note from the propeller head...

All the pictures will now enlarge by double clicking on them, in the body of the blog.

It's Carnival In St. Thomas!

On Sunday morning, the Team went on an Eco-Tour, in the area of St. Thomas known as the Lagoon. The tour included kayaking, snorkeling and hiking. The talk of the day was the baraccuda's they saw lurking the mangroves!

This is Carnival Week in St. Thomas, and we went to Lionel Roberts Stadium for the Steelband Jamboree. The Stadium is the venue for many Carnival events and is located in a natural bowl area in downton Charlotte Amalie. This annual event features steel pan bands from several local schools, with some groups comprised of 6-9 year olds! It was a beautiful day for it, sunny but not too hot. One of our host families, Deepak and Geeta, had their two sons playing in the group from Antilles School. All in all, a very energizing concert!

One of the Steel Pan Bands

Leaving the Stadium

After the Jamboree, we walked over to Carnival Village. This is the "happening" place during Carnival. A municipal parking lot becomes a perimeter of food and beverage booths, with a huge stage in the middle. Many local bands are featured during the week, often lasting well into the early hours of the morning. While the official opening isn't until Monday night, several food vendors were open. One of the most popular local foods is flying fish, and the entire team sampled these delicious delicacies.

Posing in front of one of the food booths

The group at the Village

After sampling the Village food, Susan and Carole went back to Susan's house. The rest of the team went to Deepak's house, where Greg picked up Daphne and David, to return to their host homes. Kelly joined Alex at Deepak's for a slumber party.

Daphne relaxing at Deepak's

Kelly, David and Alex at Deepak's

Deepak, David, Alex and Don

Check out all the GSE Team pictures, in the Album link at left.

The Oldest Man in the Caribbean

Saturday evening found us all gathering at the home of Rotarians Tom Bolt and Jeni Smith. This dramatic home, called "On The Rocks", is a perfect place to have a gathering for dinner, fellowship and a one-man play. It was made picture perfect with a full moon.

Our evening began with the one man play, "Back Time", portrayed by the "oldest man in the Caribbean". In a half an hour, writer/director/actor Clarence Cuthbertson, of Carabana Ensemble Theater in St. John, encapsulated a couple centuries of local history and culture.

The Oldest Man in the Caribbean

Host Greg and Daphne

Team Leader Carole

Alex

Kelly and David

Hostess Corinne


Hostess Geeta and Host Deepak

Kelly, Host Susan, Alex

At right, Jeni Smith and Tom Bolt, who welcomed us to their home

Note the Links Section to the Left

We've added a "links" section to the blog. The first link is to an online album of all the pictures taken while the GSE team is in St. Thomas. Some will be used in the body of the blog, but every picture will be posted in the album. The second link is to the GSE Team's own blog.

GSE Team arrives in St. Thomas

Friday night, Apr. 18, the GSE team from Clearwater/St. Petersburg Florida arrived in St. Thomas. The flight was two hours late from Miami, due to mechanical problems. But a great group of Rotarians came out to meet them at the airport and get the team to their host homes.

The group includes:

• Carole Owenby, Team Leader


• Daphne Macfarlan, Team Member


• David Meadows, Team Member
  
• Alex Rosado, Team Member


• Kelly Weatherby, Team Member

Saturday morning, Carol, David, Alex and Kelly went on a tour of St. John, while Daphne participated in a clean up project at Cass Cay that has received grants from her agency, NOAA.

Their busy schedule looks like this:

• Sat. evening - dinner and fellowship at Rotarian's Tom and Jeni's home, with a private performance of Carabana Theater's "Back Time", a one man show about the oldest man in the Caribbean.


• Sun. morning - Eco-tour kayaking and snorkeling in the Lagoon


• Sun. evening - Steelband Jamboree, part of St. Thomas' Carnival, followed by a vistit to Carnival Village to sample local food


• Mon. and Tues. - Vocational days


• Mon. evening - another trip to Carnival Village


• Tues. morning - Attend Rotary Club of St. Thomas Sunrise club meeting


• Tues. evening - Attend Rotary Club of Charlotte Amalie club meeting


• Wed. morning - Sampling local food at Carnival Food Fair


• Wed. noon - Attend Rotary Club of St. Thomas II club meeting


• Wed. afternoon - depart for St. Croix