Rotary Friendship Exchange (RFE)
Turkey - District 2420 - 2011-2012
Inbound - June 5-14, 2012
District 2420 Rotarians arrive in Eugene - June 5, 2012
More photos:
- RFE at Dean Creek Elk Viewing Area (June 10)
- RFE in Port Orford (June 11)
- RFE on a Rogue River Jetboat (June 12)
- RFE at Cape Blanco Lighthouse (June 12)
- RFE at Bandon Dunes (June 13)
- RFE Farewell (June 13)
- RFE Team Hits the Road (June 14)
Read about the inbound team from Istanbul. The team will spend five and half days in the Eugene area and four and a half days on the south coast.
Outbound (2011)
Our team has returned from a great exchange in Istanbul with the Rotarians of District 2420 (September 25 to October 5, 2011). Here are the team and their hosts in front of the Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge spanning the Bosphorus and connecting the European side with the Asian side.
Historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople, Istanbul is the largest city in Turkey and the second largest city proper in the world, with a population of over 13 million people. It is the only metropolis that is situated on two continents.
The outbound team (and club):
- Gloria Thorpe - Ashland
- Susan Hanner - Eugene Southtowne
- Sally Briggs - Eugene Southtowne
- Dick Briggs - Eugene Southtowne
- Emily Francona - Port Orford
- Rick Francona - Port Orford
- Jeanette Maier
- William Maier - Corvallis
- Cathy Peschiera - McKenzie After Five
- Paul Peschiera - Eugene Delta
- Camille Ronzio - Eugene Southtowne
- Jim Ronzio
Trip Report:
Our RFE team has completed its trip to Turkey--ten days of developing new friendships and sharing experiences.
The twelve team members were hosted by eight families over the ten days, giving us opportunities to experience daily life in Istanbul, a city of 15 to 18 million people--quite a contrast to our lives anywhere in District 5110.
We did lots of sight seeing, with several Rotarians to guide us each day, which gave us time to get to know individual Rotarians in addition to our hosts. We visited Princes' Island, Topkapi Palace, Hagia Sophia, Blue Mosque, Dolmabache Palace, Iznik, both the European and Asian sides of the Bosphorus, and much more.
We also attended a number of events where we got to meet other Rotarians from the area: several club meetings, a brunch, and our final dinner. We enjoyed lots of wonderful food, and got to learn a bit about Turkish history, Turkish culture, and projects of Rotary District 2420. As always, the best part of the trip was the people--everyone we met was incredibly warm and welcoming. One day on a ferry ride, two members of the team talked with some tourists from another Iran about the exchange, especially about the home-stay element of the trip. The Iranians were amazed that we were staying with people who we didn't already know. They even asked, "And do you trust these people?" The response, "Of course, they're Rotarians." And that's part of the "miracle" of Rotary and of a Friendship Exchange.
Most of the team members included other travels as part of this trip: four people went to Austria and Italy, two people went to Spain, one person went to Greece, and four people spent a week in another part of Turkey visiting ancient sights.
The incoming team from Turkey will be visiting our district next spring. Even if you can't be a traveler with an exchange, you can still experience Rotarians from some place else in the world by hosting. If that's of interest to you, please contact Susie Hanner at susieh@efn.org.
Committee Details: FriendshipExchange-2420?
