Day 1, Recife

District Governor Eduardo Queiroz, shown above with his wife Oneide (on the far right, with team leader Ginny Ryan center) sends his greetings to District 2690, and especially to District Governor Bob Gandolfi. Their kindness to and concern for the GSE team from District 6290 have been beyond any of our expectations.

I am beginning to believe that the only thing more beautiful than Brazil is the Brazilians. We arrived in Recife, having traveled for 24 hours, dirty and tired. District Governor Eduardo and his wife, Oneide, were among those who came to the airport to welcome us. They brought us to a lovely hotel on the Atlantic, with rooms overlooking the ocean, to rest up for the adventure ahead. Again, the rooms were provided by the kindness of a Rotarian, Miguel Franciso, the owner.

Many wonderful experiences have been planned and each team member has many events planned just to address his or her specific interests. But the Brazilians started our adventure with a tour of Olinda and Recife, forts and churches from the 15th century, wonderful food and a personal, private tour of the new soccer stadium for the Santa Rosa soccer team.

It has been a generous and much appreciated introduction to this beautiful country. The whole team is overwhelmed with experiences beyond anything any of us expected.