Rotary Rey Don Jaime

Last Friday I visited Rotary Club Valencia Rey Don Jaime, one of several in Valencia. This was my first official visit and talk to a Rotary Club in Spain. Anyways, they were very kind and invited me to their meeting, which took place at the Westin Hotel on Friday afternoon. I arrived at 2:30, and after a very long and delicious meal (which was about one and a half hours), they conducted the meeting. The meeting itself didn't take too long; I spoke for about 10 minutes, and the members asked me some questions, and they also welcomed a new member to the club. After the meeting, we sat in the hotel garden area and drank coffee. Because the club is small, there was a very friendly and intimate atmosphere. I was able to talk to all the members and learn at least a little bit about them. Norma, the secretary, is actually from Argentina and she works as an event planner; the other members asked her about her daughter who was starting dance and music lessons. The club wouldn't be holding a meeting the next week because Elias, the president, would be attending his daughter's wedding. The other members held a variety of occupations in law and business.

One aspect I enjoyed was the presence of family which made the club very personable; even though only 7 members were present at the meeting, the son of one member was the chef at the restaurant and came by before our meal to chat about the menu and Elias' daughter stopped by during lunch to say hi.

Here I am with the club:




Rotarians enjoying coffee:


Here's a few photos of lunch. First we had bread and olive oil, then appetizers which consisted of jamón iberico and cheese, mozarella and tomate valenciano, and salad. Of course at this point I was full, since the appetizers were extremely tasty. But of course, we still had the main course (either fish or meat), and then a strawberry mousse for dessert.