Candelaria dancer revealed - Zenon from Puno!
The conference in Ica began Friday night with all the clubs coming in from District 4300. We were able to see all our friends from Southern Peru and it was an amazing way to close out our trip…however, this was just the beginning of the end. There were introductions of all the dignitaries present, all the clubs and citisites represented, and us, the IGE team. We then moved to the patio where the talent show commenced. Most of the groups participated, RC Club Tacna took 1st, and RC Club Puno took second. There was plenty off food and pisco sours to go around. Our team was up extremely early as we took a trip to Paracas, an island also known as Galapagos of South America. We had to leave the festivities around 11:30 but according to all of our friends, they continued until about 3 or 4 into the morning.
Saturday, we gave our last presentation at the conference. We had it set up in game show format, but it was great because the audience kind of took over and answered all the questions for us. So much fun! We were able to give thanks and appreciation to all of our friends with most of them present.
Now, the real party didn’t start until 9. Pulling up to Hotel Real Ica, we saw the tent outside, the spot lights coming through the tent, everyone was walking in in pretty close to formal attire. Everyone cleaned up well and dinner was great. It seemed as though no one was dancing, but then while we were eating dinner, all of a sudden the dance floor was packed with people. Everyone was dancing, the food was great, the music was amazing and the band leader kept everyone engaged.
Dancing the night away
We ALL joined in with the dancing. We danced all night long. All of our friends were there and this is something that we were so grateful for. We were able to see people from all the cities, not everyone, but all cities had someone representing them. We saw our friends from Cusco, Puno, Arequipa, Tacna, Nasca, and Ica. There were many other great parts to the night, but another was that there were RC Clubs there that we weren’t able to visit, so we had even more new friends, like the Ladies from the Jungle. It was so much fun and a very memorable way to close out our trip. We danced into the wee hours of the morning. Although, there was more to come…
Every Sunday morning, each city has a parade and a flag raising ceremony in the Plaza de Armas. Sunday was Rotary’s turn. We lined up for the parade, by Club. Everything was very formal. We walked with Club Puno and Justin and Sara helped carry their flag, it was a priviledge to be there with him. We were also walking with Club Arequipa Este. We took one lap around the Plaza, the flags were raised, then we walked down the Main Street and we were all introduced by group, including the IGE team from Denver, CO.
Carrying our flags with pride
This is when we had to say good-bye to them all. All the clubs, even the clubs that we did not visit, but met at the conference, invited us all back to stay with and visit them. I would just like to acknowledge all the groups that we visisted or tried to visit:
CUSCO: Cusco, Inka Cusco, Julio J. Delgado
PUNO: Puno
AREQUIPA: San Augustin, Este, Oeste, Arequipa Sur, Arequipa, Mollendo, Primavera
TACNA: Miculla, Caplina, Tacna
NASCA: Nasca
ICA: Real Ica, Ica, Ica Sur
We had a wonderful time, an amazing opportunity, we met people that we will never forget and I know that in time, we will all be back. We will miss you all, we thank you for opening your homes and hearts to strangers, we appreciate all that we have learned, we will never forget this experience and I know that all our lives have been changed for the better.
THANK YOU ALL!!!
Katherine and the IGE Team, Justin, Sara, Jennifer and Gale
