NEWEST RED BADGE MEMBER(S)
Jill Ostrem
George Brace
David Foster

GREETERS
Eva Chiu
Byron Piro

BACK TABLE DUTY
Don Davidson
Jill Ostrem

• • •

The mailing address for the
Bellevue Rotary Club is:

Laurie Larson
Club Administrator
P.O. Box 523
Bellevue, WA 98009
bellevuerotary@seanet.com
Ph 425 451-3819
Fax 425 451-8025

• • •

Are you receiving The Rotarian Magazine?
If not, contact or email .

Phil Bevan, 09/02
Lee Kraft, 09/05
Peter Kirov, 09/06
Jim McGraw, 09/06
Clare Nordquist, 09/07
John Valaas, 09/09
Dennis Conrad, 09/16
Gus Hart, 09/21
David Schooler, 09/22
Millard Lesch, 09/25
Kathleen Steele, 09/25
Sherry Ladd, 09/27

This Week, September 26:
Connie Marshall
Region 10 Advocate, Office of Advocacy
Small Business Administration
"The Office of Advocacy — Best Kept Secret in Washington, DC"

In July of this year, President Bush appointed Connie Marshall to the position of Regional Advocate for Region X (WA, OR, Idaho and Alaska) for the Office of Advocacy, an arm of the U.S. Small Business Administration. Previously, she served as Mayor of the City of Bellevue from 2002-2005 and has been serving on the Council since 1998.

Connie was recently named as one of the 100 Most Influential People in the State by Washington CEO Magazine and she was named “2003-2004 Woman of the Year” by Bellevue Business & Professional Women Organization. The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) named her 2004 Local Official of the Year, and the Washington State Chapter of the National Association of Office Properties (NAIOP) named her 2005 Public Official of the Year.

Connie's educational background includes a BS from the Ohio State University and an MBA in Marketing/Advertising from Loyola University, Chicago.

TOP

FREE! Spotlight Night
at the 5th Avenue TheatRE:
Stephen Sondheim's "Company"
Christopher H. Porter

Rotarians are invited to attend the latest in the series of Spotlight Nights, which offers an entertaining, informative and free behind-the-scenes look at an upcoming production at the 5th Avenue Theatre. This particular event focuses on Stephen Sondheim's musical comedy, "Company," about the joys and pitfalls of love, marriage and commitment. Company Director and Choreographer David Armstrong and members of the all-star Seattle cast will explore this show on Wednesday, September 25, 7:00-8:30 pm.

You can sign up online or call 206.625.1900 for free tickets.

TOP

Fellowship Event:
Rotary Night at the Pacific Science Center
"Dead Sea Scrolls"
District Governor Mike Montgomery

Between 1947 and 1956 thousands of fragments of biblical and early Jewish documents were discovered in 11 caves near the site of Khirbet Qumran on the shores of the Dead Sea. These important texts have revolutionized our understanding of the way the Bible was transmitted, and have illuminated the general cultural and religious background of ancient Palestine, out of which both Rabbinic Judaism and Christianity arose.

The Seattle 4 Fellowship Committee has arranged a deluxe tour of the Dead Sea Scrolls on Sseptember 30, a social event for Rotarians, guests, and colleagues at the Pacific Science Center. Fellowship and food begin at 6:00 pm. Private tours start at 7:00 pm and go until 9:30. Tickets are $95.00 to secure your spot. Visit our special event registration site at www.s4dss.com, or call Jeanette Byrd at 206.386.5476.

TOP

Fellowship Event:
"Evita"
Village Theatre, Issaquah
C.Scott.East

The Fellowship Committee is organizing a members and guests night at the Village Theatre in Issaquah for their next musical, Evita, on October 19, at 8:00 PM.

At this time, the 30 seats I reserved are almost filled, with 26+ persons confirmed, and it is likely that BRC Rotarians and partners/guests will fill the remaining seats. We can probably find additional seats beyond the 30 reserved if we move quickly, but there are no assurances.

The cost will be $41.40 (general) or $37.80 (senior) if we have 10-29 attendees, but will drop to $39.10/$35.70, respectively, if we have 30 or more sign up in advance. For more information, please visit the website: www.villagetheatre.org

The prefunction event will be a separate, stand-alone option for those holding ticket, some sort, cocktails and heavy hors d'oeuvres, or possibly dinner, at 6 PM, but that will depend upon the preferences of the group. Once we have the final nose count for the show, we will move forward with arranging the prefunction for those interested.

Please if you have any questions about this event.

TOP

Former BRC Member Nancy Pasternak Reports from Dubai

[Note from nancy: "O’Connor was my make believe name when my sisters and I played 'house.' In continuation of former descriptions of living abroad, I’m hoping you will enjoy ... "]

TALES OF O’CONNOR FROM DUBAI
I’m looking out our window at pea-soup visibility that we learned by radio is actually sand-laden air coming from sand storms in Saudi Arabia’s vast no-man’s land. Naturally the weather here affects life’s daily travails. Though shopping is THE activity Dubai is known for, most local shops and business offices do the prudent thing and lock up during the one to four p.m. scorch stretch. Only the elaborate air conditioned shopping centers attract those who are looking to spend dirams. Derick and I are finding ourselves out at midnight doing errands and being knocked about by the hordes of shoppers and their children. Lack of respect for personal space seems to have been imported by the ethnic immigrant groups here from over-populated countries. Cars dart in and out of diagonal parking and double park narrowing the road, but mainly the place is just swarming. Last night after experiencing bumper-car fatigue in our neighborhood shopping area we felt the need to stop in at our regular pub, The Boston, for a beer at 10:30. The Boston, by the way, eased our rather trying transition into Dubai as our dining room since we had no stove, as our TV room during the World Cup since we had no TV, and as our family since we knew practically no one. We started our two year engagement with Joint Commission International here in June, as luck would have it, the worst time of year.

Back, as always, to the weather. I break out in sweat just looking at the construction laborers scaling the thousands of sprouting buildings. After several of them died of heat stroke, they must legally be given afternoons off as well. Dubai, the phantom rising from dunes, is the magnet for mostly Indians and Pakistanis, also Lebanese, Philippinos, Indonesians, Iraqis and North Africans. We would do better learning Hindi rather than Arabic as we considered doing. I always chat with my taxi drivers in broken English. Where are you from? Usually Southern India (Kerala especially) and Pakistan. Is your family here with you? To a man, they have left their families abroad where earnings are a pittance to send remittances home to them. Can you imagine the issues of all these men? I may have some of them as clients when I start working in mental health as I hope to do. An article in the paper yesterday about an Indian man who hung himself said that 84 Indians committed suicide last year, many of them due to financial difficulties.

We are baffled, totally clueless, as to how the Emirati women can stand the heat wrapped in polyester black abayas and veils — some with slits for eyes, some over the entire face. How they don’t get killed in traffic or felled by shopping carts, I don’t know — maybe they do. They even drive with veils in place. No lie! That may account for some of the 300,000 traffic accidents in Dubai each year. It took me three days to work up the courage to drive our new car. That’s me, Nancy, the bold adventurer talking. I watched a poor woman in a restaurant spooning her food in underneath her veil. “Family rooms” in some restaurants allow women to eat with their veil removed. The metal and leather nose and chin masks are quite a shock to behold — like a chastity belt for the face. Some unlovely women have the misfortune, by dictate of their culture, of showing only their face. What does this do for the husbands on their arm, we wonder? Do they like the mystery surroundings the hidden woman? Is it erotic to them? Is it a control thing? We actually find that the women are quite powerful behind the man. In the picture-frame shop which we frequent nearly every other day, we saw a man negotiating a framing job but constantly checking with his wife behind him as to the correct decisions. Culturally-in-tune Emirati men wear a white linen “gown,” called a Kandura or Dishdasha, and a white head scarf they have to constantly fling back out of their face, which is held on by a rope-like halo. At Rotary Club meetings about a fifth of the men wear them. We’ve met lots of very genuine, friendly leaders in the community at Rotary.

The clothing, I have recently been told is a means of identifying themselves as Emiratis or as other nationalities. Dubai, with an 80% expat community and rampant materialism, kind of has to allow the whole gambit of dress and freedom of activity. We can get newspapers, magazines, TV shows from all over the world, but the movers told us customs agents would confiscate from our shipping container any videos, books, paintings, our Buddha statue, and anything that could be construed as anti Muslim. I sure haven’t seen anyone in Dubai throwing down his prayer rug and facing Mecca when the Muezzin calls from the mosque. Only today, Friday holy day and the weekend, in Sharjah, a more conservative emirate, did I see the whole community close down to pray — some kneeling on prayer rugs on street corners. It was a touching scene.

Pre-move-to-Dubai we had heard that it was THE place to purchase anything on earth at a great price (I remember that in Tajikistan Doctors Without Borders imported TVs, computer, cars, etc., from there.) So we thought, as did the Joint Commission, that we could live inexpensively here. Not so. Housing, though massively produced beyond ones imagination, is exorbitant. Clothing and most restaurants are comparable with the USA , so seem reasonable to the Europeans. Gas is cheap at $1.30 a gallon and one-to-one labor is really inexpensive — house cleaner (who is a doll from India, love her) less than $5 an hour. The painters did a bang up job making our walls luscious colors that I selected, for less than $300. The apartment is quite large with three bedrooms — the better to house each of you when you come to visit. We have had more fun decorating with the selected items we brought from Seattle than we’ve ever had doing that creative effort. Framing is cheap, so we have framed any and everything that resembles art from our collectibles and have hung it. What a prime location we have, too, from our 16th floor we view the Gulf, the largest Jumeira Mosque and the famous skyline of Sheik Zayed Road! We are in the middle of everything without being caught up in the busy traffic patterns, three blocks from the beach and an easy drive from Derick’s office in the ever growing Health Care City. People complain about the traffic, which is beastly going across the two bridges and tunnel separating the ”Creek,” but we pick our travel time and from our vantage point it is not a problem. We have just about every neighborhood shop one could ask for within walking distance if and when we might ever want to do that. Thank goodness we finally bought a cute SUV 2006 Hyundai Terracan, white with silver bumpers surrounding it. This is my car, Derick says he must have a Porsche for once in his life or die. Second hand will do.

Several days later ... Not to overburden you with TMI (too much information), in this first tale, suffice it to tell you about the food. One of the best Lebanese restaurants is right below our windows and has not only fabulous babganoush, multabella, and the whole shmear, it is cheaper than cheap. Our friends, Pam and Sarper Tanli, whom we know from Turkey, say that one can eat out more cheaply than in, but in our perennially dieting state, we don’t dare do that. Fresh fish is great! Mangos are like candy. Yoghurt with Turkish pine honey is a staple in our house. Many restaurants provide and stoke up shisha (tobacco filtered thru water pipes) for their guests. Katherine and Jamie were bowled over when a totally-veiled woman stepped out of a booth behind them from which shisha smoke had been emanating. Alcohol can only be served in hotel restaurants. A person can get a liquor license (to purchase liquor at 30% mark up) by producing residency papers, work permit, a letter from employer, (and a letter from one’s deceased mother practically). This is the typical process to conduct any kind of transaction here. Forget calling by phone to get something done. You must go there and usually at least three times to complete an errand or business. We did the thing expats do around here, drove two Emirates away to the Barracuda liquor store and purchased at least two years worth of liquor cabinet ingredients for a song. This is legal. One of the many inconsistencies and crazy rationales we encounter in these Emirate rulers’ thinking! Truly, we are always shaking our heads in amazement — often not so happily. But let’s close on a positive note. We are happily settled in Dubai. Fallout from the surrounding chaos does not put the Emirates in danger due to its neutral position and the extravagant investments Middle Easterners have plunged into its attractive environment. However, oodles of Lebanese sympathizers here have been raising big-time funds to aide Lebanon. I have interviewed for three different jobs which look obtainable, one with Emirates Airlines, which has over 28,000 employees and an extensive employee assistance program (social service, counseling, etc.). I’m thinking part time so that I can accompany Derick on some of his trips to augment JCI business in Middle-Eastern countries, like I am doing now as I sit on a charming exclusively horse and buggy island overlooking the Marmara Sea near Istanbul. We are so blessed! We hope this letter finds you with similar feelings. Please do come visit us. We’ll give you the Pasha Suite.

TOP

Summer Youth Exchange is looking for Students!
Stu Vander Hoek

Do your kids, your grandkids, or a family friend have an interest in foreign travel next summer?

Each year, local Rotary districts and clubs worldwide arrange thousands of international Youth Exchanges for high school-aged students. A primary goal of the program is to foster world understanding by way of intercultural exchange. Short-term summer exchanges average 3-4 weeks in each country. They take place when school is not in session and involve a stay with a host family. Every year approximately 7000 students ages 15 to 19 go abroad under the auspices of the Rotary Youth Exchange program.

The increased self awareness and global perspective students derive from the experience would not be possible without the commitment of the many volunteer host families and the dedication of those Rotarians who serve as Youth Exchange officers. In fact, this commitment and enthusiasm is transferred to many exchange students who continue their involvement after their exchange as members of ROTEX.

As a Rotary Youth Exchange summer student, you will spend 3-4 weeks living with a host family in a country other than your own. You may learn a new language; you will learn a new way of living and a great deal about yourself. But there’s more. While you are busy learning, the people you meet will be learning as well — about your country, your culture, and your ideas. You will be a young ambassador. You will be helping to bring the world closer together — and you’ll be making good friends in the process.

If you are ready for the challenge and the rewards of living in another land as an exchange student, then you are ready to discover new worlds through Rotary’s Youth Exchange program.

Countries we exchange with are Germany, France, Holland, Italy, Spain, Belgium, Japan, Sweden, Mexico, and Denmark. If there’s a country you have in mind, let us know and we’ll see what we can do.

If you are interested in becoming a Rotary Youth Exchange Summer Student for next summer, please contact or .

TOP

Volunteers Needed for Belize Trip
Peter Kalunian

Volunteers are needed for a medical and construction missionary trip to Belize, January 13-21, 2007. The trip will be our seventh year returning to Belize.

The team will be located in Dangriga, about 100 miles south of Belize City, located in the Caribbean Sea. The weather in January will be in the 70’s, with a gentle ocean breeze. A pleasure day is also planned.

The medical specialists that would be most helpful would be: orthopedic, urologist (adult), ENT, Ob/Gyn, women's health, internal specialist, cardiologist, dermatologist, and health educator on First Responder's Training. Any of these specialties would be most beneficial to the region.

Daily clinics will be held at the local hospital. Nurses and non-medical personnel are also especially needed.

The construction team will build a computer lab at an elementary school, and the team will be staying a hotel that has hot water and air conditioning.

For further information contact: (Ph: 206-854-0612)

TOP