A quick post from Kristen as we're taking a rest day for ourselves this afternoon - what an amazing journey we're on! Since the moment we arrived, Rotarians around the district have shown us incredible hospitality time and time again.

Australians have a reputation for being warm-hearted, funny. a bit off-color with their jokes, generous, with hearty livers to handle the beer. Everything I've seen so far confirms this reputation. The Rotarians, especially, have striven to make this experience quite memorable for us! We've all heard the stories of the wonders of the Rotary network, and we've witnessed it in action here: one local Rotary member owns a private plane. Another runs a number of theme parks. Still others work for the police department, with local schools, with the city council, providing avenues for fulfilling vocational visits.

We owe a huge debt of gratitude to the Rotary network for this trip - although the Rotary Foundation covers the major costs of our trip, it's the day-to-day experiences that are provided by our host clubs and families. We've been welcomed with joy and open arms everywhere we've gone, and that - perhaps - is one of the biggest lessons of this trip: how to graciously accept hospitality. All of the team members have compared notes on the difficulty of getting our host families to let us load the dishwasher or clear the table, but on a larger scale, it's a new experience to let ourselves be treated with such wonder and courtesy.

This evening, we gather to bid farewell to our second set of host families and hosting Rotary club, and move on to a whole new set of experiences - and it's only been a week!! Stay tuned...