So this past Sunday was "Rotary Day" here in Istanbul. As usual, all the inbounds living in Asia met at the ferry station from Kadiköy to Besiktas around 7:45/8am. We arrived in Besiktas in European side and we ended up taking a taxi to Bebek Park, where the festivities were being held. Also, the PRESIDENT OF ROTARY INTERNATIONAL WAS THERE! Here are some pictures of us taking pictures with him: 
Americans/Rebounds from USA
After that, the Festival had many free activities for everyone to enjoy, I couldn't decide what to do first! So we started out with all the fitness ones. They ranged from workout equipment rotations to Zumba sessions. So fun! The Zumba was such a good workout, but I didn't even notice because I was having such a good time. We attended two Zumba sessions. One was with US pop music, such as "Toxic" by Brittney Spears. And the other was Latin music with a lot of hip shaking. Let's just say it was hilarious and embarrassing all at the same time, but I had so much fun laughing at myself! 
Luis, Egenaz, and Hana
After all the selfies were taken, I was walking around with my friend from Germany and he was telling me how much he misses riding a bike. There were plenty of people at the event that were riding bikes, and I ended up seeing a guy riding a tandem bike by himself. So I flagged him down and asked if Luis could ride with him. The guy was more than happy to fill his extra seat. Haha but what a funny situation that was! I also took a picture of them riding as they passed by me. This picture actually made me cry I was laughing so hard. *sorry Luis 
I'm told it says something like "I don't know what to write here so I hope you all can't understand me. Rotary."
I'll just finish off this post with another picture of the USA, Rebounds, and Rotary President. :)
Charlène, me, Daffne, Egenaz, and Hana
After working out, a few of us walked around to see all the booths they had set up. It was such a good decision because we got a ton of free stuff, such as toothpaste, mouth wash, lotion, superglue, laundry detergent, a Harry Potter book in Turkish, Icecream, Döner (type of food), soda, popcorn, and even play dough! Also, there was even a "portable planetarium" set up! It was like a black dome that was made of the same material as bouncy houses so all we had to do was just open the curtain and walk right in! They played a video for each session/group about these ants that are in a spaceship discovering the universe. Even though it was geared towards little kids, I still liked it.
And what would be a rotary event without group selfies? Haha here are a few of them from the day:
And before we were all about to leave, we had the opportunity to write messages for world peace on these doves:
Here is Luis writing on the "exchange student dove" while the Rebound from Germany is laughing at what he wrote. His meaasge is below.Thanks for reading!
Maggie
No comments:
Post a Comment