The final countdown !!

Well I have finished work and the final countdown has begun. Big panic on now as i cant fit everything in my bag !  I went to Liverpool FC today and got a load of gear to take out, we are going to make some kids day !!  Lucas Leiva and the rest of the team have signed a shirt for us to auction at the conference and so as not to be outdone Kat has got an Everton one. How could we leave Tranmere Rovers out !  Yes we have one of theirs aswell. Bits of a programme have started to filter through from Brazil and it is very exciting. We have lots of presentations to do with the first one being on day 1 !
Well i best get on with that packing !!

Pre-departure presentation - Chester University

With only week to go the team gave their presentation to members of Rotary clubs within the 1180 district. Friends and family attended and it was lovely to have our Portuguese teachers, Marina and Manuela, there to hear the presentation in English!

The afternoon was hosted by the Rotary Foundation chairman, David Barton, and the team were presented with an International Rotary Foundation badge by District Governor John McDowall. The team had their own presentation to make to our two fantastic Portuguse teachers who were asked to come onto the stage and thanked for all their hard work.

A lovely meal followed the presentation allowing the team, Rotarians and family members a great opportunity to get together before the team leave. There is only 6 days to go - next stop Brazil!

Our last Portuguse lesson!

Our last Portuguese lesson was on the 7th March. We have been lucky to have two fantastic teachers, Marina and Manuela, who have been teaching us Portuguese since November - no mean feat considering only Kat could speak any Portuguese before we started! We are very grateful for all the hard work they put into translating our presentation for us - not to mention their patience as we tried to get to grips with the language!

TRAVEL DATES CONFIRMED !!!!

Our flights are now confirmed and we depart Manchester on Sunday 18th March at 1pm. We arrive at our destination city of Belem on the mouth of the Amazon at 0040 hrs the following day. ( three flights later). It is really exciting to have notification of our travel. Our lessons are going well and Marina and Manuela are plaesed with our progress. We are hoping to get some press coverage and Radio Merseyside would like to do a piece on the drivetime show ( over to Liz for that one!).
Whilst on our trip we will no doubt encounter some poor areas where Rotary has set up projects. I am eager to see if we can help in some way. As a team we are collecting some items that we may be able to auction at the district conference to raise some money  for a local charity. Everything seems to be happening very fast now and we are all starting to realise that we will be in Brazil very soon!!!

Test presentation at Southport Links Rotary Club

Well last night we gave our presentation its first public airing! It seemed to go quite smoothly with the exception of the odd slide being in the wrong place and one or two other bits and pieces. We received some really nice feedback and some good constructive feedback also. We also received some club benners that will be taken with us to Brazil and given to clubs in dist 4720. Thank you to Southport links for being so nice to us and setting the ball rolling for the team. We will spend the next eight weeks improving our Portuguese and practicing our lines ! Muito Obrigado....

Get shopping!!!!!

The time has come to hit the sales and get fitted out for our uniforms. Being organised i have already got mine ( yawn yawn !!) So i endured a days shopping with four ladies, surely i must be the perfect husband!  Fortunately the girls knew what they wanted but it didnt stop them returning to the first shop we went to and buying the first item they tried on having walked all around Liverpool !!  Actually it was a nice day and we spent the morning putting the finishing touches to our presentation at the Marina bar where we appear to have become regulars ! ( nice coffee! ). Its not long to go now and our language teachers seem pleased with our progress. We have most of our presentation translated now and just need to practice practice practice !!

Time is passing so quickly and we should hear from the organiser about our travel plans any day now so we are officially excited!!

Ola From Bem Brazil !!!!

Ola!
Saturday saw the team on a fact finding mission. It is an important part of the preparation to meet and sample some of the culture of the country we will be visiting and so off we went to Bem Brazil in Liverpool. After a visit to the salad bar our waiter adorned us with various meats from the grill. It was wonderful ( poor Ursy is a veggie !!)  It was equally important for us to sample cocktails! A good evening was had by all and as team leader i bowed out early and left the girls to get the last train home !!
We are all getting along fine and the Portuguese lessons are a challenge. Marina and Manuela, our teachers, are lovely and our weekly lesson is great fun.  Time is getting on now and all the documentation is due at RI headquarters! our flights will be booked really soon, time to get really excited.