Moises, our Toastmaster took us on a fantastic trip in time and space from his desk in Mexico! We rode the Pandemic silver lining and joined Moises on zoom where he led us on a back door tour of the fabulous temple of Teotihuacan.

Teotihuacan means” The place where the Gods were created” and thanks to Moises’s historical illustrations and present day footage, we know how fitting that name is. I was particularly touched by the drone footage of the tourist free temples: the scale is simply awe inspiring.

The word of the day, introduced by Grammarian Polina, was, ” Archeology” and the meeting appealed to the archeologist in us. From dinosaurs, to Teotihuacan to the archeology of our inner selves. Of note:

• Timer Steven marked the passage of time using dinosaurs Triceratops ( green), Velociraptor ( Orange) and T-Rex( red).
• Introspective speeches: Who am I? by Lara followed by When I grow up? By Judy and ending with Who am I, really? By Ahmad. A perfect progression!

Petar led the group in an exciting round of table topics on the subject of Mexico. Oh how we wish we could travel again!

We learnt that the best way to learn is to learn is… to learn and that the road to knowing starts with knowing that you do not know. Do you think you did that today? I know we did!

Thanks to our guests Jamie and Katie! Our next meeting will be April 17th with a one of a kind speech evaluation practice workshop. Be there!

” Ready Enough values thought and preparation but acknowledges lingering uncertainty. Ready Enough has a plan, but knows that winging it is necessary” Judy T.

Fantastic meeting led my Sergeant at Arms Extraordinaire and Toastmaster of the day, Judy. Grammarian Bill chose most appropriate ( and popular) word of the day ” Swoosh”. Lara kept us on time.

Three terrific speeches by:

1.Moises : ” Fun Times In Mexico”. What do a cacomistle, an incident of road rage and a mysterious black bag left by former tenants have in common? You had to be here!

2. Isabella : ” Why Am I enjoying the Toastmaster Club?” How does it feel to look for a job in a language that is not your own? Can Toastmasters help? You had to be here!

3. Ahmad presenting his ice breaker speech: ” My first car” The first car, the first ride, the first parting tear. You definitely had to be here!

We swooshed past the poop, through the job interview challenges, on the road to our end destination at 9:15 am. It was a swoosh- sesh.

Our next meeting is March 27th. Be there!

Since 1995, presidents have issued a series of annual proclamations designating the month of March as “Women’s History Month.”  Toastmaster Isabella led a lively meeting with three speakers:

Bill presented ” Four Amazing Super Powers” , three that he was endowed with because he was born white and one he is striving for. Thoughtful original and powerful anecdotes to illustrate the reality that your skin color, not what you do, dictates how you are viewed by the police, your clients, the sales staff . You could die for no other reason than you have the ” wrong” skin color. Authentic, powerful.

Bill wished for a power of vision to see white privilege. He has vision and he is opening our eyes: thanks Bill!

Polina presented ” Are computers making your office visit better or worse”. A case for digitization and digital transformation of medical records. Well done explaining the pros and cons, Polina!

Scott led us in a guided meditation titled: “Letting go, a guided meditation” Using his calm voice to guide us, he brought calm and well being to the meeting. Try it: Breathe in and think ” Let”, breathe out and think ” Go” a bunch of times when you are stressed. It works!

Scott’s speech matches Judy’s quote of the day very well: “My religion is very simple – my religion is kindness.” – Dalai Lama

Paula hosted a desk scavenger hunt for table topics. Ahmad, Sara, Lara, Jinendra and LinXuan were lively participants of this ” Show and Tell”.

Sara and Wei Hu were excellent helpers ( Grammarian and Timer respectively) The word of the day was ” Intersectionality”.

Thanks all for another thought provoking, instructive and fun meeting!

Our next meeting is March 20th.