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Russian Ambassadorial Scholar
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Catya Boltanova
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Bill Ptacek, a Bellevue Lunch Club Rotarian, introduced Catya Boltanova, a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar from Siberia. Bill said that District 5030 has been heavily involved in Rotary-building in Russia. The Gorno Club invited two young people to spend a week in their city. Catya was their translator, and after that visit, was chosen to become an Ambassadorial scholar. She is now studying linguistics at the University of Iowa. District 6000 in Iowa donated the scholarship.
Catya describe her thoughts about traveling to Iowa. She said it was “kinda like going from Siberia to Siberia! Iowa is corn-fed and flat. The land looks like a chessboard; the roads are not perfect, so that reminded me of home. The people are great, very hospitable. Rotarians are special people throughout the world.” Catya has organized a Rotaract Club in her city of Gorno. She has visited Washington before and loves the trees, mountains, and water, which more closely resembles the area she calls home, Gorno, a city of 50,000 with a university.
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