My Rotary escapades started on Tuesday, 22 January. I left about 6:30 for the 7:00 p.m. Prague State Mesto (Old Town) Rotary Club meeting at the Hotel Pariz, a five star hotel, about 15 minutes from where we were staying. I needed to use a cash machine and passed about 10 of them on the way but wanted to find the hotel first and figured since it's in the "Banking District" there would be plenty nearby. You guessed it, none nearby. So I ran around the area and finally found one. I then got to the Hotel Pariz at exactly 7:00 p.m.
I'm told the Rotary must be in the cafe, because they aren't anywhere else. The people in the cafe know nothing about a Rotary meeting. I go back to the front desk and tell them exactly what is on the Internet, "Hotel Pariz, Salon Violet, Tuesdays at 1900. He sends me back through the cafe where I'm finally told, "They meet here only on the first Tuesday of the month."
I was there on the fourth Tuesday; they weren't.
Fast forward to Monday, 28 January. I set out to attend the Prague Rotary Club meeting. I get there at 6:10 for a 6:30 p.m. meeting. There's a small group there, board meeting or something. They tell me the meeting starts at 7:00, even though the Internet says 6:30 (it needs to be updated). They tell me, "You can wait here or come back in an hour."
I decide to come back, walk around, go to an Internet Cafe, make a wrong turn and get back there at 7:05. The meeting is underway and the guy next to me tells me everyone, except one, has finished eating. What they meant to tell me is, "We eat at 6:30, the meeting is at 7:00."
However, I still presented and received a flag. I also heard a program in a language I know maybe 100 words of. I did figure out it had to do with government or politics and was right. The man owned a company that sold weapons. I guess it had to be fascinating the way the club paid attention, asking him questions and letting him go past ending time.
