The theme of the February 23 meeting was South America. One of our regular members, Tym Myers, was a pilot for American Airlines for 37 years. For fourteen of those years, his main route was flying from Miami to various cities in South America. American Airlines is the leading US carrier for flights to and from South America from their hub in Miami. In his Icebreaker speech, Tym introduced us to how he became a pilot and shared some of his favorite South American cities, foods and experiences including El Alto, the high altitude airport (13,325 ft.) in La Paz, Bolivia, the beaches of Rio de Janeiro, and the Brazilian churrascarias or steakhouses.
Our Desitnaiton Master was Natasha Barr, she gaves us these hints about the country:
- A country in western Asia, situated between the Eastern Mediterranean and the Red Sea.
- It is bordered by Lebanon to the north, by Syria to the northeast, by Jordan to the east, by Egypt to the southwest.
- It has a parliamentary system of government.
- The Prime Minister serves as the head of government.
- It is a member of the OECD (The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development).
- It is the most developed and advanced country in its hemisphere with a very high standard of living, performing exceptionally well in measures of education.
- It has a population of over nine million people, it has the world’s 28th largest economy by nominal GDP.
- It has a typical Mediterranean climate with cool rainy winters and long, hot summers.
- It has two official languages.
If you guessed Israel, you are correct!
The Travel Topics session was led by Helen Josephine and she asked members and guests to share their experiences with taking a cruise to South America. She also asked if anyone wanted to travel to Tierra del Fuego and Antarctica to see the penguins and if anyone had ever sampled food from South America. After Tim’s speech on his adventures in South America, we learned that the continent is very diverse and has something of interest for each of us to discover.
Join us for our next meeting on March 2 from 6:30pm to 7:30pm Pacific (-8 UTC). The meeting theme is “Cruising.” Pamela McHenry will give a speech, “To Cruise or Not to Cruise” about her cruising adventures. Join the meeting to participate in our Travel Topics session and guess the mystery Destination.
Register for the meeting: https://tinyurl.com/TravelTalkersZoomLink
Looking forward to hearing your Travel Stories!
Helen Josephine,
Travel Talkers Toastmasters
Travel Talkers Toastmasters 
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