The trip to Egypt had been planned long before I had accepted my new job at Rotary. It was one of life’s strange coincidences that the recent magazine cover featuring the ancient pyramids was already in production my first week on the job. It was a welcome good sign.

Up until then, I had suffered months of unsolicited warnings about vacationing in a region of the world that since 9/11 has filled many Americans with suspicion, uncertainty, and fear.

Such fears were the furthest thing from my mind at a charity silent auction when I put in a bid for a week’s accommodation at a five-star resort. My primary thought was, If I win this week in Egypt, I can fulfill my childhood dream to visit the land of pyramids, pharaohs, and the Sphinx. Apparently, journalist colleagues at the event were thinking differently. Some were quite vocal about perceived dangers posed by travel to the Middle East and speculated about the negative reception I would receive as an American there. Needless to say, I got the trip at an insanely low bid.

Months later, my husband and I found ourselves in Cairo, surrounded by a group of some of the most generous, thoughtful, and warm people we’ve ever encountered. You see, by this time, I was working for Rotary. Although it was a personal vacation, I had contacted Egyptian Rotarians, as I was interested in writing a travel piece for the magazine. I was looking for a Rotarian who could give me just a few hours’ time. Instead, we found ourselves invited to a series of dinners, luncheons, and tours of both historic sites and impressive Rotarian projects. Did I mention that the Rotarians helped us with hotel reservations and travel arrangements, lent us a cell phone, insisted on driving us around, and even invited us home?

They were not alone in this graciousness, as even non-Rotarian Egyptians extended acts of hospitality, both large and small, that are too numerous to list here. Many Egyptians, when they learned we were from the United States, said the exact same thing: “Welcome. I really like the American people.”

I remember thinking, Too bad a lot of the American people don’t know that. Soon, I began to reflect on how different our trip had been from what most people back home predicted, and how different the world would be if people shed their misconceptions. The Rotarian commitment to international fellowship and understanding is no small thing.

As we begin the new Rotary year, fresh off the RI Convention that allows us to renew old friendships and make new ones, let’s expand this spirit of understanding that allows people to feel welcome anywhere in the world.