Israel

Riding a Camel in Jerusalem!

 Dead Sea

Do you know how the Dead sea got its name? Its called the Dead Sea because there are no living animals in it. It is 35% salt, which is very salty.  The ocean is only 3.5% salt!  Rivers flow into it and, because it's the lowest point on earth, nothing flows out of it. Also, a lot of the water evaporates and leaves the salt behind.  That's why you can float in it so easily.  It is like sitting on a chair.  I was very surprised because I didn't think I was going to float.  We also did a mud treatment, where you put mud all over yourself, wait 10 minutes in the sun so that the mud gets all dry and crackly on your skin, and then you dry it off.  After that our skin felt very smooth and soft.

We also saw where a lot of events happened about 2,000 years ago. These events were special to Christians, Muslims and Jews, which is why they call Isreal the Holy Land.  We saw Jerusalem, Nazareth, the Sea of Galilea and the Jordan River.  

India

India is colorful, different and exotic.  We went to 4 big cities: Delhi, Agra, Ranthombre and Jaipur.

There were women working in colorful saris.  Saris are pieces of cloth that you can wrap around in lots of different ways.  There were buses overloaded with people, me staring, school kids waving and lots of people begging.  There are also lots of cows, camels, horses and goats wandering the cities.

There were buses overloaded with people, men staring, school kids waving and lots of people begging.  There are also lots of cows, camels, horses, monkeys and goats wandering the cities.

 Delhi

To see lots of things we started out on a rickshaw ride (cyclo tour) through narrow streets filled with tons of people.  There were monkeys in what looked like million year old houses and people selling things.  It was so different abut very neat to see. 

 Agra

We got up very early to see the Taj Mahal, which is a magnificent building.  A king built it for his wife, all out of marble, with fountains in front.  She was the only one who was buried in there besides the king.  He wanted to build a black Taj for himself, but he couldn't start it because he got imprisoned by his own son.  the Taj Mahal was very amazing. 

Ranthambore

This is a national park.  We went on a safari and saw both a tiger!!!! and a leopard!!!! We were very lucky!!!

 

Jaipur

We went on an elephant ride up to a fort.  It felt like we were kings and queens.  We also saw a carpet factory where they showed us how to make a carpet.  It looked very hard and tiring. 

 

India is very colorful with all the hardworking women in saris.  India is also very different because there are lots of people with different lives. India is also very exotic.  I really liked visiting India, and it made me feel how lucky I am to have food, clean water and a shelter.

Our driver for the week

Thailand

Thai Elephants and Trekking

We took a longboat for 2 hours along a river to the elephant camp.  At first, riding the elephant was very scary because you were up so high, and every step the elephant took you felt like you were going to fall off.  But then you got used to it and it was really fun.

  

We also did a jungle trek for 2 days and 1 night.  We hiked through bamboo forests and rice fields.  We also walked through 3 hill tribe villages.  Our guide made many things out of bamboo.  Here are a few examples:

Spoons, stilts, pots, chopsticks, table, bowl, flutes, shelter, floor mats, walking sticks, butter knives, and rat traps.

We stayed at a place called "Old Trees House".  It was one of my favorite places to stay (see photo).

 

Chaing Mai

In Chaing Mai , one of my favorite restaurants was "Just Kao Soy".  Kao soy is made up of noodles with coconut milk and curry. You can choose if you want chicken or beef and on the side there's bananas, sugar, spice and other food to add to the soup.  It was also very fun to shop in all the markets in Chaing Mai.  

Sukhothai

We went to Sukhothai by bus.  It is the 800 year old ancient Thai capital, with lots of old temples and Buddhas.  We rented bikes for $1 each to go see them.

Railay

We went to a beautiful Thai beach by longboat.  There were some wild monkeys that would try to steal food from you (especially bananas).  

Singapore

Singapore Apartment Pools

Our Bedroom

Singapore is one of my favorite places.  It is an island, city, country and state.  All year it is usually hot and sunny in the morning with thunderstorms in the afternoon.  Everybody lives in an apartment. You hardly see any houses! Our apartment has 4 pools:  lap pool, splash pool, wading pool and Jacuzzi.  Our apartment also has tennis courts, a gym, a karaoke room, play ground and jogging path.  Near our apartment is Holland Village, which has restaurants, shops and a food court.  Food courts and hawker centers have great food and for very cheap.  You could get a meal for as little as $1.50!  Also there is a big variety of food.  Singaporean, Japanese, Western, Chinese, Indian… and lots more!!!  Also, close to our apartment is the MRT (metro train).  You can hop on it and go all around town.  Orchard Road is part of the downtown.  There are malls lining the streets with big neon lights and lots of food courts.  There is also a 6 star hotel, which charges 10,000 dollars a night!!  You can also go to a island called Sentosa.  It has beaches, an aquarium, a light show and a 4-D movie, all of which is lots of fun.  Singapore is also very close to Malaysia, where I had my birthday (see picture below).  I really like Singapore and I would love to come back some day.

Hanoi, Vietnam

February 24-30

We arrive in Hanoi at 

midnight. We see all kinds

of night markets, with 

all sorts of beautiful 

flowers.  

The houses are long and 

skinny and, to me, 

they look spooky and 

haunted.  

One thing that's really 

hard is to cross the street.  

There are some traffic 

lights but the drivers 

don't seem to pay any

 attention. When I wake up, I hear the sound of 

motorcycles and honking!  

The motorcycles park on 

the sidewalk so you have to walk in 

the street, which could be very dangerous with all the cars and 

motorcycles whizzing by. The food is great! They have lots of 

noodle soups and little tables and chairs on the sidewalk to 

eat at. The places on thestreet are very cheap (about $1).  

The egg rolls and spring rolls are one of my favorites.  

I like Hanoi very much, even though it is very different.

School in Santa Cruz

October 06, 2008

School in Santa Cruz is much different than in Kingston.  Here school starts at 8:15 am rather than 9:00.  And school ends at 2:45!!! We only have one recess and lunch at 12:25!!!  Every Wednesday we get out at 12:25!!!!!!

It is always hot!  It is funny to have my cousin in the same class and at my table group too!! There are many similarities but lots of differences too.

In the photos I am with my cousins Mariana and Andreas.

the sabbatical begins: Chicago

July 4, 2008

We woke up at 4 in the morning, ready for the long drive ahead of us.  We got to Chicago, and found our hotel.  A nice 4 star.  Because it was the fourth of July we saw some spectacular fireworks.