Ms. Baker and Shawn travel the world!

We're home! Well, almost...

2010-06-30T11:59:00.000-07:00

We arrived in New York City yesterday which means that we are back in our home country after being away for 5 months. It was very hard to get on the airplane in Iceland knowing that our trip was coming to an end. Both Shawn and I agree that it could have been longer. My Aunt Boogie and her husband Charles were here in New York to greet us though and we have had a lovely time with them. We even had a bed full of goodies when we got to their apartment: cupcakes, M&M's, jelly beans, and cheetos...all of the things that I missed while we were away. Then we got to eat Mexican food which we haven't had since Nepal and I have been craving! We have been eating the whole time which is great because we didn't get to eat much in Iceland. Tomorrow we leave for Colorado and our honeymoon trip around the world will be offically over. It's time to start planning for the next one!

Highland Games Iceland

2010-06-30T11:39:00.000-07:00

Shawn and I decided to be silly on our hike to the Arctic Circle so we pretended that we were in the Iceland Highland Games tree throwing competition. That is MUCH harder than I thought it would be. When Shawn was throwing and making it look easy, I thought he was using driftwood which is a bit lighter than regular wood. I was wrong. It is the heaviest wood ever. I think that he beat me!

66 degrees North

2010-06-30T11:25:00.000-07:00

66 degrees North is the coordinate of the Arctic Circle. Before now, I had never been to the Arctic Circle or the Arctic Ocean. So, Shawn and I drove as far north as we could then we hiked the rest of the way to the northern

most part of Iceland which just touches the Arctic Circle. The water was freezing (although I was disappointed that we didn't see any icebergs) but we still went out there and touched it and threw rocks into it...Shawn made his skip, mine just fell in with a big kerplunk. Afterwards, at a hotel, they gave us certificates for hiking the the Arctic Circle! And, to top it off, Shawn got me a fun necklace as a good job present. I love presents!

Whale Watching

2010-06-30T11:09:00.000-07:00

In Husavik, Iceland, the thing to do is to go whale watching. So, Shawn and I bundled up and boarded a boat to cruise the Arctic Ocean looking for whales and dolphins. The name of the bay that we were in is called Shaky Bay because earthquakes happen there everyday. This bay sits between 2 continental plates...the North American plate and the European plate and when they rub together, earthquakes happen. We saw lots of dolphins and we even saw a mother with her baby. Dolphins have to come to the surface to breathe so the mom dolphin was teaching her baby dolphin how to do that. She would nudge him when it was time to come up and breathe. We also saw minke whales which have a dorsal fin like a dolphin but are much, much bigger! We got very cold out there on the Arctic Ocean so we got to wear these nice warm suits and drink hot chocolate and eat kleiner (Icelandic donuts!)

Glaciers

2010-06-29T09:54:00.000-07:00

Iceland has 3 main glaciers and then a few smaller ones. One is huge and takes up about a fourth of the island. It is called the Vatnajokull (jokull means glacier in Icelandic). Glaciers are made of ice and stay around all year long (even in the summer). We got to walk out on some of the glaciers with our regular shoes. Other glaciers require special equipment so that you do not get hurt. One of the glaciers in Western Iceland is said to have healing power and they thing it is a spot where aliens meet. What do you think? The glaciers on the south side of the island were pretty black when we were there though. This is because a volcano just erupted in Iceland a couple of months ago and there is ash everywhere. We also got to see the new lava fields and pick up some volcanic rocks that blew out!

Icebergs

2010-06-25T03:14:00.000-07:00

My new favorite thing in Iceland is the icebergs. Parts of the galcier fall off into the lagoons in front of the mountains and they are beautiful! If you listen hard, you can hear the ice chunks breaking off and falling into the water. Some of the lagoons here flow right out into the ocean so boats beware!

Waterfalls

2010-06-25T02:55:00.000-07:00

There are waterfalls all over Iceland. These are caused by the melting of the many glaciers. If you own a TV you probably heard a lot about the volcano that went off in Iceland a couple of months ago. This has also caused lots of glaciers to melt which means we are seeing LOTS of waterfalls. While we drive we see them everwhere and since it is always light out, we can stop at whatever time we want to hike to the top of them!

It never gets dark here!

2010-06-25T02:50:00.000-07:00

Countries that are near the Arctic Circle (the top of Iceland touches the 66th parallel which is the Arctic Circle) stay light all summer and dark all winter. Since we are here in the summertime, it never gets dark. One night, Shawn and I were hiking on a glacier at midnight! In Antarctica right now it is dark all day long. I am glad I am not there. Having 24 hours of daylight makes it easy to do lots of things...but it also means that it is hard to sleep!

Iceland

2010-06-25T02:31:00.000-07:00

Iceland is unlike anywhere else I have ever been. I wanted to come here ever since I saw the movie The Mighty Ducks and learned that Greenland is icy and Iceland is green. And, yes, it is very green. There are over 600 species of moss here and they cover the ground (and they are so soft that you can lie down and take a nap if you get tired of hiking!) But green doesn't mean warm. Iceland boasts that it has mild temperatures all year round and that it is warmer than New York in the winter. What they don't say is that it is that temperature all year round. Since Shawn and I are chasing the summer and have no coats or mittens, we are FREEZING! The parts of Iceland that are not green look something like I imagine the moon to look like! It is crazy. Then throw in the purpleist fields you have ever seen and that is Iceland. There are not really any towns here so the thing to do is hike and explore...and we have stumbled upon some pretty amazing things this way!

Flags

2010-06-24T17:52:00.000-07:00

Ok, so before I post this, let me stick up for myself a bit. I have never given England's flag much thought until this point and maybe I did know this before and forgot, but now I know it forever, And I am just posting this in case any of you had also made a false conclusion like I did.

This flag (the Union Jack) is not England's flag. It is the flag of the United Kingdom (which includes England) but not of just England.

This is England's flag:

I have Scotland and the World Cup to thank for this information!

Highland Games

2010-06-24T17:21:00.000-07:00

One thing that Shawn has been talking about wanting to see for a while now is the Highland Games in Scotland. We did not think that there was going to be one one while we were there until we went to visit Euan's aunt, uncle, and grandfather in Northern Scotland. It turns out that their nephew (Euan's cousin) was going to be participating in the Highland Games in a town that was on our way! When we got there, it was amazing...their were bagpipe and dancing competitions going on non-stop. Our main goal though was to see the "heavy" stuff. That included: hammer tossing, stone throwing, and tree throwing. We met the president of the Highland Games who let us into the inner circle to watch so we got to see the giant men throw very large things. It was crazy. For the tree throwing, the had to hold the trunk of a tree, run with it, then throw it and make it flip. I have never seen such a thing! Apparently their is a Highland Games that comes to Colorado so I will check that out for sure...then I will get to wear my kilt again too!

Nessie

2010-06-24T17:11:00.000-07:00

Ever since I saw the movie The Waterhorse, I have been convinced that Nessie (The Loch Ness Monster) lives. Loch Ness (or Lake Ness) is outside of Inverness, Scotland which is, of course, right where I went to Nessie hunt. I thought I had found her at one point only to later realize it was only a stick. Loch Ness is the deepest lake in Scotland so there are plenty of places for her to hide. The first spotting of her though was in the 1920's whci would make her in her 80's. Unless she has kids, we better find her soon. Their is actually a guy who moved to Inverness to devote himself full time to finding Nessie. I unfortunatley cannot devote myself to this task at the moment so I will have to rely on him to find her and hopefully he will tell me when he does!

The invention of golf...

2010-06-24T17:02:00.000-07:00

So I know nothing about golf. Or should I say knew. Then I went to the oldest golf course in the world...where golf was invented. It is quite an impressive sport. To play on the old course though costs about $250 for one round. Plus you have to wear all of that golf stuff. And have clubs. And a bag. And probably a glove. And follow the rules created by the Royal and Ancient Golf Club right here in Scotland. I think I will stick to miniture golf!

Scotland

2010-06-24T14:28:00.000-07:00

Leaving Sweden was very hard for Shawn and I. We did not want to do it. But then we arrived in Scotland. I did not know all that much about Scotland before arriving and boy was I surprised. It was so green...and beautiful...and mountainous...and the people are so friendly! We got to stay with a friend of Shawn's and his family. We also got to take a driving tour around the whole country. We will hear about that later though, first, let's learn a little bit about Scotland. Scotland is part of the United Kingdom along with England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. These countries are usually all lumped together as England (because the UK government is in London, the capital of England) but this couldn't be farther from the truth! Scotland began as many different clans (or family groups) and with heroes such as William Wallace and Robert the Bruce, they fought hard against the English to maintain their independence (for those of you who will be in kindergarten next year...we will learn about another country who fought against the English for their independence!) They speak English in Scotland but their accent is different (carry over from when a lot of Irish people came over to Scotland) and they use some different words than we do. Some people also still speak Gaelic in Scotland which is what the people in the clansmen days spoke. Road signs are often printed in English and Gaelic. Scottish men also still wear kilts on special occasions (watch the video to hear Euan tell us about them) so Shawn and I bought our own kilts to wear around! Lots of people mistook us for locals! We got them in Edinburgh which is the capital of Scotland. We got to tour the underground vaults in Edinburgh which is where vendors used to sell goods and where bodysnatchers (men who used to dig up graves, steal the bodies, and sell them to the medical schools) used to use to sneak the bodies to the schools. We also got to see the castle in Edinburgh where the crown jewels of Kings and Queens past are stored. Scotland has a royal family, the Stewart family, but they have no political powers. They are now ruled by ministers and a cabinet (as well as the UK government).

Ice Bar

2010-06-16T16:00:00.000-07:00

My Birthday

2010-06-16T15:25:00.000-07:00

My 30th birthday was fantastic! For starters, I got to spend it in Sweden (land of the beautiful people). Then, I told Shawn that what I wanted was 3 meals with snacks in between and presents at each food time for my birthday! Shawn had the whole day planned. I got breakfast (with a note and a SAINTS key chain), a picnic lunch with fruits, cheese, bread, and chocolate (with a note and echidna coins from Australia), fika (with a note and a pretty Greek glass magnifying glass), dinner (with a note and a silver bell necklace from Greece and a silver train whistle charm from the Orient Express), and cake (with a note and 2 wooden Bali necklaces). We also got to stay in a super fancy hotel that had a light show in the room! It was an awesome day planned around food and presents...how can you beat that? To top it off, Shawn got his hair cut for me for my birthday AND I got lots of flowers throughout the day! I also got wonderful e-mails from my friends and family so I love being 30!

Fika

2010-06-16T15:14:00.000-07:00

Vikings and Vasa

2010-06-16T14:37:00.000-07:00

The Vikings were what the people of Scandinavia were known as a long time ago. Sweden was not like it is now at the time...many different kingdoms existed. It wasn't until much later (the 11th and 12th century) that Sweden was finally consolidated into one country. Boundaries were still in question though and the Vikings of Sweden (led by the King) were at war with different nations/kingdoms. In the early 1600's the King of Sweden was Gustavus Aldophus. King Aldophus was at war with his cousin, the King of Poland, and ordered the Viking warship Vasa to be built. Vasa was to be a magnificent ship and the king invited people from all over Sweden to Stockholm to watch Vasa set sail to Poland. With the whole kingdom watching, Vasa (filled with Viking warriors) set sail....and sank 12 minutes later right in the harbour. Unfortunately even though the Vikings were tough, most of them did not know how to swim so many of them drowned. The ship was found in the 1960's and now rests in a museum where you can see the actual boat that tried to set sail many many years ago. Vikings in general were known to be tough warmen who pillaged and plundered their way through life. The Vikings of Sweden were not this way though. They were not as mean as the rest (at least that is what they tell you when they go to Sweden!) One last note about the Vikings: most people, including the Minnesota Viking football fans, wear hats with horns to be Vikings. This is not historically accurate. Horns would have made them very easy targets in battle to grab onto and slit their throat. Instead they wore hats they made them look more like a gnome!

P.S. My brother Russell is the Viking expert of the family, so be sure to tell me if I am forgetting anything terribly important Russell.

P.P.S. I wore my SAINTS shirt when we went on the Viking tour so everyone would be clear as to where my loyalties lie.

Sweden

2010-06-16T10:14:00.000-07:00

There is an excitement in the air right now because the Princess of Sweden, Princess Victoria is getting married this weekend. Sweden is part of Scandanavia but like each Scandanavian country, it has its own government. They have a Prime Minister as well as a cabinet of ministers that rule the country but they also have a Royal Family. They have a King, Queen, a Prince, and 2 Princesses. This family has no political power (they will even get in trouble if they express any opinions!) but they still have a palace,

guards, crowns, and pretty clothes! Sweden is such a beautiful country complete with windmills, old buildings, and views of the Baltic Sea (which is very cold!) We got to ride a train through Sweden and see the countryside as well as take a boat in Stockholm (Sweden's capital) to see the city by sea!

The Little Mermaid

2010-06-07T15:27:00.000-07:00

The author of the original Little Mermaid book is Hans Christian Andersen. Hans was from right here in Copenhagen and this is where he wrote his famous fairy tales. Because of this, a statue of the Little Mermaid was commissioned to be built in 1913. Since then, the Little Mermaid has sat on her rock and people come from all over the world to see her. Including me. I have loved the Little Mermaid since I saw the Disney movie in 1989. The whole reason that we came to Copenhagen was to see her statue. I even brought my Little Mermaid shirt on the trip with me and have not worn it this whole time so that I could wear it for the first time with the statue. Unfortunately, on our train ride from the airport, I learned that the Little Mermaid was on vacation in China. I was not happy. In her place is a screen with live footage of her in China. I was pretty disappointed the whole day...until...we got to the place where she used to sit. Shawn then had a brilliant idea. He suggested that I wade out in the water and sit on her rock. So, I actually got to be the Little Mermaid. Not too many people can say that, especially since this is the first time she has ever been moved! So even though I have not actually seen the Little Mermaid statue (just live footage from China), I am still happy!

Copenhagen

2010-06-07T14:14:00.000-07:00

Copenhagen is the capital of Denmark. Denmark is a country that attaches to Germany. It is a penninsula. Copenhagen is an island (so it is not attached to mainland Denmark) in the Baltic Sea. Denmark is also known as Viking Country since the Vikings settled here over 1000 years ago. Now Denmark is ruled by a prince and it is one of the oldest kingdoms in the world (its first king ruled in the 10th century!) People in Denmark are called Danish people and they speak Danish...but they also all speak English! Everyone here rides bikes as well so Shawn and I spent our day riding bikes through the town to see the palace where the royal family lives, the old castle where past kings and queens live, the harbor, old churches, and colorful houses.

Monte Carlo

2010-06-05T01:41:00.000-07:00

While we were in Southern France, we got to drive over to Monte Carlo, Monaco. Monaco is a separate country from France, but it is very small. The prince of Monaco, Prince Albert, works alongside the President of France, Nicolas Sarkozy when making laws for Monaco. Monte Carlo is the most famous town in Monaco because of its Formula One Grand Prix car race that is held there every year and because of its casino that is featured in James Bond movies. The famous explorer Jacques Cousteau's museum and aquarium is also in Monte Carlo and it is a big building built into the side of the mountain. Shawn was mostly excited to be able to go to Monte Carlo though to see all of the fast cars and boats!

French Riviera

2010-06-05T01:20:00.000-07:00

We made it to the French Riviera...or the Cote d'Azur as they say here! After El Gato, my home, and my parents' houses, this is my favorite spot on earth. We are in the French Alps looking at the Mediterranean Sea with its super clear blue-green water. How can you not love this place! Thanks to a Christmas present from Dad and Tina, we are staying in a Chateau (castle) with views of everything! We are in the region of Provence with its lavender fields (you would love it, Mom!) and its tasty cuisine. We have been able to swim in the ocean as well as explore all of the little towns along the mer (sea). The town that we are staying in dates back to the Medieval times and you can see castles and buildings that once housed knights and fair ladies! We are also at the opening of one of the old Roman Roads...where the expression, "All roads lead to Rome" came from. This road was used my merchants and people to travel to Rome, Italy during the height of the Roman Empire! This is also the place where Henri Matisse, the artist, came to play. There is a chapel here in Vence that he designed!

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles

2010-06-04T23:54:00.000-07:00

Whoever said that traveling by trains through Eurpoe was easy is wrong. We decided that since we wanted to get from Milan, Italy to Vence, France (which is not a very far distance) we would try out these trains. First we took a metro with all of our stuff to the train station. Then we boarded a train to Vence. What they didn't tell us is that first, we would have to get off and switch trains in Ventimiglia. So, off we got with all of our stuff and climbed up and down stairs until we found our new platform. We got on this train which did not go to Nice, but to Monte Carlo...the Nice one was canceled. There, we had to get off and go up and down more stairs to get a train to Nice. There were no seats available on this train so we stood. There we had to get off and get a new ticket to Cagnes Sur Mer. There we learned that there were no trains to Vence so we would have to take a bus. Fortunatley we could not figure out the bus chart (we learned later that if we would have gotten on the bus they told us to, we would have gone back to Nice) so we took a cab to our hotel. Wow. When researching a train to our next stop, Copenhagen, we learned that it would take 30 hours and 10 different trains. We will be taking a 2 hour flight!

Unpoop!

2010-06-02T23:16:00.000-07:00

Yay! I love the flip. I figured out how to put the "movies" on the blog...the flip software does all the work for you! So, even though I am not back in Greece (boo), I thought you might like to see the video about ancient Greece now that I know how to put it on the blog. Yay for the Flip!

Mama Mia

2010-06-02T15:23:00.000-07:00

No, I did not go back to Greece again (even though I would have liked too.) But, I did shoot a Mama Mia music video there that I thought you all might want to see. I am dedicating it to my Aunt Boogie for inviting me to her Mama Mia casting call party even though I am not one of her Bunco girls, my sister in laws Kassie and Crissy because they helped me rehearse and my kindergarteners from last year because they sang and danced to this song with me all of the time! I had hoped that the whole town would sing and dance through the streets of Greece with me, just like in the movie, but that didn't happen. Enjoy!

Ciao Milano

2010-06-02T11:43:00.001-07:00

Buongiorno Milano! We took a flight from Athens to Milan, Italy. Since there were no trains out of Athens, we decided to take the cheapest flight we could find that would take us the closest to southern France and Milan it was. Milan is known to most as one of the fashion capitals of the world. There were stores everywhere with clothes that were super expensive and people everywhere shopping! I was not that impressed with the actual city...it was just kind of a big city like you could find anywhere. I did love the food though...pasta and pizza! Shawn loved all of the fast cars that people drove around the city. Our favorite thing about Milan was the cathedral. In Italian, cathedral is Il Duomo. This cathedral is the 4th largest gothic cathedral in the world and it is beautiful. Leonardo da Vinci also has a lot of works in Milan including his ever so famous picture of the Last Supper. All in all, Milan was fun. Our next stop though is southern France and I can't wait! Ciao!

Public Service Announcement

2010-06-02T02:43:00.000-07:00

As we all know, I love Greece. Unfortunately though, everyone in Greece smokes. This is very bad for your health and leads to lung cancer, black lungs, yellow teeth, and smelly breath. It also leads to me coughing very loudly and not having any good air to breathe. It is not a very pleasant habit and it looks tacky. So, if you are reading this and you are from Greece, please alert your countrymen that smoking is bad for their health and for the tourism of their country. As much as I want to stay here, I must leave to give my lungs a break!

Donkey

2010-06-02T02:36:00.000-07:00

Mykonos and Santorini

2010-06-02T01:38:00.000-07:00

We got to go to a couple of Greek islands and i am SO glad that we did. For starters, they are beautiful. And, I got to continue eating Greek salads everyday. And we got to ride our scooter all around exploring. We went to Mykonos first which is famous for its windmills. We are still not sure why it is famous for the windmills (which no longer work) but it is. We got to enjoy the beaches in Mykonos and see the beautiful white and blue houses (most of the houses and buildings on the islands were white with blue doors and shutters. This dates back to when Turkey took over Greece and made Greece wave the Turkish flag instead of their own blue and white one. To be a bit rebellious and to let everyone know that they were still Greek and not Turks, they painted all of the buildings the color of their flag...blue and white!) Our next island was Santorini which was formed by a volcano explosion 3600 years ago. We could see the volcano and the most incredible sunsets from our hotel balcony. We got to climb the volcano (see the video) and swim in the volcanic hot springs (which were not hot...not even warm!) We got to explore the archaelogical sites of Santorini which people think may be the spot of the lost city of Atlantis.

Ancient Greece

2010-05-27T23:45:00.000-07:00

Well poop (can teachers say poop?) I made a whole movie of ancient Greece and it is not letting me upload it. It has been trying for hours and nothing is happening. So, you get to see the Parthenon and that is about it. A central thing to Greece is Agora which was in its time the hub of Athens. It was where festivities, religious events, political rallies, and governement meetings took place. The big hill next to Agora is known as the Acropolis which is where temples to the Greek gods were built. These temples also served as meeting places just like down in the central part of the city. Over time, when Greece was invaded by different armies (Roman, Turkish, and Slavic to name a few) the buildings began to crumble and some were lost completely. In modern times (over the past couple hundred years) pieces of these buildings have been found and the ancient city is being restored!

I love Greece

2010-05-26T23:30:00.000-07:00

I LOVE GREECE! I love the sites, the sounds, the smells, and most importantly, the food! I have a greek salad everyday for lunch and it is SO GOOD! We are off to the islands to relax on the beach and explore what once may have been the area of the lost city of Atlantis! Did I mention that I LOVE Greece. I think I may move here and teach one day. I may have to learn Greek first though and that will be tricky. You know the expression "It's Greek to me" meaning something is confusing or you can't understand it....well, it is a reason they say Greek for that. This is a confusing language!

The city of Wisdom

2010-05-26T23:19:00.000-07:00

We are here in Athens, Greece. Strikes and demonstrations seem to follow us though. The day after we arrived here was a big strike. People were upset about the government overspending and using money to bail out other companies. The people feel as though they are not getting what they are entitled to now. So they striked and had a big rally in front of the parliment building (which was near where we were staying!) Everything was closed that day and walking around Athens was like walking around a ghost town. There was nobody out and about. I loved it though. Everything is so different from what we have at home and it was fun to see it all with no people around. The next day we were not so lucky-it was SUPER CROWDED! Anyway, Athens is called the city of wisdom after the goddess Athena, the goddess of wisdom. IT is known as the oldest city in Europe as well as the safest!

Burj Khalifa

2010-05-21T09:48:00.000-07:00

We visited the tallest building in the whole world which is located in Dubai. We rode up the 828 feet in one of the world's fastest elevators (we went up 10 meters per second) and when we stepped off we could feel the building swaying...that is how high up we were. It was pretty amazing!

Desert Safari

2010-05-21T09:32:00.001-07:00

We had so much fun on our desert safari! We got to go dune bashing through the UAE desert which was a blast! I got just a little car sick (I think it made the driver nervous!) but had so much fun. After slipping and sliding through the sand, we got to ride on a camel. The we got to sandboard (which is like snowboarding on the sand). We also got henna tattoos (don't worry, they wash off!) and got to see traditional dancing (of course I had to join in.) Afterwards we ate Arabic food which means lots of hummus! After dinner we got to try on the muslim clothes. Someone helped to put my sheila on this time so no hair was showing! It was awesome!

The Grand Mosque

2010-05-21T09:17:00.001-07:00

The Grand Mosque is the 3rd largest mosque in the world. Abu Dhabi would have liked for it to be the biggest the the people of Mecca and Medina (the muslim holy lands) would not allow a mosque to be bigger than theirs. A mosque is a muslim place of worship. This particular mosque is made of marble from all around the world. It contains the largest carpet in the world inside and the largest dome in a mosque on the outside. There is a large center room for men to come and pray and worship and 2 side rooms for women. Women and men are not allowed to touch ir be near one another for prayer that happens 3 times a day. In order to go into the mosque, Sophie and I had to wear an abaya and sheila. Unfortunately I have slippery hair and my sheila would not stay on my head. I had a couple of warnings from a security guard to cover my head immediatly. Shawn and I were not allowed to get too close or touch in the mosque.

United Arab Emirates

2010-05-21T08:59:00.000-07:00

We made it to the middle east! We are in the country of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). We are in its capital city of Abu Dhabi visiting my friend Sophie and her husband Scott. The UAE is a very new country...it was just formed in 1971. It was created by Sheikh Zayed who is loved and revered by everyone who lives there. Since he is no longer living, his sons have take over the responsibility of being Crown Prince and President of the UAE. Before Sheikh Zayed, the Emirates were 7 different tribes existing on their own in poverty. Sheikh Zayed was able to unite the tribes and distribute all of the oil wealth amongst the people. Now everyone in the UAE has money, a job, and a place to live so they worship Sheikh Zayed. He is buried at the Grand Mosque in a building that is illegal to be photographed and a guy will read from the Koran 24 hours a day 7 days a week stopping only for the prayer that happens 5 times a day. They also worship Allah because the people of the UAE are muslim. That means that muslim women must keep their arms, legs, and head covered at all times. To do this they weaar an abaya (black dresss) and sheila (black head scarf.) The actual city of Abu Dhabi is an island in what I know to be the Persian Gulf. People from the UAE are offended if you call it this. They say that is Iran's waters and their waters are the Gulf of Arabia.

The weirdest thing I have ever done

2010-05-16T04:38:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I went to a fish spa. A fish spa is where you stick your feet in a tank of water full of tiny fish. The fish then attach themselves to your feet and legs and eat of dry skin. This is supposed to be good for blood circulation, removing dead skin, and cell regeneration. It is also supposed to make your feet soft. It is the weirdest thing ever. I think that we drew a crowd when the four of us stuck our feet in. We squealed and laughed and made a lot of noise! It feels like a combination of tiny bubbles and little electric shocks. At first I didn't think I would make it through the 15 minutes I signed up for but eventually I got used to it (for the most part). There is also a fish spa where you can put your whole body in the tank....I am pretty certain that I am NOT ready for that!

Silk Factory

2010-05-15T10:23:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we went to a Thai silk factory. It was quite interesting to see how silk is made but I feel so bad for those little silk worms. Enjoy the videos but you won;t see me wearing silk any time soon!

Elephants!

2010-05-15T00:00:00.000-07:00

We got to go to another elephant camp and you will have to see the videos to believe it. It was awesome to watch the elephants bathe, paint, play soccer, build fences, put on hats, and parade around. Shawn even got to play darts against the elephants (and he won!) What amazing creatures they are!

Tigers.....Grrrrrr

2010-05-14T20:37:00.000-07:00

Much to Shawn's dad's dismay, Shawn, Kassie, Crissy, and I got to hold baby tigers. We got to go into the cage with them and pet them and hold them. They were 3 months old! We learned that tigers in the wild sleep about 17 hours a day. Larger tigers sleep more than the babies but they all sleep a lot. It is just like a regular housecat (but with much bigger claws and teeth!) They are also becoming endangered because poachers (people who kill animals illegally) kill them for their fur and other parts that are used for different souvenirs. It is very sad. At the Tiger Kingdom though they are working to make sure this stops happening. Before we left the tiger cage, Shawn, Kassie, and I spelled LSU with our arms for the LSU Tigers! GEAUX TIGERS!

Zip Lining

2010-05-14T19:55:00.001-07:00

We got to go zip-lining through the tree tops of Thailand! It was so much fun! We wore harnesses and were then hooked up to a cable that ran from tree to tree...then WHEEEE...we got to sail from one tree platform to the next! Sometimes we got to go 2at a time, sometimes upside down, and one time we got to fly straight into a net and climb up like Spiderman! It was lots of fun. When we were done, we got to hike up to a waterfall. It was an awesome day!

Hill Tribe Trek

2010-05-12T08:41:00.000-07:00

After a week of daily massages and relaxing on the beach, Shawn and I decided that we needed to do a 2 day trek through the hill tribes of Northern Thailand. We were under the impression that we would be hiking through the jubgle for 2 days to arrive at the Long Neck village where women wear gold rings around their necks, adding them until their necks are very long. We packed our backpack to the T. Everything that it said on the checklist, we brought: including the raincoat (even though it is dryer than the Sahara here) and long sleeves and pants (even though the tempatures have exceeded 100 degrees all month.) The first thing our guide told us was that we were going to stop at the market to get some candy in case our blood sugar dropped on the hike. This is when I learned that Thai candy comes in the form of seaweed or fish. I was glad that I had some peanut butter and apples already packed away. Next, she asked us how much water we had. "None", we replied, "the brochure said it was provided." She proceeded to give us 5 water bottles to lug up the mountain that were about the temperature of hot tea. As we walked uphill in 113 degree weather she told us that just last month a 29 year old had died from heat stroke on this hike. I responded to this by drinking half of a hot bottle of water. You can never be too careful. To compound the heat, they were doing some controlled burnings to prevent forest fires since it was so dry. The smoke and ashes made it even hotter. 1 hour into our trek we ran into a couple of women who were cutting down bamboo to build their house. The cut us each a stick and sanded it with leaves and told us they were to hit away the snakes. Super! 3 hours into our trek, we got to jump into a waterfall and swim which was quite refreshing. As we were leaving though to head to the village where we would be sleeping, our guide asked us if we had a flashlight. "No", we said, "we were told one would be provided." "Hmmm..." she says, "I wonder how you will go to the bathroom at night?" (I'll tell you how...but turning on our camera to view a picture then somehow managing to make it to the outhouse, squat, hold my pants, toilet paper, and camera all at the same time.) When we get to the village I get bold and try to practice my Thai. "Sawasdee-ka," I smile and say to passing villagers (a Thai greeting). Laughter broke out. When I asked our guide if I had said it right, she said, "Yes, but these people are from Mongolia, not Thailand. They don't speak Thai." Who knew? We were also a bit discouraged that these Mongolian villages in Thailand had roads leading up to them and many of the villagers had cars or motorbikes. I am happy for them for that. It was not as fun knowing that just anyone could drive up there. Also, these was not the long neck village. This was a village of Mongolian refugees. That night, we were served dinner by candlelight since there was no power. Once the sun went down, there was no light. Shawn and I tried to play a card game but couldn't remember any so we played Go Fish. We were in bed (a mat on a wooden floor and a blanket to cover up with- so not needed- and a blanket as a pillow) by 8:30. The next day we awoke with the roosters and began our desent. Down was much better than up. After about 3 hours of trekking and a quick lunch, we arrived at a river where we were to get on a bamboo raft. "Put your camera in a plastic bag," our guide told us, "because Thai people like to splash." What she didn't tell us was that the bamboo raft sits under the water and we would sit directly on it. We were soaked! But it was fun to paddle down the rivers of Thailand looking at the sites as we relaxed (as opposed to hiking!) After the raft we got in a van- soaking wet- and drove home. Shawn and I both agree that it was a fun experience and we are glad we did it, but next time it will not be in the middle of their hot season. We are now so glad to be home (back in Chiang Mai with Shawn's family!)

Elephant Camp

2010-05-12T01:19:00.000-07:00

In Chiang Mai, Shawn and I got to ride Asian elephants. It was great! We explored the jungles on our elephant then ended in the water where the elephant sucked up water in his trunk and sprayed it all over himself as well as us. There was also a little 2 week old baby that trekked along with us. He was so cute. One thing I did learn while riding elephants was that elephants sounds like dogs when they make noise! When we got back we got to feed bananas to the elephants (I didn't even try to eat one in case the elephant wanted to attack me to get it!)

Getting to Chiang Mai

2010-05-12T01:08:00.001-07:00

This is not the Orient Express! To get to Chiang Mai from the beach, we had to take an overnight train. Shawn's dad told us before we got on that the only similarities with this train and the Orient Express was that they both went on tracks. He was not far off! It was a different experience for sure, but when I walked from my nice first class cabin down to the ecomony cabins I felt very happy to be where I was. We got to have our own cabin (well, we shared with the roaches)and small sink. We also had a bathroom (squatty potty) that was only shared with a few other cabins. Others were packed into one small space with no sink many many people to a bathroom. I was also happy that we brought pizza on board and had a pizza/Uno party! We affectionatley named our train "The Roach Coach!" and now we are happy to be in Chiang Mai!

Kassie and I learn how to drive a scooter

2010-05-12T00:54:00.000-07:00

Ok, it may sounds easy, but driving a scooter is hard. After riding on one in Nepal with Summer then riding with Shawn in Thailand I thought, "Sure I can drive a scooter!" But it is not as easy as it looks. Take turning for example...what keeps you from falling over when you turn? And how are you supposed to drive when you have a passanger wiggling behind you? And what if your flip flop falls off while your feet are on the ground to balance you before you get started? These are all things that I had to learn how to do while at the beach. Kassie (Shawn's 14 year old sister) learned as well. We decided to get matching bandanas to be in the "cool people who drive scooters club." Next time I want a helmet. You get to going fast on those roads. I had tears coming out of my eyes from going so fast as well as bugs flying into my mouth! It was super fun but I think I'll stick to Thailand and not bring my new skill to the States just yet!

The Beach in Thailand

2010-05-12T00:41:00.000-07:00

We got to go to the beach in Southern Thailand with Shawn's family! The beach was outside of Hua Hin and we got to swim in the Gulf of Thailand. It was so much fun but also SO hot! The gulf was full of all kinds of sea life: crabs, sand dollars, and star fish. We had a great time finding them in the water and collecting shells from the sand. Also, each day the girls went to get massages while the boys rode around town on their scooters. It was a very small fishing town and the whole area smelled like fish! The first night that we got to the beach, there was a giant gecko on the wall in our cottage. It jumped on Shawn's mom's back and she screamed. We all tried and tried to shoo the gecko out but it was afraid of us! Finally we got the thing out and had a lovely gecko-free rest of our trip!

Getting out of Nepal...

2010-05-07T23:13:00.000-07:00

To get from India to Thailand, we had to go back through Nepal. Unfortunately it was the exact day that the Maoist demonstrations were beginning. The government of Nepal is in transition after the last king was forced to step down (he only became king because he killed his brother and nephew who were the rightful heirs to the throne.) A constitution was supposed to be written by the end of April but since it was not, hundreds of thousands of Maoists were bused in from all over Nepal to protest. Buildings were shut down and no vehicles were allowed on the road. People were scared to open their shops since if they did, they risked having their building burned down. Cabs were afraid to drive through the streets since they risked having their windows smashed with bricks. We were not sure that we would be able to get the airport. We had a security guard stand out front of our hotel all night to ensure our safety. On the day of our flight, we were able to get a van marked TOURIST that was able to travel on the roads. The streets were dead until we neared the center of town. Then masses and masses of people walked by carrying knives and sticks. These were just ordinary people supporting the Maoist party but were trained for the past 2 weeks in knife and stick fighting. We had to stop the van and the people walked around us on both sides. Once they cleared up, we were able to pass through to the airport. When we got there, there was an ambulance that pulled up and lots of Nepali people got out. They were being smuggled to the airport by ambulance so they could catch their flights!
P.S. Audrey- notice the maoist with the Avril Lavigne shirt on!

Kurtas

2010-05-05T21:25:00.000-07:00

Kassie, Mrs. Pat, and I all got kurtas (traditional Indian clothes) in Darjeeling. I can't wait to wear mine when we learn about India in kindergarten!

Darjeeling

2010-05-05T06:28:00.000-07:00

India's population is estimated to be 1,129,866,154 (yep folks, thats over a billion) and is the second largest country in the world. There is only 1 other contry in the world that has past the billion mark...do you know what the it is? There are 28 states and 7 territories that make up India. Once we crossed over into India, we spent our time in the Darjeeling District of West Bengal (the capital of India is New Delhi...we didn't go there.) There is a group of people in the city of Darjeeling and its surronding areas called the Gorkhas that are protesting to be removed from West Bengal and would like to be the state of Gorkhaland. While we were there, there were green, yellow, and white flags flying above the roads. These are the colors of Gorkhaland. Also while we were there we were able to see (for a quick second) the third highest mountain in the world...Kanjenjounga. We had a really nice time exploring Darjeeling and seeing where Shawn's family lived for 4 years. We got to see the Toy Train...it is a train that people ride on that is SO tiny! We also were able to eat very yummy Indian food! Where we were is also famous for its tea...Darleeling Tea. We got to tour a tea factory and we drank tea everywhere we went!

Kindergarten in India

2010-05-04T22:10:00.000-07:00

We had the wonderful opportunity to go to a school in India. This is a private school that parents pay for their kids to go to to get a good education. Kids walk from nearby villages to go to the school...some kids walk as long as 2 hours each morning just to get to school! The kids all wear uniforms and each age group has a classroom. I was most interested in the preschool and kindergarten classrooms. There are no toys or posters or art supplies...just dirt floors and tin walls. The kids sit at shared desks and work in workbooks or listen as the teacher teaches them something! We were welcomed by the 5th grade class that gave us traditional silk scarves and all stood to greet us in English. The rest of the classes were a bit shy. I even made one kindergarten buddy cry. I was able to go in and talk to each class (all of the kids giggled since I was talking in English and they don't know that much English!) and give them all candy! It amazed me how much the kids were learning though...even without pencils, pens, crayons and other things that we take for granted. I think that next year we will have to write letters to the kiddos at that school and send them some supplies! I also got to talk to the school's founder a bit and learned that at first there was not even a road leading up to the school. He had to work very hard to get one built so the kids could come to school.

Getting to India...

2010-05-03T21:43:00.000-07:00

Getting to India was quite the adventure! We arrived at the airport in Nepal no problem but after that, everything went downhill. We had to wait in the airport (which was very very very small) for a couple of hours, then we loaded a very crowded bus to bring us out to the airplane. Once we got off if the bus, we had to wait on the tarmac for a while so they could decide if we could board the plane or not. Once we were on the plane, we had to wait for another 2 hours before we could take off since the President of Nepal was flying in and he had control of the airspace. Once we took off, the plane stunk! It was very small and had no bathroom! We looked for Mount Everest though (sometimes you can see it from the air) but it was too cloudy. When we landed in Southern Nepal, we hopped into a cab to be brought to the border. We cleared Nepali customs then took a rickshaw over the bridge to India. We cleared Indian customs but could not go anywhere because there were strikes going on and no vehicles were allowed to operate. We waited on the concrete in front of the Raniganj, India customs office for 6 hours until the strikes stopped. Somehow, Shawn's dad managed to get us a bus that was going to take us to another town to meet a car that he arranged to pick us up. We boarded the bus and as we drove through towns crowded with people trying to get rides, we just kept on driving. People were trying to jump on our bus and were running and waving trying to get us to stop. We did not though (we were on a tourist bus and they only allow tourists to get on.) When we met up with our taxi, we smooshed 9 people in it for a 3 hour drive. It was curvy and everyone felt car sick. I took a dramamine though and slept through the whole thing. Shawn's dad also managed to get us a hotel room that night (everything was closed at this point) and that was quite the experience as well. The bed was very dirty and had cigarette burns in it. The walls had what looked like puke on them and the bathroom sink drained right onto the floor! It was a bed though and we were happy to finally be there- and we were happy to be with Shawn's family! Oh ya..and there are no toilets in India. They are all squatty potties and there is no toilet paper...YIKES!

Thamel

2010-04-24T07:33:00.000-07:00

Today we went to the "shopping" part of Nepal. Shawn rode on the back of Bo's motorcycle and I rode on the back of Summer's scooter. The video shows you the streets of Nepal complete with the river where everyone throws their trash. I wish that you could smell it! There were people and cows everywhere while we shopped. And all of the shops have pretty much the same thing so if you don't like the price at one shop, you can go to another. The part of Nepal that we were in is called Thamel. In some of the shops we went into, we got to see the people making the things right there. We saw people making shirts, scarfs, necklaces, wood carvings, and stone carvings. It was really neat to see how everything is made. The other interesting thing is that everyone spits here all of the time. Since it is so dirty and polluted, people just spit out the grime whenever they feel like it: on the street, in the stores, on people's scooter...everywhere. Also, shop owners throw water out of their shops a lot in order to keep it from getting so dusty. So, you have to be careful everywhere you walk!

Swayambu

2010-04-22T22:44:00.000-07:00

We spent the day in Summer's part of Kathmandu today: Swayambu. Swayambu is mostly buddhist and in the center of the town is a giant hill full of buddhist idols. There are golden buddhas, prayers wheels (the more you turn, the better karma or good luck you will have), stupas (a place where buddhists worship), candles to light (again for good karma), prayer flags, and people selling birds to release (the more you release, the better your karma....but before you relase them all, Audrey, know that they are trained to fly back to the cage after being released.) As we were hiking up the mountain, I was holding a banana for Sophie. Before I knew what was happening, a large monkey jumped out of a tree onto my shoulder, stole the banana, and ran away to eat it. For a second no one said anything because we were too shocked...then we all laughed! Once we got to the top, we got to see views of Kathmandu. Kathmandu is called the gateway to the Himalayas. The Himalayas are a mountain range (like the Rocky Mountains) and has the highest mountain in the world...Mount Everest. You would think that since we are right here at the bottom of Mount Everest that we could see it since it is so big. We can't. There is too much pollution and dust here in the sky so the mountains are hidden. We did enjoy seeing all of the views though!

Buddhist body burning

2010-04-22T22:04:00.000-07:00

As we were cruising the streets of Nepal, we noticed that there was a large crowd. It turns out that it was a buddhist body burning. Summer tells us about what that is!

We're in Nepal!

2010-04-22T21:23:00.000-07:00

After a few days in Bangkok, we hopped on an airplane and flew to the country of Nepal to see our good friend Summer and her family. We were so excited when we got off of the airplane and there she was (we haven't seen her in 3 years). Nepal is a small country in Asia that is directly above India (India is also to the east and west of Nepal) and directly below Tibet (now part of China). Summer and her husband Bo and their kids are here helping the Tibetan people in Nepal know about Jesus. When we got her car at the airport we immediately realized that Nepal is like no other country we have ever been to. Leaving the airport, we drove down the dusty streets of Kathmandu (the capital of Nepal) with people, motorbikes, trucks, cars, cows (they are sacred here so they can just walk through the county...if you hit one with your car, you will go to jail for 15 years), and lots and lots of trash. There are no garbage trucks here to take your trash away so people just throw their trash in the creeks and rivers. Everyone honks and drives like crazy. At her house we got to meet her 3 year old (Sophie) and 1 year old (Izzy) and cook out Nepali style (we had to use leaves to start the grill fire.) We also learned that you cannot have power all of the time here. So if you want to have lights, TV, video games, fans, etc., you can only have them at certain times! When the lights went out, we just did everything in the dark!

Buddha

2010-04-22T20:56:00.000-07:00

Buddhism is the main religion in Thailand. Upon arrival, Shawn and I were told about 7 Buddhas that we just HAD to see. Because of the riots though we were not able to go to many places. We did make it to the reclining buddha though. We were told that it is the largest reclining Buddha in Thailand (which tells me that there are bigger buddhas in Thailand and bigger reclining buddhas elsewhere). It is 46 meters long and 15 meters tall and it is BIG! What Pho is the temple that this buddha is in and there are over 1000 buddhas there. It was quite crazy. I have never seen so many buddhas in my life. In China they believe that rubbing the buddha's belly will bring them good luck. They do not do that in Thailand but I rubbed his toe just in case. To enter the temple, everyone had to take off their shoes. We also went to the Grand Palace which has all of the past kings and queens jewels and crowns. Sadly, it was closed.

Bangkok

2010-04-21T03:08:00.001-07:00

We got off the Orient Express in Bangkok, Thailand. Unfortunately there are riots going on here so we can't do everything that we wanted to. Right now a group of people called the red shirts are protesting the government of Thailand. Another group of people wearing yellow (the color of Thailand's King Rama 9) are protesting the protesters...so there is a lot of craziness going on here. The government said that they will not give in to the demands of the red shirts and the king is sick in the hospital, so things may be crazy for a while! While we were taking the sky train to the weekend markets we saw and heard the protesters...YIKES! We did get to take a dinner cruise on the river though so we saw the sights of Bangkok at night!

Songkran

2010-04-18T00:11:00.000-07:00

While we were in southern Thailand, the festival of Songkran or Thai New Year was going on. This is a multi-day event to celebrate the New Year based on the southeast Asian calendar. Water is thrown during this festival traditionally to symbolize cleaning and renewal and to show respect. Now it is done mostly for fun and big buckets or water guns are used. It is particulary nice to throw water since this is the hottest time of year in Thailand (the temparatures can get above 100 degrees!) A chalk paste is also rubbed on faces during this time as a blessing. Shawn and I were both blessed but did not get water dumped on us (I was kind of hoping to though!)

Bridge on the River Kwai

2010-04-17T23:53:00.000-07:00

I have been so excited to see this rail bridge for a while, though I knew nothing about it. Our last day on the Orient Express, we got to get off of the train and watch it cross the Bridge on the River Kwai. It was beautiful. We then boarded a boat a rode down the river while a local historian told us about the bridge. It is part of a railway that connected Thailand to Burma (officially called the Union of Myanmar) that was built by the Japanese in World War 2. Japan had control of both of these countries at the time and needed to be able to get goods and weapons back and forth so they built the railway. They used prisoners of war to build it and many of them died due to horrible working conditions during the process. The original bridge was wooden and was bombed by the U.S. during the war. The Japanese then rebuilt a steel bridge that was also bombed. The steel bridge was reconstructed after the bombing and that is what we see today. We also visited the cemetary where all of the men were buried who worked on building the railway.

Malaysia

2010-04-17T23:45:00.000-07:00

While on the Orient Express, we rode through the country of Malaysia. We went through Malaysia's capital, Kuala Lumpur, then on to a town called Butterworth. We were able to get off here and take a ferry over to the island of Penang. We rode a trishaw through the town of Georgetown and it was great fun! Malaysia looks a but like Bali with its rice fields. It also is known for its palm plantations (they make palm oil) and rubber tree plantations.

Eastern and Orient Express

2010-04-17T23:04:00.000-07:00

My new favorite adventure in life (other than the SAINTS winning the Superbowl) is the Orient Express. We boarded this train in Singapore for a 2 night/3 day journey to Bangkok. The train was absolutely wonderful. Shawn and I had our own private bathroom and cabin that looked like a sitting room during that day and at night it was changed into a sleeping room with bunk beds! Breakfast was served to us in our cabin on a silver tray and lunch and dinner were in the fancy dining car. After dinner, we were able to go to the piano bar car to listen (and sing along) to the piano player. At the back of the train was the observation car where you could watch the countryside fly by. It was a magical experience that we will never forget!

Beth and Tommy

2010-04-17T22:43:00.000-07:00

While we were in Singapore, we got to stay with the parents of one of Shawn's friends. Even though we had never met them, they let us stay in their home which was absolutely fantastic. We were able to swim in the "mermaid pool" as well as do our laundry and rest a bit before or next adventure. Thanks Beth and Tommy!

Singapore

2010-04-17T21:42:00.001-07:00

Singapore is a country south of Malaysia and north of Indonesia. It is a small island but the city of Singapore is known as the only major city with a rainforset in the middle of it. Singapore means "lion city" and their famous fountain is the Merlion fountain. It is half lion, half mermaid. The lion is because that is what the city is named for and the mermaid is because the city is set up based on the principles of Feng Shui and water is very important to Feng Shui. Feng Shui is a Chinese method of decorating/setting things up that is supposed to increase wealth, health, and happiness. The other famous thing here is the Singapore Flyer. It is a giant ferris wheel that goes up 165 (about 715) feet and you can see all of Singapore from it! Because of its location, most people in Singapore came from China or Malaysia, however the language of Singapore is English. Singapore is also an extremely safe and clean country because the fines for breaking the law are huge. If you litter, you will get fined $2000. If you chew gum (that is illegal in Singapore) you will get fined $500. They also still do canings in the jails there which means that if you go to jail, you will get beat 6 (sometimes more) times with a wooden cane. OUCH!

I lost Shawn...

2010-04-11T01:15:00.000-07:00

...but don't worry, he has been found! Yesterday, I was not feeling so swell so I decided to take a rest and watch my 62 cent movie while Shawn went for a walk. We were then going to meet up and go to the Tanah Lot temple. The Tanah Lot temple is a famous Hindu temple here because it is separated from land during high tide (during low tide you can walk across the sand to it) and it is home to a black and white part land/part sea snake that they call the holy snake. After my movie I waited for Shawn to come back. And I waited...and waited...and waited. 7.5 hours later, he still was ot back. I thought that I was going to have to get out my mini flashlight to go look for him. Then I was going to call the embassy to see if they could help me. Then I was going to have to call his mom to tell her that I lost him. Fortuntely, he returned....soaking wet, barefoot, and carrying a big stick. It turns out that he walked to the temple (40 kilometers away) without shoes on. To get there, he had to scale lava rocks, swim through murky rivers, and walk through small villages. To get back, he has to hitch a ride with some tourists then ride on the back of a local's scooter. So...Shawn got to see the famous temple, but we'll just have to settle for the pictures. I am just glad that he is back. It's a good thing too because we leave for Singapore tonight!

Bali animals

2010-04-11T00:58:00.000-07:00

The other day, Shawn finally got to snorkel! Since we all know that I cannot snorkel, I stayed in the glass bottom boat and saw fish that way! Afterwards we went to an island that was an turtle refuge (turtles here are killed to use as souvenirs) so they have to protect them. Since Bali is an island, there are not many animals here. Most islands are full of reptiles and birds and Bali is no exception. The animals that you can find here are: turtles, bats, toucans, snakes- pythons (non-venomous) and cobras (venomous), and the bali lizard (I am not sure exactly what kind of lizard that is but my brother Russell is researching that for us!) We got to see and hold all of these animals which was great. I am glad to know that they are all safe.

Sacred Monkey Forests

2010-04-09T21:06:00.000-07:00

Perhaps my favorite thing that we have done in Bali is go to the Monkey Forest in Ubud. WOW! There were monkeys everywhere. We bought bananas and fed the monkeys as we walked along. The monkeys knew that we had food so they would follow us! It was such a hot day too so the monkeys were having a great time playing and splashing around the fountains. The moneksy are long-tailed macaques. These monkeys only live in forested areas so it is important that too many trees are not cut down here. In the sacred Monkey Forest, monkeys are protected (and well fed) so they are fine. In other forests in Bali, the monkey is becoming endangered because so many trees are cut down to make tourist souvenirs. While we were in the Monkey Forest, we got to look at a few temples too. Most people in Bali are Hindu. Each village has 3 temples to worship 3 different Hindu gods. Because of their Hindu beliefs, the Balinese people both love and dislike the monkeys. The monkeys are considered to be both good and evil. An example of an evil monkey spirit would be when they raid the rice fields. A good monkey spirit takes on the form of Barong...the Hindu holy spirit that drives away evil forces. Typically the monkeys in the sacred sites are thought to be good spirits and they guard the temples.

Rice Fields

2010-04-09T04:19:00.000-07:00

Rice is the number 1 crop in Bali. There are rice fields everywhere. Unfortunately since their are so many people in Bali, they don't have enough rice to feed the whole island so they still have to import more rice form China. I got to meet some ladies working in the rice field and try cutting rice myself. Let me tell you...they make it look very easy! There are many types of rice in Bali. The most expensive one is called Bali rice because it takes twice as long to grow. Since their isn't even enough rice to feed the whole island though, they do not export their rice so at home in the US you are probably not eating Bali rice!

Balinese Counting

2010-04-09T04:12:00.000-07:00

Gode taught me how to count in Balinese! I will practice so that we can learn in kindergarten next year!

Bali

2010-04-09T04:01:00.000-07:00

Apa kabar (how are you?) Bali is fantastic. We arrived here and were a bit overwhelmed at first. Bali is a very small island with A LOT of peole...3.5 million to be exact and there are 1.2 million motorbikes on the island that seem to follow no driving rules whatsoever (now that we have been here for a while though, we realize that it works really well.) Bali is part of Indonesia which is 17,000 islands. When we leanded at the airport, we had to first wait in line to pay $25 each to get into Bali. Then we waited in line for about 3 hours to go through customs. It was crazy and long and hot but we made it! And the sunset that we had our first night was very worth it. I think that I am going to like Bali a lot!

Steve's Place

2010-04-09T03:40:00.000-07:00

We got to go to the Steve Irwin zoo! As you know, Steve Irwin was the Crocodile Hunter who passed away a couple fo years ago. I love him and hope that I can have atleast half of his enthusiasm in life! His zoo was amazing. Koalas were free to roam around (in the couple of hours that they are awake!), water dragons cruise the paths, and the crocodiles are HUGE! Shawn and I kept making or way back to the koalas because they are so cute! We even saw a couple that were awake. I really like Steve's philosophy about animals too...education, education, education. The more people know about animals, the more they respect and are less afraid of them, the more they want to protect them. Audrey would love it!

Our didgeridoo

2010-04-09T01:24:00.000-07:00

The didgeridoo is a very old Australian wind instrument. It was created over 1500 year ago by Australian Aboriginals. To make one, you must first chop down a Eucalyptus tree, then sand it down, then paint it (usually by doing some Australian dot art). Wax is sometimes put on the end to make it easier on your lips. Shawn and I thought long and hard about whether we wanted to get a didgeridoo or not. On one hand, you have to cut down trees to make it which takes away homes from animals. These instruments are often mass produced (which means a whole lot of them are made for the purpose of selling them) by people who don't even have a connection to the Aboriginals. On the other hand, it is part of the Aboriginal culture and we wanted something like that that would represent our time in Australia. Then we found Yuito. Yuito is of Aboriginal desent who lives near Carins Queensland with his family. His family has many Eucalyptus trees on their land and everytime they cut one down, they plant another in its place. Yuito does every step of making the instrument as well. He cuts the tree, sands the wood, and paints the didgeridoo. It takes him about a week to make 5. Shawn and I felt good about supporting his family business and not contributing to exploiting the eucalyptus forests (which you now know are home to my beloved koalas!) So, here is our didgeridoo. Our next challenge is learning how to use it. I got a "well...keep practicing" while Shawn got a "very good...keep it up"!! I was thinking that I could get really good at it and bring it in to kindergarten next year to play...then I rewatched the video and thought that perhaps I should just get a CD.

Sea Turtles

2010-04-09T00:35:00.000-07:00

A couple of days after Shawn's birthday, we learned of a town that we were going to be driving through that was the place where loggerhead turtles came in to lay their eggs. About 8 weeks after that, the eggs hatch and the baby turtles crawl out to sea. When we arrived we learned that it was the end of the season and that the chances of seeing the eggs hatch and babies crawl out were slim. We went anyway. And we waited...and waited...and waited. And we saw nothing. It was very educational though and we even got to go out with a ranger and clean out a nest full of egg shells and a couple of eggs that didn't hatch. Then we got to see a baby turtle that had hatched earlier that evening (they hatch at night since it is cooler then...we were there until 11:00!)

Shawn's birthday

2010-04-07T21:10:00.000-07:00

For Shawn's 30th birthday we went to the rockslides just north of Townsville Queenslaand (Australia is made up like states just like the USA but they only have 8- Queensland, New South Wales, ACT (the capital), Victoria, Tasmania, Northern Territory, and Western Australia, and Southern Australia.) Shawn found the rockslides in a magazine on the airplane and they were so much fun. Apparently no one else reads the airline magazines because we were the only ones there. We went again and again and again. We then had a picnic (when we fed the lizards cheese) and got cupcakes from a local baker at the market. HAPPY 30th BIRTHDAY SHAWN!

Great Barrier Reef

2010-04-07T18:07:00.000-07:00

The Great Barrier Reef is the biggest coral reef in the world. It is almost 2000 kilometers long...that's about 1700 miles! We went snorkeling out on the reef to see all different kids of sea life. I felt like I was in the movie Finding Nemo! Unfortunately a cyclone was going through part of Australia while we were there (that is just a hurricane spinning in the opposite direction) and the water was really rough so we didn't get to see too much. Also, everyone on the boat was throwing up which was pretty gross. I spent a lot of time in the water so I didn't have to hear/smell it! Shawn got to go scuba diving, but I declined since I much rather breathe through my nose (i know that my mom and brother are wondering where on earth I came from and why I possibly turned down the scuba offer!) I also learned something cool about clown fish (if you are reading this to your kids you may want to check first if you feel it is ok to read this part to them!) So a clown fish (like Nemo) can change between being a boy or girl if it is necessary. So if a female dies, the male would change into a female to be able to carry on the species. That would change the movie a bit! We tried to go back on on the reef another day but with the cyclone, the weather was just not cooperating!

Lizards

2010-04-05T17:18:00.000-07:00

As most of you know...I am a bit frightened by lizards. I am really trying to do better though. If you look closely in one of the pictures you will see that a lizard has cheese hanging from his mouth. Shawn and I had a picnic and lizards wathed us. When a piece of cheese dropped from a sandwich, the lizard stalked it for a bit then ran out and grabbed it. It was quite fun (but I hope the cheese doesn't upset their stomachs.) Then when we went to Steve Irwin's zoo (more on that later) a water dragon ran across my feet. I tried to be ok with it and did a little video of all of the water dragons around the zoo but Shawn scared me (as you can see in the video) and set back all of that progress. Finally...we were driving to a hike one day and I saw a huge lizard by the road (we were on a dirt road in the middle on nowhere with no one to hear my screams). We got out and tried to find it. You can see how that went in the video too. It turns out it was a goanna which are completely harmless. One day I will face my lizard fears full on and go to Komodo Island to see the world's largest lizard: the Komodo Dragon in its natural environment!

Lorikeets and other birds

2010-04-05T17:08:00.001-07:00

Shawn and I got to have lunch with the birds. It was quite fun actually. While we ate, birds flew around and sang to us. The problem was that we were under no circumstances to feed the birds. I thought...easy, no worries...I want all of the food to myslef anyway. Wrong. The birds were tricky little fellows. They would swoop down and take food or one would distract you while teh other hopped over and stole food. It was a lot of fun!

Echidnas

2010-04-05T06:04:00.001-07:00

Echidnas are so cute. I know that they are prickly like a porcupine but the waddle around back and forth, to and fro, and it is very endearing. They also have really long tongues that they use for catching insects to eat (kind of like a frog!) The picture is one that we saw in the wild...it was curled up hiding from us!

Crocodiles

2010-04-04T23:08:00.000-07:00

Australia has both freshwater and saltwater crocodiles which means that you always have to be careful when swimming in the water. All crocs are carnivorous which means they eat meat (since I do not eat meat, do you think maybe the crocs won't want to eat me?!)

Wombat

2010-04-04T22:39:00.000-07:00

This is certainly not what I was thinking I would see when I saw to signs to the wombats!

Kangaroos and Wallabies

2010-03-31T02:13:00.000-07:00

Kangaroos are probably the most well known marsupial. The mom carries her joey (baby) in her pouch for a little over a year. After about 7 mounths though, the joey will get out of the pouch during the day to hop around! Watch the videos for more kangaroo and wallaby facts! Can you tell the difference between the two? Also, can you spot the joey?

Koalas

2010-03-28T16:19:00.000-07:00

I now LOVE koalas. I am sure I loved them before but after holding them I love them even more! Koalas are marsupials which means that they keep their baby in a pouch until it is ready to come out. A koala may stay in the pouch for 5-7 months and once it comes out, it stays out. To get around, it may ride on its mom's back. Koalas eat eucalyptus leaves which would be toxic (like poison) to us but they have special juices in their belly that can digest it. The reason they are able to digest the leaves is because at around 5 months of age they eat pap (which is a bacteria found in their mom's poo-- yes, Russell, koalas start out as poo eaters!!!) and that gives them the bacteria they need in their bellies to digest the leaves. But, it doesn't give them much energy so they sleep about 18-20 hours a day. The sad thing is that since koalas live in trees and trees are cut down all of the time to build new houses or buildings, koalas are a vulnerable species which means they are close to being endangered. I think that we will have to adopt a koala next year in kindergarten!

Uluru

2010-03-27T16:07:00.000-07:00

Many believe that Uluru (or Ayers Rock) is the largest monolith (meaning 1 rock) in the world. Situated in the Australian outback, it is quite the sight. It looks very out of place amidst the low trees and desert land. Many parts of Ayers rock are scared sights to the Aboriginals and cannot be photographed. Uluru is the name given to the rock by the Aboriginals and is named after a special waterhole in the area where kids can swim. Ayers Rock (the white man name) was named by the man who found it and named it after the women he was to marry's father (the women ended up marrying someone else though!) Ayers Rock is 348 meters tall (if there are 3 feet in a meter, how many feet is Ayers Rock?) Shawn and I had a wonderful time trekking around the base of this rock (about 14 kilometers or 8.4 miles) and watching the sunrise over it. I also interviewed our guide about the rock but it was so windy at the time that all you can hear is wind on the video. Oh well. I do have another special video for you to see the pest that kept bothering us on our journey

Kata Tjuta

2010-03-26T04:26:00.000-07:00

Kata Tjuta (meaning many heads) is a giant rock that looks like a series of dome like heads in the middle of the Australian outback. The entire rock is considered sacred to the Aboriginals (original people in Australia) who live in the area. It is the initiation sight for the tribe where boys go to become men. No "white folk" know exactly what goes on there...we just know that when the boys come back, they are missing a front tooth. Sounds painful! The rocks in this area look very red. They are actually a gray-green color but over time, iron particles from Western Australia have blown over to this region settling on the ground and the rocks. Rain and wind compact the particles into the rock and it therefore looks red. If you scrubbed for a while or dug a few feet in the dirt, you would find the original color of the rock! Another name for this rock is The Olgas. Like most things in Australia, there is the Aboriginal name and the name given by European explorers or the "white man." The Olgas was named by the explorer who first spotted the mountain. He named it at first Mount Ferdinand after his mentor. Ferdinand, however, was very humble and did not want a mountain named after him. He the requested that it be named after the queen of his country...Olga.

Bye-Bye New South Wales (the state that Sydney is in)

2010-03-25T16:36:00.000-07:00

We have been staying a lot with friends of Shawn's from camp. Outside of Sydney, we stayed with Jess and Rhett. Since we had to fly back to Sydney for the night after Tasmania, we got to see them again. We had a great time with them hanging out on the beach, being tourists, and eating great food! We even got to go waterskiing behind a jet ski in a salt water river (for the record I still stand by my statement that most rivers are fresh water and get brackish- a mixture of fresh and salt water-when it dumps into the ocean!) Thanks guys!

National Parks, chocolate, and Aussie Rules Football

2010-03-25T15:59:00.000-07:00

Tasmania was beautiful. There are not a lot of big cities in this state (Launceston where we were is the second largest city in the state), mostly it is full of national parks. Now National Parks aren't like playground parks with swings and slides...it is land that the government sets aside as protected land that can't be used for buildings or cutting down trees which means that the animals that live there can stay in their homes. We did a lot of hiking in these areas and it was beautiful. With Shawn's friend J-Rod as our guide we explored lots of National Park area and even saw wild wallabies (like a kangaroo but smaller!) Tasmania is also home to the Cadbury chocolate factory. I knew of Cadbury from those yummy chocolate eggs filled with creme that come out at Easter time! What gives the chocolate the distinct flavor is the sweet Tasmanian milk. I bought a dark chocolate toffee bar (are you drooling yet mom?) and loved every piece of it! Finally we went to an Aussie rules football game to watch J-Rod play. Don't be fooled by the name...it is nothing like SAINTS football. The ball (called a Sherrin) is bigger than our football. Also, the players don't wear any pads and they can run up another person and jump off him. The best way to describe it is by saying it is like a rough combination of all the major sports! J-Rod played great! Thanks J-Rod and Emma for a great time in Tasmania!

Tasmania

2010-03-25T15:34:00.000-07:00

We flew down to Tasmania (an island state off the southeast corner of mainland Australia) which is known for its Tasmanian Devils. Looney Toons has a show about Taz the Tasmanian Devil so I thought I knew what to expect. I was wrong. The Tasmanian Devils do not look or act anything like Taz! They are smaller carniverous creatures (meaning they eat only meat). They are endangered now though (meaning they might all die soon) because of tumors they get on their mouths which kill them. Once they get this tumor, there is no chance of them surviving. People are researching now to try to find out how they get these tumors and how to make them stop. Even though they are not the nicest creature (they bite hard!) and they make a noise that sounds like a grunting and a hissing, they were still pretty cute...whiskers and all!

Sydney

2010-03-14T15:15:00.000-07:00

One thing we learn about in kindergarten is the Sydney Opera House. Now that I am in Australia, we got to finally see it. And...IT IS SO COOL! It is as unique as it looks in pictures. We even got to go on a tour of the inside which was very nice. There were 2 main auditoriums (places where people perform.) One was for the opera and the other was used for symphonies, concerts, etc. My mom used to play her flute in the symphony so I think that she should come and play here! We learned that a man named Utzon designed the opera house but was kicked off the project towards the end. He was then reinstated to finish it but never came back (he was Danish) to see it. We also went to Sydney's famous Bondi Beach and took a ferry under the famous Sydney Bridge. I also got to try vegemite which is an Australian spread. I put it on my toast and it tasted...interesting. I think we will all need to try it in kindergarten next year! Ok, well, Next stop...Tasmania. I hope we'll see some wild animals (but no lizards!) Speaking of animals...our first day here we were greeted by cockatoos (birds with funny hair!!)

The Wallace-Bell family

2010-03-11T02:20:00.000-08:00

The Wallace-Bell family is another family that we met through the teacher travel site. We had such a wonderful time meeting the family (after surprising Nicky a day early!) and spending time with their insightful and incredibly mature kids. After discussing everything from politics to war to religion to New Zealand culture we still got along! Thanks guys for a wonderful last 2 days in New Zealand! Unfortunately their video is taking too long to upload so I will have to try that later!

The most beautiful lake in the world

2010-03-11T02:06:00.000-08:00

Lake Tekapo, New Zealand is the most beautiful lake in the world! I have seen blue oceans before but lakes are not usually as colorful since the water is still (and not flowing like a river or ocean.) It is the beautiful blue-green because of the reflection of bright sun off of super clean water. It gets the creamy look from "rock flour". Basically the glaciers here gring the sedimentary rock into a fine powder as the rocks tumble down the glaciers into the rivers or lakes. That powder deposits ino the water and turns it a beautiful milky color. Lake Tekapo was surrounded by mountains (they are the White Mountains from The Lord of The Rings) and the mountains are covered in golden tussocks (like wheat)! It was absolutely marvelous! There is also the nicest little church there. It is the only church in town so all denomenations share it. They create a schedule for who can use it when@

The Milford Sound

2010-03-11T01:10:00.000-08:00

The Milford Sound (which is actually a fiord, not a sound--see video) was absolutely stunning. We took a bus ride there from Lake Te Anau and saw some amazing sights. We then took a 2 hour cruise through the sound seeing seals, waterfalls, birds, and other amazing things. You can do the Milford Track walk which is a 5 day adventure and Shawn and I want to go back and do it!

Meet John and Christine

2010-03-11T00:39:00.000-08:00

We met John and Christine through a teacher travel website and stayed with them for 3 days in Nelson. We had so much fun getting to know them and their area. Nelson is actually the center of New Zealand so we got to hike up and stand at the actual center! John and Christine lent us kayaks and we got to brave the waves in Nelson. Thank you John and Christine for a wonderful time!

The glaciers

2010-03-10T21:08:00.000-08:00

New Zealand has quite a few glaciers (giant ice blocks) with its two most famous being Fox Glacier and Franz Josef Glacier. Shawn and I decided to do a half day tour of the Franz Josef glacier. The glacier is constantly changing so it is pretty important to go with a guide. Also, since it is so slick, we had to wear crampons on our feet so we wouldn't fall. We started out our day by walking about 45 minutes up to the mountain base. The after putting on our crampons, we climbed the glacier for about 2 hours. The glacier changes depending on the weather and we were told that only a few years go the glacier was quite further our then it is now. It is one of teh few glaciers left that retreats and advances. Most glaciers just advance.

Pancake rocks, a hitchhiker, and a truck house

2010-03-10T20:53:00.000-08:00

So we left Nelson and drove down the west coast to a town called Punakaiki. On our way, we picked up a hitchhiker (Richard from Wales) who stayed with us for 2 days. Punakaiki is a town that had 3 buildings and 2 places to stay. Shawn and I stayed in a house truck! It was basically an old truck converted into a room! It was so awesome and when we looked out the window from our bed, we were looking directly into the beach Punakaiki is known for its rock formations called the Pancake Rocks. Basically they are limestone rocks that have been pounded and pounded over time and look like a stack of pancakes!