Mother-Daughter Book Club Series

OK so there's this book series and it's totally awesome. I'm not actually sure that it is called the Mother-Daughter Book Club(series), but that's what it's about - a mother-daughter book club! It's so so good! The main character daughters are Jess, a girl who lives on a farm and is super smart, Emma, a girl who wants to be an author when she grows up, Megan, a girl who wants/is already a fashion designer, and Cassidy, a girl who plays a bunch of sports. Also there is a girl who is really mean named Becca. The main character moms are Mrs. Delaney(Jess's mom), who ran off to New York to be in a soap opera in the first book but then came back, Mrs. Hawthorne, (Emma's mom), who is a librarian and is pretty normal, Mrs. Wong,(Megan's mom), who is really embarrassing and is obsessed with a bunch of things like saving the earth and only eating all-natural things like tofu and vegan everything, and last, Mrs. Sloane(Cassidy's mom), who's first name is Clementine and was a model but then stopped and started her own cooking show. Also Becca's mom is Mrs. Chadwick,who is a librarian and is really mean and embarrassing and no one likes her. The book takes place in Concord, Massachusetts. I've read the first and second book, and am halfway through the third. I totally recommend them.

 In the first one they read Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott

 In the second one, they read Anne of Green Gables and the rest of the series, by Lucy Maud Montgomery

 In the third one, they read Daddy Long Legs, by Jean Webster

 Apparently, in the fourth book they read Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen

Apparently, in the fifth book the read the Betsy-Tacy series, by Maud Hart Lovelace

Phobias

pho·bi·a

 [foh-bee-uh]

noun

a persistent, irrational fear of a specific object, activity, orsituation that leads to a compelling desire to avoid it.

Hi, so I'm reading this book called School of Fear, and it's about these kids with phobias and they go to a summer school where this crazy woman apparently will cure their phobias. That inspired me to look up  different phobias and it is SO COOL! OK so here's my favorite phobias.

There's the...

Fear of flowers(I know, right?), which is anthrophobia,
The fear of numbers, which is arithmophobia,
The fear of snow, which is chionophobia,
The fear of colors, which is chromophobia
The fear of purple, (so sad) which is phorphyrophobia,
and last but not least, my favorite, phobophobia, which is...*drum roll please*.......... THE FEAR OF PHOBIAS!

I'm Back!

Hi people! So I'm very very sorry that I haven't posted, like, anything for the past long time... but now I'm back! So Halloween kind of  happened but it was cancelled because there was a major power outage. We didn't have power for about one and a half days because of snow. In late October! What's up with that? We got 14 INCHES. But tonight(actually I'm leaving in less than a half-hour)we will have the rescheduled Halloween trick-or-treat thing. I am going as a little old lady! I have a weird pink and white spotted button up shirt, a weird tan, white and black plaid skirt, a weird green suit/jacket, a scarf thing that I will tie around my head, and granny glasses that are pretty awesome. And... that's pretty much it! I will get back to you guys soon...

Favorite Way to Eat an Egg Survey

Ok so I am going to put the 'Favorite way to eat an egg' survey. The options are:

(1) Scrambled
(2) Fried
(3) Poached
(4) Hard boiled
(5) Soft boiled

Hope you vote!

Harvest Feast

So Friday night we had this thing called the Harvest Feast at our school. We have a garden and a gardening program and stuff like that, so we eat food that we grow and each class from Kindergarten to 6th Grade makes a dish. My class(6th Grade)made kale chips, which are really good. It's just kale with oil and salt that is cooked in the oven for I don't know how long.

A couple kids got to serve random samples of things to people waiting in line. I got to serve samples of mini kiwis. They're REALLY GOOD! If you have no idea what mini kiwis are, they are mini kiwis! No, well, they kind of are, I mean they are, but... So they are about the size of... maybe a grape, and you eat them like a grape- with the peels and everything. They taste exactly like kiwi and the inside looks like kiwi, too. There was garlic bread and homemade pizza and, uh... pickles, and... soup, and stuff like that. Oh, and while we were eating there was a rainbow!

After I ate I went outside. It was kind of raining, but it had pretty much cleared up. There was a gigantic puddle with wood chips in it that was up to your ankles or higher, and it was fun. Then a couple girls and I played kickball. Since there weren't that many people, we pretty much had two people on each team, so it was really fun to be kicking, but it was really boring to play outfield. Eventually we all had to leave so....... yeah.

Upcoming Survey...

Ok so I got some really good suggestions for the upcoming survey that I will put on my blog. All of them were good, but some of my favorites were:

Favorite season...
Favorite way to eat an egg...
Favorite color...
Favorite candy bar...
Favorite Harry Potter book character...
and Favorite kind of weather.

I could do a survey to say which survey I should do, but I find that a bit more extreme than necessary. I also could just choose my favorite, but I think that you guys should tell me what you think... Tell your family! Tell your friends! Tell your pets! Tell anyone you can think of! Ok that's it... I think... Bye!

Ice Cream Survey

Okay, here are the results of the ice cream survey, which was 'Which one of the following is your favorite kind of ice cream?' Hope you voted!

Mint chocolate chip had 5 votes/50%,
Vanilla had 3 votes/30%,
Chocolate had 2 votes/20%,
and Strawberry and Coffee both had none. Too bad for them.

The next survey...actually, this time you guys can comment and tell me what you want the survey to be. Hopefully there will be some pretty awesome ideas that I can put on my blog!

Cute Little Animals!

Hi people! I thought-actually I kind of know that maybe my blog was getting a bit boring, so here's some cute pictures of cute small animals that are cute.

     Cute chickadee!                                            Baby polar bear!

                     Bunny rabbit!

White tiger cub!

Aren't they so cute? Ok so during the next year I won't be able to post so so
much so just don't think that I'm dead or anything.

Yet Another Survey

Ok. Here are the results of the third survey on my blog. It was 'What is your favorite sport?' The options were: Soccer, Basketball, Skiing, Baseball/Softball, Football and Other. The outcome was:

Skiing, with 10 votes, or 58%,

Soccer, with 5 votes or 29%,

Other with 2 votes or 11%,

and Basketball, Baseball/Softball and Football with 0 votes. Too bad for them. They must feel so unloved.

I wonder if you can guess what the next survey will be...

Ummm... yeah, it's 'What's your favorite kind of ice cream?' Well, actually it's 'Which of the following is your favorite kind of ice cream but... Same difference.

The options are: Chocolate, Vanilla, Mint Chocolate Chip, Coffee, or Strawberry. I'm counting on you guys to make these ice creams feel loved! You don't want to hurt their feelings, do you?

Survey #2

Here are the results of the second survey on my blog, 'Which one of these random animals do you like best?'

*Drum roll, please*

Octopus, with 6 votes or 54%,

Bunny, with 2 votes or 18%,

Panda, Chickadee and Leopard, all with 1 vote or 9%,

and Tree Frog and Rhinoceros, both with no votes, or 0%, for those of you who can't quite figure out that nothing is equivalent to 0%. Too bad. So sad.

The next survey will be...

'What is your favorite sport?'

The options are:

Soccer,
Basketball,
Skiing,
Baseball/Softball,
Football,
or Other.

There are ten days that you can vote on it. Hope you do!

Quest for the Truth Part VI

Here is the sixth part of Quest for the Truth.

"Let's find something to do. It's almost been two hours." I looked at my watch. Thirty minutes to go. We could start our search now, keeping out of sight of the librarians, but that would be to risky. We could wait.

I pulled a world records book off the bottom shelf and opened to a random page. I was reading about the longest toenails ever (ew!) when I heard footsteps coming up behind me. "M-marla is that you?" I whispered timidly. I turned around to see and old woman with red glasses and gray hair staring at me. I almost breathed a sigh of relief. For a second there, before I turned around, her presence seemed ominous, as if there were a monster lurking in the shadows.

"It's getting late girls! Isn't your mother wondering where you are?" She asked in a cheery voice. I got the creepy feeling again.

"Um - wow. Time flies in a library!" I said nervously. "This book is really interesting. My cousin and I should be heading home." Anything to get away from this strange lady. Marla nodded her head in agreement.

The librarian eyed us suspiciously. "Do you girls need a ride home?"

"Oh, no thank you" said Marla. "Amy lives right down the street." True, I thought.

"All right, then. Have a nice night!" she said, but in a way that made me feel like she wanted our night to be anything but nice.

"Let's go, Marla, I said to my so-called cousin as I pulled her out the door. Once we were out of Ms. Creepy-Nosy-Librarian-Lady's range of hearing, Marla whispered to me " How do we get back in there? I'll bet that freaky librarian is watching our every move!"

Hmm..."Marla, walk around the library and open the window, just a crack. I'll do the same for another one. Meet me back here and we can pretend to walk back to my house. Then we'll hide behind a tree until we hear the librarian drive home. Let's just hope she doesn't close the windows."

Quest for the Truth Part V

Here is the fifth part of my friend A's story, Quest for the Truth.

"We could hide in the library until it closes," suggested Marla.

I agreed that would probably be the best idea, since we didn't have a crowbar. Ha ha. But now there was the problem of having my parents agree to us sleeping over at the library after it closes. As if!

Then I had a brainstorm. I had been nagging my parents to let me sleep over at my friend Anna's house for about a week. She was conveniently located right down the street, so if I could convince my parents to let me stay there for a night, we could pretend to be going there but instead head down to the library. And of course, Anna's parents would be dropping me off here the next morning. Perfect. Now all I had to do was be a little angel so I could get what I wanted. But I'm always a little angel!

An hour and a half later, after a tiring walk, we were at the library. It wouldn't close for another two hours, so we picked up some magazines and sat in a corner trying hard not to be seen. I heard people walking by, and each time, I felt nervous. Just because someone sees me, it doesn't mean that they'll know we won't leave, I reminded myself. It's okay.

All in all, though, if you have two hours to waste somewhere before finding a key that will unlock the secret to finding a missing family, a library isn't such a bad place.

After reading five issues of Grl * Frend magazine and laughing at the perfectly make-upped models, I got impatient, so I went to look for Marla. The crowd in the library was starting to diminish and I had to be ultra-careful that none of the librarians would spot me. I should go into espionage, I thought. Finally I found Marla in the tween graphic novel section. She jumped three feet in the air when she saw me (okay, maybe not quite) but then she got herself together and said "Hi Amy. What's up?"

"I'm just really bored," I told her. "Let's find something to do. It's almost been two hours." I looked at my watch. Thirty minutes to go. We could start our search now, keeping out of sight of the librarians, but that would be too risky. We could wait.

Quest for the Truth Part IV

Here is the fourth part of Quest for the Truth. Just so you know, it is really long, so this is not one of the last parts.

"Treasures in a library!", I said. "Those have got to be books!"

"Yeah", agreed Marla. "And we have to find them before morning is nigh. So I guess we have to go to a library at night to find some key."

We debated about when we should start our quest for a while. Finally Marla gave in and agreed with me that we should get a night of rest before setting off to the local library after-hours (I had no idea how we were going to get in).

"Hey Amy", said Marla. "Do you think any time passed while we were in Maynerna? I mean, when stuff like this happens in the books I read, no time passes."

"Well, I know how to check. Wait here.", I told Marla. I crept into Alex's room. Sure enough, he was still on question number three.

The next morning was a Saturday. I made myself a bagel and ate it with my parents while Marla waited in my room. When Mom and Dad were done eating, I toasted another bagel, spread cream cheese on it, and took it over to Marla.

When I came in, she was on my bed leafing through a USA Girl magazine. "Well, that took long enough!", she joked. "I was getting hungry!"

I rolled my eyes and gave her the bagel. "C'mon Marla, we need to plan how the heck we're gonna get into the library."

"We could hide in the library until it closes," suggested Marla.

I agreed that would probably be the best idea, since we didn't have a crowbar. Ha ha. But now there was the problem of having my parents agree to us sleeping over at the library after it closes. As if!

Survey

Howdy partners! As you all probably know, I had a survey on my blog which was 'Who is your favorite singer?' I hope you voted!

The outcome was:

Other, with 9 votes or 40%,
Lady Gaga, with 5 votes or 22%,
Taylor Swift and Katy Perry tied both with 3 votes or 13% each
and Ke$ha with 2 votes or 9%

Now there will be a new survey on my blog that you can vote on. It is 'Which one of these random animals do you like best?'

The options are:
Panda,

Chickadee,

Leopard,

Rhinoceros,

Octopus,

Tree Frog,

or Bunny

You can vote on it for ten days. I hope you do!

Summer Camp

All right, now I will tell you guys about the camp I was at for the last 3 weeks! My cousin E was there, too. The camp is a wilderness camp for girls from 9-ish to 14-ish. It's not all based on wilderness stuff, though, so there is also a barn and a garden, etc., etc. It's a Quaker camp and there is silent meeting for 15 minutes on a regular day and, get this, 45 minutes on a Sunday. Yeah. I know, right? Just thought I'd let you know. Oh, and they sing a lot and are very enthusiastic about everything.

I will tell you about the awesomest of the awesomest parts, which will be hard because there are a lot of the awesomest parts. Okay. *Takes deep breath*. Here I go.

One of the days was SOMEDAY! Isn't that exciting? No, really, it was. We woke up and there were some people who brought up the goat, Sally, and the bunny, Ginger. Breakfast was Lucky Charms with chocolate milk and green colored strawberry yogurt... oh, and bananas. I basically just ate the Lucky Charms. Then we had silent meeting, which wasn't exactly silent because the counselors were having baby sheep, hula hooping, running around with walkie talkies and such and such.

Every day we have morning activities, and on Someday there were activities, but they were things like having counselors throw chocolate pudding at you from above, and having a water slide, rather than plant flowers in a flower box or learn how to identify mint. I went to the chocolate pudding thing first, which was SO AMAZING! There were a bunch of campers all squished together on a tarp, and counselors above you, basically splatter painting you with pudding. Sadly, they eventually ran out of chocolate pudding, so I went to the water slide area and stayed around there, where they were also playing loud music.

Okay. Right now I am having a brain freeze and can't remember what we did in the afternoon. I know I will remember it sometime........................ Sorry sorry sorry!

Another exciting day was my birthday! I woke up and opened my packages, which my friend H had been keeping for me for days. I got earrings, a pretty scarf, silly books about summer camps and some other random things.

The rest of the day was pretty normal. I got to call my parents *sniff, sniff SO EMOTIONAL*. My older cousin, M, came to dinner because she is at a different camp within the camp, which is hard to explain.

Last but not least, FAIR DAY, my friends. Fair Day. This was only yesterday. It was really exciting because this is FAIR. The moment we've all been waiting for. We sang a lot while waiting to start parading down to where the fair is. Then we started the parade and sang some more. The other camps within the camp on the way to the fair place followed behind us. Then I saw my mom and grandpa and aunt and uncle. A camp within the camp performed a play and then it started. I got candy and cookies and cordage bracelets and coneggberted some people and got coneggberted by some people. Ha ha! Those all start with Cs! Let me explain what a coneggbert is. It is an egg, emptied out, painted and filled with confetti that you smash on each other's heads. They're cool.

After that we got dinner, which were sandwiches. I had turkey and cheese. There was a square dance and a huge bonfire that a group of older girls in my camp made. It really was huge. Like, humongously ginormously... big. Then the parents went back to where they came from and so did the campers.

Back Home

I. Am. Home.

I will post so much about my experiences at summer camp in a bit. Until then, toodles!

Quest for the Truth Part III

Here is the third part of the amazing author A's book Quest for the Truth! Sorry it's been so long since I posted the story last.

She thanked us breathlessly, blushing as she said " I'm Zorania. Welcome to Maynerna. "

I started asking about ten questions at once, but Zorania silenced me. She led us to a small white house across a field. As we walked inside, I smelled the pleasant aroma of cookies in the oven. Everything would be normal if we hadn't gotten to the place by falling through the floor.

There was a normal living room with a flat-screen TV and two leather couches. I glanced over at Marla. She was taking it all in (as was I) while Zorania led us past the living room to a strange room filled with clouds and purple smoke. Suddenly, Zorania's eyes started to glow bright blue and she said in an otherworldly voice " Good luck on your journey, for you will need it. Trust no one but yourself, and know that I will always be watching over you on your quest for the truth." Then she pressed a fancy piece of paper into each of our hands.

****************

"Ugh" I moaned, then yawned. I sat up in my bed, looked next to me, and saw Marla, sleeping away. The memory of Maynerna hit me like a bowling ball. Was it just a dream? I didn't remember going to sleep. Who was Zorania? I opened my hand and found a folded piece of beautiful, marbled paper.

Marla! Marla, get up!" I said as I shoved my new found friend in an attempt to wake her up.

"Ugh, what?" she said sleepily and then sat up so fast she almost knocked me off the bed. "Did you just go to Maynerna?," I asked her. "Yeah, so it wasn't just a dream?", Marla realized excitedly. "Nope. Open your hand!", I instructed her. Marla unclenched her right hand, and on the count of three we both opened our notes. Mine read:

Find the key in the place

Where treasures lie,

Make sure to find it before

Morning is nigh.

Marla's said:

The treasures are not made

Of metal or wood,

As for where they are,

A library wood be good.

"Treasures in a library!", I said. "Those have got to be books!

"Yeah", agreed Marla. "And we have to find them before morning is nigh. So I guess we have to go to the library at night to find some key.

Leaving

I'M LEAVING FOR CAMP IN LIKE 2 HOURS AND IT'S SO SO SO SO SO SO EXCITING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! IT'S GOING TO BE SO SO SO SO SO SO AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Overnight Camp

I just wanted to let all you people know that I won't be able to blog for a while, because I am going to an overnight camp! It's three weeks and I'm leaving tomorrow. The camp I'm going to is a wilderness camp, and my cousin is going to be there, too. This is my first time ever going to this camp, and I think that I will like it a lot because pretty much everyone who I know that went there loved it. The part of the camp that I will be in is all girls from 9-14 and I will turn 11 while I am there!!!!!!!!!!! Please note that I just used 11 exclamation points!!!!!!!!!!! I did the same thing there, too. I will write all about it when I get back.

USA vs. Japan Final

I think it's a bit to late to blog about the semi-finals against France( they won, in case you didn't know) , so I will blog about the final against Japan. I will jump to the end and say that they lost. Notice that I am not going to include any exclamation points or different colors, even when USA gets their goals. It was really sad. Good for Japan, though.

The game was really boring until American forward Morgan got the first goal in the 69th minute, which was really exciting. Then, in the 81st minute, Miyama of Japan got a goal, tying the game with 9 minutes left and making a lot of US fans very disappointed. The game went into extra time.

In the 104th minute Abby Wambach got a goal and it was really awesome. Everyone thought we would win until in the 117th minute when, first, something happened to Hope Solo but she was okay enough to play. There was a corner kick and Sawa of Japan scored a goal. There were penalty kicks next.

Japan's goalkeeper had a combination of skill and a lot of luck. In the first shot by Shannon Boxx the goalkeeper accidentally blocked it with her foot. Then Carli Lloyd missed the goal entirely and it was crazy. The ball went a couple feet over the goal. Hope Solo then blocked a goal shot by number 17. The next shot was blocked and Hope Solo almost saved #6's shot. Finally, Abby Wambach got a goal, but then Japan got the last goal they needed to get and won the World Cup. Boohoo.

USA vs. Brazil Quarterfinals

I've been watching the Women's World Cup and it was and is totally awesome. The quarterfinals against Brazil was TOTALLY... I don't have the words for it. Wacko? Crazy? Maybe.

In the second minute, Brazil scored an own goal. It bounced off 'sweeper' Daiane and into the goal. It was 1-0 USA already. The score stayed that way until in the 65th minute when striker Marta, star player on Brazil was, in the refs opinion, fouled by defense woman Buehler, who got red card that many people including me thought she didn't earn and got a penalty kick.

Number 11, who I don't know the name of, shot the ball and Hope Solo, USA's goalkeeper who is one of the best goalies in the world, SAVED IT!!!! Sadly, some random teammate moved forward a millisecond before the kick was taken, which is illegal. For some weird reason (I have no idea why), Solo got a yellow card!

Marta shot the PK this time, and it went in, so the score was now 1-1, with approximately 20 minutes left in the game. In that amount of time, neither team got a goal, so there were 30 minutes of extra time.

In the 3rd minute of extra time, Marta scored her second goal, making it 2-1 Brazil. After 25 minutes had passed, it looked like USA was out of the world cup already. Then, with one minute left, Abby Wambach, my favorite player apart from Hope Solo, GOT A GOAL! It was so beautiful(sob, sob)! So then there were penalty kicks.

You have to watch that video. The person who didn't make the PK was Daiane, the same person who got the own goal. I feel kind of bad for her.

Harry Potter 7 Part 2!

I JUST WATCHED HARRY POTTER 7 PART 2!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was so so so so so so awesome! I went with my friend J, her mom, dad, sister and friend S who I also know, because it was her birthday party. First I went to their house because we were going to watch the first half, and we watched it, which was a really good idea because the first half is still fresh in your memory. Then we went outside for a couple minutes before lunch, which was pasta with spaghetti sauce and garlic bread. J opened her presents and we had delicious chocolate cupcakes with chocolate icing and rainbow sprinkles. Her present from me was an iTunes gift card and the blue t-shirt below.What it says on the t-shirt- I run like a girl try to keep up- totally fits her because she is the fastest person in her class. It's so awesome! So after that we looked for fake Harry Potter wands to bring to the movie theater. I got Harry Potters' wand J wore Gryffindor robes with a little wooden wand, and S didn't want anything. So we left and it was really exciting. I'm not going to say anything about the movie except that it is pretty similar to the book and it's really exciting, gripping and sad at the same time. Oh, and it's really good. Did I mention that already? We ate a lot of mouthwatering, unhealthy but irresistible movie popcorn and candy, then it was OVER. The whole series, books and movies! WAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!! So devastating. Then in the car ride to drop S and I off we had chocolate frogs! They tasted good. My card was Rubeus Hagrid, which was pretty cool because I like him. J got the POTTER FAMILY! Lucky. S got Ollivander. It was pretty cool.

Finally (The Book)

I just finished reading this AWESOME book Finally sort of recently. The author is Wendy Mass and it's about a girl named Rory who can't wait to turn twelve because then she can do everything that her friends can do such as wear make-up, have a cellphone, get her ears pierced, etc. So she finally turns twelve and she's so excited. Rory tries out doing everything, and basically everything goes wrong. When she gets her ears pierced she finds out she's allergic to gold, when she tries on make-up from a store that uses all natural ingredients she has a reaction to something in it, and stuff like that. At the same time a movie with some movie stars that everyone loves is being shot in their school and people try out to become extras in it. I'm not going to give it all away, but you should read the book! It's really good.

Interviewing my Friend E

All right, here is an interview of my friend E. (Hi E, if you're reading this!)

Q. What is your favorite color?

A. Rainbow-zebra.

Q. What is your astrological sign?

A. Wait, is that all those fish and crab guys? Leo.

Q. What is one of your favorite books?

A. Let me think... I will have to say... I will go with... just a sec... (three minutes later) Code Orange.

Q. Do you have any siblings?

A. Yep.

Q. How many and how old is he/she?

A. 14 and it's a he.

Q. Do you like him?

A. Do I like him? At times. At strange, odd, rare occasions.

Q. Do you have any pets?

A. Yep. I had three but then my dwarf hamster died and it was very tragic(explains his death). I have a cat named Sami and a dog named Fin.

Q. What is one of your hobbies?

A. OK, umm, running.

Q. Do you have anything else to say?

A. What? Well, I'm thinking of changing my name to Yoshi.

Tie-dye With My Friend C

Today my friend C and I were tie-dying t-shirts, tank tops and leggings at her house. After we finished we had a lot of extra dye, so this is what we did.

Sadly, we couldn't look at the tie-dyed items right away because that would ruin them, but we can see them today! I will show you the pics later...

Wiggly Tooth

I've had this wiggly tooth for less than a week-maybe even less than half a week. Just until now, it could barely budge, but as I was watching Glee and wiggling it, it got a whole lot wigglier. When I lose it, it will be the 14th tooth that I've lost. So, basically I was watching Netflix and I wanted it to get just a little wigglier because it wasn't very wiggly and I like really wiggly teeth. I held it with my third finger and thumb and I was just pulling it smoothly and steadily, but strongly and a huge thread came loose. At first I thought I lost it, which would be crazy because it really wasn't that loose, but then I realized it was just really wiggly. There was a bunch of blood in my mouth so I rushed down to the bathroom and spit. I was careful not to spit out the tooth because I wanted my parents to see it and take pictures of it. They did and now here I-oh! I just lost it!!!!!

The Rest of my Trip to Cape Cod

Hi! Here is a summary of what we did in the rest of our trip to Cape Cod.

We swam(of course) at... maybe three different beaches. Nothing really, really exciting happened except for when we found a dead blue fish floating around in the shallower water while we were swimming. Speaking of fish, one of the adults who was staying in the campsite next to us caught one and we had it for dinner. It was good! So we saw this huge fish that was huge and it was sort of gross cause it was dead, but at least it wasn't half dissected or anything. On the 2nd of July my family and I went to Provincetown. We ate at an awesome restaurant called Bubalas and I had clam chowder with oyster crackers and a bunch of my mom's delicious mussels in cream sauce. Then we met up with our friends and I got a totally awesome green with dark blue writing Cape Cod sweatshirt. We walked around more, I got a bunch of saltwater taffy, and we left. On the Fourth we went to a nice pizza restaurant and got pizza. Then we got really good ice cream and my dad, brother and I went to a random place to watch the fireworks. There was a cool one that was big, and at the last second it would sort of zig-zag in a different direction. The rest of our trip we just packed and swam, basically, and then drove home.

Cape Cod 2011 6-30-11

I sort of forget what we did on the 30th, but I will write what I remember.

I saw my friends at the other campground again. We swam and played in the playground there. I skinned my knee, but it wasn't too bad. My friend O and her family+older sister's friend arrived at the other campground that evening/night, and 3 out of 4 of our really long time family friends came to our campground that afternoon/evening(the mom, A, came the next day). We had a campfire with everyone and we ate s'mores and played Truth or Dare. That's all the important stuff I remember.

Cape Cod 2011 6-29-11

Although I already said a summary of what happened on the 29th and it was pretty much accurate, I will write a tiny bit more about it. Pretty much I was at my friends campsite and swam in the ocean for the first time this year. While at the ocean, we rescued a sand shark that beached itself. He got stuck in the current and got washed up onto a sandbar. It was really cool! The shark was about a foot and a half long, and it was barely alive, but my friend E's dad walked it out into the water. It was very heroic. Later I stayed at the other campsite with my friends and went to a semi-pro baseball game. E's brother got a foul ball! The final score was something like 5-1. The end.

Cape Cod 2011 6-28-11

Yesterday my family and I arrived in Cape Cod! We left our house for the multi-hour trip in the cramped car around noon. The car was sooo stuffed! We camp in tents, and we bring our own food and stuff, so basically we put items everywhere there was space. Watermelons behind your seat, towels and pillows in between my brother and I, shoes, buckets and backpacks in your lap, and occasionally something falling on your head like a lacrosse stick. It wasn't as bad as it sounds, though. We stopped for a late lunch/snack, to look at a car that my dad wanted to buy and to rent wetsuits and buy surfboard wax for my brother. In that order. Well, we got here and it was all happy because we've come to this campground once a year for such a long time. No seriously, like since before I was born. We pitched the two tents, set up the kitchen area, made our tents a bit more comfortable, and other things like that. Then my brother biked to the nearby beach and my mom and I followed shortly after that on our bikes with PB&Js for dinner. My dad didn't come because he was fast asleep. Also, he was a tiny bit mad at us because we didn't like the color of the car we looked at. It was white! Blindingly white. Actually, the color was called Candy White. So we had sandwiches on the beach and I caught some sand fleas after that. We biked back and eventually went to sleep. It's annoying, because I don't have a clock, so this morning I woke up really early, and the sun was starting to rise a tiny bit, so I figured it could be anytime between 5:00 and 6:30. I read, drew and biked around the campsite a bit, and now here I am at the computer, blogging. I expect that later in the day we might swim if it doesn't rain, and we probably will see our friends, who are staying at a different campground.

Random Writing Pieces I Made This Year

Here are some writing pieces I made in school...

Here are a couple freestyle poems.

Crashing Waves
The
foamy ocean waves
pounded strongly
against
large rugged rocks
while the
bright sunset shone
above them

Rainstorm
The
rain pours down
while the
large trees wave
and the
bright lightning
lights up
the wet village

Alright, here's a bunch of haikus. I like writing them a lot.

Wind
It's windy outside
Maples swaying in the breeze
Blowing in your hair

Sleepy Bears
Sleepy bear and cubs
Wake up from hibernation
Walking through thin snow

Hand Sanitizer (dedicated to the Nurse, who warned us about it)
There it is on shelf
"99 percent germs killed!"
Kills the good ones, too

Soccer
Running down the field
Dribbling the soccer ball
You pass, she shoots, score!

Tea
Just made homemade tea
With Anise Hyssop flowers
Smells like licorice

Jupiter
King of Roman Gods
My planet for school project
So interesting

These two were for the old principal, who got a new job.

Helped us very much
We can't ever repay him
Hard as we might try

Really awesome ties
Eiffel Tower, smiley face
Wears one every day

Alright, here's the grand finale of haikus.

Spring
Animals come out
From winter hibernation
Birds fly North from South

The snow is melting
Grass and flowers popping up
Colorful-not white

Making nice bouquets
Of daffodils and tulips
Many bright colors

Interviewing my Friend C

Here is my second interview for my blog with one of my friends.

Q. What is your favorite color?
A. Lilac.

Q. What is one of your hobbies?
A. I like playing soccer.

Q. What is your astrological sign?
A. Wait, what is my astrological sign? Oh, Scorpio!

Q. What is one of your favorite books or book series?
A. Harry Potter?

Q. Do you have any siblings?
A. Uh-huh.

Q. How many and how old is he/she?
A. I have one and he is almost 15.

Q. Do you like him?
A. No!

Q. Do you have any pets?
A. M-hm(muffled as she hugs my cat)!

Q. How many, what kinds, and what are their names?
A. Two, one is a bearded dragon and his name is Alfonzo, and then I have a guinea pig named Oreo!

Q. Is there anything else you'd like to say?
A. No.

Last Day of School 2011!

June 21st was my school's last day of school. It was a half day. Now I am an official-ish 6th grader! We cleaned out our desks and kept all our folders and things like that. Then we watched Jumanji, a movie about this board game that becomes real when you play it and you can only make the real things disappear once you get to the end of the game. For example, there is a monsoon in the old mansion that the main characters live in and a dozen monkeys create chaos in their kitchen-stuff like that. It's really cool and if you can, I recommend watching it. Then one of my best friends, who has been living in Costa Rica for half a year, came for the last hour or so and we saw her for the first time since she came back. It was really awesome. Then school was out and I went to a nearby lake with one of my friends. After a while we realized that we were at the wrong beach of that lake and other people must be at the other beach, so we went and found a couple friends. Sadly, I couldn't swim, because I had my stitches WHICH I JUST GOT REMOVED!!!!!!!! There were a LOT of people from my school there, especially people going into 5th and 6th grade. We stayed there for a long time, and then my dad came to pick me up for a soccer tryout that I had. We left and went to the tryout. I am 99.999% sure that I got onto the team because they were short a couple players. Anyways, I think I'd get on even if they had to eliminate a couple people. We went out for dinner and ice cream with a friend that tried out for the same team and another good friend who had to try out for a different age group. It was fun.

Quest for the Truth Part II

Here is part two of Double A's book Quest for the Truth. Sorry I haven't been posting the story for a while.

Wow, that was a pretty sad story, I thought. If only we could - DUH! I thought. "Marla, why don't we just call your parents?" She agreed that was a perfect, yet obvious solution. I just got up when I heard the front door open. Oh great!, I thought. It was my brother Alex!

"Quick, hide!" I whispered to Marla. She scrambled into the small, grimy space behind the toilet. I could hear her stifling a gag. Then I went to the door to "greet" Alex. I have to admit, though, distracting people is not one of my finer points.

"Hey, Amy" said my brother, his face sweaty from working hard at the practice. "Hi" I replied. Then, horror of all horrors, Alex started walking towards the bathroom. "Alex, wait! I, um, want to show you a cool new website!"

"Amy, it can totally wait. I have to do all my homework. It's not like I have two teeny papers or something like you would!" he replied. I stuck out my tongue at him, but I was sooo relived he wasn't headed to the bathroom after all. I breathed a sigh of relief. "What's the gasp for? called Alex from his room across from the bathroom. "You sound like a sick Chihuahua!"

I rolled my eyes and went into the bathroom. Then I whispered to Marla "You can come out now! Sorry that took so long! That's Alex, my annoying, popular, football-playing big brother," I told her. "Oh." Marla stood up, stretched, and brushed the grime off her loose-fitting jeans. Then she peered out into the hall. Coast clear. We crept down the hall into my room, but suddenly we were falling through the floor. Marla and I screamed, but the sound was drowned out by the high-pitched screams being emitted from down below.

We crashed into the wet , muddy soil at the bottom of the long metal chute now coming out of the hall floor. Next to me, making the strange noises we had heard , was a tall teenage girl with long frizzy blond hair and lots of zits. She was being attacked by strange-looking greenish creatures with very sharp teeth. They looked like a mix between skinny seals, fish, and snakes.

Marla and I pulled ourselves out of the mud and ran toward the older girl. We pulled the slimy creatures off her with some effort.

She thanked us breathlessly, blushing as she said " I'm Zorania. Welcome to Maynerna."

Quest for the Truth Part I

One of my friends A, who I will call Double A, wrote this awesome 10 page book called Quest for the Truth. It's really great. I am going to post it on my blog over several posts. You are about to see the first awesome part of it...


"Knock knock" I said out of habit, even though I knew there wasn't anyone in our bathroom. My parents had gone out to a boring grown-up party (no kids aloud, of course) and Alex, my 16-year-old brother, was at football practice.

"Occupied!" a loud, sarcastic voice replied. I almost fainted. Not sure what to do, I stepped back a few feet. Then, using all the courage I could muster, I swung open the small brown door to the bathroom. Standing next to the sink was a tall, black haired girl. She had no freckles, unlike my dotted face and long hair.

I stared at the strange girl for nearly a minute, then stammered "W-who are you?"

She looked back at me like a deer staring into headlights. She had a hint of viciousness in her eyes, like it was my fault that she was doing something illegal.

'' What the heck are you doing in my house?" I yelled at her. She still looked bewildered, but then she reluctantly told me what she was doing in my house.

" First of all, my name is Marla" she started. " I'm Amy," I told her still fazed by the arrival of this unexpected visitor. Marla continued.

" This morning, my family and I were on a trip to see my grandparents in Phoenix, Arizona. Me, Mom, Dad, and my baby brother Noah." At this, Marla stopped. "Go on, Marla", I urged her. She resumed her tale.

"I really had to go to the bathroom, so we stopped at the gas station. "When I got out of that place - I'm not always speedy if you know what I mean - my family, car, and all, were gone. And believe me, my parents would never abandon me! They're just not that kind of people!" she added defensively. But there was an edge of uncertainty to her voice. "It was such a windy night, it almost felt like a hurricane, and it was getting dark, so I ran to the nearest house, which was yours, and climbed in the window. It felt like the right thing to do at the moment", Marla said.


To be continued.......................................

Stitches...

I got stitches! This isn't exactly recent- I got them 2 days ago- but I didn't really have much time to blog. Here's how I got them...

We got out of lunch and went to recess which was moved indoors due to rain after a minute or two. I was running to put my lunch box, which is blue and has a really long strap, in the place where we put our lunch boxes. I tripped and fell on the super long strap of my lunch box and the sand-stuff on the blacktop. So I fell onto the blacktop and I got a pretty bad cut on my right pinkie, a sort of-almost-maybe bad cut on my right wrist and a scrape that wasn't horrible on my right knee. Then I went to the nurse who cleaned me up a lot and called my mom. She came and we went to the doctors office. They asked me a bunch of questions about how deep it was and stuff, and then they refused to open the bandage and sent me to the hospital to get stitches in the ER. I hadn't ever had stitches before so it was really scary. There was a really nice doctor and nurse. They numbed my finger so I couldn't feel anything and it felt like it had swelled three times it's normal size. My mom, who was brave enough to actually watch, says that it swelled twice the size it should be. I got 5 stitches all in my pinkie. The doctors gave me some pink medicine stuff to put on it when I changed it- twice a day-, wrapped up my whole hand really well and gave me a syringe for some crazy reason. Oh, and they gave me a Nancy Drew mystery. It was annoying because I was so happy that it was over and I couldn't feel anything but then the numbness wore off and it hurt sort of bad. It's been getting so much better and I have to get the stitches taken out in 6-8 days today, the 16th, because when I got them it was the 14th and I was supposed to get them taken off in 8-10 days.

Okay. That's that about my stitches.

Interviewing My Friend B

Okay, I got this idea from my cousin, E. Check out her blog http://e-s-world.blogspot.com! This idea is to interview my friends. I'm gonna start with my friend, and neighbor, B.



Q. What is your fave color?
A. Blue.

Q. What is your astrological sign?
A. Pisces!

Q. Does you liking blue and being a Piscean have anything to do with eachother?
A. Not really... Well, sort of.

Q. What is your favorite book or book series?
A. Well, I like a lot of them.

Q. What are some of your favorites?
A. His Dark Materials Series, Percy Jackson and the Olympians, what else... oh, and Maximum Ride.

Q. Do you have any siblings?
A. Yes, I have one.

Q. Is it a boy or a girl and how old is he/she?
A. He's a boy and he was born in March 2011!

Q. Do you like him?
A. Of course I like him!

Q. Do you have any pets?
A. Yes, I have 2 dogs at my dad's house and 1 cat at my mom's.

Q. What are their names?
A. I have a brown dog named Levra and a white dog named Lucy and my cat who is orange is named Charlando.

Q. Do you have any thing else to say?
A. No!



Ok, there's B!

Field Day 2011(and a Summary of the End of Our Trip)

This is my second post about Field Day because I have been writing in this blog on and off for over a year now! The official anniversary of my blog was June 5th. Sorry I haven't been writing recently. I bet you want to hear about the end of my trip but I feel like that isn't really recent enough, so I will just write a quick summary. We took an overnight ferry to the Hook of Holland and took a train to Amsterdam. Then we went to our hotel, Hotel Weichmann, and saw a lot of bicycles and canals. Over the three days we were there we basically just went to the van Gogh Museum, the Anne Frank House , Vondel Park and Blomen Market, a flower market(if you didn't know, blomen means flower in Dutch). We also walked around a LOT. Then we went on the chunnel back to England, which was cool because you're going underwater but you barely realize it because it is so fast. All right. Back to Field Day. It started at 9:00 and everyone got yellow t-shirts to get soaking wet. Then we all went outside and got into our groups and went to our stations. The group I was in went to a new station first, a slip and slide. It was exciting and fun, probably one of my favorite stations. You just took a running start, then slid on your stomach as far as you could. It got you soaked and soapy. Then we went to another really fun station, beach ball volleyball. All you had to do was hit the ball over the net and call out something like your name, your favorite ice cream or vacation destination. Then we did the water fight type thing I described on my other field day post. Check back there if you don't know what I'm talking about, because it's hard to explain. We did tug-o-war and a water balloon toss, which were some good ones, especially when we did Boys vs. Girls tug-o-war. The girls won. We went to the station that my mom was working at, which was basically a weird version hockey but all you do is dribble and shoot. We did a relay race where you fill a bucket by loading a sponge with water and squeezing it out and did face painting. I got a green and purple snake curling around my arm, but I wish I also got a purple flower on one cheek. We lucked out, though, because we didn't have any water stations after that. We had a rest station with popsicles and scooter races that weren't the least bit competitive. I got a green popsicle, my favorite flavor. At 12:00 we went in to change from our wet shirts to our dry ones and went outside again for lunch. I got hot lunch for the first time in about two years or so. It was hamburgers or hot dogs, chips, watermelon and an oatmeal raisin cookie. Then we went on with the rest of our day.

More Things I've Been Doing in London

Here are some of the things that I have been doing in London since I posted last.

My mom and I went to the British Museum and saw the Greek exhibits, the Rosetta Stone and a library place that had a lot of collections of artifacts from foreign places. Another highlight from that day was getting lunch at a restaurant called YoSushi where they had a conveyor belt and, of course, sushi. It was really fun! Another day we were wondering what to do and came across the Ripley's Believe it or Not! museum, so we went to it. Some of my favorite things there were the mirror maze, butterfly and bubblegum art, a piece of the Berlin Wall and a room where they had a piece of a real meteor and fossilized dinosaur eggs. A couple days later one of my best friends, M and her mom, C came! We met them at the airport and it was really nice because I hadn't seen anyone that was my age for six weeks! The next day we went to Westminster Abbey. We saw a lot of tombs of kings and queens, statues of animals and humans, stained glass and cool ceilings. The next day was M's birthday! We saw Buckingham Palace and had High Tea, which was really fancy. We all especially liked this rose-raspberry-french macaroon dessert and I also liked chocolate chocolate chip scones with their homemade nutella. That night we saw Wicked the musical! It was really, really, really fun! I liked the costumes a lot, and the actors and actresses were good singers. The day after that we went to Hampton Court. We saw the kitchens, the Great Hall, went in the hedge maze and even saw the 'king'. Going there was slightly creepy because King Henry the VIII was famous for beheading his wives. The next day was C's birthday! We went to Bath and saw the excavations of the pools that the Romans who used to live in Bath bathed in. The water was pure mineral water that naturally bubbled up from the earth. The last thing we did at the archaeology place was going into the pump room and trying the mineral water that was free there. It was sort of disgusting. After that we went to a spa where we went in a pool that was like a modern version of the Romans' baths- it was also mineral water that came up from inside the earth. It was cool because there was a little fountain thing next to the main pool that was where the water came from, straight from the spring, and also because the water had been down under the ground for thousands of years. Sadly, they left the day after that. Soon I will be in Amsterdam, so I will tell you some things I have been doing more recently here in London, and what I am doing there!

Things I Have Been Doing Recently In London

Here are some of the highlights of my time in London so far. My mom and I went to Harrods. We didn't buy very much, but it was fun seeing things such as fancy chocolate truffles, a fish display and lots of elegant things arranged in the food hall. Another day we went to Shakespeare's Globe. We went inside the theatre and saw an exhibit that had a lot of information and models of costumes. My favorite part about the exhibit was poster that had all these quotes from Shakespeare's plays such as "in a pickle", "dead as a doornail", "for goodness' sake", or "it's Greek to me". We then walked along the South Bank of the Thames and because it was a weekend there were a lot of street performers. There were people such as silver "statues", contortionists, and people who were making sand sculptures on the riverside. A couple days before, we went to Trafalgar Square and also saw the changing of the guard. That was pretty short, but it looked pretty cool. We got there right in time, even though we hadn't planned on seeing it in the first place. Those are some of my highlights here in London so far.

More About Israel

On March 4th we went to Bet Shean to see a Roman archeology site. We started by going into the amphitheatre. It was really cool because if you went in to the stands and someone else went to the middle of the stage and they whispered, you could hear them! We then took some pictures and wandered over to where you could climb up to where the temple used to be. We then started getting obsessed with finding bits of old Roman pottery and glass. We even found a porcupine quill! We stayed up on the hill for a while and looked at some of the ruins of the temple that were there and also the view of the whole town. Then we went back down and stayed in the gift shop/food area while we waited for my grandpa(who, I forgot to mention was there, too)drew the amphitheatre. Then we went back to the kibbutz(otherwise known as a Jewish community)where we were staying with my great aunt Malka, great uncle Kloni and mom's cousin Elyakim who lived there. March 5th was Shabbat, so we rested for basically the whole day. On March 6th we went to see where my mom's cousin works, at a cow farm. We saw them machine-milking the cows and afterward, a three day old calf, two other calves and two cute, fluffy puppies. We left the next day to come back to London.

Word Equations

Here are some more word equations that I made up. Some of them have the same meanings.


Big+colossal+gigantic+giant+huge+humongous=bicossantianugungous
Bi from big+coss from colossal+ant from gigantic+ian from giant+u from huge+g for no specific reason+ungous from humongous
Meaning:Large


Tiny+mini+dwarf+little=tininiwarfittle
Tin from tiny+ini from mini+warf from dwarf+ittle from little
Meaning:Small


Converse+ballet flats+sneakers+slippers+boots=converletlateakerslipoots
Conver from converse+let from ballet and lat flats+eaker from sneakers+slip from slippers+oots from boots
Meaning:Shoes

Flip flops+cleats+sandals+clogs=flipopaleatsandalogs
Flip and op from flip flops+a for no reason except that it sounds good+leats from cleats+anda from sandals+logs from clogs
Meaning:Shoes

Spelling+writing+reading+social studies=ellingeadocies
ath from math+ell from spelling+it from writing+ead from reading+ocies from social studies
Meaning:School

Computer+chorus+recess+gym+music=omporucessymerusic
Omp from computer+oru from chorus+cess from recess+ym from gym+er for no reason+usic from music
Meaning:School

Lunch+DEAR+science+art+math=lundearencarth
Lun from lunch+dear from DEAR+enc from science+ar from art+th from math
Meaning:School

Daffodil+tulip+rose+magnolia=daffuliposelolia
Daff from daffodil+ulip from tulip+ose from rose+l for no real reason+olia from magnolia
Meaning:Flower

Primrose+dandelion+forsythia+violet=osedeliorsythiolet
Ose from primrose+delio from dandelion+syth from forsythia+iolet from violet
Meaning:Flower

Bloom+crocus+morning glory=blooflocusorniglory
Bloo from bloom+fl because it sounds good+ocus from crocus+orni from morning and glory from glory
Meaning:Flower

Gross+bloody+horror+disgusting=grosodorgusting
Gros from gross+od from bloody+or from horror+gusting from disgusting
Meaning:Gory

Books+pages+literature=ookagiteraturary
Ook from books+ag from pages+iterature from literature+ary because the word means library
Meaning:Library(obviously)

Reading+words+series+chapters=reawoseriapter
Rea from reading+wo from words+seri from series+apter from chapters
Meaning:Book

Fantabulificent Words That I Made Up

Have you ever tried making up words from other words? It's really fun. I've been doing it a bit recently. For example, I made up the word fantabulificent. It is the result of mixing up the words fantastic, fabulous, terrific and magnificent. To make it I started with an old one- fantabulous- and cut out fantabul from it, added ifi from terrific and then took the cent from magnificent and put it at the end. It means the same thing that all the basic words mean-great, awesome good... Another one that I made is barorribastrophroblem. It starts with ba from bad, follows with r for no specific reason except it sounds good, added orrib from horrible, then took astroph from catastrophe and roblem from problem. It means not good. Here's one that is a noun. It is coufutsofammock. The definition of the word is chair or sitting place. It starts with cou from couch, fut from futon, sof from sofa, and ends with ammock from hammock. Here is a verb. It is leabouncop. It means jump. It is made up of the lea from leap, bounc from bounce, and op from hop. That is all the words I will post for now. Feel free to comment and tell me some that you made up!

Israel

For the last 7 days I have been in Israel with my mom. We stayed in Jerusalem at my mom's cousin's house for the first 2 nights. The night we arrived we went to a really good fish restaurant that was above a gas station. I got fried sole. On our first day we woke up at 7:00 a.m. which was 5:00 a.m. in London. I was really tired, but we had to go on a long sight-seeing trip with my mom's cousin. On the tour we first stopped in Hebron and we went into a building that was 2,000 years old. It has a synagogue and rooms that are dedicated to the patriarchs and matriarchs. Then we went to an awesome underground town called Sussiya. It was an archeology sight that was famous for it's synagogue that had a mosaic floor. It is also around 2,000 years old. The towns-people lived in caves. We went in to the weaving cave, the potters cave, and a regular house. We then went in the car and drove to Masada. There we looked at the mesa and I was told the story of it. Then we went to the shore of the Dead Sea and I dipped my feet in. I would have gone all the way in, but I decided against it. Afterward my feet looked like they were covered with sand which was actualy dried salt! All the rocks there looked like they had crystals on them because the waves had left lots of the salt on them . After we were at the sea-side we went up to have a picnic. Then we left and went back to Jerusalem for the day. The next day we went and walked around the old city of Jerusalem. We went to the Tower of David Museum and the Wailing Wall, looking at shops in the market in-between. Then we went to a shop crowded with tourists to get falafel. That night we went to have dinner at my mom's cousin's son's house. They had a daughter who was about six years old who didn't know any English, but we drew together and played games using a version of sign language. Then we went to another of my mom's cousin's houses for one night.

Even More Haikus

Okay, so I really like writing poems. I might be posting them a lot.

The Brentford Bees won!
Got goal from penalty kick
The score was one nil

England winning game
Of rugby against the French
Three minutes are left

Waited for a bus
Ended up getting taxi
Shared with four others

Saving Bees tickets
Will put them in my scrap-book
I have two in all

News about Libya
Many people killed, injured
City in chaos

People injured, killed
By the earthquake in Christchurch
Thankful I'm not there

My Poems

Here are some poems that I have been writing in my free time. All of them are haikus. They relate to what has been happening since I posted last, and what will happen soon.

Going on airplane
Ears are popping all around
Slowly we descend.

Plump pigeon pecking
At the crumbled, soggy bread
Left there in the rain

Get good gelato
So many different flavors
Chocolate hazelnut

Soccer- Brentford Bees
It is raining outside now
Covered stadium

Rugby game in town
Un-defeated- England, France
Hope that England wins

Orchids on table
Deep rose color, beautiful
Thirteen blooms in row

Oyster cards for bus
Though they're not really oysters-
Open, close like one

My Last Post From Ghana

Hi! Sorry I haven't been posting in a while. I have been doing a lot and I've been so busy that I didn't have the time! On the 16th we went to an adinkra village. The word adinkra means goodbye. People used to only wear it at funerals. Each stamp has a different meaning. We got to stamp some cloth and saw how the ink is made. The ink is made of bark that you pound with a large stick. After it is pounded you add water and boil it. The stamps are made out of carved gourds. Both my mom and I used red strips of cloth. I used three different stamps in the very simple design. Then we went to our hotel and swam. On the 17th we traveled to a town called Nkoranza. We traveled by tro-tro, a large van-like vehicle. We stayed at a community called Operation Hand in Hand. Operation Hand in Hand is a home for mentally disabled children. It also has guest-houses. We stayed one night. The next morning we took a mule ride and a tour around the grounds. Then we took a taxi up to a monkey sanctuary. We went to the village with a guide and got bananas for the monkeys. It was one of my highlights of this whole trip. The monkeys ate out of your hand and they lived in the wild! They were SOOOO CUTE! Sadly, we ran out of bananas so we had to leave. The next morning we went again into the woods, this time carrying all of our luggage over the roots and ditches. Yes, we were going to see the monkeys again, but we had to catch a tro-tro in town, too. Also, the fetish priest had invited us to his house the night before. So we dragged our luggage to his house and we talked for awhile, about everything from his job to maple syrup. We saw the monkey shrine. I expected it to be in the woods somewhere, but instead it was in his house. The room smelled like eggs and had an altar and lots of religious objects. After that we went to see the monkeys one last time. Then we caught a bumpy, overcrowded tro to Nkoranza. There were 15 people in it with a lot of bags and luggage while it normally fits 12 people with no bags comfortably! I had to sit on my moms lap with our backpack on my lap while someone was sitting on either side of us and another person was sitting, facing me. Then we got to the tro station and took a more comfortable van. Unfortunately it was going to Kumasi, land of the traffic jams where we would take an STC bus to Accra. The ride was fine until we entered Kumasi, where we sat for about 15 minutes. We got to the STC station and, miraculously, were just in time for an STC bus. You have no idea how lucky this was. If we were even 10 minutes later we could have been waiting the whole night! It took something like 5 or 6 hours to get to Accra. When we got to Accra we discovered that the hotel we wanted to stay in was booked to the brim, full of Danish history teachers. We asked the receptionist where we could stay that had a pool and he said Novotel. As it turns out, Novotel is a fancy, expensive place that you can find literally everywhere. My mom and I just needed to have a short break from Ghana. We had dinner and went to bed. The next morning we woke up and had a really good breakfast. Then I swam in the pool and we went on the Internet for a tiny bit. We swam again in the afternoon. The next day we went to the Volta Region and also saw a bead factory called Cedi Beads. This is not your polluting, huge machine run factory but a small, pleasant workplace where you can see how the beads are made and buy some of the beads themselves. My favorites were made out of recycled chips of broken glass that were different colors. We then went to a hotel called Aylos Bay and stayed there the rest of the night. Yesterday we went, hoping to see how the Volta Dam works, only to find out that weekdays are working days. We got a taxi to bring us to the dam to see it from a distance in the front and back. We took a lot of pictures, but that was it for the day, other than swimming at the hotel next-door. After we swam we just went back to Aylos Bay and played Boggle. Today we came to Accra. We traveled by tro-tro. 10 minutes into the ride, our tro broke. We had to wait for an additional 10 minutes for a different tro to come to bring us to Accra again. It was a smooth ride until the tro-tro crashed! Yep, I know. Luckily, neither I nor my mom or even anyone else of the 3 cars is sitting in the hospital, though. The worst injury of our car was a bruised knee, and everyone else is fine but the cars. We were pretty shocked! Thankfully, a Dutch guy who was on the same tro-tro as us shared a taxi with us so that we could get to our hotel. Sadly, we leave Ghana tomorrow night. Boo-hoo!