My Travels

It's All Starting to Come Together...

2011-08-10T20:40:00.000-07:00

You'd think that after killer sunburns, strange illnesses, and almost two weeks of non-stop work, our Feed by Seed team would be nearing the end of our energy levels and sanity. Yet here we are, entering the homestretch of our journey in Nicaragua and growing ever stronger as individuals and as a team.

Today was a monumental day. First and foremost, the field was plowed and irrigation has been laid out! The long-awaited tiller has yet to arrive (still held in Nicaraguan Customs in Managua) so we had to resort to an alternative in order to prepare the research field for planting…namely, a somewhat old-fashioned but still highly effective alternative: plowing with a pair of oxen! Some good searching allowed us to find a local man with a pair of oxen and a plow willing to not only plow the field, but also perform the work today, on a national Nicaraguan holiday! We were definitely lucky. The holiday also meant no school for the ag. education team , but that only meant more team members to help in the field!

After about six hours of work (and the opportunity for each member of our group to try leading the oxen ourselves!), the field was finished and ready for the next step. This was fertilizing each row and spraying herbicide, a task that seems easy enough until you outside in the hot sun carrying buckets of fertilizer and tripping over mounds of dirt.

Finally the last task of the day was laying down the irrigation that will provide much-needed water to all of the crops. We are using a drip irrigation system which meant laying out rows of black tubing along the tops of each row, connected to a central water line, which will allow water to “drip” out of tubing onto each plant at a constant pressure. Unfortunately, we still were unable to complete planting today and will be waking up bright and early to start at 6 am tomorrow in order to complete the task.

A Day in the Life of a Nicaraguan Missionary

2011-08-10T20:13:00.000-07:00

I thought you'd be interested in learning a bit about my daily schedule here at Casa de Shelly, where there is always something going on and flexibility is key to success. So, here's a peak at my daily routine:

6 am - wake up to the lovely and joyful voice of Don, the "chief" of activities, announcing that it is time for us "gringos" to get up and start the day.

7 - all 20 or so volunteers make their way energetically and enthusiastically to the kitchen to grab breakfast, prepared and served by the wonderful "Mama Maria" and her fellow family/friends.

8 ish to 9 ish - (I say "ish" because we never really start the same time everyday) Each group prepares for the morning activities, which usually consists of my fellow ag. educators and I getting ready to head off to the school and the rest of the Feed by Seed team gearing up for weeding the field or fertilizing the garden. Other volunteers will usually help Mama Maria chop up food for lunch, travel out to a local village for food distribution, or help build a new house.

12 noon - everyone returns right on time for lunch! Once again, a delicious meal served by Mama Maria and then (if you're lucky) a quick break to reapply sunscreen.

1 pm - usually our entire group of volunteers, plus the translators, Don, and his wife, will load up into three vehicles to head out to a local village to play with children, serve food, and donate items like clothes and shoes. Besides handing out pre-packaged bags of rice to the women that will serve 6 people, we also cook a giant pot of rice, chicken, noodles, peppers, onions, and other goodies that we serve hot and fresh to each and every member of the village. Cooking takes about 45 minutes and once it is done, the entire concoction (christened "chicken gumbo") serves around 250 people.

3 ish to 4 ish (see 8 ish to 9 ish) - return to Casa de Shelly for showers (boy, do we smell after three hours in the heat!), naps, and just hanging out.

6 - right on time, we gather again for dinner which usually includes dessert (the part that I personally look forward to most...) and then return to the house for a group meeting to discuss the current and upcoming day's events

9 to 12? - any time, we head off to bed. Personally, I go to bed earlier than some, although lately I've been staying up playing the "paper game" with about eight other people, leading to good laughs and even greater memories.

~Margery

Seven Days - Endless Experiences

2011-08-06T18:03:00.000-07:00

In only seven days, I have gained enough experiences to last a lifetime. Yes, this may sound cliche, but it is true: anyone who spends a week in a developing country surrounded by foreign cultures and delicious food cannot honestly say that they did not gain some sort of experience.

So here we are: entering week two with so much behind us and even more to come. My first week of teaching agriculture went perfectly, if you can call numerous translation errors and a classroom topping 80 degrees perfect. I really enjoyed working with the students, especially when it came to playing games that were fun regardless of the language barrier. It was also surprising but exciting to learn that many of the students were already knowledgeable about many of the topics we were teaching, including the parts of a plant and where eggs come from. The fact that these students already knew so much about agriculture and its importance was a good sign that there is hope for the future of the industry in this impoverished community.

As the house was pretty empty this weekend after the departure of our six new friends from Virginia, we decided to take a walk into the main part of Somotillo to purchase some more herbicide as well as check out the town. Literally five minutes from our house, the walk seemed to take twice as long thanks to the heat. It was enjoyable, though, as we greeted and were greeted by many friendly people along the way.

The town is very similar to that of Tijuana, Mexico (for those that have been there), except the buildings are more condensed and stores sell useful things like groceries rather than cheap souvenirs. Also, the popular method of transportation is what we call the "pedi-taxi" or "pedi-cab" - a sort of tricycle with a wide seat in the front and a bike seat and pedals in the bike. Two people can fit in the front seat and are pushed around by the driver pedalling in the back. I guess you could say it's a form of rickshaw with the passengers in the front. We passed places you would find in any regular town, including clothing shop, ice cream parlor, and a single-chair hair salon. The only difference was the amount of trash in the streets and number of people sleeping right in the middle of the side walk.

Today I also took part in my first hands-on farming experience. Three other team members and I loaded up two 5-gallon buckets with herbicide and set out to spray the half-acre plot we are using as a model farm for the community. The plot had been taken over by dead corn plants, struggling sugar cane crops, and endless weeds after an unsuccessful attempt by University of Nicaragua students to start their own farm. This afternoon the entire team also battled through the tormenting heat to have a "rock-picking party" or, in agricultural terms, spending two hours picking up all of the rocks from the area so that the tiller could successfully do its work. Although it was exhausting work, we were rewarded with a delicious fried chicken and apple pie dinner to enjoy with the arrival of the new 13-member mission team.

Somotillo - Changing Lives

2011-08-02T19:51:00.000-07:00

I have developed a love for teaching - not in the "180 days in the classroom talking to texting high-schoolers" sense, but a love for teaching a specific subject to a small group of children who know barely any English. This passion started early this morning as four other team mates and I started our first agriculture lesson in a small Baptist school in Somotillo.

Yesterday all ten of us arrived safe and sound (mind you, with a few bumps on the head from the van ride over broken asphalt roads) at Casa de Shelly - the ministry headquarters which serves as part dormitory for volunteers and part educational center for the locals. Casa de Shelly was established by an American couple who have worked and lived at the facility for almost twelve years providing immediate aid for local villages (including food, clothing for children, and even building houses when a village is hit by flood or other natural disaster). We also met six other volunteers from the United States who had arrived the day before us and were only staying a week.

Since it was my first day officially teaching, as well as the first experience teaching agriculture in a foreign language (AFL, ha ha) for all five members of our ag. education team, we were all nervous as we arrived at the school just five minutes from our home away from home. We were accompanied by a translator but hoped to be able to teach and interact as best as we could without a language barrier.

Throughout the four hours spent at the school, we introduced the idea of leadership and the importance of agriculture to the students as well as started our first lesson: soils, the foundation of all crop production. Luckily we had two experts on our team: a former State FFA Leadership Coordinator leading the leadership aspects and a current middle school science teacher to talk about soils. The other two team members and I followed along, leading ice breakers (including the famous 'human knot' game) and passing out candy as rewards for volunteering (you won't believe how popular 'carmella' is for these kids!).

Overall the entire experience was fun and rewarding. Considering the poverty level in this community, almost every student knew something about agriculture and also the importance of a being a leader before we even had a chance to teach! This is why we are here: to educate, share our knowledge, and also encourage these students to be the future leaders for their community and their country, in an attempt to stop poverty once and for all.

Volcanoes and Cow Tongue and Frogs, oh my!

2011-07-31T20:59:00.000-07:00

Today was my first official day in Nicaragua. Besides the constant rain, 100% humidity, and the feeling that my clothes will never dry, I have yet to experience any problems. Everyone here is very friendly and unlike my past experiences with countries like Ecuador and Peru, street vendors do not harass me when they are trying to sell me souvenirs - as soon as I say ´no, gracias´ they walk away to find another potential customer.

We started off the day with a hearty continental breakfast (who can say no to tamales, rice, and pineapple juice at 7 am in the morning?) and then all ten of us loaded up into the van to head off to church. On the way, we stopped at a national park located on top of a hill right in the heart of Managua. The hill used to contain an underground prison where prisoners were kept out of any light for the entirety of their sentence. Today, the cells remain empty and closed off but the ¨top¨ of the prison has been turned into a national park complete with a small cafe, restrooms without doors, and a zip-line ride across a man-made lake (which was really a sewage dump area leading straight out into Lake Managua).

After about a half hour at the park, we headed over to the western part of the city to attend the Sunday service of our tour guide and translator, Oscar. Here I would like to mention that while this area of the city would be considered extremely impoverished (we saw children defecating right next to the street due to lack of plumbing or even the affordability to buy a bucket), the entire city of Managua contains a mix of upper-class and impoverished people living side-by-side. Many parts of the city that you would consider the business/richer parts had giant walls surrounding the actual buildings to keep the homeless out of sight, as well as out of the property. Our hotel itself has security guarding the entrance not for safety purposes, but to keep homeless people from sneaking inside to sleep in the hotel.

The church service lasted longer than we expected (2 hours!) due in part to an extended introduction of our group to the regular church members. I personally had no idea what was going on most of the time, as everyone was speaking in Spanish, and I tended to nod off while sitting thanks to there being no air conditioning in the building. At the end of the service, we each shook hands with all thirty members of the church, said thank you for their continued prayers of success for our upcoming mission, and headed off to lunch (McDonalds!).

My favorite part has arrived: our journey as official tourists (the only day we would be sight-seeing for the next two weeks) to the outskirts of Managua and beyond. Our first stop was the Parque Nacional de Volcans Masaya - Masaya Volcano National Park. Mind you, this was an active volcano, and we drove straight to the top to look right down into the crater! Over a mile wide and 200 feet deep, this volcano is said to erupt every fifty years (the last time being 1972, so we were okay for now. For safety purposes, though, our instructor was told to park the van facing towards the exit and leave the engine running in case of a need for evacuation. While the smell of sulfur didn´t bother me as much as other people, we were forced to leave after only 15 minutes of walking around as the gases became too much for our lungs to handle.

Next we drove through some beautiful jungle territory to a small fishing village located on the edge of Lake Nicaragua - the third largest freshwater lake in the world. I was told this was also the only location of freshwater sharks in the entire world and was excited to try and see one, but also learned that they had been hunted almost to extinction when the Japanese came thirty years ago to catch and export the sharks back to Japan. Today the conservation efforts to protect the sharks is very minimal, and raw sewage is being dumped into the lake each and every day.

While at Lake Nicaragua we took a quick tour (via boat, of course) around the thirty or so mini-islands in the middle of the lake. Our boat, barely holding all 10 of us and no one wearing life jackets, survived the constant beating of giant waves coming off of larger boats carrying tourists and skiers. Most of the islands were about the size of a half-acre and were the home of rich Nicaraguans, Americans, and others who could afford to build a palace-like structure onto such rocky terrain. Other islands contained the tin-roof homes of fishing families while some islands had no inhabitants at all. We stopped at one island which was home to four wild spider monkeys and fed them Oreo cookies (I did not participate, of course) and then headed back to the mainland.

This evening was by far the best part. We drove to the town of Grenada which was famous for its colonial-style Main Street and for having one of the few five-star restaurants in Nicaragua. It was here that we ate dinner. Another traveler and I shared a ¨traditional Nicaraguan¨dish consisting of fried plantains, beans, shishkebob steak, and some amazing fried cheese. We even convinced another traveler to try the cow tongue dish, which she had never tried before. It eas quite the experience. The highlight of the day was a quick shopping spree for souvenirs where we found dead frogs stuffed and dried into the shape of coin purposes, sold as souvenirs for $5 each.

It is on that lovely note that I leave you tonight. We head north for Somotillo and I can´t guarantee another post for a while. It´s been great so far!

Until the next time,

Margery

Touch Down in Managua

2011-07-30T21:25:00.000-07:00

After over 15 hours of travel and some unsatisfying airplane food, I arrived in Managua, Nicaragua tonight at 8:30 pm. The humidity was the first thing to hit me; think of Washington, D.C. in the summer combined with the rainy season of Oregon. Of course a majority of the people on my flight were native Nicaraguans, but I also noticed many other groups of teenagers/college students who were also traveling to provide mission/development work. Getting my bags and going through customs was the easiest part and then I left the airport to meet my group.

What a welcome party I had! There are ten total people in our mission group and everyone was there to welcome me to the airport. Besides one girl from Lousiana (and me being from California), everyone was from Virginia and sported my favorite southern accent! We loaded up my suitcases (2 giant bags full of donated items and my tiny carry-on for me) and headed over to the hotel.

After settling in and discovering that even the A/C in the room doesn´t keep out the humidity, all ten of us got together outside by the pool and went over the plans for tomorrow. I don´t want to spoil anything for you, but if you check out my post tomorrow I can guarantee tales of volcano-climbing and traditional food tasting. :)

Until then,

Margery

Headed to Nicaragua!

2011-07-11T08:19:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone,

I know it's been quite a while but hopefully you are all up to following my travels again, this time to Central America! This July through August about ten college students and I will be traveling to Somotillo, Nicaragua (a highly impoverish agricultural village) to teach agricultural education to children and help build a new farm. The entire experience is being led by the Feed by Seed organization (click the blog title for the link), which is a brand-new non-profit started by a college student from Virginia.

As I am majoring in International Agricultural Development at UC Davis, I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to literally go out in the field and do what I expect to do in this field as a future career. I am leaving California on July 30 and may or may not have much internet access after I leave the States; however, I will be keeping a journal as always and will definitely put some posts up as soon as I can!

Thanks for your continued support in all of my travels!

Margery

Lima and our Trek to Cusco

2010-07-11T15:21:00.001-07:00

Our group arrived in Peru at about 10:30 pm but we didn´t get checked into the hotel until almost midnight. This morning (July 8) we had the chance to sleep in and prepare ourselves for a day touring Lima, Peru´s largest city. I also had the pleasure of participating in a phone interview for a job I have applied for - thanks to modern day technology, I received a call on my dad´s cell phone from California and had a pleasant conversation with the interviewer! The work never stops for my family, even when we´re abroad!

We left for the city tour at about 2:00 pm and visited a giant Incan pyramid called the Huaca Pucllana which was located right smack in the middle of a hude residential district. The pyramid was built around 200 B.C. and, while housing had destroyed a majority of the Incan remains, the pyramid had remained upright and in pretty good condition. We also visited the main square which consisted of the President´s Palace, the Lima Cathedral, the Congress building, and a giant "Jumbotron" which is where local residents can watched the FIFA World Cup. We also visited the "Park of Love" next to the ocean which was dedicated to...you guessed it...the feelings of love. The mosaic walls surrounding the park were beautiful and had Spanish phrases from people declaring their love for one another.

That evening we had free time so my family decided to take a night tour of Lima and have dinner on the town. We visited the same places as the day tour and saw everything lit up with lights. Surprisingly, the traffic was just as bad at 8:00 at night as in the day - we sat at an intersection for almost 10 minutes because no one would let the bus through. At dinner that night, we ate traditional Peruvian cuisine and watched a folkloric dance show with all different types of music, costumes, and stories.

The next morning at 6 am we left for the airport to board a flight for Cusco. We arrived just before lunchtime and after checking into the Eco Inn (dedicated to good environmentalism!), ate at a traditional Cusco restaurant. At 2 pm, we left for a guided tour of the Incan and post-Incan archaeological sites. Our first stop was the Korikancha temple which was once a huge stone building with 6 different smaller temples inside: one dedicated to the sun, moon, stars, rain, rainbow, and thunder/lightning. The temple was partially destroyed by the Spanish invasion and now contains Spanish arches over the top of the original Incan architecture as the area was changed into a Catholic church.

Then we visited a few other Spanish churches, most of which has been built over Incan temples or monuments. When the Spanish invaded the Incan empire in the 1500s, they wiped out all of the religious and cultural aspects of the Inca to put Catholocism in its place. We actually would not know anything about the Incan culture of Cusco had it not been for an earthquake in 1950 that not only destroyed a majority of the city, but also revealed many Incan remains that had been hidden underground for hundreds of years.

Later we proceeded to the outside of Cusco to visit the Saqsayhuaman historical site. This area was once a huge gathering area where fesitivals and sacrificial ceremonies were held. On both sides of an area the size of a football field were stone walls that are all that remain. The amazing part is that all of the stones - some 8 meters high and over 100 tons - are perfectly carved to fit each other and allow for the strongest wall possible. No mortar was used to keep the wall together and not even a needle can fit between the stones - they are literally a perfect fit. You can click on the title of this blog to see an example of the "Stone of 12 Angles" which is one of the most well-known stones in this area.

Antisana Volcano and Our Last Day in Peru

2010-07-08T08:19:00.000-07:00

On the morning of July 7, our tour group boarded the bus excited for our final excursion in Ecuador. Out of the 26 total group members, only 18 of us were continuing on to Peru. We all felt that today was the last day most of us would see each other...we had all become somewhat close in the last six days.

We started our journey to the Antisana Volcano with a birthday song to my dad who had the honor to celebrate his birthday abroad. Our tour guide even had a cake with a candle lit (in the bus!) that my dad got to blow out. We saved the cake for after lunch, of course, since it was only 8 am at the time.

The bus drove us for about 2 hours through hills and small villages. Most of the villages seemed highly impoverished but, after asking our guide, I learned that a majority of people in Ecuador live this way not because of lack of money, but because they find a way to live and never change their lifestyle. We had to pass through many checkpoints on our way up to the volcano since it is a protected nature area and made many stops to take pictures of wild bulls, birds, foxes, and beautiful mountaintops (including the world´s highest active volcano, Cotopaxi).

Eventually we reached the top of a hill and saw the landscape of Antisana in front of us. Due to its high altitude, it is one of the only places in Ecuador that actually receives snow and keeps it year round. We stopped at a man-made lake in the middle of a valley to eat lunch and take pictures of the Antisana and Cotopaxi volcanos across from each other in the same valley.

We arrived back at the hotel early to allow the 18 of us continuing onto Peru a chance to pack and clean up for our evening flights. We said goodbye to the six staying in Ecuador and boarded the bus at 5:30 pm. Our suitcases were much heavier but, more importantly, our minds were more aware of the places we had been and their history and importance.

Quito at Night and Otavalo Indian Market

2010-07-07T05:09:00.000-07:00

The same day we arrived in Quito after leaving the Galapagos - July 5 - our tour guide arranged a night tour for us through the historic monasteries and churches of Quito. We left at about 6 o`clock and had a fancy dinner at a restuarant overlooking the entire valley of Quito. When lit up at night, it resembled San Francisco with its hills and fog. After dinner, we got on the bus and headed back down into the valley to visit some of the same churches that we saw on our first day in Quito. The St. Francisco Monastery, the President´s Palace, and the Main Square were all lit up with purple, gold, and pink lights making the white walls look like a sunset. We walked around the square for about half an hour and then returned to the bus to return to the hotel (we couldn´t stay out too late as Quito is in fact a very dangerous city at night).

On July 6 we got on the bus bright and early to head to Otavalo - an Indian village famous for its indigenous market in the main square. We drove for about an hour and a half, making stops along the way to try different foods famous in the Pochincha region (castor apples, buscuits, cheese fresh from the cow...). We arrived in Otavalo with just enough time to spend an hour shopping in the market which, if you know my mom and most women travelers well enough, would not be enough time. The village is very similar to a smaller looking Quito except that the residents are Ecuadorian Indians. They are a bit shorter with darker skin but otherwise speak Spanish all the same. In the market, many women were dressed in traditional Indian wear for tourists to take pictures.

We left the market with our wallets a bit emptier and the bus a bit heavier with all the shopping bags and took off for Ibarra - another Indian village about half an hour away. There we climbed aboard the Messenger Train which was originally used about thirty years ago as a postal delivery train through the mountains. The train only contains the engine car and one passenger car and, being that there was not enough room in the passenger car for our entire tour group, my sister and I rode with the conductor up front.

The train took us on a 2 hour ride through the "lower Andes" that run through northern Ecuador. We passed many agricultural plantations that grew tomatoes, corn, cabbage, almonds, and bamboo as well as saw tons of dairy cows. As we climbed higher into the hills, we went through 7 total tunnels that were formed naturally from lava flows and had been "renovated" to allow a train to pass through. At the end of the ride, we had arrived in the city of Salinas which is an "Africadorian" town. African-American slaves from Columbia and Brazil had moved to Ecuador many years ago to escape slavery and now their descendants live in close-to-the-border towns like Salinas. We had lunch that was complete with traditional dancing and band music and then once again boarded the bus to take us back to Quito.

On July 7 (Dad`s birthday!) we will visit the Artisana volcano and then depart this evening for Peru. I am unsure of the next time I will have access to the internet, so until then...

Lonesome George and the Mission of the Galapagos

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

On July 4 (Independence Day!) we headed for Santa Cruz island, the only residential island and home of the Charles Darwin Research Center. This day had been the one I had been looking forward to most as the giant tortoise breeding center - home to the infamous Lonesome George - is a place I had been wanting to visit almost my whole life.

We arrived in the morning in the town of Puerto Ayura where we headed straight to the tortoise breeding center. We spent about an hour touring the facilities and saw everything from two-month-old baby tortoises to 150-year old male tortoises kept for breeding purposes. When we saw Lonesome George in his pen with two females, the overwhelming feeling of "what can I do to help?" passed over everyone. Due to the extreme hunting of tortoises and their eggs for the past 400 years, the 150,000 population was once as low as 14. Yet the amazing efforts of the Galapagos National Park staff - established in 1959 - has developed an outstanding breeding facility that has brought the numbers back back to 15,000. Lonesome George was found in the ´70s and was found to be the last of his species. For the past few years, the breeding center has placed two females in his pen with him in the hopes of getting some baby tortoises carrying his line. In the last two years, two sets of eggs have been laid but so far no babies hatched. We can only hope that one day, Lonesome George will become a father to carry on his line before it is too late.

After shopping for a few hours right in town, we took a bus to a natural preserve where giant tortoises live amongst dairy cattle. The owner of the land originally used it strictly for dairy, but as more giant tortoises were being released from the breeding center, the national park made a deal with the owner to allow tortoises to live on his property in exchange for tourism revenue. We saw over fifty tortoises living in their natural environment and even saw some performing some natural breeding processes!

On July 5, our last day on the cruise, we set out extra early (7 am) to visit Bachas Island, south of Santa Cruz. The beaches were bleach-white and we visited a huge flock of flamingos just offshore. There were also tons of sea turtle egg nests along the tops of the dunes - a sign that many baby turtles will be at sea in 99 days!

After visiting the island, we returned to the ship, gathered our things, and returned to Baltra to board a plane back to Quito. The experience was, for lack of better words, a trip I wouldn´t trade for anything.

Santiago and Rabida Island

2010-07-06T16:41:00.000-07:00

On July 3, the ship had returned to the eastern side of the archipelago to Santiago Island. In the morning, we arrived on the island bright and early to hike through the wetland-like environment. Huge cliffs surround about 3/4 of the island while the rest is beautiful black sand beaches. We climbed through tidepools on the opposite side of where the dinghy dropped us off and saw numerous sea lions, marine iguanas, Sally Lightfoot crabs, boobies, and oyster catchers (birds). Unlike California coast tidepools, the tidepools on the this island were not filled with hundreds of creatures of all different colors and shapes. Rather, they were quite empty except for green algae (food for the iguanas) and microscopic hermit snail eggs.

When we returned to the beach, we went snorkeling and saw sea lions and sea turtles. The thing about sea lions on the Galapagos is that there are two different kinds, and the guides will get very upset if you confuse the two. The larger, smoother-looking are Galapagos sea lions (originating from Baja California) while the smaller, furrier ones are simply fur sea lions, originating from Chile.

That afternoon, we headed for Rabida Island which is just south of Santiago. We went deep-sea snorkeling which, due to the lack of shores around the island, involved simply jumping off the back of the dinghy and swimming for an hour in 15-20 ft. deep water. I saw so many amazing things including marine iguanas swimming underwater to eat (they can hold their breath for up to 40 minutes), sea turtles eating (can hold their breath for over an hour), sea lions swimming within two feet of us, and of course hundreds of fish.

When we returned from snorkeling, we had fifteen minuted to change in to hiking attire and then returned to Rabida to hike along the blood-red beached and desert-like environment. We saw many pools of brackish water that, while empty at the time, usually played host to hundreds of flamingos. We hiked for about an hour and observed finches, sea lions (and their babies!), and tons of cacti. After the hike, we took a dinghy-ride around the island to see iguanas, boobies, sea lions, and more cacti clinging to the almost-vertical cliffs around the island.

Bartolome, Isabella, and Fernandina Island

2010-07-06T16:15:00.000-07:00

On July 1, my first view of the Galapagos Islands - more specifically, Baltra Island (location of the only major airport) - was, honestly, less monumental than I expected. The island is fairly small and located just north of Santa Cruz Island and has a landscape and climate similar to that of the Mojave Desert. Yet the look of Baltra Island turned out to be nothing more than an example of the ecological diversity of the Galapagos Islands - this island may be desert, but others were forest, highlands, wetlands, and more.

After we disembarked from the airplane, our tour guide immediately led us to a bus that took us to a port on the other side of the island. There, we boarded a dinghy (or "panga") that only held twelve people and took off towards our cruise ship, the M/V Galapagos Legend. The ship is moderately small compared to the commercial cruise ship sizes; it only holds 100 people but the intimacy of it made the cruise all the more worthwhile.

I shared a room with my sister and after settling in, we learned our schedule for the next five days which included at least two on-shore excursions a day starting the first day. The same afternoon of our arrival, we boarded another dinghy and headed for the shores of Bartolome Island, an extremely small island to the east of Santiago. There we went snorkeling with Galapagos penguins and sea lions for an hour as well as enjoyed a nice 365-step hike to the highest point on Bartolome which gave us a 365 degree view of the island. Believe it or not, Bartolome is one of the younger islands being only 750,000 years old which accounts for the lack of vegetation on the island (the lava trails are fairly new and prevent plants from growing).

That night, while we were all asleep, the ship traveled for 8 hours to take us to west side of Isabella Island, the largest island in the archipelago. We arrived on the island at 8 am on July 2 and took a walk through the interior and witnessed our first Galapagos Giant Tortoise. We also saw many land iguanas (endemic to the islands), Darwin finches, and the Galapagos hawk which resembles a Peregrine falcon. I also learned some amazing facts about Charles Darwin´s expedition since this was the first island he arrived on. Did you know he only visited the islands for 5 weeks and was still able to create one of the most monumental theories of all time? Incredible. After the hike, we headed back to the beach (a gray sand beach - we quickly learned that almost every island has sand of a different color) and snorkeled with sea turtles.

That afternoon, we headed to Fernandina Island for a hike along the shore (which was not really a "shore" since the lava rock that makes up the island ended right at the water). We saw literally thousands of marine iguanas which are also endemic - and the only "swimming" iguanas in the world. Our tour guide estimated that there were 5,000 on the entire island and even more on some of the other islands.

Fernandina has some of the youngest lava in the entire archipelago; only 150 years since the last eruption. Due to this recent eruption, most of the island is fairly barren except for mangrove trees near the shore and some vegetation that has grown where lava did not hit. Besides marine iguanas, we also saw blue-footed boobies (a bird with...guess...blue feet!), Sally Lighfoot Crabs (bright red that really stand out on black rock), flightless cormorants, and more sea turtles. There was also a whale skeleton just offshore from a dead orca found 4 years ago - orca whales come through the islands from Dec. to May to hunt baby sea lions.

Colonial Quito and la Mitad del Mundo

2010-06-30T16:34:00.001-07:00

We finally arrived in Quito this morning at about 11:00 am. We were scheduled to fly out of Miami at 3:30 am but the flight was delayed until 7:00. Regardless, we arrived safe and sound in Ecuador (and our luggage made it too!), found our tour guide, and began our journey.

After dropping everything off at the hotel, we boarded our tour bus and made our way to Colonial Quito. Our tour guide, Roberto, is a native of Ecuador and knew the best ways to sneak us into tourist areas while also avoiding the lines. We visited the San Francisco Monastery, the San Francisco Plaza, the President`s Palace, numerous other churches that I cannot name off the bat, and had lunch at a place called Tainquez which allowed us to experiment with native Ecuadorian cuisine (we couldn´t quite understand the menu so we ordered purely off of pictures).

Later that afternoon we headed for La Mitad Del Mundo - The Center of the Earth. This was the exact location in Ecuador which rested on the Equatorial line. We stood at exactly 0 degrees, 0 hours, and 0 minutes (and Rafael told us that, supposedly, when you stand on the Equator, you weigh 5 pounds lighter! This felt good to hear right after lunch). After souvenir shopping, we boarded the bus and returned to the hotel. Our hotel, the Quito Hotel, has an amazing view overlooking the valley outside of Quito plus my sister and I get our own room!

We leave for the Galapagos Islands tomorrow! Until then...

The Vacation Doesn't Begin Until We Get There, Right?

2010-06-29T16:03:00.001-07:00

Our trip to Ecuador got off to a rough start today as we faced one difficult situation after another. We arrived in Miami without incident and looked forward to a 4-hour layover before we boarded our flight to Quito, Ecuador. Yet the problems started to appear soon after our arrival (it seems I can never escape from flight problems in my travels) when we found out that our flight, scheduled to leave at 4:15 pm EST, was delayed to 7:25 pm. This was in fact the time we were supposed to arrive in Quito had the original flight gone as planned. So, the family and I decided to grin and bear it and spend a good seven hours meandering around the Miami International Airport. Later, we found that the aircraft we were to board, due to unforeseen maintenance problems, hat not yet left Quito and would not arrive before 10:00 pm the same night.

Since then, we have been provided with a free room in a hotel nearby the airport, ate a free dinner, and are awaiting further news as to when our aircraft will arrive. If we end up leaving tomorrow morning, it will mean that we will miss the first day's events: the guided tour of historic Quito. Yet as long as we arrive in Ecuador sometime soon, and get to eventually board a boat to the Galapagos, I am sure we will still remain in positive spirits.

The best part of this experience so far are the lessons my father is learning. He has never been farther south than Tijuana and - while inexperienced in the areas of international air travel - is coping with the "adventure" better than my mom and I expected.

There is definitely more to come within the next few days. Right now, please keep your hopes up for us as we wait to find out that we will eventually make it to Ecuador...after all, that's when our vacation is supposed to start!

South of the Equator

2010-06-27T21:21:00.000-07:00

Hi All!

In just 24 hours, my family and I will embark on the adventure of a lifetime. For my high school graduation present, along with my sister's eighth grade graduation present, we are traveling to Ecuador, Peru, and the Galapagos Islands for a 2-week ecotourism adventure. I will describe our itinerary at the end of this post, but for now I would like to give all of you a warning: I will have VERY limited internet access while on the trip and may not be able to update you on everything we've done for days at a time.

The reason we chose to visit South America is due to the environmental affects tourism is playing on some of the most delicate and diverse ecological locations in the world. The Galapagos Islands, Macchu Picchu, and other places in the countries we are going face serious problems as the number of tourists continue to increase. I hope that, while on this trip, I can accomplish 2 things: 1) See places that may not be there forever, and learn from the experience of visiting such a monumental location and 2) Study the ecological effects of tourism to advocate ecotourism in the future. While reading this blog, I hope you will think about the affects YOU have while playing the role of "tourist".

Our South American Itinerary:
Day 1: Fly to and arrive in Quito, Ecuador
Day 2: Tour Quito Historic Districts
Day 3: Fly to Baltra Island, board the cruise for the Galapagos, visit Bartolome Island
Day 4: Isabella Island, Fernandina Island
Day 5: Santiago Island, Rabida Island
Day 6: Santa Cruz Island
Day 7: Return to Quito
Day 8: Visit Otavalo Market in Quito
Day 9: Visit Atavalana Volcano, fly to Lima, Peru
Day 10: Visit Lima Historic Districts
Day 11: Fly to Cuzco, tour Korikancha Temple and 4 Incan archaeological sites
Day 12: Macchu Picchu!
Day 13: Visit Valle Sagrado de Los Incas and Peruvian Folklore Show
Day 14: Fly back to Lima
Day 15: Sightseeing in Lima
Day 16: Return home

Leaving Nippon

2008-08-08T15:25:00.000-07:00

One month seemed to come and go almost as fast as the 9-hour plane ride I took from Tokyo to San Francisco. I knew that this trip would have to end sometime, but on August 7 it just didn't seem possible.
The second-to-last night I spent in Japan was watching fireworks in Sendai, celebrating the beginning of their famous Star Festival. The next morning, as my family waved to me from outside of the bullet train while it pulled away from the station, I knew this was it. Even in Tokyo, where I was again with English-speaking Americans, somehow it seemed impossible that such an amazing month had gone by so quickly.
I would just like to say that the entire experience was one I would never forget. From my first night with my family, trying to understand Japanese and eat with chopsticks, to the last night, where I got hit by a firecracker and ate more rice than imaginable. It was all something I will remember for a long time.

Now that I am back in America, there are so many people who want to see pictures and souvenirs. It seems so funny that I spent a whole month in a country people are fascinated by, yet it will never be the same just talking. You need to travel to a country in order to truly understand it. Sometimes you have to spend a lot of time on something, just to fully grasp the true meaning of what it has to offer. That is why someday I plan on returning to Japan with my family, and show them all of the places and things I got to experience.

Some Japanese Culture

2008-08-01T01:28:00.000-07:00

Many of you may wonder what culture is actually like in Japan. How is food, school, relationships, etc. handled in this amazing country? Well, I have decided to list a few (or maybe not a few) things that you may be interested in.

1. Bowing
Think of how often you casually say `hi` or wave to somebody. Pretty often, right? Well, now think of bowing instead of doing those two things. Yep, in Japan everybody bows at almost every occasion. Saying hello, goodbye, thank you, your welcome, excuse me, congratulations...everything!
Then you have to think about how low to bow and for how long. When I am saying thank you to a cashier in a store, for example, it can be just a quick nod. But when we visited the temple in Tokyo and you greet the people there, it is a `bend-at-the-waist-for-five-seconds` kind of bow. The easiest way for me to remember is if the person seems of a higher class or level than me, I bow lower and longer.

2.　Baths and Showers
The Japanese think of bathing as a time of relaxation. A small but deep tub (you can`t stretch, only sit) is filled with boiling hot water that you let cool for about 15 minutes. There is a sink, stool, and bucket in the same room (the toilet is in a completely different room) and you use these to give yourself a sponge bath. Afterwards you sit in the tub for as long as you want (except that since my family always lets me go first, I try to be quick) to relax.
Many western style hotels have a real shower, and even my family has a sort of spray nozzle on the wall that I use to wash my hair. Most people, though, have just remained using the sponge bath routine.

3. Shoes
Most houses in Japan do not have carpets. Either you have a hard wooden/linoleum floor, or a tatami mat (like straw) floor. Due to the whole lack-of-carpet thing, when you enter a house you take off your outside shoes and put on slippers. My host mother told me they help keep your feet warm and socks clean. On tatami mat floors, though, you only wear socks because even slippers can damage the flooring.
The toilet room has its own private slippers, which you must NEVER wear outside of the room (a rule I learned on the first day).

4. Sitting
In most restaurants and western hotels, you sit at a regular table with chairs. In your home, though, you will almost ALWAYS sit on the floor to eat, using flat pillows and a low table. Men may sit however is comfortable for them, but women must sit with their legs tucked under or to the side. In Japan, sitting cross legged is very rude (except if you are in a casual place like sitting in the grass at the park). At first my legs were always getting numb from sitting so awkwardly, but now I have become used to sitting.

I hope this gives you a little bit of an idea of how many things are different here. Another thing: Mom, you were wrong about Japanese roads. People DO drive on the left, not on the right (big shock for me!). Please check out the link (click on the title) for info about Japanese food.

Labo Camp

2008-07-29T04:22:00.000-07:00

Labo, the youth organization in Japan that I am visiting through, is very similar to 4-H in America. Members range from as young as 5 to as old as 17, and are members of a Labo Party (4-H club) and each party is led by a tutor (4-H leader). At meetings members will sing nursery rhymes (they learn them in Japanese e and then in English in order to practice English speaking skills), play games, and have a potluck dinner.
This weekend I attended one of the many Labo camps situated throughout Tokyo. Camp is just like 4-H camp, except you really don`t camp. Motoko and I left Sendai on Saturday on a bus full of other Labo members in the area (I think I was one of oldest students), and we drove for about an our and a half to Zao Lodge. Zao is an enormous ski resort south of Sendai, and we stayed in a hotel at the very top of one of the mountains.
About 280 members (including kids, parents, and tutors) attended this camp, and I was amazed at how in awe some of the younger members were when they saw me. Many of the little girls wanted to play with my hair and my watch...by the last day it became just a bit of a nuisance, but it was still funny.
As I really am not fluent in Japanese, I found that just nodding your head and saying `okay` works well when someone was talking to me. Luckily Motoko was there to interpret a lot, and many of the parents were very fluent in English too.
The entire weekend was composed of group activities, games, and outdoor adventures. I was in the `E` group with about thirty other kids, and we had to memorize the story `The Sign on Rosie`s Door` to act out on during Monday night`s campfire. I was a tree and a door, since I could not memorize the Japanese lines.
My favorite part about the weekend was climbing to Kamaro Peak. This mountain is actually an extinct volcano that caved in during its final eruption, forming an enormous lake colored blue-green. We climbed for four hours (all uphill)on Sunday to see the lake, and I was thoroughly impressed. The view was perfect (it was amazing how it was foggy during the entire hike up, then cleared as soon as we got there, and then became foggy again as we climbed back down)., and I probably took about 30 pictures of the same thing.
The International Youth (there were four of us total visiting the camp) also held a special program on Sunday night. We sang `American Pie` to the kids (I played the guitar, believe it or not, Mom!), and showed them pictures of our American Life.
Today we left camp early in the morning. I was very surprised at how emotional many of the members were, especially since we had only been together for four days. Many kids were even sad to say goodbye to me,and I received many thank you notes (in Japanese).
I think that Labo camp was a perfect way for me to truly see how Japanese youth learn to work together and have fun at the same time, as well as meet so many new people and practice their English skills. Such a great program!

A Weekend in Tokyo, Part 2

2008-07-23T04:36:00.000-07:00

On Monday morning we left the spa bright and early to go to Tokyo Disneyland! I was very excited, because Disneyland is one of my favorite places to go, and I would get to see everything in the Japanese version.
People in Tokyo are crazy about Disneyland. The park didn`t open until 9:00, but there was already a huge crowd when we arrived at 7:00. Really, throughout the day I realized that Tokyo Disneyland was almost exactly the same as Disneyland in California, except, obviously, everything was in Japanese. A good part was the fact that since Tokyo Disneyland was a major tourist attraction, there was a lot of American food to eat, so I got a break from the daily `rice and tea` thing.
We stayed in the park only until 8:00pm, even though it didn`t close until 10:00pm. My family thought that I was tired and wanted to sleep, and even though I tried to reassure them that I was fine for the next two hours, they insisted on going to the hotel.

Tuesday was Tokyo Disney Sea. Disney Sea is located right on the Pacific Ocean, and has a big emphasis on aquatic themes (i.e. Arabian COAST, WATERFRONT Park, KING TRITON`S Kingdom, etc). There were many many new rides (a lot of them water rides) as well as a couple of familiar rides, like Indiana Jones and the Tower of Terror. I also got to ride through `Venice` in a gondola, and see many spectacular shows. My favorite part was going to the Bonfire Dance at 9:00pm, where we got to dance around a 16 foot bonfire.

All together, Tokyo was a great experience and I am so glad my family took me there. I will be going to Tokyo again on my last day in Japan, so hopefully I will get to see more.

A Weekend in Tokyo

2008-07-23T04:19:00.000-07:00

I just returned from a 5-day excursion to Japan`s capitol, Tokyo. It was an amazing experience, and I hope that someday I can return to Tokyo with my family.

We left on Saturday morning and arrived in Tokyo at about 2:00pm. Tokyo is very similar to New York City; full of skyscrapers, subways, taxis, and many many people. As we arrived a few hours ahead of schedule, Motsuko decided that she, Motoko, and I would go to Tokyo Disney Sea for a few hours while Nobuya took our things to his friend`s apartment.
I will talk more about Disney Sea later, but let me tell you, it is one of the best amusement parks I have ever been to. There is so much to see and do, plus the rides are AMAZING!

The next morning we took the subway to a small suburban area that was next to a miniature forest. Literally, it is only about 7 acres. We were going to visit the Shanakatsu Temple, which was in the center of the forest. This temple is one of the oldest ones in Tokyo, and is HUGE! (I cannot find a website on it, but pictures will be available when I return home).
Entering the temple involved cleansing our hands in a special fountain, and then we had to clap twice, bow twice, and then clap again before the altar. The best thing about visiting this temple was the fact that there was an archery competition going on in the forest, so there were a lot of people walking around carrying bows and arrows.

The rest of the afternoon we visited downtown Tokyo, and toured its main Tourist District. One cool place we visited was the Sensoji Temple, home of the largest paper lantern in the world (please see link). There were so many tourists that I was no longer in the minority - that is, I was not the only Caucasian person in the area for once.

That evening we went to a spa to spend the night. Now, Japanese spas are not something I am going to particularly miss when I return home. More details another time, but lets just say that there is an enormous clash of culture (and privacy) at the Japanese spa. Luckily　my host family understood the issue, so while they visited the baths and saunas, I was content to read a book and watch TV for a few hours in the lounge.

Life in Sendai

2008-07-18T03:17:00.000-07:00

Sendai, the town I am living in while in Japan, is about a 5 hour drive north of Tokyo. Weather here is great, ranging from terribly muggy to delightfully rainy. Some days I bring a hat and umbrella with me, because the weather may change randomly.

Here is an idea of my regular daily schedule:
7:00 am - wake up, have breakfast (usually toast w/ jam or cereal, tea, and a banana)
7:55 - Motoko leaves for school, Nobuya leaves for work
8:00 - 11:00 - I help Motsuko with chores, such as washing breakfast dishes, hanging laundry, and vacuuming. There is a lot of downtime, so I have already gone through the three books I brought and had to buy new ones.
12:00 - Lunch (usually rice, miso soup, and pineapples or grapes)
1:00 - 4:00pm - More downtime until Motoko gets home from school. The past two days Motsuko has been nice enough to accompany me into town, thinking I will want to buy souvenirs. Sadly, in a Japanese mall, there are many many clothes, but very few souvenirs.
6:00 - Dinner (rice & curry chicken, pickled veges, more tea)
9:00 - bath time and bed time (for me)
12:00 - bed time for the rest of the family

Tomorrow we leave for Tokyo for sightseeing and to visit Disneyland!

My First Few Days

2008-07-14T03:23:00.000-07:00

I have only been in Japan for three days and already I have done so much! Saturday my family took me to a Labo party, which is just like a 4-H meeting. All of the children were very excited to meet me, and we had dinner and I answered many, many questions. The fun part was playing games that taught the children English. They were simple nursery rhymes like London Bridge and the Farmer and the Dell, but the children (even the ones that were 18 years old) loved to sing them.
Apparently Japanese families stay up very late, because although I went to bed at 10:00, I didnt hear the TV go off until after midnight.
Sunday morning Motoko and Nobuya left at 7:30am to go to the Labo skit rehearsal. Motsuko and I were going to go watch the performances at 12:00, so the entire morning I read and talked with Motsuko. Breakfast is very different; I had vegetables and fish sausage (not my favorite thing) and some fried egg. Everything, and I mean everything, is eaten with chopsticks in Japan. Luckily I knew how to use them already, but it is still very different.
The Labo performances were skits memorized by the many different Labo parties in Sendai. Children learn their parts in English and in Japanese, and say the line twice in both languages. This was good for me to understand, but sometimes the younger children would forget their lines. Motoko`s Labo party did Tom Sawyer, and Motoko was also the M.C.　The entire event was a lot of fun, and I even got to stand up and introduce myself (watashi-wa Margery des) in front of the audience (about 100 people).
That night to celebrate Motoko`s performance we went to eat dinner at a place called Hamburg. It is a restuarant similar to American style, with many American posters. Think of a burger, without the bun, and rice instead of fries, and chopsticks instead of a fork. A very interesting meal, but good.
Monday (today) I went to visit Motoko`s school: Hachiken Junior High. I met the principal and the staff, and went to her science and English class. Motoko:s English teacher is actually from Yuba City, which was an amazing coincidence. I actually became ill after the second class (Motoko thinks it was from eating strange food) and I spent a doog two hours sleeping in the first aid room.
After lunch (which I did not eat, I went to Motoko`s math class. I understood a lot of the formulas the teacher was explaining, and then Motsuko picked me up to go home.
The next couple of days I will not be doing anything, so Motsuko promised to take me shopping. This weeked we are going to Disneyland, so I am very excited!

Meeting My Family

2008-07-14T03:09:00.000-07:00

I have only been in Japan for three months and already I have done so much! Saturday July 12 six other delegates and I left the Olympic center with our chaperone to head north for Sendai. We were taking the bullet train, a train that travels through all of Japan in 1 day. We had to wait at the station for two hours, so we all discussed our host families.
At 1:40pm we boarded the train (it is very similar to an airplane, and it has a second floor!) and rode for two hours to Sendai. Usually a car ride to Sendai from Tokyo takes 5 hours, but the train travels at about 100mph, so it is much faster.
My favorite part about the train ride was watching all of the scenery. I was lucky enough to get a window seat, so I had the best view. It was amazing; you would go by a large city either surrounded by rice fields, or go by a large forest surrounded by small cities. Everything was just placed together; and the farther north we went, the more agriculture I saw.
At 3:30pm the train reached Sendai Station. Our group of 6 just barely stepped off the platform when we were engulfed by all of our host families (I was staying with the Kumagai family). I spotted mine right away. My host mother, Motsuko, and host sister, Motoko, had a large colorful sign that said Welcome Margery. They were both very excited to see me, as was I.
With the help of Motoko translating, I asked many questions as we left the station and headed for their car. My host father, Nobuya, was parked outside the station. Sendai Station was very large and crowded, but everything was decorated beautifully for the upcoming Star Festival.
I met Nobuya in the car and then we headed to their home. The Kumagai family lives in a small　apartment only about 15 mins. from the station. I was given a room to myself, and overall I really enjoy my family. The language barrier isnt too bad, and they are very fun!

A Japanese Welcome

2008-07-12T03:44:00.000-07:00

Yesterday at 12:20pm our entire delegation of 65 members left Seattle, Washington, to fly to Tokyo, Japan, for a month-long stay learning about new culture!
I got involved with the exchange program through California 4-H, and I am so excited to have the opportunity to come. This experience will allow me to educate myself about different cultures as well as meet so many new people.
After a 10-hour flight, we landed in Japan at about 2:00pm. As we crossed the International Date Line, the time difference is about 15 hours, so we all felt like it was really 11:00pm (I was dead tired at the airport!). We spent about an hour going through customs and the baggage claims. It was very difficult finding our way around (everything was written in Japanese, of course) until we located the Labo Exchange Chaperones in the main lobby.
Labo is the Japanese form of 4-H, and that is the program that is hosting all of us this year. After the chaperones showed us to the front building, we shipped our suitcases to our host family addresses and headed out to the buses.
We spent the night Olympic Youth Center, an enormous facility similar to the size of UC Davis. There were many rooms, buildings, and dorms, and it was here that we were going to have our final orientation and spend the night. After we arrived and recieved our room keys, my roommates and I went to bed right away.

Washington D.C. Part 3

2008-07-05T22:08:00.000-07:00

Thursday was my only low-key day of the week. We visited the National Cathedral in the morning and then had some free time until our Town Hall meeting after lunch. At about 3:00 pm, the California group left for a tour of the Kennedy Center Theater. We had to dress up, so everyone at the theater thought we were actually going to see a play there. Well, we were going to see a play, but it was at the National Theater on Pennsylvania Ave. We had dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe, and then at 7:00 arrived the National Theater to watch the new musical "Mamma Mia". The musical was amazing, and I would definitely see it again.
Delegation Day was held on Friday, July 4. Our individual groups got to pick their own places on the National Mall to tour. In the morning we went to the National Holocaust Museum, and then had lunch at the Union Center Train Depot. In the afternoon we went to the American Indian Smithsonian, the Air and Space Museum, and then found a place in front of the National Monument to watch the fireworks that evening.
Sadly enough, we did not get to see the fireworks. At about 7:00pm, a thunderstorm showed up and caused us to rush towards the Museum of the Natural History. The power in fact went out, and we all decided that it would be better to return to the 4-H center than try to stick it out in the pouring rain.
All in all, the trip to Washington Focus was amazing. I had a lot fun, and learned so many leadership and citizenship skills that I will bring home to my many groups and activities.
If you know anyone who is interested in attending Citizenship Washington Focus, or if you want to go yourself, please let me know. All 4-H'ers should attend this event.

Washington D.C. Part 2

2008-07-05T21:57:00.000-07:00

Tuesday opened with a tour of Arlington National Cemetery, where we were able to see the gravesite of John F. Kennedy and his brother Robert Kennedy, as well as the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. We spent about two hours there, and then in the afternoon our delegation committees worked on bill writing and publishing our newspaper articles. Later in the afternoon the entire group participated in the Derby, which was an hour full of water sports like battleship and Drip, Drip, Splash (Duck, Duck, Goose with water).
One of my favorite days was Wednesday. This was the day we spent the day on Capitol Hill, like touring the Library of Congress and Supreme Court. I met with the Merced County Representative, Daniel Cardoze, who have a personal tour of the Capitol. That evening we attended the special performance at the military base in D.C. called "Twilight Tattoo". This amazing patriotic show included song routines, live music, and a flag ceremony by members of the military. We even got to see soldiers wearing uniforms from all of the wars and battles America has ever participated in.

Washington D.C.

2008-07-05T08:38:00.000-07:00

On Sunday, June 29, I left from the Sacramento International Airport heading for Washington D.C. where I would be attending the 2008 Citizenship Washington Focus 4-H Conference. The entire week would be spent learning about citizenship, building leadership skills, and of course touring all of the amazing monuments and memorials in D.C. I stayed at the National 4-H Center in Chevy Chase, Maryland, which in fact used to be a girls' college.
Sunday evening when I flew in, I had dinner in the cafeteria and then started right in with workshops. Everyone was divided up into color groups, and we discussed what our personal definition of citizenship was. Later that night was opening ceremonies, when all of the program assistants put on a skit involving Indiana Jones and the search for citizenship.
Monday was our first day of work. I got up early at six, had breakfast, and left at 8:00 for Mt. Vernon. Mt. Vernon was the home of President George Washington, and I spent about three hours touring his mansion, walking through the gardens, and even attended a special ceremony at his grave site.
I arrived back at the 4-H Center in time for lunch, and then went to the next bunch of workshops. In our color groups we went over five congressional issues that we would like to write a bill on. Then everyone was able to choose a committee group to be in. I chose Communications and Public Relations, and our group was in charge of writing articles about the places we visit, put together a newsletter, and make a slide show. I spent the hour writing my article on Mt. Vernon, which will be in the newsletter that will be sent out to us after the conference.