Africa

Day 1 – Thursday, December 4th

Amanda and I were going to Kenya, Africa and we had to be at the airport at 2:00am. I decided to sleep until 1:00am and get up call Patrick before I left. At 1:00am exactly Amanda called me and told me that she couldn’t find her passport and had been looking for the past few hours and it was nowhere to be found. For those of you that don’t know Amanda …she has a lot of stuff. We moved into our new building and she has barley unpacked..so in other words it was a disaster!!
So instead of calling Pat I went downstairs and started looking through all her boxes not sure what I was going to do if we couldn’t find it. Luckily at 1:30 I found her passport in a box full of useless junk. Moral of the story always have your passport ready for a trip at least 2 days prior to departure.

We landed at Nairobi airport at 12:00 noon and paid for our Visa (50US) and were picked up by our driver Rubin. As we were leaving the airport we saw a camel. Let the trip begin!!!
We started the trip off by going to The Carnivore restaurant for lunch. It was really cool. We sat down and had a Dawa drink. It was vodka, lime, sugar, ice and honey. Tasty! It was all you can eat meat. The waiter would bring you meat until you pulled the white flag out of its holder and surrendered. We ate beef, chicken, CROCODILE, OSTRITCH, turkey, pork and lamb.
After we ate we drove through the central highlands and stopped at the Rift Valley View point. It was a beautiful view. Then we went and shopped at a local shop. Our driver quickly found out that 2 girls in Africa…LOVED to shop. We ended up shopping a bit too long and it put us behind schedule as we headed to Lake Nakuru National Park.

Day 2 – Friday, December 5th

We woke up bright and early (6:30am) and were ready for our first day of Safari Gaming. We were ready to see the BIG 5. The Big 5 include Elephant, Rhino, Leopard, Buffalo and Lion.
At Lake Nakuru National Park we saw so many animals that I decided to write down EVERY animal – bird that I saw. It is hard to put into words how I felt as we drove through the Park. Animals were roaming freely everywhere…grazing. It was absolutely amazing. We saw Gazelles, Impalas, Buffalo, Giraffes, Turkeys, Zebras, Warthogs, White and Black Rhinos, Blue Ear Standing Bird, Flamingos, Pelicans, African Fish Eagle, Baboons, wild beast and Jackals. At 8:00 we headed back to our hotel for breakfast. Then it was time to depart for The Masai Mara Game Reserve / Masai Mara Sopa Lodge. Along the way we shopped some more and bought many African items. The Masai Mara Park forms part of the Northern Serengeti Ecosystem. When we got there it was too late to go out and do some game viewing so we decided to lay by the pool and watch the sun set. For supper we had the usual beer and sprite with our meal. After supper some local Masai Marai tribal boys came and did a few traditional dances for us.

Day 3 – Saturday, December 6th

As usual we woke up early at 6:30am for the gaming drive. To sum this experience up I felt like I was in the Lion King Movie. The landscape was very similar to the movie. It was breath taking. We saw different animals here and some the same as the previous park. We saw hard beast and then LION TRACKS…which lead to LIONS believe it or not. The first lion we saw was a male. It was slowly walking around. Other animals included, Topes, ostrich, the national bird of Uganda, Egyptian Goose…then 2 female lions! There were lots of sausage tress..trees that had fruit on them in the shape of sausages. Then right after that we saw more lions. It was a crazy morning to see lions. It was 1 male and 1 female lying in the sand. Then we saw a black bellied bastard bird, marabou stark, water blova bird, vultures in the tree, corn clover bird, whistling agacious tree, wildebeest, zebras and many giraffes.

Then it was time to go back to the hotel for breakfast. We agreed that we wanted to leave for the Masai Tribe Village. We paid 20 us to go and visit this tribe and learn about them. They welcomed us with a dance and then showed us the huts they lived in. They showed us where they circumcise the boys in the courtyard for the entire tribe to see and that women also get the same done but inside the huts privately. Then they showed us how they make tattoos using two sticks and rubbing them together to make fire. Then they put the hot stick on your body and it makes a small circle. That’s the tattoo and of course Amanda had to have to have one. So they gave her one and now she is ½ Masai…the other half involved circumcision so she only agreed to be half. They took us to their market and we bought some more cool souvenirs. Then they took us to their school. Unfortunately all of Kenya was on vacation so we didn’t get to see them hard at work!

Afterwards we went back out to Safari. This time we saw Gazelles “doing it” then zebras, dik diks, a lilac breasted roller bird, termites, blue headed Alcamo, ostrich, an old old giraffe that was dark brown, Hippos, Elephants, 4 lions, hammerhead bird, a male and female lion. Then as we were heading back in to the hotel for supper we saw a male and female lion eating something. They had blood all over their mouths..they had killed a Masai cow.

Day 4 – Sunday, December 7th

Off again at 7:30am in search for a Leopard..Unfortunately it was the only animal out of the big 5 that we didn’t end up seeing. Our driver drove us to the Tanzania Border and into Tanzania. There were no border guards at this point. Many people and animals are free to migrate over the border. Again we did very well seeing tons of animals. We stopped at the Sand River for a few pictures and also the Mara River. We saw big elephants, lilac breasted bird, baboons, hippos, vultures, and an alligator. We saw The King Fisher Bird, and Weaver bird nests in trees. The highlight was seeing the Seval Cat which looks very close to a leopard. To end off the trip we saw 3 lions. (2 males, 1 female) then a group of warthogs.

Day 5 – Monday, December 8th

We woke up 7:00am and Rubin drove us back to Nairobi, Kenya to the airport. Along the way we shopped some more filling up our suitcases. We dropped our extra bags off at our travel agents office because the flight to Uganda only allows you to check 1 bag. Megan and Jessica ended up having their flights changed to the same flight that Amanda and I were on because their bags got lost on their previous flight into Kenya. Excitedly we all boarded the flight to Uganda. Our visa entry was 50.00US. Our tour agent picked us out at the airport and sat us down before we left to inform us that all our money had not been transferred over to this company. Therefore they had to cancel our hotel …and were hoping that the money would arrive by tomorrow otherwise we would not be able to go on out gorilla trek. We were freaking out of course because we had all paid our money well in advance and there was no reason for the money not to be already there. They drove us to the Centennial Inn which was what we think was a whore house. Inside our room there was NO TV, and a box of condoms. It was the worst hotel ever. Amanda and I were used to 5 star hotels with room service that brought us hot water bottles to sleep with.

Day 6 – Tuesday, December 9th

We woke up very upset and waited to hear if our money arrived. 9:00am nothing…so we went to an internet shop and sat there for 1 hour which had the slowest internet ever. It was frustrating. At 10:30 still no money. So as a group we decided we needed to find money to get the trip going otherwise it was going to be too late to drive to the Equator and to the gorillas. First went to the bank, then airport and finally we had to go to Kampala to try and get money out of the bank. The bank was going to close at 4:00 and it was almost 4 so our driver told us that in order to make the bank I was going to have to jump on a mo-ped. So Amanda and I jumped on the mini moto-bikes and zipped to the bank just in time! Unfortunately I could only take out 700us at a time and only 2 out of 3 of my cards worked. We were 700 dollars short and the company wouldn’t let us pay it when we returned. So we decided to go back to the airport and board a flight back to Nairobi, Kenya. We needed to see our travel agent asap because we were not happy that we were missing the gorillas. We had a new driver pick us up in Nairobi and take us to the Panafric hotel. In the morning we would meet with our agent.

Day 7 – Wednesday, December 10th

We woke up and went straight to the office. Long story short we ended up getting our money back from Uganda and they also sent all 4 of us to Mount Kenya and stayed at Mountain Lodge. The drive to Mount Kenya was very beautiful. When we got to the hotel we spent the night watching processions of game come and drink water and eat around the flood lit waterhole. It was pretty cool. We only saw buffalo, gazelle, birds, warthogs, monkeys and finally a Hyena. The food was the best we had, had on the trip. Absolutely delicious.

Day 8 –Thursday, December 11th

We woke up and went on a hiking tour. We learned about the many animals in this area of Kenya, plant etc. It was a great hike and we even stopped for tea / coffee and cake. Afterwards we headed back to Nairobi. We arrived at our travel agents office to find out that he still did not have money for us. Grrr so we went back to a different hotel. I packed my bags and was ready to leave in late afternoon.

Day 9 –Friday, December 12th

Amanda and I had a few hours together before I left to go back to Kuwait. We went to the Giraffe Sanctuary where I kissed a giraffe!! It was really cool. Then we went to Kasuri beads where I bought some bracelets that were made by single or widowed African ladies. Then we stopped at some more African craft shops. We stopped at a mall and bought some Christmas ornaments. We bought some chocolate bars in a supermarket to spin a wheel and get a picture with the African Santa and his elves. Amanda spun the wheel and won the biggest gift basket of chocolate ever. I couldn’t believe it. We gave the gift basket to our driver because we did not have room to take it back to Kuwait with us, nor did we want to. The last place we stopped was a place to buy a Kenyan Traditional outfit. Unfortunately I didn’t find what I wanted. It was time for me to board my plane. I surprisingly was only 1kg over the weight limit. Whoop whoop. I was worried it would be a lot more.


That was my trip to Africa. It was half fantastic and half disappointing…so now I have to go back to Uganda to see the Gorillas because they are estimating that in 10 years they may not be there anymore!

Finally an Update!!

Oil field

In the bathroom cleaning myself up after running into a door.

My halloween Costume!

Finally, I took a "Sick" day and didn't go to school. I have updated all my facebook pictures. My internet is too slow at home to download pictures.

Okay...Halloween

I dressed up as the 4 of hearts in a deck of cards. It was a sweet costume...that is until I ran into a door and leaked blood all over it! Before getting to the Halloween party I was talking to some friends and turned around to enter the party and the door was a bit closer than I anticipated. I ran into the door and blood was everywhere! I ran to the bathroom to clean myself up...cryed and laughed...cried some more. I have never had a bleeding nose before so this was a tramatic moment for me.

The next day I went to the hospital and got some xrays..turns out I cracked my nose. Pff just what I wanted to hear. The doctor said he couldn't stabalize because it was only 1 mm drop. But if I wanted plastic surgery to ensure that there was no bump I could get that done. I think my nose looks fine..there is a bit of a bump but nothing major.

I went to the oil fields this past weekend. I went with CIK (Canadians in Kuwait). If am officially a member now. The oil fields wasn't as great as I thought it would be...but it was still cool to see. Got a nice gift from them including a sample oil in a glass ornament to put on my shelf.

This weekend I am going to Failaka Island. I am going to play paint ball and stay over night. I think it will be lots of fun.

That's it from me! Sorry it's short but I have report cards to write! :) xoxo

Indonesia

Day 1: Thursday, September 25th

I woke up this morning with a stuffed up nose and a whopper of a cough. Unfortunately I had to go to school because if I didn’t payroll would consider my sick day as an extension of a holiday. Aghh lucky for me I have an easy Thursday set of classes. After I taught my 2 hours I went to the staff room and rested on the couch until it was time to clock out. I had 2 hours to pack before it was time to head to the airport. At the airport we ate at McDonalds as it is a tradition that Amanda and I do before we go on vacation. Our flight to Abu Dhabi was delayed about an 1 ½ so we sat at McDonalds with Carla and Marieke and played UNO until it was time to board.
In Abu Dhabi Amanda and I didn’t have much time before we had to board for our next flight. It was nice not to have to wait around in the airport for once. The flight to Jakarta, Indonesia was terrible because I was sick and it wasn’t very cool on the plane. This is odd because usually I am freezing on the airplane. My head felt like it was going to explode. My tummy hurt. I was having hot and cold flashes and couldn’t sleep or concentrate enough to put on a movie. For 8 ½ hours I went to the bathroom every 30minutes to 1 hour. People who were awake watched as I went back and forth. The bathroom was nice and cool and if I sat with my head between my legs I would drift into a sleep..then I would wake up and realize I was still on the toilet. Oh it was not a pleasant flight.

Day 2: Friday, September 26th

We arrived in Jakarta delayed of course. The visa on arrival was very fast and we didn’t have to wait in line which was nice. The line up was at Immigration. Finally we made it and were greeted by Arnold; Amanda’s friend from Residence at University of Manitoba. Arnold and is family are from Indonesia so he decided to take his holidays when ours were and show us around Jakarta. His plane landed only 1 hour before ours so it worked out perfectly for him to wait around for us to arrive.

Arnolds driver Selamat (translated means safe) picked us up at the airport. Arnold’s mother send Arnold his favorite Indonesian food to eat on the way and she also sent Amanda and I some bakery goods. My favorite was the Chocolate Éclairs. The traffic was very heavy so instead of only taking 1 hour to get to Arnold’s house it took 2!!! When we arrived we met Arnold’s mother(Winny), father (Arie) and older sister (Anthea). Originally we were supposed to stay with Arnold’s grandmother but she was nervous about having us stay with her so we stayed with Arnold’s parents instead. Our room was small but air-conditioned. We got a quick tour of the house and then decided we needed a nap before supper. When my head hit the pillow I was out. I heard a quiet knock at the door. It was Arnold. He was unpacking his bags and was delivering my package from home. I didn’t open it right away.

For supper we had red rice, a curry that wasn’t too spicy, chicken and some other Indonesian foods. All quite tasty. Then it was desert. Arnold’s grandmother cooked his favorites. Everything had coconut inside it and they called it Jelly Cakes. It was okay, but in small doses. There wasn’t too much flavor and the look of the pieces of coconut did not make the dish look too appetizing. I really liked the Coconut ice cream. After supper I went to directly to bed. I was hoping that if I got a good nights rest that I would feel better in the morning. Amanda went with Arnold and Anthea to Carefour for some munchies and beer to take with us to the Villa. I wanted to go too but decided it was a better idea to go to bed. We had an early morning ahead of us because we were heading out of the city to a Villa for the weekend.

Day 3 – Saturday, September 27th

We woke up and had previously packed our suitcases on request of Arnold’s father. He wanted to get on the road before the traffic. However, we did not end up leaving on time as Arnold’s mother takes a long time to get ready in the morning! For breakfast Amanda bought some Mangos which were soo good and juicy. I couldn’t get enough of them.
We stopped at Starbucks for a coffee as we waited for Arnold’s parents’ friends to meet us and take us to their Villa. The villa was located in Tanjung Lesung (translated to Dimple Bay). The chalet we went to was located in a private Villa. This chalet was owned by a family Sofia and her husband who have 3 children (boys) and their parents. The children spoke very good English as they go to an international school. Brian the oldest is in grade 6. He showed us everything he could around the area. His twin brothers Barry and Brandon were age 7. It seemed like every time I was in the kitchen there was food on the table and someone was eating. I told Arnold Indonesian people eat 24 hours a day. He laughed and said they want to make sure that Indonesian people want to make sure you have the best time possible and that you are happy and fulfilled when you leave their place.

After eating we went and walked in the ocean. The water was very warm. We looked at the coral and even saw some tiny fish. I walked along the shoreline and collected sea shells. Then it was time to go back to the chalet and eat some more. I had a coconut and drank the milk using a strawberry flavored syrup. The milk was warm. Not my favorite thing to drink. I did not eat the inside as my tummy was doing flip flops plus I do not like how Indonesian coconuts are soft and mushy inside. For supper we had fresh fish that Sophia’s husband had caught that day. I loved fish. They do not fillet the fish they bbq it bones and all. Then we went for a walk to see if we could see any monkeys..we think we might have seen one. We could hear them!! Amanda and I had planned to go and take a boat to see the ACTIVE VOLCANO at Krakatau the next day. Unfortunately the southern winds had picked up and they didn’t know if they were going to have the trip. It was going to cost 5.5 million Indonesian dollars to go on the trip. Which is just over $800.00 Canadian dollars. It was a private boat but Amanda and I figured it would cost us around 200 each for us to go. Not to mention because it was active we couldn’t hike the volcano anymore. So because it wasn’t safe we didn’t end up going. That night we chatted and played a board game with the boys and then went to bed.

Day 4 – Sunday, September 28th

I did not feel well when I woke up. I had shooting pain in my stomach. When I got up to go to the washroom I felt like I was going to faint. Amanda got me water and I laid in bed trying to get into a position where the pain would stop hurting me. Then a few hours later Amanda said she had a sore stomach too. I slept until lunch time. When I was up I was disappointed I missed Brian’s pancakes. He had said the previous day he was going to make them for us. I had some green tea and then went and laid down again as the pains came back. Amanda went to the pool with the boys while I slept. I got up off and on drinking more tea and finally having some toast with strawberry jam. Sophia said to take 10 carbon pills to soak up the poisons in my body. So I did and for the rest of the trip my poop was shades of green and black. Definitely had some infection in my body that I couldn’t seem to get rid of. Sophia and her husband and the 3 boys went home and I went to bed.

Day 5 – Monday, September 29th

I felt better in the morning and was able to eat the noodles for breakfast. Amanda, Arnold and I went for a walk and then went to the pool at the hotel. The pool had nice jets that I let beat against my back. Then I laid in the sun and burnt which later I paid for.
We had lunch and the cleaned up and headed back to Jakarta. Arnold’s father decided that Amanda and I need to eat and that Pizza Hut would be a good choice because it was something familiar for our bodies. He was right, for $40.00 Canadian we got 4 large pizzas, chicken wings, 3 salads and everyone ordered drinks. It was CHEAP! I couldn’t get over it. One large pizza was only $5.00 however; it was the size of a medium at home. Arnold had made plans to meet one of his friends from high school her name was Mia. She was gorgeous and dressed to kill. Amanda and I were not looking as classy as she was. She took us to a restaurant that had booze and was revolving. We had some appetizers and chatted. It was a really nice evening. The next day we were going shopping.

Day 6 – Tuesday, September 30th

We got up and went to a shopping outlet called Mangga Dua. Here is where you could buy clothes for cheap cheap. I got a few shirts. There wasn’t a lot of knock off brand names like I thought there would be. Amanda was in her glory she loves to shop and she did quite well. Most of the clothes were one size fits all. We had supper at McDonalds and at 4:00 had to head home because we had manicure and pedicure appointments at the house. I paid $10.00 total and gave the lady a $5.00 tip because a) I don’t really have nails…and b) because she came on what we would consider our Christmas Eve.

Day 7 – Wednesday, October 1st

We woke up early only to wait for Anthea to get ready. Indonesian women take a long time to beautify themselves and are not on time! We went to National Monument which is located in the center of Jakarta. We stood in line for over 1 hour to go up to the top of the monument to see the view. The heat did not make me feel well at all and I found myself squatting and drinking lots of water as we waiting in line. Then we went and saw the oldest Catholic Church in Jakarta. It was beautiful inside. It was right across from the Mesjid Istiqual one of the largest mosques in South East Asia. Close to that we drove past the presidential palace. Then we could tour anymore until we went for gelato ice cream. Then we went to an area close to China town. Here we wanted to see the canons. A legend says if you touch the canon you will have good fertility. However, this particular canon was inside the museum which was closed for eid. Across from the museum was a puppet museum so we took a quick tour inside. We took pictures beside the other canons that had no legends. We went to the harbor next and saw the boats. Then we went to Arnold’s cousins house where we met Adi and his mother. Adi has autism. He is very smart and loves technology and cars. He was very shy and didn’t speak very much as we were new people. We went to the mall for supper where I had A & W…I wished they had onion rings but I had to settle for curly fries.

Day 8 – Thursday, October 2nd

We got up again early to beat the traffic and went to Bogor. Adi and his mom came with us shopping too. He was very talkative when we saw him today as we weren’t complete strangers anymore! We were going shopping for purses and shoes. We went to the Tajur (purse heaven). Brand name purses for cheap cheap just like China. I bought 2 purses and a pair of shoes. It was here that I finally got my picture taken with a Toyota Krista. We saw them all over the road but never stopped to take my picture with one. Arnold made plans for us to meet his Muslim friend Anteida. We went and ate supper at an Italian restaurant at the mall. It was delicious, my appetite was back! One of the dishes I had a ceasar salad and I think I might be allergic to something as one side of my face was hard to move and felt swollen. None the less I am a trooper and the night must go on. We drove around for a bit looking for clubs but nothing was open because of Eid. Finally I couldn’t keep my swollen eye / cheeks going and laid down in the back seat and fell asleep until we got back to Arnold’s house.

Day 9 – Thursday, October 3rd

We woke up and began packing. Amanda and I both were ready to leave. We had a good time in Indonesia but were ready to go and crawl into our own beds. Arnold’s parents wanted to take us out for sea food before our plane left. However, the restaurant they wanted to take us was closed. We had to settle for another restaurant that only served fish and chicken…no lobster or shrimp so I was kinda sad. However, the lunch was still excellent and had lots of flavor. At the airport we checked our bags and paid our $10.00 can airport tax. Then we opened a cooler / beer and drank it in the airport before we said our good byes.
We arrived in Abu Dhabi at 8:30pm..and went to Marina Mall and watched the movie Tropic Thunder. It was a stupid comedy but a good way to pass the time. I was especially excited about the nachos and cheese. Then we went back to the airport at 1:00am and slept on the floor until 7:00am.

Day 10 – Friday, October 4th

We started the day off with a cinnamon bun and a Carmel macchiato coffee at the airport. Our flight left at 8:45 am. It’s nice to be back in Kuwait. The weather is lots cooler now. However I still have my stuffy nose and cough. I hope it goes away soon. I am tired of looking like Rudolph and on top of that my burn is peeling and it looks terrible. None the less it is great to be back. I have to go and buy groceries as my fridge is empty. My maid is coming to do my laundry. Life is good.

Long Time No Post ...Year 2 in Kuwait

Okay, So I’ve been here almost 1 month…I really need to set some time aside to write on my blog. I have come to the conclusion that I am busier than last year socializing…surprise, surprise.
Where should I begin…When I got to Kuwait I felt like I was living in an oven! It was extremely hot. It was great to see everyone again and meet the newbies. At the girls campus…construction of the 3rd floor put everything behind schedule. The hallways were filthy, desks and shelves everywhere. My classroom was a disaster compared to last year. I had new air conditioners in my room..but they were not hooked up. Last year if you can remember I walked into a classroom that had the desks lined up in rows…this year my desks were scattered everywhere under a layer of dust. But in the end it all came together. I didn’t stress too much about it because I knew what I had in all of my boxes and where everything was going to go.

The first day of school was great. My girls were shy but full of smiles. I’ve been told many times this is the best class ACA has ever had..and well I can honestly say I agree. I think the honey moon stage is over..and the girls are themselves. I wish I had a hidden video camera so you could see how amazing my students are this year. They are ridiculously smart ..they raise their hands and do not interrupt. They never get out of there seats unless they raise their hand and ask to…they whisper at all times including art. Even well I tell them its free time you could hear a pin drop. I love it…the girls love it…it’s a great learning environment.
Some highlights over the past month:

· I am in the Arab Times Newspaper…I went to the Canadian Embassy with some other teachers from my school and our picture was taken for the paper. So of course I bought a copy! I scanned it to show all of you.
· I went on a road trip to Wafra it is a farming community in Kuwait. This is where all the green houses are that grow the vegetables we eat from the store. Here we saw camels and oil fields. We also accidently went to the Saudi Arabia Border and got into a wee bit of trouble.
(don’t worry everything was fine…just we took pictures…and were in the customs area so they weren’t happy with us. So lucky for me I switched my camera card before the men came to talk to us and when they asked for my camera I told them I deleted the photos. Then on our way out the police stopped us again and we had to go back to Saudi Border…we still are unsure of why we had to go back we think it might have been because we didn’t exit the right road. It’s quite the confusing story to tell. But I can tell you this I will not be going near the Saudi Border again any time soon. I have officially visited all the borders that touch Kuwait because last year I went to the Iraq border.
· I went to Entertainment City which is an amusement park in Kuwait. It was lots of fun. However I went on a ride called the Tornado and it flipped you upside and around and around..and I got a tad bit dizzy and felt sick afterwards.
· Today was Gergean at school. (Sorta like Halloween at home) Only the girls go door to door for candy 7 nights in a row! Also they wear sparkly dresses instead of costumes. I got LOTS and LOTS of CANDY…Sigh I love candy. Good thing I bought a GYM MEMBERSHIP!! WHoohoo!!
So that’s my life in a nutshell. I am leaving for INDONESIA on Sept.25th. I will be travelling with my friend Amanda and living with her friend Arnold whose family lives in Jakarta. I am excited as it will be nice to live with an Indonesian family instead of a hotel.

Hope all is well with everyone. Next post will be when I return from my trip. Sometime near Oct. 10th.

Love you all.
-Krista

Weekend in Saskatoon

I had an AWESOME time in Saskatoon. It was great seeing everyone. Here are some pics that I took. I hope everyone has a great year. See you again soon. xoxo

Beijing, China

Day 1: Monday, June 16th
Amanda and I landed in China. We had someone picking us up at the airport to take us to the Far East Youth Hotel. The man picking us up couldn’t believe how many bags we had. We sure weren’t traveling light. The road leading to our hotel was definitely under construction. They were pouring cement, digging holes etc. But the hotel itself was very nice. They spoke English and were very friendly and helpful. We booked our tours here because we realized with the lack of English we weren’t going to get very far. We decided to take the subway right away. It was fast, easy to use and cheap!

We decided to go shopping to Silk Alley and to the Olympic Gardens. We got on the subway…and might have gotten off 1 stop to early. Oops so we had to get a taxi to take us the rest of the way. Hmm nobody could speak English finally I found a young girl who thought she new the Olympic Gardens, so we trusted her. We ended up at the Birds nest Stadium. (Close enough..it was something to do with the Olympics!) We walked around this area for a bit and saw where the Olympic flame would be and then decided it was time to go shopping. Taxi #2…no English. Okay..we showed the man where we wanted to go in Chinese words but he didn’t understand. (most only know Chinese symbols I guess). He stopped a car driving by who happened to have a man speak English who told him where we wanted to go.

We arrived at Silk Alley Market and went shopping. Everyone was yelling at you to come in their shop, buy from them etc. They started with really really high prices and you felt bad when you said a price. They often felt insulted…even though it was a good deal. They knew which strings to pull in order to make you feel bad. They were making lots of $$ off us tourists. I learned this trip to be strong, and firm with my prices. Don’t settle for theirs…even though its hard to walk out of a store when you want something. If they didn’t call you back then you knew you had to go a tad bit higher with your price.

The first Chinese meal we ate was really good. It was sweet and sour chicken and stir fried veggies. Oh and of course beer and sprite! Finally we took the subway back home and didn’t get lost!

Day 2: Tuesday, June 17th
Today we woke up bright and early for our tour of the Great Wall and Ming Tombs. There was only 1 other girl joining us on this tour. How nice, it was almost a private tour!
Our first stop was at a Jade Factory. Our tour guide said that if we said we were from US we only had to stay 45minutes! If we from somewhere else we had to stay longer! Weird, but ok. We watched how to carve Jade. The coolest part was learning that the Olympic Games Medals were going to be made of Jade.

The next factory we went to was a metal handicraft store. We watched women paint vases and how they are made. I bought a bracelet here hoping that I wouldn’t see it somewhere else that was cheaper. (and I didn’t, so I am glad that I bought it).

Finally we were going to eat. I was very hungry. The first dish they put on our table was not very appetizing and I was worried that I was not going to have enough energy to climb the great wall, but luckily more food was on the way. We had a few dishes of meat and veggies. It was very tasty.

Then we were off to the Ming Tombs. Our tour guide explained how 13 of the 15 Ming Emperors were buried here with their wives and favorite concubines. He also explained to us how the animals on the corners of the building roofs signify the importance of the building in those times. There is a specific order to the animals, number 1 being the dragon, number 2 being the lion, and 3 through whatever, I can't remember. Each animal signifies something about the Emperor, so the dragon signified his power and the lion signified his justice and integrity. The tomb we visited had a maximum number of 7 animals, but most buildings had between 3 and 5. We also learned that there was only one building in all of China that has 11 animals - this is a building within the Forbidden City. We walked up a pathway in which men had to use their left foot first (through the door) and women have to use their right foot first. Basically it was Chinese superstition that if you didn't enter and exit the right way you would stay in the dimension of the tombs (death/underworld.) The reason the Ming tombs were built is that a Ming Emperor lost his wife early in his reign and so because of that she could not be buried in the normal Royal burial place so he asked the scribes and temple priests where he should bury her that would have the best fung shui and their answer was in this vast valley surrounded by mountains, which I must say is incredibly beautiful. Subsequently, it became the new royal burial place for the next 15 Emperors, but two of them were not buried here - one went MIA after a battle and the other they believe ran off to become a monk, never to be seen again. Anyways, on our way out we passed through the same door and had to say three specific words in Chinese Wo hui lai le. Loosely translated means "I’m backing out", which was to signify the end of our visit to the tomb and the realm of the underworld.

It was finally time to go to the Great Wall. They say He who does not reach the great wall is not a true man. We went to the Juyongguan Section of the Wall. There was 2 parts you could climb. The steep or not so steep part. We climbed the steep one. Our tour guide said he could climb it in 2 hours, so that was my goal. We climbed to the top of the wall in 1.5 hours…and it took 30 minutes to climb down. At times I wasn’t sure I could make it. I was definitely out of shape and it was steep looking up. The higher you climbed the nicer the view. I was only a bit disappointed that the wall was rebuilt. It had hand railings, new pavement etc. To me this was NOT the Great Wall that I had pictured in my mind. Amanda and I both agreed that we needed to walk a different part of the wall as we had seen pictures of broken rock pathways etc. So we decided that when we got back to the hotel we would go on another tour.

Thoroughly exhausted, we figured we were on our way home. No such luck. Our next stop was the government run tea house. We had no say in the matter, but fortunately it turned out to be a pretty cool stop. They sat us down in a special room for a tea-tasting - similar to a wine tasting, and we tried 4 different types of "super high quality" Chinese tea. They also had a “pee-pee” boy” to make sure that the water was hot. Pour water on the pee-pee boy and if he peed then the water is hot enough to use.

Next stop (surprise, one more stop), was the government run Silk Factory. We saw the lifespan of the silk worm and how they take its cocoon and stretch it to make silk products. The coolest thing they make there are the comforters, all of silk on the inside. They were extremely lightweight but very warm and soft. Apparently silk does not absorb water, so you can lay the comforter on water, take it out, and the other side will be completely dry. Pretty neat. The way to clean it is just to leave it outside in the sun and let the air breathe through it - kind of like "sun cleaning".

Our guide asked us if we wanted to go to a Kung Fu Show. Why yes I did! So instead of dropping us off at the hotel he dropped us off at the show. We had some time before the show and we were hungry so we walked around the block and found a small restaurant. Our waitress couldn’t speak English so I looked at the table beside us and pointed and said 1, 1 and that’s what we had. It was okay. It looked better than it tasted. We hurried off to The Legend of KungFu. It was incredible. It was very theatrical and had a good story line. Afterwards we walked to the nearest subway station and went back to the hotel. It had been a LONG day!

Day 3: Wednesday, June 18th

We decided to not go on a tour today. We found out our hotel was close enough to Tiananmen square to walk to. (bad idea..I was quite sore from climbing the great wall, I thought my legs were going to fall off!...but I made it and only complained a bit!)
Tiananmen square is the large plaze near the center of Beijing. We saw the Tiananmen Tower, Monument to the People's Heroes, Great Hall of the People, Mao Zedong Memorial Hall. We knew there was a flag raising ceremony but we didn’t get to see it. .

We walked across the street to take our picture beside the Olympic Countdown sign.

Then went to the Forbidden City and bought electronic guides that would tell us more about the City. For your information: The Forbidden City, called Gu Gong in Chinese, was the imperial palace during the Ming and Qing dynasties. Now known as the Palace Museum, it is to the north of Tiananmen Square. Rectangular in shape, it is the world's largest palace complex and covers 74 hectares. The Forbidden City is divided into two parts. The southern section, or the Outer Court was where the emperor exercised his supreme power over the nation. The northern section, or the Inner Court was where he lived with his royal family. Since yellow is the symbol of the royal family, it is the dominant color in the Forbidden City. Roofs are built with yellow glazed tiles; decorations in the palace are painted yellow. I saw the largest stone carving, sat near the loyal love tree "The brank-interlocked cypresses symbolize loyal love.

Next on our list to do was The Temple of Heaven. This is a series of areas that were used by the emperors to pray for good harvest and such. The buildings include the Altar of Prayer for Good Harvests, Imperial Vault of Heaven and Circular Mound Altar.

The Altar of Prayer for Good Harvest stands on a round foundation built with three levels of marble stones. It is a cone-shaped glaze-tile roof that is blue. As we walked we came to the Echo Wall. You could communicate with someone further along the wall if it was quiet enough. Amanda and I stood on the center of a round stone called the Center of Heaven Stone. They say it echoes when a visitor speaks loudly when standing on the stone.

We were hungry and decided to eat at the first place we saw. To our surprise it was Hot Pot. This is where they give you a pot of hot water that continues to boil. You put in several meats and veggies to cook and use chop sticks to eat from it. The cooked food is usually eaten with dipping sauces. It was our favorite meal!

We were sore from walking but both of us still wanted to see the Summer Palace. We jumped in a taxi who could speak fairly good English and he took us there. It was a long drive from the Temple of Heaven. When we got there it was getting late so we were unable to buy the see everything pass. We went in and could see the water and the palace, gardens etc. We went back to the hotel and checked our e-mail to see that Amanda’s cousin who is teaching in Beijing was able to meet us. We also signed up for the 10km tour of the Great Wall….however Krista is bad at math and didn’t realize that 10km was far. Oops.

I was still on the look out for the hat my dad requested and Amanda took us on a long route to the store…I was not happy because my legs really did hurt from all the walking. Finally we realized there was no Olympic store and jumped in a taxi to take us to a shopping center where we met Jon (Amanda’s cousin), his friends Lindsay and Simon who were also teaching in Beijing. We went out for Pizza and Beer and had a great time.

Day 4: Thursday, June 19th
We started at the JinShanLing Great Wall and Ended at the Simatai Great Wall. There were 7 of us total in the tour. All guys and 1 other girl. We were scared that we were going to be too sore to finish the hike. When we got there Amanda and I cheated and took the Gondola ride to the top…that cut off 4 castles out of 30 and also a head start!

The wall was exactly what I pictured…old, and falling apart. The view was absolutely breath taking. I loved being able to see the wall go on forever. Both Amanda and I had a little lady each follow us and in their broken English told us to watch our step. We couldn’t tell them we didn’t need help, so after 2 hours of fanning us along the way we went our separate ways. I bought the fan that kept me cool in the hottest day that we had so far on the trip. The 5 others caught up to us…I like to think it was because Amanda and I stopped to take lots of pictures…not that we were slow. We hiked the rest of the wall together as a group. It was really fun and my legs didn’t hurt at all!! At the end of the wall you could either walk to the van or take the zip line…I wanted to walk..but nobody else did so I was peer pressured into taking the zip lin across the water to our van. I was scared at first but at the end wanted to do it all over again!!

We texted Lindsay on our way back to the hotel to see if she wanted to come to the Opera with us. Lindsay met us at our hotel and a group of us went to the Opera. We sat and drank tea and some nuts. The Opera was good except they didn’t translate it into English for us, they wanted us to buy the headsets and I refused, so I didn’t understand the whole story line. Lindsay knew lots of Chinese and translated for us. Which was nice.
After the show we called Jon and he met us at his favorite place to eat. Meat on a stick and Beer. It was pretty good. Amanda and I stayed the night at Jon’s and convinced Lindsay to take the day off of school to go shopping with us.

Day 5: Friday, June 20th
We woke up and took a taxi to Linsday’s apartment because we didn’t feel like walking. (it wasn’t that far). Then she took us to a place where she shops often and knows who to buy from. We bought lots of mac makeup for cheap, knock off purses, shoes, jeans, shirts etc. We bought lots! We only had so much time because we had to catch our flight in the afternoon. Lindsay was the perfect person to take us shopping because she could barter in Chinese and say I thought we were friends. Friends wouldn’t give me tourist prices. I am not a tourist. Etc. She was awesome. Our flight to X’ian was delayed due to rain. When we got to X’ian we went to sleep as we had a long day ahead of us.

X'ian, China

Day 6: Saturday, June 21st
Ruth our tour guide picked us up and took us to McDonalds for breakfast as we had requested. Then we went to see The Terracotta Warriors. First we stopped at the factory to see how the Terracotta Figures were made. Then went to the pits where they are being excavated. The terracotta figures were discovered in 1974 by several local farmers near Xi'an. The figures vary in height (184–197cm - 6ft–6ft 5in), according to their role, the tallest being the Generals. The figures include warriors, chariots, horses, officials, acrobats, strongmen, and musicians. We went in the three pits containing the Terracotta Army there were over 8,000 soldiers, 130 chariots with 520 horses and 150 cavalry horses, the majority of which are still buried in the pits.

For lunch Ruth took us to a fancy Cantonese Restauarnt. We went into our private room and had bacon wrapped around asparagus in a bbq sauce and a fried rice dish. It was excellent. Another one of our favorite meals.

Then she took us to Big Wild Goose Pagoda. The Pagoda is said to be named by the Monk who brought the scriptures from India. He traveled far and was hungry. A big, wild goose flew down to his feet. At first, he thought it was a gift of food (even though meat was forbidden), but soon discovered it was Buddha in another form, coming to encourage him to continue his journey.

Afterwards we went for a walk in the park and watched people exercise, play card games and just relax. It was a very nice atmosphere.
Finally Ruth took us to the Tang-Dynasty Palace and Music Dances. Included were dumplings for supper. The dumplings were delicious, but just too many to eat at one place setting. The show was spectacular. The dresses and set designs were very detailed.

Day 7: Sunday, June 22nd
In the morning, we went to McDonalds for breakfast near the Bell Tower. It was raining so it was not a nice day out. We walked through the markets until it was time to catch a taxi to go to the airport. Flights were delayed a bit due to the rain again. Once in Hong Kong we needed to get a driver to take us to our hotel. It was the only one we didn’t have someone picking us up at the airport. We had too many bags to go on the bus or subway. We shared a van with a guy who frequently visited Hong Kong. Our van dropped us off at Nathan Road which was a very busy street filled with lots of shopping. We dropped off our suitcases and went to KFC for supper.

Hong Kong

Day 8: Monday, June 23rd
When we woke up we went to McDonalds for breakfast and then walked along the harbor to the information booth. We planned out what we wanted to do in Hong Kong while we were there. First stop was Ocean Park. We took the subway part way and a bus the rest of the way there. Ocean Park was lots of fun. It was an amusement Park. Our first stop was the Panda Habitat. We got to see Panda’s!!! Then we went on the Bungee Trampoline and the Sky Star. The Sky Star was a big balloon that lifted you in the air to see the view of Ocean Park and Hong Kong. Then we went to Whiskers Theatre and watched the Sea Lions performance. Then we had to wait in a long line up to go to the other side of the park by cable car. When we got there we went on the pacific chandler that lifted us into the sky to see the view again. Then we ate pizza for lunch. We followed the walk way which led us to the Sea Jelly Spectacular. There were tons of jelly fish of all different colors and sizes to see. Then we went to the Shark Aquarium. We came just in time for the shark feeding! Next, we went to the Atoll Reef. It made Amanda think of her trip to the Maldives. Our last stop was the Ocean Theatre where we watched the dolphins perform. At night we decided to go to the Avenue of the Stars. Here I got to put my hand in Jackie Chann’s handprint. We also watched the city of lights. All the skyscrapers were lit up in different colors and blinked on and off and in different angles. It was very cool. For supper we went to TGIF. Overall it was a fantastic day!

Day 9: Tuesday, June 24th
To start the morning off we went to McDonalds for Breakfast. Then we went to The Peak Tower to see the view of Hong Kong. To get there we needed to take the ferry to the island. We met a nice couple on the bus who introduced us to octopus cards. They were cards you could put money on and swipe wherever you went. You didn’t need to keep money on you. It was very handy! Next on the agenda was Stanley Market. It was nice to not have people grabbing and yelling at you to buy something. Most had price tags, but you could still barter a little. For supper we went to The Hard Rock Café. Afterwards we went to the Ladies Market and the Night Market. It wasn’t easy to find when someone was reading the map wrong. (Cough Amanda). Back at the hotel our hotel put up a sign that said a level 3 typhoon was hoisted. Yikes.

Day 10: Wednesday, June 25th
In the morning we woke up and it was raining very hard. The sign said level 8 typhoon hoisted. Stay indoors. I was devastated. I wanted to go to Hong Kong Disneyland. We still braved the outdoors and went to McDonalds for Breakfast..again. mmm I’m Lovin It! We stayed on the computers in our hotel until after lunch the rain was only drizzling so we jumped on the subway and headed to Disneyland! It to my surprise was open…not all of the rides but the indoor ones. I was very excited. One of my favorite rides Space Mountain was open so we went on that a few times. We didn’t have to stand in any line ups to get pictures with the Disney characters. We went on a Winnie the Pooh Ride, A Small World, Toy Story ride etc. We went to The Lion King Show, and Mickey Awards. I had a great day. I am glad we went even though it was a terrible day out. For supper we went to the Spaghetti factory and called it a night. We had to leave the next day for Shanghai and hoped that flights would not be delayed.


Day 11: Thursday, June 26th
We packed our bags and of course went to McDonalds. We lugged our bags across the street and took the bus to the airport. Amanda was happy to be going to Shanghai to see her parents who teach there and her sister who was visiting them. Amanda’s mom had made us supper. Nice to have a home cooked meal for once. That night we went out to ½ Price Margarita Bar. It was very classy and the drinks were good.

Shanghai, China

Day 12: Friday, June 27th
We got up to the smell of quiche cooking in the oven for breakfast. We then walked to Starbucks and took a taxi to the Oriental Pearl Tower. Here we shopped for more stuff that we probably don’t need, but its still fun to do when it’s cheap! Then after school was finished Amanda’s mom took us to the tailor shop to get items of clothing made. I wanted to get a housecoat made but they didn’t have the material that I wanted. It started raining again so it took us a long time to get a taxi and get back to the apartments. We met Amanda’s dad and went out for Chinese food. It was excellent. I love sweat and sour chicken..its soo tasty!

Day 13: Saturday, June 28th
We took a taxi to the bus station because we were going to a water village. Here we walked around shopping in small stores. Then we went for a boat ride on the water around the village. It was a nice day. When we got back to Shanghai, Amanda’s mom introduced us to a Chinese boy and girl. The boy had found Perry’s wallet a year ago and they had become good friends. So we went out for supper with them for Hot Pot. Yet again I love hot pot!!! Then we walked down Nanjing road and then saw the Bund. We took the bund Sightseeing tunnel. It was too late to go up the Bund but at least I got to see it.

Day 14: Sunday, June 29th
I flew back to Canada!!! At the Shanghai airport I met a nice guy named Sebastian who helped carry all my bags through the airport with me. His parents were visiting him and now it was his holidays too so they were all going back to the US. His parents fly lots so they took me into the first class lounge with them where we sat and drank beer and chatted. They were a really nice family. In Vancouver I found out that I could not come into Canada as a resident..only a visitor for 90 days. That’s what the lady told me at the customs counter after she stamped by card. Ekkks it scared me because I had bought way way way to much home in $$ and I was afraid I was going to be taxed. I picked up my bags and was still worrying as I watched many people being ushered into a room off to the side. I went to the farthest line and somehow joined a tour group that was late for their plane and they were being pushed. They grabbed my card and off I went. Lucky me that is all I could think. But I was still worried that in Canada something might happen…but all was good. All my bags arrived with mom and dad smiling to greet me as I came off the plane. It is nice to be home in Canada. I can’t wait to see you all!!!

I have officially finished my first year of teaching. Whoo hoo!! I know that most of you have given up on my blog...and well I don't blame you. If you all joined facebook like my mom you would know what I am up to...sometimes my mom finds out more than she barganed for. She gave up on my blog along time ago when she realized I was always on facebook. I

guess for those of you that don't want to join facebook will have to wait until I get home to see the rest of my photos!

Here are a few photos ....I went to a 70-80's party....

I didn't get to go camping in the desert this year...so my friend Amanda and I decided to go camping in our building...ACA the hallway.
Oh and finally...my favorite picture. This was taken at a beach party that I went to 2 weeks ago!

I will be home on June 29th!! See you all very soon.

Love,

Krista

India

Day 1: Thursday, April 3rd – Flew to Dehli, India and arrived late at night. It was the worst flight I have ever taken. We flew through a thunderstorm. The plane was dropping levels in the sky and I felt like we were going down. Everyone around me was sleeping and I was having a major panic attack thinking I was going to die. I have never been as scared of flying as I was at that moment.
Finally we arrived and got all our bags. We had to call our hotel 2 times as we could not see our driver who was supposed to pick us up. All the Indians were staring at us four girls. We arrived at our hotel Prem Saagar which from the outside looked like a dive, but once inside was quite beautiful. We decided to get a good rest and wake up the next day around 10-11ish.

Day 2: Friday, April 4th – We woke up and booked a driver for our entire trip. Our hotel was very helpful in every way they could be. Throughout the whole trip they were calling our driver and checking up on us. It was very nice of them.

Ginette had a very sore throat and decided she needed to go to the hospital. Now this was an experience. It was a government hospital that we went to and it only took 45 minutes. She had tonsillitis. So she got her meds and we were on our way. We decided to have our driver give us the city tour of old and new Delhi. First stop was the Parliament House, Rashtrapti Bhavan, and India Gate. The India gate is a 42m high stone memorial arch that pays tribute to around 90,000 Indian army solders who died in WWI. At the India Gate Kristy was given Henna not by choice. The lady grabbed her arm and started giving it to her. The henna looked like a biker tattoo, we thought it was pretty funny. She wanted 200 rupees for it, so we gave her 10 and were on our way. Next stop was the National Museum. I have decided that being employed does not have as many benefits as being a student did in this country. The student teachers who had “student cards” only had to pay 1 rupee each to go see the museum and Kristy and I had to pay 300 rupees each. Unbelievable. Included we got to listen on headphones to all of the artifacts, so the museum was actually quite interesting. When we went to leave the museum we saw that a storm was brewing outside and then all of a sudden a down pour of rain occurred. I thought to myself, oh dear Krista you didn’t bring any pants on this trip…what were you thinking. Our driver took us to an Indian Restaurant where we ordered a variety of dishes to share. Most dishes had a spicy taste to them which I was not a fan of…but the meat was delicious and so was the garlic naan bread. I love Naan Bread. Next our driver took us to Gandhi Samdhi which is a sacred place that people come from all over the world come to see. He was the father of the nation. Here there were so many Indians that wanted pictures with us. Felt like a celebrity. Then our driver insisted on taking us to a carpet emporium (where all the prices are high and he gets a commission of course). By this time we decided it was time to head back to the hotel…In the car we decided that the meal was good, and we ate all we could, but we were still hungry. So we dropped off our bags and went to McDonalds which was located right next door to our hotel.

FYI: The cow in India is sacred…No eating BEEF! Eeeks. All I wanted was a cheeseburger so I had to settle for a McChicken instead which was also very tasty. Then we all went back to our rooms and went to sleep as we had to get up early.

Day 3: Saturday, April 5th – We started the day off by going to the Red Fort also known as the Lal Qila. We hired an English Tour Guide for 50 rupees each. This is a massive fort After we bought a few souvenirs (mostly earrings) and I did a lot of price checking of items that I was interested in purchasing.
Then we went to the Jama Masjid (a mosque) it is the largest in India. It was very nice and had a lovely view of the red fort from a distance. Afterwards we went for lunch, which was not good in my mind because it was very spicy. After lunch we went to Humayun’s Tomb. This building was beautiful and is the precursor to the Taj Mahal.
It was nearing the end of the day and we really wanted to go to an Indian Dance. We missed the beginning of the show but caught the end. Most of the dances were traditional folk dances. Their costumes were very elaborate. Back to the hotel to sleep as we were leaving very early the next morning to Agra which is about a 4 hour drive without stopping.

Day 4: Sunday, April 6th – Up early, we got in the van and started driving to Agra. Before leaving Dehli we saw an elephant walking down the street. So our driver stopped and we got out and decided to go for a ride. After 3 of the girls were on the elephant decided that was enough and left me behind...so when they came back I got an elephant ride down the streets of Dehli on my own!! We stopped for lunch at a tourist hut along side the road. I had garlic naan and it was terrible. I never thought you could make a bad batch of naan bread but let me tell you, you can. The cook took many garlic cloaves and chopped them into big pieces and put it in the naan bread instead of using a garlic press and melting it in butter like most places do. Sigh so I had garlic smelling out of my pores…I felt like I smelted like garlic ALL day!
On the way to Agra we saw a smaller replica of the Taj (we stopped to see it on the way home on April, 10th). When we arrived in Agra we drove around until we finally found a hotel that was only $30.00 a night. We quickly showered and picked up a guide and went to the parking lot for the Taj. Here we got in a horse and buggy that took us to the main gate to enter the Taj. It was quite expensive to visit the Taj 750 rupees but worth every penny. The Taj is a monument built for love (if you didn’t know). It was built by Emperor Shah Jahan as a memorial for his second wife, who died giving birth to their 14th child in 1631. The building is breath taking but you don’t appreciate it until you understand how it was built. It took 22 years to build the Taj out of marble. Each of the flowers are cut and shaped by hand. EVERY little piece, every petal and leaf. After the Taj we went to a factory and this is how I learned about how the Taj was built out of the marble. We shopped at a few emporiums and then went for supper at an Indian Restaurant. Before sitting down we checked and made sure they had beer! I wasn’t a big fan of the food, but ate it because I was extremely Hungary. From here we walked back to the hotel and continued drinking our wine and then headed down to the bar inside our hotel where we had a few more beverages. We knew it was going to be a 11-12 hour drive without stopping to Veranasi. So we went to bed as another early morning it was going to be.

Day 5: Monday, April 7th – On our way to Veranasi we stopped for lunch at a dirty building on the road. We thought if anyone got indianitis (diarrhea) we would get it from this spot so we all ordered fries and a Pepsi. The Pepsi bottle was disgusting so we disinfected it with antiseptic wipes. On the road again we stopped in Allahabad because I had read in the Lonely Planet book of India that this was where the two holy rivers Ganga and Yamuna meet, and Hindu belief says that the invisible Sarasvati River joins here also.. As we drove we saw how each town was different from the others. Some were very poor and others were just poor. In the smaller towns there was little or no begging. Unlike in Delhi where everyone was begging for money and food. We reach Varanasi late at night and it was dark. Driving was very hard as most people ride in carts, walk or bike. We didn’t have a hotel booked so we were looking around and finally agreed to splurged on a nice hotel with a pool, massage place and complementary breakfast. We were very tired but forced ourselves to order room service. I had pasta and a beer and sprite!! Finally food that was good. Went to bed as we were leaving our hotel at 5:15 to catch the sunrise on the Ganges river.

Day 6: Tuesday, April 8th – Varanasi is the holy city in India. It is the place where Hindu pilgrims come to wash away a lifetime of sins in the Ganges or to cremate their loved ones. Jenn wasn’t feeling well (first to get Indianitis on the trip) so she was unable to come on the boat with us and went back to the hotel to sleep. As the sun was rising we saw the ghats. Ghats are used for bathing but there are also several ‘burning ghats’ where bodies are cremated in public. We lit a candle and placed it in the holy river. After the boat ride we saw more temples and then went back to the hotel for Jenn and breakfast. We had a quick nap and then headed off into the markets bartering for everything. We walked along the ganges and went to the burning spot and watched bodies being cremated. I can’t put into words how I felt at this moment. I was flooded with many emotions.

I am definitely tired of bartering and really like fixed prices it makes life so much easier. Then back to the hotel for a swim in the pool and of course I couldn’t resist getting an Indian oil massage. Then I had a different type of pasta for supper. We went back to the Ganges river for the ceremony. We got on a boat and watched the ceremony from the river. It was a spectacular event that occurs every night. Back to the hotel and went to bed as it was going to be another early morning drive back to Agra.

Day 7: Wednesday, April 9th – We drove back to Agra…only this time our driver took a wrong turn and we ended up being in the car for 16 hours. No tourist restaurant that was safe to eat in…so we ate junk food. Our driver called the same restaurant that we ate in when we were in Agra that stayed open for us. When we got to the restaurant we were tired and non of us liked it the first time we ate there so overall we were not happy. As our food came there was a big sound over in the corner and the waiter squealed but non of us knew why…we thought maybe it was a rodent but didn’t know for sure. Then after we ate our meal…I ordered fries and naan bread…and the other girls order chowmein which turned out the chicken was bad and the noodles weren’t cooked. As the bill arrived a big rat or mouse like rodent ran across the room. Kristy was furious and she stared yelling there is a rat in here. We are not paying…ect her voice sounded like Aunty Lil’s and so I was a bit distracted by the whole commotion and was surprised at how similar their voices sound. I also did see the rodent but wanted us still to pay, so we walked out and DID NOT pay. We gave this extra money to our driver as a tip at the end of the trip instead. We went straight to the same hotel that we stayed in for $30.00 a night again and went right to sleep getting up at 9:30am. A later start as our driver was getting tired. This was completely understandable. I couldn’t imagine driving for that long.

Day 8 – Thursday, April 10th - On the way home we stopped in Mathura this is the ‘Land of Eternal Love’ and the name given to the region where the popular god Krishna is believed to be born and spend his early years. We went to the Kesava Deo Temple which is a small, bare room with a slab of rock on which Krishna is said to have been born 3500 years ago. (like our Bethlehem) We saw many other temples here too, but didn’t go into all of them because we were tired of all the temples. They looked the same. We also saw the smaller replica of the taj which was quite beautiful as well.

Finally we reached Agra and went straight to the markets and shopped. We had supper at Pizza Hut which was yummie. We were all craving another good meal. We went back to the Prem Sagaar Hotel and had to leave for the airport at 3am.

Day 9 – Friday, April 11th – The flight home was great. Lots better than the flight to India. The meal was very good. Especially the omlette!!! It is nice to be back.

Memory Loss

Okay so I kinda forgot about my blog...and now realized how far behind I am on the events going on in my life...and the worst part is it is crunch time here because it's report card week. Yikes so I don't know when I will update you on all of the following...I need to tell you about my birthday, Desert trip, soccer game, International Day, Going to Dubai, and of course my trip to India.

I will try my best to at least put up some pics...Hope all is well with everyone.
x0x0x

National and Liberation Day

Okay another update on my busy life here in Sandville.

About 2 weeks ago we had a sandstorm. I was at school getting ready to go on lunch duty when an announcement came on and said that visibility was low and that it was an indoor recess. Keep our classroom doors and windows closed. Then they went on to say they were contacting the appropriate authorities as to cancel school for the rest of the day and go home.
I thought to myself…”Are you serious? We are going to cancel school because of a dust storm…SWEET…nobody at home will believe this. Lol”
So I opened my door and it was a bit hazy in the hallway…then I continued all the way to the outside doors. When I opened the door all I saw was a light brown haze and no playground. Then I thought to myself “Wow this is my FIRST dust storm!...COOL”

Well needless to say school did not get cancelled….however we heard that school the next day might be…but unfortunately it did not happen. It was still dusty again and most girls came with the little white masks that you wear when you are cleaning out a grain bin…it was quite the sight to see.

On February 22 – 26 we had another holiday. I decided I should be responsible and save some money and check out Kuwait more. Everyone that didn’t stay in Kuwait went to Lebanon…but I was a bit leary as the US Embassy was recently bombed.


On Friday Feb. 23 I went to games night in my building with all the people who stayed in Kuwait..which was a fair number of us.

Then on Saturday. Feb. 24 I went to the Cinema. I wanted to see Dan the Man but it was sold out…so the only available flick was SILK. Let’s just say I did not have the best experience at the theatre. For one…there is nothing to do in Kuwait but go to the Cinema so it was packed..we had to sit in the “boy section” which is located right up at the screen (sore neck). Then in Kuwait its Haram (sin) to kiss…so all the scenes with any kissing etc were edited out. To make it worse there was lots edited out of our movie and it was 1 hour and 45 minutes long…I can’t imagine how long it would be without editing. It was the WORST Movie I have ever seen. No plot, or story to it. Don’t see it. Trust me save your money.
After the movie the girls (Amanda, Kyla and Danielle) and I went to the Chocolate Bar…and tried to make ourselves feel better. Teehee Danielle’s friend Moe came by and invited us over to his apartment for drinks. So we agreed.

The next day, Sunday Feb. 25th I went to Faaheel with Danielle and Kyla. It was one of the first sunny hot days here in Kuwait that we’ve had in awhile. Didn’t buy anything but we sat and drank coffee near the water sprinklers. It was a nice atmosphere.

Then Monday, Feb. 26 (National Day) I wanted to go skating so Danielle, Jamie, Joe and I headed to the rink…which had no ice because they were setting up for a concert. Seriously I didn’t think my break could get any more bad luck. We went back to Jamie’s house and ate wings, chilled out and then went back to Faaheel because Jamie needed some new shoes. Back at my house we ordered Thai and watched the Oscar Awards. Then Moe was having another party so we went to it..but it was not fun.

Tuesday, Feb. 27 – Liberation Day …I had full intentions of getting up early and going to the Liberation Tower in Kuwait…but slept in. Sigh and that was the worst week I could possible have had this year. So next year I don’t think I want to stay in Kuwait for that long of break.

On February 21 we were supposed to celebrate National Day at school but because of the dust storm the Ministry of Education cancelled it. So we had it on February. 28th. This is when everyone in Kuwait dressed in the Kuwait flag colors. Just a bit of history for you..as I am currently teaching the Kuwait Unit in S.S National Day is always celebrated on the 25th because it was when Kuwait became an independent country. On Feb. 26th Kuwait became free from the fighting with Iraq. At school it was a whole day of events.

Starbucks came to school,

there was buffet lunch and shwarma! They also had blow ups as you can see..and I couldn't resist myself! lol

So right now I am cleaning my apartment…I am hosting a student teacher to live with me for the next 8 weeks…hopefully we get along because the living quarters are going to be tight.
Hope all is well. Miss everyone lots.
Love,Krista

National and Liberation Day

Okay another update on my busy life here in Sandville.

About 2 weeks ago we had a sandstorm. I was at school getting ready to go on lunch duty when an announcement came on and said that visibility was low and that it was an indoor recess. Keep our classroom doors and windows closed. Then they went on to say they were contacting the appropriate authorities as to cancel school for the rest of the day and go home.
I thought to myself…”Are you serious? We are going to cancel school because of a dust storm…SWEET…nobody at home will believe this. Lol”
So I opened my door and it was a bit hazy in the hallway…then I continued all the way to the outside doors. When I opened the door all I saw was a light brown haze and no playground. Then I thought to myself “Wow this is my FIRST dust storm!...COOL”

Well needless to say school did not get cancelled….however we heard that school the next day might be…but unfortunately it did not happen. It was still dusty again and most girls came with the little white masks that you wear when you are cleaning out a grain bin…it was quite the sight to see.

On February 22 – 26 we had another holiday. I decided I should be responsible and save some money and check out Kuwait more. Everyone that didn’t stay in Kuwait went to Lebanon…but I was a bit leary as the US Embassy was recently bombed.


On Friday Feb. 23 I went to games night in my building with all the people who stayed in Kuwait..which was a fair number of us.

Then on Saturday. Feb. 24 I went to the Cinema. I wanted to see Dan the Man but it was sold out…so the only available flick was SILK. Let’s just say I did not have the best experience at the theatre. For one…there is nothing to do in Kuwait but go to the Cinema so it was packed..we had to sit in the “boy section” which is located right up at the screen (sore neck). Then in Kuwait its Haram (sin) to kiss…so all the scenes with any kissing etc were edited out. To make it worse there was lots edited out of our movie and it was 1 hour and 45 minutes long…I can’t imagine how long it would be without editing. It was the WORST Movie I have ever seen. No plot, or story to it. Don’t see it. Trust me save your money.
After the movie the girls (Amanda, Kyla and Danielle) and I went to the Chocolate Bar…and tried to make ourselves feel better. Teehee Danielle’s friend Moe came by and invited us over to his apartment for drinks. So we agreed.

The next day, Sunday Feb. 25th I went to Faaheel with Danielle and Kyla. It was one of the first sunny hot days here in Kuwait that we’ve had in awhile. Didn’t buy anything but we sat and drank coffee near the water sprinklers. It was a nice atmosphere.

Then Monday, Feb. 26 (National Day) I wanted to go skating so Danielle, Jamie, Joe and I headed to the rink…which had no ice because they were setting up for a concert. Seriously I didn’t think my break could get any more bad luck. We went back to Jamie’s house and ate wings, chilled out and then went back to Faaheel because Jamie needed some new shoes. Back at my house we ordered Thai and watched the Oscar Awards. Then Moe was having another party so we went to it..but it was not fun.

Tuesday, Feb. 27 – Liberation Day …I had full intentions of getting up early and going to the Liberation Tower in Kuwait…but slept in. Sigh and that was the worst week I could possible have had this year. So next year I don’t think I want to stay in Kuwait for that long of break.

On February 21 we were supposed to celebrate National Day at school but because of the dust storm the Ministry of Education cancelled it. So we had it on February. 28th. This is when everyone in Kuwait dressed in the Kuwait flag colors. I will post some pictures of this event. Just a bit of history for you..as I am currently teaching the Kuwait Unit in S.S National Day is always celebrated on the 25th because it was when Kuwait became an independent country. On Feb. 26th Kuwait became free from the fighting with Iraq.

So right now I am cleaning my apartment…I am hosting a student teacher to live with me for the next 8 weeks…hopefully we get along because the living quarters are going to be tight.
Hope all is well. Miss everyone lots.
Love,Krista

Thailand

Winter Break Adventure continues...

Day 7 – January 31st
We left Cambodia and headed back to Bangkok only to fly out again to Koh Sumi, Thailand. We spent the day laying on the beach soaking in rays. Then Kristy and I went for the most amazing massages that I have ever had in my life. For $10.00 I was heaven. We went to a place called FRIENDS. Amanda and Kyla got their nails done. Afterwards we went to McDonalds for burgers…mmm beef! We stayed right next to the ferry and had a beach front room. Carla and her friend Kendra also met up with us there and were going to Ko Phangan with us the next day.

Day 8 – February 1st
We jumped on the Ferry (150 bht) to Ko Phangan that dropped us off at Haad Rin pier. This is where the full moon party is held…but unfortunately we would be missing this big event because we will be back in Kuwait.

We took a mini bus to a small, quite resort called Haad Yao. We stayed at Dream Resort. It is a resort that is not packed with people. The beach was beautiful and had lush green trees all around. It was a place you would see on a post card. Sara and Edwin were already there (teachers in Kuwait) so that made our group total of people on the resort from Kuwait 8.
We ate the most delicious Thai food at Happy Restaurant. Our hotel also had good food too. For the rest of our trip our goal was to relax, lay on the beach, swim, eat, and get plenty of massages!!!

Day 9 – February 2nd
For the entire day we relaxed, layed on the beach, went swimming, ate lots of food and snacks, and got an aloe massage for under $10.00 !!!

Day 10 – February 3rd
Today we decided to take a boat trip. For a full day we went sightseeing, snorkeling, a bit of sun tanning, fishing, and kayaking. We went to bottle beach, Thong Nai Pan, Than Sadet and Me Haad. We only got off at Bottle beach as the tide was too high at the others. We fished off the deack at Haad Khom and only 4 people caught fish. They were pretty tiny. I was not one of those 4 people but it was still lots of fun.

When we got home we decided to go into Haad Rin (45 minutes away from our beach) and check out the beach where the full moon party is. We had a few drinks where you can write your name on the walls with glow and the dark ink. Then we wandered around the streets and bought pancakes and delicious crepes. I had a banana mars crepe. SOoooo good. Then back to the beach to watch drunk people do the limbo under a rope on fire. We were also on the look out for lady boys. (thai men who try to be women) We were told that a thai man gets excited when his wife gets pregnant because that means he didn’t marry a “lady boy”.

Day 11 – February 4th
Slept in and then relaxed, layed on the beach, went swimming, ate lots of food and snacks.

Day 12 – February 5th
Everyone headed back to the Haad Rin to catch the ferry back to Koh Sumi except Amanda. In Koh Sumi Kristy and Kyla and I went on an Island Safari Adventure. We went elephant trekking, saw a baby elephant show where Kristy and I got an elephant thai massage. Watched a monkey and thai boxing show. A jeep (looked like one you would see in Africa) picked us up and took us to a waterfall. (even went swimming in it!!) Then we went on a canoe ride. It was really a fun way to spend 4 hours in Koh Sumi. On our way for supper we drove past Fisherman’s village and if we had more time this would have been a cool place to visit/shop. For supper we went to a Korean BBQ. Here we cooked meat and vegetables and threw in some noodles and made a soup. It was all you could eat so we ate until we could hardly move!!! It was delicious.

Day 13 – February 6th
We flew back early in the morning to Bangkok. We jumped in a taxi and headed to Cosan Road. We shopped all day and believe it or not spent less than 100.00 and had a pile of stuff. I am still shocked at how cheap everything was in Thailand. The big cost was the flights…once there it was cheap to eat, sleep and drink. I bought purses, 4 bathing suits, many shirts, watch, thai hats etc
Then to end the evening we went to a PangPong Show…oh my..What I am about to tell you is graphic and disturbing. But when in Bangkok you must go to the show to believe it. When we got there we got a free drink with our ticket. The show started with a couple having sex..yup right on stage. Then many girls showed us what they can put up and dropped out of their vaginas. (we will call the vagina a yaya for the rest of this post) So one girl stuck ping pong balls up her yaya and dropped them into a cup. Then another girl shot darts our of her yaya and popped balloons. Razarr blades, string were also objects that came out of the yaya. There was much more going on beside me..that wasn’t even part of the show. I am shocked to say that I have never been more discusted at what those women and men for that matter do for money. The lonely planet suggests that if you only have 1 day in Bangkok that this is what you should see. Wow and what a show you will get.

Day 14 – February 7th
We decided to do some more shopping but at a different market…but in the end the taxi dropped us off at a mall across from the market so we decided to check it out instead. Here there was more cheap items. Then we went to the Royal Palace. I have never seen anything more beautiful in my life. Pictures can’t explain how beautiful it was. Then back to Cosan Road we went….you guessed it SHOPPING!! Amanda’s flight got in at 10pm and she found us around 11pm. We packed until 1:00am and had to get up at 3:30 to take a taxi to the airport…we didn’t get much sleep.

Day 15 – February 8th
Flew back to Abu Dhabi and then Kuwait…Home Sweet Home. I had wonderful relaxing and fun trip. It is nice to be back and see my other friends in Kuwait. Not ready to go back to teaching..but ready to see my girls and what they did on their holiday. It is going to be a busy week planning and catching up. I will try post pictures soon as it is much more interesting to see…rather than read.

Talk to you soon,
Love Krista