Nude Beaches!

After spending our four days in France, my mom dad and I got on a plane to Barcelona. My brother Ethan, who had been studying in southern France and traveling around Europe for the entire summer, met us there for the weekend before going back to school late Sunday night!

What I loved most about my trip to Barcelona was the city life. People would go out for dinner at 11:00 pm, go to a club at 1:00am and then stager home after a night of partying at about 7:00am! Barcelona was definitely all about living the nightlife! Although this life style was interesting to watch, my family and me did not participate!

On our trip, we did many things. Before Ethan went back to school, we were able to go on a four hour bike tour around Barcelona, lay out at the beach, visit Gaudi’s Park, and hang out at the hotel with the other Americans! Every thing we saw was so interesting, including the man who had tattooed a Speedo on himself, so that he wouldn’t have to wear a swimsuit! Although we had a fantastic time with my brother, after he left we were not hindered!

Once it was just my parents and I again, we did many fun things! One of the most interesting trips we took was to a mountain outside of Barcelona, housing a cathedral and a village of monks! We were able to see many paintings and interesting architecture. I lit a candle, that would “burn forever”, in honor of my uncle who was at the time, dieing from cancer. The next day we visited one of the biggest market in Europe. This market had anything you could possible want, including clothing, fish, poultry, vegetables, fruit, handmade items, and candy! We spent quit a bit of time browsing around that market and when we were done, we went out for an “eventful” dinner.

If you have read my vegetarian blog, then you know I decided to be a vegetarian, while in Spain. Well this dinner was when I made up my mind! After looking though the menu and going though the whole baby veal/skinned dog story, our dinner really got going! Before being served, we were given a shot of “homemade moonshine”. Let me just say, that after taking a sip, I passed the shot glass over to my father! Then after eating our food, we ordered desert! Since cheese was a popular desert in Europe, my mom got some cheese with walnuts. When her order arrived, she was given a basket of shelled walnuts and three giant clumps of cheese! How appetizing! What an eventful dinner!

After all our events, me and my mom spent the last day searching through stores and I managed to find 8 different sundresses that I bought! In the afternoon, we went on a cruise along the coastline then boarded a plane the next day!

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Qui Qui!

As I said in my last blog, my family loves to travel! The second time I was given the pleasure of taking a trip out of the country was when I went to Paris and Barcelona! Both places were so much fun, but I’ll talk about Spain another time! My family decided to go to Paris, because my mom believes that every young girl should have the opportunity to see Paris! I completely agree and I cannot wait until I get the chance to go back!

Mom, dad and I took a trip to France the summer before my sophomore year! Although we only stayed for 4 days before taking a plane to Barcelona, I still was able to have the time of my life! When we arrived in Paris, we did many things! We got to eat breakfast at a French café, walk around the Eiffel Tower, and take a bike tour of the city. While we were in France, we took two bike tours, both showing us different parts of the country! Our first tour took us around the city of Paris. We got to see things like the Louve, the oversized porta-pottys on almost every block, and the everyday streets of Paris! We were able to visit old town and the Latin Quarter (where Johnny Depp has an apartment) and were also given the opportunity to stop and take photos!

On our second tour, we found ourselves hopping a train, with our bikes, to the town of Versailles! We got to ride our bikes all around the little town and even stop at a market to buy our food for lunch and where I found an adorable sundress. Once we biked to the Palace of Versailles, we got to eat our lunch on the canal lawn with a beautiful view of the palace right in front of us! After we took our tour of the palace and did a little more biking, we took the train back to Paris so we could get a good nights sleep!

The next day we did many exciting things! First we went to the Arc de Triumph and walked up 282 steps to get to the top! We then had a fantastic view of the city! But nothing compared to the view we were given after walking up 684 steps and taking 2 elevators to the top of the Eiffel Tower! That view is one you can’t beat!

Although we did many things, other than what I’ve mentioned in this blog, one of the last and possibly most memorable things we did was go on a small boat ride through La Seine.  We were cruising around Paris at night and were even able to see the Eiffel Tower blink its 20000 lights at 10, 11, and 12 that night! I will never forget that amazing trip!

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The Octopus

I love the travel, and in my family I’ve been very fortunate! I have two siblings, a brother and sister, who were both adopted from South Korea. Since my parents wanted to expose them to the Korean culture, we took a family vacation to South Korea when I was 12. It was the summer before my 7^th grade year and me, and the rest of my family, were extremely excited!

Upon landing in Korea, it was 23:00 their time and about 9:00 am our time. We had gotten on a plane about 5:00 in the morning the day before, me and my sister had already pulled an “all-nighter”- meaning we had already been awake for 18 hours. Since I am not able to sleep on planes, I was awake for another 22 hours before sleeping for only 5 hours and having to get up to start our day! I was extremely tired, but my excitement to start our vacation was keeping me energized!

Although we saw so many awesome things in Korea, the different culture still managed to be the coolest part of our trip! When going to a fish market one early morning we witnessed a small octopus fling itself out of the bucket it was in. It then proceeded to slink down the concrete, until a Korean lady put her finger up a hole in the middle of the octopus, walk back to the stand where it had run away from, and flung the octopus back into its bucket. This is something you would not see at home, folks!

Another unique thing was the food! When we would go out to eat, we found ourselves eating quail eggs (taste just like normal eggs), Boulgogee (a type of beef), and this nasty coleslaw stuff that you would dip into different toppings. Although the Boulgogee was delicious, I still found myself cringing at some of the other foods. Also, all we could drink while on our trip was bottled water and coca cola, because the water in that country was unsanitary.

Some of the things my family and I did were visiting the demilitarized zone, DMZ, going to a Korean play, playing around in “Lotte World”, (a Korean Disney World) and many other things! I strongly encourage anyone who loves to travel to pay a visit to South Korea! I will forever be disgusted by octopus and will never forget the great memories I gained!

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Time of My Life

Just one short week ago, Seussical the musical premiered at Kennedy High School. It was a fantastic show and even though we have a brand new director, we all had a ball! Seussical is a story based off of the books by Dr. Seuss. In Seussical the books, Horton Hears A Who, I Do Not Like Green Eggs and Ham, The Cat and The Hat, Oh the Thinks You Can Think, and others, are put together to make one large story. They transformed the stage to a wonder world that all kids could enjoy!

Performing as the mayor of Whoville, may seem like a “tiny” role (get it? Tiny!), but it was still so much fun! I love performing! Whether it’s plays, musicals, or singing, I love being involved. The feeling of everyone focused on you and going along with a story that you are portraying, being watched and applauded by so many people can be so invigorating. Being in the cast of Seussical was no different and I’m so sad it’s all over! The memory of being the mayor of Whoville will always stick with me. Whether I end up staring on broad way or just sitting in a cubical, I can’t ever forget all the fantastic times I had with the cast.

Although performing with a cast can be very fun, it’s also extremely rewarding to perform by yourself! I hate learning new French and Italian songs, but when it comes time to perform, all the work is worth it! Plus it so great knowing you did it all by yourself, knowing you didn’t have to depend on someone or worry about not getting the lead. If there is anyone reading this who has never been given the chance to perform, I strongly encourage you to get out there and show people what you can do! It will all be worth it in the end!

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ZOOOOOOM!

Do you know how it feels to zip line? The wind rushing into your face, the trees and valleys flying by below you! Soaring over a rushing river that is traveling down a mountain! The feeling of fear as you’re strapped to a wire and pushed off a landing 20 stories above the ground and feeling as if your falling for about a minute, as you travel along about 2000 ft of wire?

This is what my father and I did why we were in Whistler, Canada! My mom, dad and I took a vacation up in Canada just last summer! It was so much fun, but my favorite part was definitely zip lining! We went on a series of eight zip lines, traveling over the valleys of the Black Comb Mountains! Below us was a rushing river and thousands of pine trees! There was even a downhill mountain biking course, right below the last two lines! Our guides were really cool and we had a group of about 10 people with us! There’s nothing better than the feeling of flying through the sky!

Although just plain zip lining would have been great fun we were also given the opportunity to go down the wire upside down, backwards, spinning in circles, and any other way you can think of! Lets just say your hands and feet did not have to stay inside the vehicle at all times! The longest zip line was 2 miles over a rushing river below! If you held your body in the cannon ball position you can get going so fast your ears ring! Even though your going super speed you still have plenty of time to look around its as if your traveling in slow motion! It’s an experience like no other and I only hope others will get the opportunity to have wings and fly. I cant wait till my next zip!
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KITTY!

If you weren’t able to tell by my last two blogs, I love animals! My favorite animal is a cat and that’s all thanks to my adorable fat cat, Otis! When I was only two, my siblings and me were walking around my grandparent’s farm. While we were exploring and enjoying the wonderful smell of cow dung (just kidding it smells terrible!) we came across two little kittens on the edge of my grand parents land! They were so cute and little so we decided we wanted to keep them! When we brought them back to the house my Grandpa said we had to keep them and he insisted we take both of them home with us, but my mother only wanted one! My father then went on to sneak the other kitten in the back of the car when my mom wasn’t looking! After about 8 years, Emil had a stroke and was put down, but Otis is still going strong!

A few years after that, my siblings and I were wondering around in the woods near our house! We started hearing meowing and found two little kittens lying under a pine tree! We took them home and fed them and ended up keeping them for a few days, but my parents said we couldn’t keep them! So rather than giving them to the pound, where they may never get adopted, we gave them to our neighbors! They kept both of them and Blizzard and Shadow both lived good happy lives!

After that we really didn’t find that many more animals! There were two more kittens both at different times in different places, but because we couldn’t keep them they both ended up at the pound! My sister and me even found three newly born kittens before the owner even knew her cat was pregnant! My sister and I also found a fair share of chipmunks, but we never kept them for more than a few hours! One of them even jumped on my head trying to escape its bucket! 
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Barnabee!!!

If you read my last blog than this next experience of mine may seem a bit odd to you! But it really did happen. It’s quite a coincidence. Today while practicing some music I need to learn for a singing competition I looked out the big window into my front yard! Literally the second I looked out a bird flew right into it RIGHT where I was looking! I than ran to the window and looked down where the bird had fallen! Less than 10 seconds after I saw the bird a chipmunk ran out of the bushes and started attacking! I then ran outside and scared the evil chipmunk away! I picked up the poor little bird and let it lay on my open hand! Then I went to my basement and found a box to put some more grass in!(Does this story seem a little familiar yet?)The Internet said I had found a red-eyed vireo! Its back is an olive green with a dark gray head, white belly, and a white strip over its eyes. The website also said they eat insects, caterpillars, and small fruit!

I don’t know if the bird I found is a boy or a girl so I decided to name it Barnabee! I named it this because Barnabee is the name my parents used for me before they found out if I was a boy or girl! So after finding out everything I could on line I decided to try to feed him! The Trouble is I don’t have any insects and I don’t know what’s considered a small fruit! I’m also concerned because Barnabee has a big bloody gash behind his left eye and is having trouble with his right leg! I don’t know what to do! I tried taking him out and getting him to Walk but all he does is stand there! The Internet also said these birds generally sing most of the time. I haven’t herd Barnabee make a sound! I feel bad cause this poor little bird is hurt and I don’t know how to help!

I sure hope Barnabee will live but if he doesn’t at least he wont be alone when it happens! I’m going to try my hardest to save this bird and I just hope that he gets better! I plan to put updates on my blog so if I find out anything else or I get him to eat I will be sure to post about it!