Monday, October 19, 2009

I have been home a week, am well-rested, and ready to go!

A huge congratulations to Bailey for being this year's Egyptologist! Finalists were: Sarah, Landon, Laurie, and Joshua. I am really proud of all the facts learned:)

We are currently studying Mesopotamia. By the end of the week, we will be studying ancient India. Our next quiz will be on Tuesday, Oct. 27th. It will be over CH6L1, 2, and 3.

I can't believe first quarter has already ended! Parent conferences are next week. I have not yet gotten the schedule, but I have heard from parents that I am already booked. Unfortunately, with 150 students, there are not enough slots for all. I can tell you, however, that I am very pleased with first quarter grades. The students have worked hard and learned a LOT! Last week we were putting portfolios together; the students were amazed how much they have learned since the first day of school!

I'M HOME !!

I am home--safe and sound. I truly have had the trip of a lifetime.

I really enjoyed the days in Rome; it was great fun having Luciano as a private driver and tour guide. He knew how to avoid all of the lines and where the best local restaurants were located. I ate delicious Italian food--no one in the restaurant (customers included) spoke English!

I must tell you about one of my all-time favorite activities of my life. I had a private tour of the Vatican with the man who was the curator of the Sistine Chapel for the past ten years. His knowledge, enthusiasm and respect for the Vatican were so clearly evident. I learned so many things; his enthusiasm was contagious. I shall never forget that afternoon.

I haven't had a chance to download Rome photos; I will as soon as I can.

I will see you IN THE MORNING!!! Let the stories begin:)

Thank you for the comments!!

Hello!
Let me respond to some of your comments...
1) I am very excited that J. is in China getting her new sister; she will have so many stories. I think it is neat you are communicating be webcam! You are travelling the world through cyber space:)
2) No, R, I did not see any torture devices in the castles I visited. (It doesn't mean they weren't there! I just didn't see them!
3) Hey neighbor, RR--I am glad you are following the trip:) Yes, the glass artwork was amazing--and, yes--I couldn't resist buying something!!
4) I think I know who the aliens are :)
5) Hi Ri! The people in Italy speak Italian; they also use a lot of hand motions. Although I couldn't understand them when they were speaking Italian, it was pretty easy to read signs and basic words. Thanks for writing!

Hello again from Italy!

This was another amazing day!

I had a private tour guide--Luciano AND a private tour of Pompeii by an expert. Oh my goodness, what a day for a history teacher!!!

The ship docks tomorrow. I will have Luciano as a private tour guide in Rome for the next three days. I don't think I will have access to the internet--this might be my last posting until I get home.

If I don't get to write again, I want to sincerely thank all of you for joining me on this amazing trip. I am excited to come home and share my incredible stories with you!

Here is a picture of my morning drive along the Amalfi Coast in Italy. The other picture is from POMPEII!!

Caio!

I'm in Italy!!!

Can you believe it?? I am in Italy! I am on the island of Sicily. Look on a map--Sicily is the island off of the "toe of the boot" of Italy.

Tomorrow I go to Pompeii--the place that made me fall in love with history when I was in 6th grade! I can't believe I will be there in about 12 hours! I even have a private scholar!

Tomorrow is also my last day on the ship. I will be spending the following three days in Rome. I will go to the Pantheon, the Colosseum, and even the Vatican where I will get to see the Sistene Chapel painted by Michelangelo!! I don't know if I will have computer access. If not, I will be home on Monday and will see you Tuesday! Hasn't this been the best adventure ever??!! I am so excited to see where you are choosing to go on YOUR Mediterranean journey:)
See you SOON!!! Ciao'!

Taormina--a modern city

Taormina was a very charming town. The streets are very narrow; the homes are 2-3 stories high with shops on the first floor. Bakeries filled with marzipan and cannoli (I am so sorry--I don't know how to spell it!), shops with top-line fashions, ahhh--it was all found in Taormina--along with medieval AND ancient sites. Taormina has it all!

Ciao!

Taormina--an ancient and medieval city

I had a wonderful time in Taormina. I have attached a picture of the ancient Greek Theater from the 3rd century BC!!! This was used for gladiators and fighting with wild animals. There is also a picture of a Roman Theater from the 200s AD. This theater was mostly used for musical performances. I also included some photos from medieval times. The picture of the skull and cross bones is from a church from the 13th century. I learned today that a church with a skull and cross bones indicated that a crypt, or bones of a special person, were buried under the structure of the church.

Mt. Etna

Here are some pictures of Mt. Etna. It is a volcano that last erupted in 2001. I felt like I was on another planet. You will see a close-up of the lava rocks, a lava-flow, views of the craters, and Mt. Etna from afar. It was really neat! I have a lot more photos to show you!

Yesterday in Malta

Hello! The internet was down yesterday and I was unable to write.

I LOVED Malta! I really had no expectations, but really fell in love with the place.

It was the first time I was ever in a place where they drove on the other side of the road and the driver and passenger side are switched.

The two main languages are English and Maltese. I think one of the reasons I fell in love with the place is because everything is written in ENGLISH!! It has been very interesting to be in all these places where I cannot identify with the language. We passed by the American Embassy; I cannot tell you how wonderful it was to see the American flag flying above the beautiful building!

The picture above is of the Presidential Palace. I had a most interesting experience. I was walking by and a guard stopped me. I couldn't figure out what I had done wrong!! But, to my left, was the President of Malta!! He was about 2 feet away from me!!! He was going to his palace!

The whole island seemed so clean; the people take very good care of their country. My tour guide was in her 20s. She spoke of such emotion about WWII. Obviously, she was not yet born when WWII happened. However, there was a passion in her voice as she spoke of the era. According to her, Malta was the most bombarded place during WWII--over 3000 attacks. People lived in underground shelters for 2-3 years. They also lived in caves and catacombs! One of the reasons it was bombarded so much was because the British (Allies) were using it as a base and the Axis Powers wanted to destroy the island. If this is confusing to you now, it will all become clear when we study WWII in the spring.

I love this trip. It never would have occurred to me to visit Malta. My life is richer because of it.

Bye!

Glass factory in Malta

I went to a glass factory in Malta. I was able to see glass-making demonstrations and take pictures of the beautiful glass. I also visited a glass factory when I was in Russia; this was quite different. I will tell you stories when I get back. Aren't these unusual and pretty?

Yesterday in Malta

Below you will find pictures of the Mosta Dome in Malta. It was breathtakingly beautiful.

The people of Malta are 95% Roman Catholic. The picture of the bomb relates to the following story: On a Sunday morning during WWII, 300 people were attending mass. Axis Forces dropped bombs on Mosta Dome. Two hit the dome and landed elsewhere. One went right through the dome, it did not go off and no one was injured. The people of Malta refer to this as a miracle. When I get back, I will show you a picture I took of how the dome looked after the bomb had gone through it.

The bomb is large--approximately 3-4 feet long, about 1 1/2 feet in diameter.

Mosta Dome in Malta

Malta

To those who are commenting...

Thank you so much!! I am really enjoying your comments and it is making me feel so connected! I have written back to each of you...but my comments don't show up on a page like this. Instead, go to the day where you made a comment to me, click on comments--and you will find my responses!

Tuesday

Hello!
I am enjoying your comments!

Happy birthday, Allison--I hope you had a wonderful day:)

I can't believe I went to the other side of the world to ride a camel--and here they were giving camel rides at Eckerts????!!!!! (It is pretty fun, isn't it?!)

I am so glad to hear that some of you are watching shows about Egypt on tv. Is it the History Channel? National Geographic? Tell me what you learned!

I spent yesterday at sea. Every day has been SO busy; it felt very good to have a day of rest. I spent several hours typing my journal and going through photos.

Would you like to hear an interesting fact?? For safety reasons, in Egypt, we had our own body guard! He was always on our bus and escorted us to each place. (I never had my own body guard before!!)

In about an hour, I tour Malta. We arrived in port early this morning. The city looks beautiful. I will get to tour a place where local handicrafts are made: lace, ceramics, and knitting. I have a very interesting fact about the Mosta Dome which you will learn in class on Wednesday.

One week from today I will be back in the classroom. Get ready for lots of hugs!

Back to Egypt

Although I left here a few days ago, I wanted to send more photos of Egypt...

More Santorini photos, our guide, and olives

Santorini

Before I left, Dr. Chamberlain told me that no matter how beautiful the pictures of Santorini are, it is impossible to capture the beauty. You are right, Dr. C!

Students, I am not sure if I gave you the latitude and longitude coordinates of Santorini. If I didn't, please find them on a map and let me know!

I walked through lovely villages; the sidewalks are narrow with houses on both sides. The villages have no streets--just the sidewalks that were very steep. In one village, Nicholaus (our guide) told us stories of village life. There is no water; it has to brought up from below. The people of the village walk daily to the mini-market to buy their food for the day along with a bottle of water. He said one woman is 96--and still makes the daily walk. They only buy enough food to eat; they do not buy enough to have any leftovers. I walked through the mini-market. There were good looking fresh fruits and vegetables and a variety of cheeses. Of course, there is delicious-looking bread everywhere we go.

Adio!

Can you believe this?!

I took this picture looking straight down from my balcony on the ship--the water is so beautiful--I wanted you to see it:)

The fireplaces in the castle

Look how large this fireplace is! There was one of these in every single large room.

Although it was quite hot outside, the castle had open windows and remained pretty cool.

This castle had 156 bedrooms!!

Here is a mosaic of Medusa

This is found on the floor of the castle.

You will learn about Medusa with Mrs. Williamson later this year. I have been surprised at how often I have seen her in mosaics, paintings, statues, etc, since my trip began. Legends say she would offer protection by scaring off strangers.

The medieval castle

Today I was in Rhodes

Hello all!
I spent the day in Rhodes--and saw another site of an "Ancient Wonder of the World". You will learn more about it on Tuesday.

I also was in a medieval castle for the first time in my life. It was originally built in the 13th and 14th centuries. Each room had a gigantic fireplace--in fact, I estimate 10 people could stand inside of them.

There were beautiful mosaics and statues. Here is an interesting fact. If you look closely at the statues, often the head and body are a little different shade. That is because sculptors would make generic statues with no heads. Depending on who was ruling at the time, a person could purchase a "new head" and put it on the statue you already owned!

Enjoy the photos!

Hello from the Mediterranean

Good morning!

I received an email from Mrs. Likens that some of you were having trouble writing comments. I changed the settings; let's see if this will work better.

Have a great weekend!

The Nile River

This was the view from my hotel balcony last night. I have so many more photos--but I am supposed to be at dinner in 4 minutes--I have to run.

I am loving your comments:)

I am glad I can recognize images!

Thank goodness for images--or I may not have known what I drank for lunch today!

stone coffin from the catacombs

I have had such an incredible 48 hours.

We arrived in Alexandria, Egypt yesterday morning. We visited the catacombs which were underground tombs from around 200 AD (class--what does A. D. stand for?) We weren't able to take photos from underground, but once, again--I have some fabulous stories. I will post some photos I was able to take from outside the tombs.

The drive through Alexandria left me with a variety of emotions. I was sad that there was so much litter everywhere. (I am very proud that we value litter-free streets and do our best to help our environment.) I was VERY glad that I was not driving--there weren't lines in the streets--so drivers would make their own! Constant honking! I would see mini-vans with so many people--4-5 in the front two seats, at least 12 in the remaining seats! I saw one van that had the door taken off and two people hadtheir legs hanging out the door--and we were on a highway!!!

In the afternoon, we drove 3 hours to Cairo. I checked into a beautiful hotel; I had a balcony that looked over the Nile River!! Last night I went to the Egyptian Museum. O.M.G. I saw many mummies--their faces and arms (and sometimes, feet) exposed. I was very excited to see Ramses II. I was also excited to see the husband of Hatshepsut!! Then, I walked on--and there WAS HATSHEPSUT!!! I SAW HER!! And, of course, next--I saw the son. Hmmmmmm...
King Tut's exhibit nearly brought tears to my eyes. I saw HIS THRONE!! (You know--the one that is pictured in our book--the one where his wife is touching his shoulder) It is all gold and the colors and jewels are still vibrant. The picture in our book doesn't do it justice. I also saw his mask--the famous King Tut mask that covers our textbook. It was brilliant. It was also so very special to be in the museum at night. There were few people there; we had the museum to ourselves. We were able to have an Egyptologist with us explaining details and answering our questions.

Students--you have your "What Do I Know About Egypt" test on Monday. I already know how proud I am of you--you have learned so much!

I DID IT !!!!

CAN YOU BELIEVE IT??!!! Yes, I am riding a camel at the Pyramids--how amazing!!