Tag archives for Birthday
National Geographic Celebrates 125 Years
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January 13 marks the 125th anniversary of the National Geographic Society! Back in 1888, 33 men founded the Society at a meeting held at the Cosmos Club in Washington D.C. Since then, the National Geographic Society has grown to be one of the world’s largest scientific and educational organizations. To celebrate, we are planning events throughout the year, and will look back on all of the amazing discoveries and adventures, as well as look ahead to the exploration that is still to come!
How are you going to explore the world this year?
Learn more on our 125th anniversary page.
Meet National Geographic’s explorers in our interactive mural!
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Something very special happened on Monday, it was my birthday! It was an amazing week of fun and celebration in Montenegro. We stayed in Perast, an old stone fishing village. After my chocolate covered birthday croissant we visited the little island in the bay. It is a manmade island built on top of hundreds of ocean ships and rocks. We toured the beautiful church and museum in honor of the Blessed Mary. Later in the day we went on a magical sunset boat ride through the bay and into Porto Montenegro. The water was so still it’s almost like a lake, but it is FREEZING!
On Monday we climbed up the old walls to the top of Kotor, a nearby town and looked down upon the stunning city. We visited Sveti Stefan which is the quintessential picture of Montenegro. It was once a little fishing village but is now a five star resort where we had a wonderful lunch on the cliffs gazing at the sparkling ocean. Later we had an awesome swim in the Adriatic.
A few days later we saw six incredible bottle nose dolphins trained by the US Navy to search for sea mines and other explosives left over from the wars of Montenegro’s past. We were there for the last day of their mission and saw the dolphins put on a show. They did all kinds of tricks like playing catch, jumping through hoops, and sliding onto the boat.
In the next village we saw mosaics that dated back to 230 B.C. They were very detailed, one even had Hypnos the Greek God of dreams who watched over them while they slept and controlled their dreams.
During the week I became friends with a caramel colored stray kitten that I named Snuggles. On our last day there was another huge storm. The rain was pouring and when we were walking back home after dinner there was a gust of wind that I thought was going to blow us away. I felt like Dorothy in Wizard of Oz during the tornado. “Toto I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore.” Montenegro and my birthday were amazing!
Now that we are back in the USA things are a little bit different. Even though I miss the craziness of Asia, it is still nice to have people stop when you cross the street. The day we arrived was my grandma’s birthday so that night we had a little party with all the family. The very next day we meet with our close friends the Dahls from Seattle. We played with them at the park and went sledding down a turf hill on cardboard boxes.
Michigan is a lot colder than what I am used to in Santa Barbara, but most of the time the cold is fun especially when it is snowing. We went and did lots of fun things while we were back. We went bowling, and it was really fun! I actually got second place.
I baked cookies with my Aunt, and we met up with our friends, the Katz family, in the small town of Birmingham near where my grandparents live. The little white lights in the town were beautiful; it felt so much like Christmas. Finally on Christmas Eve we went to my aunt and uncle’s house for a family party. When we got home we put out the milk, cookies and even some carrots for Santa and the reindeer.
Namaste is the traditional Nepali greeting where they bow and put their hands together and to show respect. It always makes me smile. Our first stop in this beautiful country is Bhaktapur, an old village close to Kathmandu with amazing architectural buildings and stone streets. Our hotel here is great and the staff was beyond nice, especially Martin. Our first morning we drove up to the village of Nagorkot and saw the tip of Mt. Everest and other Himalayan mountains. It was amazing, the mountains were stunning!
For my 11th birthday we stayed in Udaipur. My parents surprised me with five nights at an old palace. When we went into our room there was another surprise… delicious cookies and a pretty view of the lake. That evening we had a fun family celebration and I got a couple of very nice gifts. I got a wooden camel from Everest and a soft blue scarf and a necklace from my mom and dad. After our little party we went and had a big Indian dinner. Later when we went back to our room there was yet another surprise… a birthday cake on my bedside table. It was a great birthday!
