Tag archives for Swimming
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Our next stop Dubrovnik, Croatia started with a surprise. Aunt Julie came to visit! Dubrovnik is one of the most beautiful cities in the world. The weather was super warm for October so we swam in the Adriatic Sea every single day. My favorite swim was deep into a spooky sea cave full of birds and other creepy critters.
We pulled into the Recife bus station missing our amazing surfer buddies and then we meet Carlos, another amazing friend. He was an exchange student with my cousins a few years ago. My Cousin Kayla’s family owns a farm in Indiana so he learned to speak English and all about agriculture. Carlos met us at the bus station and drove us back to his family home. His mom and step dad then moved out of their master suite so we could be comfortable.
In the afternoon his step father took time off work to take us on a tour of the city. We started with the oldest jail in Brazil; all the cells are now little shops. Next we went down to the waterfront to see the new cruise ship dock. They are preparing for the World Cup and the Olympics here too. Later we went to the old city that is more than 500 years old.
Oh no, the bus is sold out! There isn’t another bus until tomorrow. What are we going to do?
About 15 minutes later we found a bus that would take us to another station, where we would take a bus to a ferry terminal, where we would take a ferry to Salvador, so we hopped on. About 17 hours later a protest took place on the highway and we waited for hours until we realized they weren’t going anywhere, so we then drove to a nearby bus station where we sat and waited some more. A bunch of people got sick including Everest so we named the bus “the vomit comet.” Then they told us we would have to sleep on the bus one more night.
When we finally arrived at the bus stop the next morning we were all VERY happy. We had more moving and grooving to do but we were finally in Salvador de Bahia on our way to Basso in Santa Teresa.
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We arrived in the city of color and samba, Rio de Janeiro, with our eyes wide open. Our home the first three nights was Bossa, in the historic part of town called Santa Teresa. We spent our days exploring the city and taking in all the sites. We started with two huge landmarks Sugar Loaf (the big rock in the pictures of Rio) and Christ the Redeemer, both were incredible. I have seen pictures of this giant statue my whole life so standing there next to him was truly amazing.
We crossed an amazing suspension bridge from Argentina to Paraguay with one more stamp in our passports.
It was a rainy morning when we arrived at the Trinidad Jesuit Mission. The ruins of the church were spectacular and there were beautiful remains of living areas as well. The Jesuits set up a type of living for the native Guarani people that was very communal. Each family was given a small home and the children were schooled. There was a big central plaza with the main church, a hospital, a coligio which housed the priest and also contained art workshops, and the cabildo which was where the Guarani’s chosen leader lived. The food was shared equally between every one. The missions were growing throughout Paraguay and Argentina but in 1641 an army of 3000 slave traders took over and there was an abrupt end to the Jesuit Missions. Many years after the missions had been buried in to the earth they were discovered and found in great condition, especially considering they were almost 400 years old. Well that was my history lesson for the day.
Posted by Thanks to everyone who is following the blog and leaving comments and questions! luckstomper: The largest animal we saw on the Mastic Trail were parrots. When we were visiting the Iguana Sanctuary, we observed the iguanas and took photos, but we didn’t touch them. zanes brother: Our hotel is right on the beach and has an awesome pool that we LOVE. There’s a coral reef right off shore, and we all love our rooms!
Maddie: MaddiesDad: I saw fish and corals from above the submarine. I can’t remember what kinds of fish I saw and not much about how they looked. My favorite activity so far was when we went snorkeling. I saw so much cool fish.
Aunt Gigi: The most amazing sight so far was the sea turtles at the turtle farm. I saw babies too. I’m going back tomorrow when we are going to hold the turtles. The activities I’m most looking forward to are the turtle farm and when we are going to a different island. The submarine ride already passed but that was one of the activities I was excited about. I also really liked the blue iguanas.
My favorite part of the day was Stingray City. I loved the smooth, soft texture of the stingrays. Someone told me they were slimy at an aquarium I went to, so I was nervous to touch one until today. They weren’t slimy at all.
We’ve Arrived on Grand Cayman!
We’ve arrived on Grand Cayman, but we are still waiting for four team members to get to the hotel. They were on later flights. Meanwhile, eleven of us want to share our first impressions of this beautiful island.
Photograph by Dan Westergren
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Posted by BOOK NAME: Sports Camp
AUTHOR:
Rich Wallace
How was your summer? I know mine was great…especially with all of my books. This book is a great to read during the summer, especially if you’re at camp, because it’s about a summer camp.
If you like sports, then this is the perfect book for you. The kids Camp Olympia split into six cabins and those are the teams for the tournaments during the camp. The main events are Basketball, Softball and Water Polo. Riley’s an underdog and definitely not a star. But in one of the sports he comes up big.
The swimming and water polo events take place at Lake Surprise. It’s called Lake Surprise because Big Joe the snapping turtle lives there. There are rumors that Big Joe, has attacked and even killed people at the lake.
At the end of every chapter there’s a bulletin page for the camp, which is the daily news for the camp. It shows the results for the sports and the scores and a list of upcoming events and sometimes new rules.
I really hope you get this book and enjoy it. It took me less than two days to read, so it’s a good book if you’re looking for a quick read.
