Zip Lining & Strawberry Heaven

Boquete, Panama - December 28, 2012

Today started in a bumpy truck. We took a very bumpy truck up the mountain to get to the tippy top. 

 

The truck made me feel nervous. We were gonna to zip lining. I have done it before but never on the tippy top of a mountain. The truck reminded me of the truck we took when going paddle boarding. I was so scared about falling or breaking a leg I did not know if I was truly ready. Going on really big bumps were not helping either. Finally I got to the top of the mountain I was in my harness and helmet and ready to go. 

What was I thinking I was not really going to do this. I could die. Sadly I was already buckled and all it took was one big push and that's what the guide gave me. I went flying from tree to tree. 

I went to fourteen different trees. I bumped my foot in some of the trees but I did not care. This was awesome. We were four hundred feet above the ground. The trees were beautiful. 

    

I had to stay four hundred feet above the ground on a log and had to stay for about 10 minutes. It was over before I could know it. I wanted to go again. I was so sad it was over but all the good news was not over. 

Next we went to the chocolate strawberry shop. I had the best chocolate strawberry. They were delicious. 

Now it was all over.  I wish I could do it again. 

Paddle Boarding with my Family

December 25, 2012 - Pedasi, Panama

Today I went paddle boarding. It all started in a bumpy truck. So first we hopped in the back of an old truck and went on a bumpy track to get to the side of the beach were the waves are not so big.  I did not know if I really wanted to go paddle boarding.  I was scared of jelly fish or stingrays. 

Well I decided to go in.  I was in Panama beach with my family and I knew if I did not go I would regret it. 




Now it was time to hop on my board and paddle in the water. I have done it before so standing was easy but the best part was going on the waves. The waves were nice and smooth but the water was cold. ICE COLD! 

I did do it but I was not the only one.  My family got the hang of it pretty quickly too.  I did not see fish because I did not even bother looking down. I was scared to see sharks. 

Now it was time to go.  But it's not fair I wanted to stay longer.  I guess I was scared but I did it when I had full support from my family. Paddle boarding is really a blast.  But it's so much better with my family. 



Sadly that was over, but it now gets better.  Next we went to jump waves.  It all started with a cold splash on my feet.  Just when I thought I was relaxed it hit me, literally.  It hit me the big wave over my head.  It got in my nose and in my mouth, yuck!  But from that one wave we could not stop.  We ended up doing about 100 waves. 

When I came out I was bruised and all full of rashes but I would not stop I kept on going.  Well, I guess the day can not get better than this. 








Don't take my word for it because now we are going to dinner and I think I am going to have a huge ICE CREAM!  Maybe the day can get better.  I also get to see my baby cousins. 

I would give you more information on them but just look at these pictures of them. They will describe more than I can. This really was a great day.

 

Surfing Up & Diving Down

Maui, Hawaii - November 15, 2012

Today we first walked down to the beach.  My hair was down loose. I was in my bathing suit and ready to surf.  The man from the beach said there could be sharks, so I decided to do an activity closer to shore and on bigger waves. 

I took a boogie board and went to the spot with the biggest and largest waves. I'm not going to lie ... the truth is that I stink.  A man came to help me and soon enough I was on my own surfing up.  Sadly one of the waves went to high and knocked me off.  I was under the water for what seemed like 2 minutes.  I felt like I was drowning. But I did not give up

It was smart not to give up because I soon made a friend.  Her name was Abbey. Together we became really good. I'm not scared any more and I'm definitely going back tomorrow. 

Next we hopped in the car and were on our way to our next adventure. We saw many things including sugar cane and wing meals. The view of the mountain was incredible too. The mountains looked like glaciers.  They were so steep.  Finally opening my eyes I saw a submarine store. We waited in line and hopped on a boat. 

The boat was white and big. The man on the boat showed us some gears encase fires on the submarine. Then there it was ... rising from underwater ... a submarine. The submarine  came up like and airplane it started from the back. 

We hopped on from the roof and took stairs down. 

The submarine was so cool under water at first we only saw water but that's because we were only 5 feet deep,  The next minute I turned my head and we were 130 feet deep. Under the water we saw many fish from puffer fish and many schools of fish. We also saw trumpet fish, yellow fish, black fish. And what seemed like rocks to me were actually coral. Some pieces of coral even looked like mash potatoes. 

We even saw a humuhumunukunukuapua'a, the state fish of Hawaii.  How is that for a funny name?

Now it's time for me to tell you my favorite. When we got really deep everything changed colors. Pink was purple and skin was blue and teeth were pink. 

Sadly the ship went back up to the top and our adventure was over.

Understanding Pearl Harbor

Honolulu, Hawai'i - November 13, 2012

Today we went to Pearl Harbor.  Pearl Harbor is as a small harbor next to the city - Pearl City.  Pearl Harbor got a surprise attack from Japan.  But that was a long time ago.  

Japan attacked on December 7, 1941.  Thousands of people died and many battleships sunk.  The United States Navy was able to recover all the battleships that were bombed and rebuild them, except for three. 

The three that were not recovered were Oklahoma, Utah and Arizona. There are more than 800 people who are still inside the ship of Arizona.  In total more than 2400 people died. 

There is now a memorial on top of where the ship sank. Sadly, the ship sank with the people inside. Those people were heroes for risking their lives. 

Learning all this made me feel sad. 

Aloha from the Polynesian Center

Honolulu, Hawai'i - November 12, 2012

Today we went to the Polynesian center.  The Polynesia center is a center were they build small replicas of each of the major Polynesian islands. 

The first island we went to was Aotearoa.   Aotearoa is the Maori was to say New Zealand.  In Aotearoa their main culture is Maori.

The Maoris play with sticks and toss them back and forth for there brain muscles. We even got to try playing with the bamboo sticks it was very fun and hard at the same time.  

 

Next we played with Poi Balls. Poi balls are Maori instruments that are used for dancing and are balls on strings filled with rocks. I apparently was not so good with poi balls. 

The next Polynesian culture we went to visit was Samoa.  Samoa was my favorite.  The Samoan people have very strong feet.  One Samoan stepped on fire. OUCH!

In Samoa, the man cooks all the meals. The men cook many different ways. The way they get coconut milk is by squeezing the coconut meat.  They shred the white coconut meat with a knife and then they squeeze until milk comes out.  But first they have to climb a tree to get the coconut.

Now you might be wondering what the women do, the women weave and sew. The women sew but all out of nature they use leaves and sticks. 

After we went to Fiji. The people in Fiji usually wear sarongs and play bamboo instruments. 

Next we went to Tonga.  In Tonga, houses are made from mats.  In Tonga when the boy is 16 they are kicked out and the girls bet there own room. In Tonga the parents are most respected. In Tonga the more mats you have the more rich you are. 

Finally we went to is Hawaii. Hawaii is well spirited and there traditional word aloha which means greetings, hello and goodbye.  It's a little like shalom in Hebrew. We also learned the hula dance.  It was fun.

Well I think it's time to go. 

Aloha