Dancing In Plazas

At two places we have stayed on our trip, Merida and Chetumal, there have been dancers in the plazas. While we were in Chetumal there was a carnival at a plaza by the sea and a big stage where all ages of dancers showed off their moves and it was kind of fun.

In Merida (where we are right now) we went out for dinner in one of the many plazas and there was a stage that had a lot of different dance groups. A lot of the shows in Chetumal had people who were lip syncing and had crazy outfits on. The dancers in Merida were more traditional. One of the nights we were here a band was playing in a plaza close to our little house and there were lots of people dancing.

The first dance we saw in Merida

The Small Town Of Celestun

Flying Flamingos!

We stayed in Celestun for three nights and four days. While we were there we visited the beach a lot, which is covered with big shells along the ocean. We also went on a boat ride to see pink flamingos. On the ride to see the flamingos we saw lots of other birds in the water as well like a black eagle and some white pelicans. We saw a couple of patches of flamingos in the ocean and kept going to see mangroves.

The Walled City Campeche

A view from the walls

While we stayed in the city of Campeche we got to learn about its history and why they have parts of a giant wall around it. A long time ago in 1511 two men named Jeronimo de Aguilar and Gonzalo Guerrero shipwrecked on the Yucatan Peninsula. They were taken in by a Mayan village. Guerrero married the chief's daughter and stayed there while Jeronimo got rescued by the conquistador Hernan Cortes. Campeche wasn't very populated, but natives that lived in the rest of the Yucatan Peninsula could rebel the occasional attack by Spaniards. Later in 1527 Francisco de Montejo tried to conquer the region, but the Amerindian defenses were too strong so he fled. Three years later he returned with his son, yet again the Ameridians were too strong. At last on his third attempt in 1537 he was successful and de Montejo established the cities San Francisco de Campeche in 1540 and Merida in 1542. 

Casas del Arco Iris

While I was walking around the colorful town of San Cristobal de las Casas, I thought that it would be fun to make a rainbow collage with pictures of colored houses. On just one block I took a picture of each color but kept taking more so I had a variety. I chose these six for the arco iris and a few extra just for fun. I really like how there are so many different colors here and hope you enjoy them too.

A rainbow of houses

Pakals Tomb

The Palace

On Saturday we went to the ruins in Palenque and walked around for several hours. The ruins were really big and they had a lot of steep stairs so we got a good workout. The Mayans started building the city of Palenque in 100 BC and they flourished from around AD 630 to 740. Palenque is a good example of Mayan civilization. The big ruins that we visited are really cool, but they are not the only place you could find Mayan artifacts because the Mayan civilization was huge and there were villages and cities everywhere.

Exploring Palenque is a good way to learn more about Mayan civilization. It was a big city that is well preserved and has been extensively excavated by archeologists. The archeologists have made many good finds there including the discovery of Pakal who was Palenque’s greatest king.

They found his tomb in 1952 and it is considered one of the greatest Mayan archeologist finds. The Mayans buried valuable things with their leaders but over time people looted the tombs so archeologists didn’t have much to work from. Pakal’s tomb is unique because it was found completely intact.

Nadar en Mexico

The main spot where we would swim in the ocean

There have been a lot of good swimming spots that we have visited on our trip. We have been swimming in the Caribbean, under ground caves, a lake, and pools.

I prefer the Caribbean because there are a lot of  small waves and sometimes it's completely still. My brother and I like jumping into the waves and getting sucked under the water. The ocean here is different than it is back  home. First of all it's the Caribbean Sea and we live on the Pacific. It's also a bit warmer and the beaches are really white and the water is super blue.

The under ground caves were fun because they were super dark and little fish swam around your feet. The under ground caves are also called Cenotes and they have really long underground tunnels filled with water and sometimes bats. All of the little fish swim around and nibble on your feet. There are also some small turtles that you couldn't swim by in the Cenote we visited, which was the Gran Cenote outside of Tulum. The Cenotes are found in the Yucatan and used to be one of the main sources of water for the Mayans. 

Comida en Chetumal

The taco stand

We arrived in Chetumal two days ago and went for a walk around dinner time in search of food. We found a little taco stand that had amazing tacos. The taco stand was pretty nice for a small food stand--it had chairs in front with tables and a roof made with a tarp. It was kind of close to our hotel but we made it a longer walk since we didn't know about it yet.

Tulum Ruins

A view of the cove

While my family and I were staying in Tulum we visited some of the ruins that were by a beach. We rode there on bike then and stayed for a couple of hours. We saw a ton of black spiny tailed lizards everywhere because the ruins are perfect habitat for them (my brother did a blog post about these lizards). Towards the end of our visit we walked down to the beach that was in a little cove next to the ruins. Swimming was really fun and maybe even my favorite part of visiting the ruins. My mom and dad said that the Mayans picked a beautiful place to live and I think that I agree with them.

So Many Bikes

The house that we are staying at in Tulum came with some bikes so we have been biking around a lot. Most of the locals we have seen, and some tourists, ride bikes around. Some of the bikes have a big cart on the front and some people ride in it. Today we saw two little kids in a cart and an older kid (probably like 11) riding the bike. Some of the food vendors use the big work bikes to carry their things.

Tulum is a really nice place to bike because it is super flat and there are really nice bike paths. We have ridden to the beach a lot on the bike paths and it is really fun. I have seen two people on a bike at the same time riding down the street and it looks really uncomfortable. At night there are food vendors riding around by our house, honking a horn and it gets really annoying when you are trying to sleep.

When I was biking back from the beach today I took some pictures of the bikes we saw.

On The Road Again

Hola.

My family and I are on a trip in Mexico and will be travelling around the Yucatan and Chiapas for five weeks. I am really excited to be on another trip with my family. We arrived in Cancun on Monday 1/25/16 and stayed there for two nights. We ate most of our meals in Parque de las Palapas. The plaza had a ton of food vendors and a place where you could eat, there would also be a man or woman playing music. The last night we were there a lot of people started dancing. The food there was really good and some of the vendors sold delicious drinks like licuados (blended fruit, milk and ice) and agua frescas, including horchata and pina. Some of the foods I ate were enchiladas, quesadillas, soup, and burritos. My favorite was the quesadilla with papas, chorizo and queso on a homemade tortilla.

The delicious quesadillas

CHINESE NEW YEAR

my family.

On Saturday we went to the Chinese New Year parade in downtown San Francisco with our cousins and aunt. There were a lot of schools, bands, and dragons in the parade. I liked the dragons but it was kind of annoying when they would get really close to you and knock your hat off. A Chinese dragon usually means good luck and the longer it is the more luck it gives to the community.

It is now the year of the ram so there were some ram costumes in the bands and schools. I also liked the lion costumes and some of the dancers. It was a really long parade and we didn't get to watch it all because we got hungry.

The parade originally started in San Francisco in 1860. It was started by some Chinese immigrants who felt like they wanted some of their culture from their old home to be in there new home.

SF ART SHOW AT THE ASIAN ART MUESEUM

this is a really cool staff.

On Thursday we arrived in San Francisco and went to the Asian Art Museum for a student art show. We went there with our cousins and aunt and saw my little cousin's art piece. My little cousin Elsie did a Papel Picado.

There were really cool pieces of art mostly done by high school students. My favorites were Digital Medusa, an Anime picture, and a staff drawing. The art was presented by the Visual and Preforming Arts Department of the San Francisco Unified School District and the Asian Art Museum.

GRAND CANYON

Today my family and I went to the Grand Canyon and it was really snowy and cold. At the visitor center there was a lot of snow on the roofs of the buildings and it would occasionally  fall off. While we were there we walked along the rim of the canyon and it was scary because it was slippery. We were at 6860 feet and the bottom of the canyon was around 2500 feet, so that's a pretty far drop.

If we had been here around six million years ago we could have walked from rim to rim. The reason why you cant walk rim to rim anymore is because the Colorado river eroded it into a canyon. Each year the canyon continues to erode about the thickness of a piece of paper.

Since there is so much elevation change there are a lot of different habitats. The main habitats are forest on the rim, desert in the canyon, and river at the bottom. We were at the forest on the rim and while walking there we saw some birds, deer, and Ponderosa pine. Down in the desert you would probably find rattle snakes, lizards, and prickly pear cactus. In the river at the bottom you would see humpback chub, beavers, and great blue herons.

SINAGUA INDIANS!

The Sinagua are Indians who used to live in Verde Valley. Verde Valley is a place in Arizona near Sedona. They lived in Verde Valley during around 500 AD and 1425 AD. We visited Verde Valley and saw Montezuma castle which was one of many castles that the Sinagua people lived. The castle was built strategically so that they could have shade in the summer and so that they wouldn’t get flooded by Beaver creek. They built the castle on a cliff side that used to be a river but then eroded a big hole and turned into a creek. They would farm and hunt deer next to Beaver creek, the kind of things they would farm were cotton, corn, yucca, and agave. They used yucca and agave to make sandals, rope, and rugs.

BIKING IS FUN!!!!!!!!!!

My family and I are in Sedona. We are going to be here for five days and there are lots of mountain bike trails that we are excited to explore.

Today we went on a really fun mountain biking trail around Mescal mountain. I thought the trail was really fun because there were a lot of rocks on the trail and some fun down hill. There were also a few challenging parts where we all walked our bikes. The rocks around here are really red and the soil is too. Yesterday we tried out a trail that was near  where we are staying but it was pretty hard for us.

Riding here is really different from riding on the coast where we live. On the coast there aren't as many big rocks and the trails are smooth. Here in Sedona there are a lot of trails that start in town, but on the coast there aren't as many trails. Sometimes my dad and I go to Annandale in Santa Rosa for a mountain biking trip.In Annandale the trails are a lot like this but a little less crazy.

I am really looking forward to doing more biking here.

I'M BACK:)OMG

Hello everybody!

I haven't posted for a while because I have been busy, but now my family and I are on a road trip through the California desert and Arizona and I thought that I would start writing again. We recently spent several days in Death Valley. Death Valley is the hottest place on earth. We went during the winter so it was only in the eighties, but that was plenty hot for me. In the early 1900's it was recorded to be 134 degrees. During the summer the ground can get to 200 degrees.

A dust storm that happened our last night.

Home Sweet Home

We're home. YAY. We arrived in San Francisco after a really long airplane ride. When we got home I thought it was a lot different than I remembered. It seemed like we had a bunch of stuff since we had traveled so lightly. Also, some of the places we went to were not as wealthy as the Estados Unidos (United States) so people didn't have as many things as we do. Most of the time the places we stayed had a small kitchen but at home we have a big kitchen. The food was also different. There wasn't any Mexican food and if you ordered a plain hot dog they would think you are a crazy person because usually you would get it with tomatoes and avocado. They also had a lot of stands where you could buy just french fries and a topping.

I am glad to be back home and reunited with my LEGOS and friends. Some of our land has changed and here are some pictures.

Pop Art

When we were at a supermercado I saw some cereal boxes with pictures that I liked. I took some photos and then I drew them into pop art.

Fun at the Husky Farm

For the last few weeks of our trip we decided to go on a two week road trip in southern Chile. We went to Caburgua, Entre Lagos, and Villarica. It was a fun trip where we got to go swimming, go to waterfalls, and see Volcanoes. When we were in Villarica we went to a Husky Farm where we rented a cabin.

When we arrived at the Husky Farm all 51 dogs started barking and howling at us. We stayed at the farm for four days and on the first day we went on the adventure trail which was quite an adventure as we accidentally stepped on a wasp's nest. My brother and I ran ahead on the trail and hid from our parents but then they discovered the nest. They started running and my brother and I thought they were running from us but they weren’t. When we were chasing them we finally figured out that there were wasps. 

Slingshot Science

My brother and I got some slingshots from a small booth at these waterfalls called Salto del Lajo.  When we first got the slingshots we were okay at shooting them but we’ve gotten better. We have practiced our sling shots by shooting fence posts and trees. One time a woman asked us if we were going to shoot birds and I said “yes” because I didn’t quite understand what she was asking. Then she talked to my mom and we realized that she was asking if we were going to shoot birds, when we said “no” she was glad to hear that. Today we decided to do some science by shooting our slingshots using different materials.

I like Volcanoes

Volcan Villarica

We are currently traveling in the lakes district of Chile and there are a lot of volcanoes. We stayed in a cabana in the town of Caburgua and had a great view of Volcan Villarica. Volcan Villarica is 2847 meters above sea level and is one of only four volcanoes in the world with an active lava lake. In the Region de la Araucania there are seven major volcanoes. Most of these volcanoes are still active. In 2009 Volcan Llaima erupted for three months. While Volcan Llaima was still erupting, its lava flow melted a giant glacier on its west slope. We saw evacuation routes in case Volcan Villarica erupts.