November 19th - Turkey run

Graeme, we recently spent two weeks travelling through Turkey by car. What did you think of the trip?

It was fun, and it was boring.

 What things did you see?

In Capadoccia we climbed a really big house but it was made out of caves. The Christians and the Romans were against each other and the Christians ran away from the Romans and they found a whole bunch of caves and they said “This looks like a nice spot so how about we stay here so the Romans can’t find us?” and our family- we stayed in a cave that was warm and protected from bullets and bombs. I remember the puppies. We saw two baby puppies and we saw a momma puppy. We got to go in an underground city- there is a whole bunch of caves and the underground city was in Capadoccia. There was a tunnel and it was dark and you could go in there only if you have a light.

We got there by car.

Where else did we go?

In Troy we saw a big pile of rocks, but they weren’t just a big pile of rocks, it was also ruined and you got to see the leftovers of all the houses and we got to climb in a big horse that you could go in two levels.

What was special about that horse?

What was special about that horse was that some people – the Greeks built that horse and they um went to the castle and said we want to be friends with you and so we’ll give you this big horse. And they wheeled it in with big wheels, and it had huge wheels, then they left it outside of the castle and then in the middle of the night they all the soldiers jumped out of the horse and then they attacked the king and took over the city and got everybody killed except the Greeks.

Where else did we go?

Istanbul- I forgot what we see in Istanbul. We got to see a blue Mosque and a blue mosque is where some people sing to remind people to pray to God every day, five times.

What is interesting about those Mosques and that God?

That religion is Muslim. The Muslims are people that live there and they pray five times a day and there is a big square building. That big square building is where – I forget.

What else can you tell me about the Muslims?

They read the Koran in the Mosque. There is a Kaaba in Saudi Arabia and we are not allowed to go there and you can only go there if you work there (or if you’re Muslim of course) and you go around the Kaaba seven times and you go between the mountains seven times and you drink from a well and that is called the Hajj and you sacrifice an animal and that is called the Hajj. That’s all I want to tell you about that, yeah- that’s it.

Okay- What else did we see in Istanbul?

The security guard gave me a toy that you take a rope and wrap it around the ball and you throw it down and when it’s right side up then you put it on the ground and then you can do it again (A combination of yo-yo and spinning top) We also saw and interesting part of the city called a Cistern. The Cistern, what it was famous for was it held like two thousand gallons of water. We dressed up like a Sultan and we got our picture taken in the Cistern. We went and found Medussa’s head and one was upside down and one was sideways.  Who was Medussa? Medussa was in a movie and if you looked at her you would turn to stone.

Tell me about the palace that we saw.

We got to see the cool part of the palace was there was a whole bunch of swords and an axe and there was a really big sword for the horses and if the horses will run into guys and the guys will get killed by the sword. And we saw jewelry and it was very pretty, and the king was lucky cause he got to see a view of the Ocean.

Do you want to talk about anything else?

We stayed in a 5-star hotel and it had a pool at the lowest floor (editor note: off season rates!) and we got to stay in a fancy room and we got to eat at the hotel cause they had a café and also a place where my Mom could work and they have internet. We went swimming a lot and for the last one we got to swim for two hours. I practiced the survival float and treading water and my Dad I let him throw me in the pool which is the ‘funnest’ thing. And Mom gave me a Turkish Bath and we sneaked in and it was free and my Mom showed me what it was like. It costs a lot to take a Turkish bath cause it’s like 60 Euro’s, and my Dad knows how to speak Turkish but not very much. 

Q and A: October 31, 2011

Where are we now?

We are in Istanbul.  There are a whole bunch of buildings here.  I saw the Blue Mosque.

Can you tell me about what you saw today?

We were in the car for 4 hours and it was really boring.  Then we finally arrived in Istanbul and we got here by a ferry.  We saw a bunch of buildings that were tall and short. 

What is the best thing about Turkey?

We got to go in a horse.  It was big and there are two floors and big stairs to get on. 

What do you like least about Turkey?

The thing I dont like about Turkey is that there is the evil eye.  It makes you feel like you are sick and your tummy doesnt feel good.  You have to go to someone who knows the code to get rid of the evil eye.  It isnt a big deal, but Aethan is a little worried about it because of his blue eyes.  The one who has the lightest blue eyes is the most likely to get it.

What are you learning in school? 

I am learning that our trip is a school trip.  We have been working on clocks to tell time.  Me and dad, he tells us to get out the books (you might laugh about this, but we do not have a real bell), and then we do school until the afternoon.  When daddy says I am done, I get to ride new bike.  It is new, and it is red.  I need a key to open my bike lock. 

What do you hear right now?

I hear a guy from a minerett.  It is when you pray, but if you go you have to take off your shoes.  It sounds nice.  During school, it is distracts us from school, which makes us want to ride on bikes.

September 22

What are all the cool things you have seen in the past month?

Graeme: I've seen a bunch of sea turtles - I fell on top of one once too (Fell off the town dock...) We saw a volcanoe called strawbowli (Stromboli in Italy). I swimmed in lots of places and even saw an underground city (Near Naples) Daddy dragged us behind the dinghy, we held a rope; it was fun.

In School now:

I am learning how to read - I can read "Miss", and I know how to count to three in Greek - Uno, Vria, Trea (sp?) and I love eating Gyro's - they are the best food. I don't like Baklava though. :( 

What is your favorite thing to do in Greece?

Graeme: I like sailing in the 'bumps' cause you feel like you're flying. And I get to learn about the world... I got to see Rome and it takes a long train ride to get to Rome. I liked the pizza in Italy too. We saw a colleseum.

Do you miss anything from home?

Graeme: I miss all my friends; I miss all my friends at school and in my neighborhood. I hope they are all doing well. I have some new shorts from Pam. I also miss Mammo, and Kellen and Lilly, the triplets and Caitlin and Caroline and my teachers Ms. Virginia and Mr. Wagner. And I miss my Gramma and Grampa and Uncle Layne and Uncle Rod and Aunt Ruth and Uncle Dave and Aunt Meg and all the rest of them...

What are you looking forward to?

I am looking forward to going to bed and then waking up and having breakfast and then just walk around and do some swimming with my new boogie boards and maybe going sailing

18 August: My world this week

Yesteray we went to Rome.  It was really fun.  We saw a bunch of monuments.  We saw the colleseum and got to see where the galdiators fight lions and all those stuff.  I would like to be a Roman.  Romans get to have slaves to do all their work.  If I had a slave right now, I would tell them to fix our house up and make it nice.  I would also tell my slave to beat Aethan up (but only hurt him just a little).  We also saw a statue of Romulus and Remus.  They are kids that drank milk from a she-wolf.  Romulus was important because he invented a new city, Rome.

We talked about a pretend Roman kid named Graemicus.  He lived 2000 years ago in Rome.  We pretended to go back in time to see how Gramicus lived.  We wanted to tell him about iPads and TV, too, that we have in our life.  Graemicus had slaves to take care of him while his mom went to the forum to shop.  He lived in a house much like ours on Palatine Hill (where the rich people lived).  For fun, Graemicus liked to go to the chariot races and go to the colleseum to watch the circus and the animals there.  Graemicus' mom made him go home before the people got killed.

We saw the Pantheon.  It had a hole in the middle of the ceiling, that is where the fresh air and light comes into the big room.  There were no poles to hold up the roof and the weight of itself holds itself up.

We saw one more thing.  There was another temple with a hole in the ceiling.  

We took a bus, a train, and a subway to get to Rome.  It was a long day.  

07 July: Gibraltar

The thing I saw today were yellow airplanes that were picking up water and then dropping them on the big fire.  The big fire was near the marina in Gibraltar.  There were big tankers when we pulled into the marina in Gibraltar.

I like to stay on an anchor better than staying in marinas because there is no body around  and we can blow up the dinghy.  Marinas have too many people.  We have not yet blown up the dinghy, but dad says we will soon.