Catch-Up

I cant believe how long it has been since I last posted! Well a catch-up of the past 8 months. We spend all summer in Canada with friends, and family. We went to Canadas Wonderland, U2 360 concert, and re-shingled my grandpas roof. We are now seltled back in Ghana after a wonderful long break. We have caught up in school pretty well. Next week in school we are having the big IOWA Testing. Then before we know it school will be finished and we will be on our way home for Christmas.

For our other holidays we travelled to Germany, Switzerland, and Austria. I had an amazing time and will post pictures. And for our upcoming holiday we will be going to Dubai. I am super excited about Dubai because we will be going on my 13th birthday!

I cant believe I am going to be 13! I can still remember 1st grade! I will be celebrating my birthday in Ghana and they day after my birthday we will depart to Dubai.

Well I am home sick right now some sort of throat infection so I will go now! I promise to post more often from now on!

Cape Town SA March 2011

Off to South Africa "My Vacation" since I had planned the whole trip. We were first of to our hotel right on the beach. The we went to the V&A Waterfront for dinner we ate dinner here every night. The next day we were off to the Two Oceans Aquarium and we saw some beautiful penguins and crazy fish. The we did a bunch of shopping at the V&A. Then we were off to Noordhoek to grab a yummy breakfast and the off to Cape Point and Cape Of Good Hope. Just so you know it is NOT the southern most tip of Africa it is Southern most western tip of Africa. There were great climbing spots and very scenic views. Some other great thing that we did was Robben Island South Africas Alcatraz. Table Mountain was and awesome thing the cable car ride up was so cool. We also went to some beach towns in the soulthern peninsula including Simons Town and Muzinburg. We also went to Jacobs Baai where we visited some South African friends who live in Ghana with us and were traveling at the same time as us. The top 10 things were:

1. Boulders Beach seeing penguins

2. Cape of Good Hope

3. Shopping and great food at the V&A Waterfront

4. Table Mountain

5. Lounging and relaxing by the beach

6. St. James tidal pool

7. Biltong

8. Hop on Hop off Bus

9. Camps Bay Beaches

10. Body boarding

Canada~ December

On december 28 we were of to Canada to visit family and friends. We hit the New York snow storm perfectly so my mom spent one extra day in Accra then did her 4 connecting flights and ended up in Elko. Carter Regan Dad and I werent so lucky we got stuckin Accra for 2 extra days then went to Ampsterdam (6 hours) Then a four hour stop in Amsterdam then to Detroit (9 hours) and 2 hour stop over in Detriot then (2 hours) to Toronto. So total we were in a plane of in a airport for 23 hours and a few flights delayed as well. Ater we got our rental car we drove to a meeting point were he was with my cosin. He took my brother and sister home and my cosin to a broaway show. We got to my aunt and uncles house at about midnight and i was so tierd. After one week my mom came back to Canada to spend the last week with us we did tons of shopping and a great food. We did tons of winter sports skiing, tubing, skating, hockey, and snowman building. It was great to see friend and family. The top ten things were:

1. SEEING COLD WEATHER

2. Seeing family and friends

3. Eating yummy food

4. Skating and skiing

5. Shopping

6. Broadway show

7. Getting my hair cut

8. Going to the dentist

9. Playing with Sambo (dog)

10. ALL

Egypt

In November we went to Egypt. We had a great holiday traveling to Luxor, and Cairo. We stayed at amazing hotels with INCREDIBLE views. We spent an equal amount of time in the pool and sightseeing. The one thing we didnt get was great food we didnt have the best food but not the worst. Here is how the vocation went. When we flew into Cairo we had some dificultys meeting our tour guide. Finallt, we met him andwe drove to our hotel. We got settled in and had a goods night rest. The next morning we went to the Memphis Museum. Then after the fog cleared up we went to the Pyramids. Then we rode camals at first it is very scary then by the time the ride is over you were just getting used to it. We went back to the hotel to go tothe light show. Thenfor the rest of the days we spent time doing activitys like this. I also pulled/tore a muscle in my upper inner thigh. I was walking around for 5 days in Egypt and 10 days in Ghana like a crippled person. I got many looks, stares, and questions. Even now I still have to be careful with it. My birthday also happened in Egypt. I had an awsome day we spent the whole day in the mall. Then for dinner we went on a cruise and had a great meal and entertainment. Even though I cried the whole time because of my leg pain I still was great. On our final day we went on a boat to Banana Island. There we saw baby crocodiles and an old fashion irrigation machine. Then we got to try Egyptian bananas. The we took the boat back to the main land and went to bed. The next day we went the airport and did customs and all that fun stuff and then we were on our way. We will have fun memorys in Egypt. Top 10:

1. The pools and pool-side service

2. The markets (yet sort of scary)

3. Our great tour-guide (even bought us ice-cream)

4. The Pyramids

5.Camel rides

6.Going to a MALL!!!

7.Normal food

8.Hot Air Balloon

9. The Nile boat ride

10. The vacation

Thats all sorry dont have pics yet but will get some soon!

Happy Halloween

I hope everyone has a great, coustume-filled, pumpkin-carving halloween. Here is a bit of halloween history:
Did you know that Halloween is one of the oldest holidays? It has gone through many changes, but it was originally a Celtic festival called Samhain, marking the end of harvesting and the begining of a new year. The druids believed that ghosts and spirits roamed the earth at this time, and they lit bonfires as protection.

When Romans took over the Celtic lands, they adapted the day to honor their own deities. One of these, Pomona, was the goddess of fruit and trees and was represented by an apple. This may be why we bob for apples today at halloween partys!

Eventually, the Roman Catholic Chuch adapted the day as All Saints', or All Hallows', Day, to honor saints who did not have a specific feast day of their own. The name gradually changed to Halloween.

The tradition of trick-or-treating dates to All Souls' Days parades in England. Villagers gave poor people "soul cakes" in return for prayers for their dead relatives.

In 1920's America, childern began going trick-or-treating in their neighborhoods. By this time, halloween lost all its religious meaning and became a holiday where people could don costumes and become, for one night, something fantastical. It also became an inexpensive way for communities to celebrate together.

Other countries have their celebrations at this time, but with different meanings. In Mexico people celebrate El Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead. Thisis a time to honor and celebrate the dead. Families clean and decorate their relatives' graves, and on the night of November 1, everyone meets at the graveyard. Traditionally, this is the time that spirits are believed to return to the land of the living.

Happy Halloween