Julia's Birthday

Guest Blogger: Brennan Edwards (Sarah's Boyfriend)

Julia's birthday!!!!!!!!!!! It was quite fantastic if I do say so myself. I was not present at the amazing event BUT I am well assured that it was memorable! I mean, who all gets to have a birthday on a CRUISE BOAT?!...SHIP (Sarah was insistant...). Anyway there were lots of happy birthdays and singings and food eating. Julia was thrilled because she got to paint pots. I remember back in middle school in my art class painting pots, those were my favorite classes. Nostalgia haunts me sometimes... So there were a lot of festivities such as swimming, eating, and free cake! Seriously, who doesn't like free cake? ON A CRUISE SHIP!!!!!!!!!!!!! Man, it definitely sounds like a great time...blows my mind wide open like the throttle in a race car. Well I hope this is sufficient for all of those followers out there, considering I am neither A. an immediate part of the Passey family or B. on the ship. I hope all of you faithful followers keep it real and have a fantastic day!

Back to the Basics

Cruise update: Days 3 & 4

David has a way of distilling any matter to it's relevent and essential core and then phrasing his perceptions in unforgettable ways. This is what he said about our two days at sea:

"I feel like I have regressed to my infancy.
I wake up.
I eat.
I take a morning nap.
I eat.
I take an afternoon nap.
I eat.
I lie on my back and look at the sky.
I go to bed.
Fortunately, I'm not in diapers."

Tomorrow, Cairo.

Rome in a Day

How to do Rome in six hours...hmmmm. With 2800 years of history, 900+ churches, 946 square miles of art, architecture, majesty, and wonders where here does one start? With the African street vendors of course. You would not believe what you can buy on the street corner in front of the subway station. Vouis Vutton bags, Cucci belts, Golci and Bagnaba wallets, genuine fake Rolexs. Apparently knock-off designer sunglasses were the number one priority for the Passeys. Fortunately we got that handled in the first 15 minutes and were freed up for the lesser attractions like the Colisseum: the Forum: the Capital:the Vatican and St Peters:the Trevi Fountain:

and finally, and most importantly Gelatto:
Three scoops each--Blue Ice heaven in the Eternal City.

End of Day 2.

Spring Break Review--Day 1

Guest Blogger: Matthew Passey

"Right now I am typing about what I am doing. I don't want to be typing but I got bribed. My mom said I could have some DS time every day if I did--except Sunday of course. Here I go.

On the first day of travel we left the house SUPER early so we could get to the airport. Then we got on a plane and flew to Milan. Then we got in a shuttle to the train station. When we got off the train in Savona we took a taxi to the boat. It took FOREVER to get on the boat so Julia and I went to a playground and "refurbished" some playhouses. When we finally got on the boat we explored our rooms, went to the buffet, and then went to the pool. At the pool we met two French kids named Hugo and Marie who were very nice to us but their English was not very good. After that we went to dinner then to bed. End of Day 1."

Guest Blogger #2: Julia Passey

"When we got on the boat we went to our room. It is so cool. There are two beds hanging from the ceiling. Those beds are Matt's and mine. They are really scary but they are still really cool. Then after walking around the boat, which by the way did I mention is big, we went to the pool and met Hugo and Marie. Then we went to dinner. It was so good. I had potatoes, pork, salad and chocolate ice cream. I am not kidding, it was really good. Then we went to bed--ZzZzZzZz.

Transportation that we used:

A car,

a plane,

a bus,

a train,

a cab,

then the boat."

Home Again, home again...

Sometimes life is just too surreal to process properly. Volcanoes erupting in Iceland, for instance. It is not even that big of a volcano, and it has the entire continent of Europe, and by association, the rest of the world in upheaval. I just got off the phone with the Elementary School secretary. There are 17 teachers out today. Matthew's teacher is in Uganda. The middle school principal is stuck in Ireland, and the secretary is in Canada. I don't know who is going to run that place. Sarah's biology teacher is trapped in Nairobi. Benjamin's chemistry teacher is still in Togo with the 20+ kids that have spent the last two weeks working at a small school in the remote countryside. You've got to know those kids want to be home. Togo is not known for it's fabulous cuisine or potable water. Sarah's calculus class will have a grand total of 3 kids in attendance today. Everyone else is stuck in the far flung regions of the world--except for her boyfriend. He is getting ready to have gallbladder surgery. See, I told you things were pretty surreal.
We had a fabulous spring break in the eastern Mediterranean and after two great weeks were pretty ready to get home. Fortunately we had rented cars in advance of our trip, so that when our flight from Milan back to Brussels was cancelled we had no problem extending our rental period and driving home from Italy. There are currently no rental cars available in Europe. That was a blessing for which we are greatful.
This is the surreal part: the Italian rental car company has no partners in Belgium, so we now have to drive the cars (yup, 2 cars--there wasn't a car big enough to fit all seven of us--not a problem for a two hour drive--bigger problem for 2 twelve hour drives) back to Italy and hope our rebooked flight leaves as scheduled.
This may not be the most ideal arrangement, but like I told Sarah last year when gallbladder boy was in the hospital with Malaria over prom weekend, "Yeah, I know it stinks, but it makes a great story."

Bias

I was talking to one of the sixth grade teachers at school the other day about writing. She told me about a unit they are doing on persuasive writing. As part of the unit, the class looks at bias in news reporting. The kids learn how to identify examples of bias in the articles and really examine what constitutes objectivity and balanced reporting. As part of the exercise, they take a series of articles and rate them according to their levels of objectivity and bias. The teacher related a surprising discovery. All of the kids were able to identify the article that presented the most objective treatment of the subject. They were also able to identify which articles were biased and what the author's goal was in presenting the facts in a less than balanced way. So far, so good. But here is the really interesting part. When the teacher asked the kids which article they most trusted and would choose if they needed information on the subject, almost all of the kids chose the biased article that most closely supported their own point of view. They rejected the article that they themselves had determined to be the most objective in favor of the one that affirmed their personal beliefs. Hhhhmmmmmm. Wow, that explains some things. Like the popularity of left/right wing talk shows,talking heads, and my firm belief that butter, sugar, and cream--prepared properly--is actually good for you. As early as sixth grade, we don't want truth--we just want to be right.

14 Year Old Girls

I was looking through the pictures on my camera last night, and sandwiched in between Budapest and Benjamin's Rugby pictures I was suprised to find this collection. You kind of have to watch for a minute or two to get the full effect:



This was for an English project and it just made me laugh. One of the better surprise discoveries on my camera. Much better than 30 shots of the latest episode of Pokemon. So enjoy her moment. I wish adult assignments required hour in the sun with 20 pair of sunglasses. Documentation optional.