Feliz Cumpleaños Lucia

Yesterday we celebrated Lucia's 6th birthday. She had a great day at camp, they even made her a cake! More cake when we got home too. She misses her entire family. We still  had a great day!

L - LOVEABLE

U - UNIQUE

C - Compassionate

 I - ILLUMINATING

A - AMAZING in every way...

Eduardo's Finca (Eduardo's Farm)

La Fiesta, Muchas Gracias!

Eduardo's Finca (farm) has many Interesting things to do! We fished, we hiked, we, held chicks and eggs... It was an amazing experience! 

My sister Lucia had to go home early in Ms. Elizabeth's car. I got to ride in the back of Ms. Cinthya's pickup truck! 

Eduardo's mother Doña Gisselle lives across the river. She made a delicious and traditional lunch for us. She served rice, black beans, chicken, greens, starfruit and pineapple! We also got to eat the fish we caught. DELICIOUS!!!

Piglet... obviously.

Ella and the egg.

Ella and the 'adorable' chick.

Me holding a baby chicken.

From Swinging to Swimming

Our first adventure, Climb Nosara, a freestanding climbing tower near Del Mar Academy. I challenged myself to reach the top twice, telling myself "USE YOUR CORE! USE YOUR CORE!" Our guide Steve harnessed us up. We drove in Ms. Elizabeth's car down the dusty road to Playa Pelada. I got the privilege to spend some quality time with Ms. Elizabeth walking along the beach, sharing thoughts and taking in the salty ocean breeze. I observed a rock covered in hermit crabs and another shaped like a whale. Our pleasant beach outing was followed by a delicious lunch at the Harbor Reef Hotel.

Lucia, just hanging around.

Ella, determined to reach the top!

What goes up, must come down!

Playa Pelada

Natural Wonders - Blowholes

Pura Vida!

Mala Noche Waterfall, Nosara Costa Rica

Today was my first day at Nosara Day Camp! It is run by two women named Ms. Elizabeth and Ms. Cinthya. I did not want to go at first, but I learned to like it. I climbed a waterfall, roasted marshmallows and un perro caliente (a hot dog). I helped the smaller children complete the hike. It is dry season in Nosara, so the river was low. A little boy named Max fell asleep on my lap on the way back to the Harbor Reef Hotel. It was an exciting and adventurous day in the jungle of Nosara!

Walking through the meadow on our way to Mala Noche.

There were tons of rivers and streams coming from the waterfall.

Mala Noche Waterfall

We climbed the waterfall to a higher spot.

Ella jumped in!

The Exhilarating Expedition

I woke up at three in the morning to find my sister’s pointy knees in my stomach and her voice in my ear. “ MARLEY, ITS TIME TO WAKE UP AND IF YOU STAY IN BED WE’LL MISS THE PLANE AND MAMA AND PAPA WILL BE REALLY MAD AT YOUUU!!!” yelled my smallest sister Lucia, and then she sank her tiny little fist into my stomach. I groaned and rolled over, it felt like I had only been asleep for a minute when in reality I had been asleep for many, many hours.

After a while a car came to pick us up and drive us to the airport. We stood outside the airport as our baggage was unloaded from the black car. The night air was frigid on my tired face. I could see my breath in the cold night air. We entered the thankfully warmer airport and checked in our bags. Then we went through security and sat on a bench so my parents could get a snack. Then we set off for our gate. 

I boarded the plane in hope to get some sleep, it was after all still four in the morning, I was sadly mistaken for the seat I had chosen just had to be next to the loudest girls in the entire universe, my sisters Ella and Lucia. They talked and giggled and sniffled and coughed and sneezed and snored and talked some more. They argued about the window seat because Ella wouldn’t let Lucia see out the window, they argued about space because Lucia was napping and laying her head on Ella’s shoulder, and they argued about food because, “it was totally each others fault”, they were hungry and tired.

By the time we got to North Carolina, I was very, very tired and hungry. We ate at the worst restaurant in the entire universe and had the worst food in the world. After a three hour layover we boarded the plane to Costa Rica. My sisters fell asleep halfway into the ride! I just played Minecraft for the rest of the time we were on the plane. I stopped now and then to cover my sisters up with hoodies so they wouldn’t wake up and complain. Near the end of the ride Ella woke up and started complaining that her ears were hurting, but otherwise It was more enjoyable than the last ride. 

We arrived in sunny Costa Rica right on schedule and went through customs, got our baggage, and left the airport.  

Countdown to Costa Rica

I am so EXCITED to go to Costa Rica next Sunday! I want to escape from this cold, snowy weather as soon as I can. My mother talked to me and my sisters, Ella and Lucia about what we should expect in Costa Rica. The activity list for our trip includes, horseback riding, Nosara Wildlife Sanctuary at Sibu, Nosara Refuge for Wildlife, Ostional National Wildlife Refuge, and Kids Yoga. We are also going to Nosara Day Camp where we will explore tide pools, rivers, waterfalls, and beaches. 

The bad news is that I will be on an airplane for umpteen hours and then we have to drive from San José to Nosara once we actually GET to Costa Rica. The actual schedule is that we will leave Boston at 6:00 AM and arrive at Charlotte, North Carolina at 8:00 AM. After a THREE hour layover we will leave at 11:30, then finally at 4:00 we will arrive in Costa Rica.

After an overnight stay in San Jóse, we will have to drive approximately 4 hours to get to Nosara, but it will all be worth it. I’ve seen some pictures of the place we’re staying and it looks AWESOME! See you on the beach!

Mummies at the MET

It was a cold December day and my family and I were in New York City. It was very

comfortable and cozy in our small apartment. I didn’t want to take a taxi to the MET, (The Metropolitan Museum of Art)! I wasn’t looking forward to being in a crowded museum. But my mother had scheduled a tour, because we were studying ancient Egypt. My father was determined to get us out of the apartment. When we reached the MET, a large gray building with a lot of stone steps, we got out of the taxi. I was more interested in the pigeons than climbing the steps to the museum. They looked kind of crazy with their ruffled feathers and orange eyes. They did not look friendly, but I really wanted to pet one. I wanted to hold it, to feel it. Crouching low to the ground, I slowly approached the bird while quietly saying “here pigeon, pigeon, pigeon!” The pigeon looked at me with it’s big yellow eyes and spoke with my mother’s voice, ”GET AWAY FROM THAT DIRTY PIGEON!!!”

Disenchanted, I entered the building and a blast of warm air hit me. On the ground floor there was a large, black statue of an Egyptian Pharaoh and a marble statue of a regal looking woman sitting on a throne. We checked into the museum and met our tour guide, a soft spoken, older woman, with short, wavy, gray hair and twinkling blue eyes, framed by glasses. She wore a blue turtleneck, jeans and around her neck was a shiny, silver, Ankh. Her name was Beatrice Cooper. In a whispery voice she asked me “do you know what this symbol represents?” “It is the symbol of the house of life” I responded, as more people began to congregate. The tour began in a large room with tan walls. Inside the room was a large tomb. According to the museum notes, the tomb originally belonged to an official named Neferiretnes whose family probably died out, leaving no one to care for it. The tomb then was reused for a prince named Raemkai. Beatrice took us inside the tomb and showed us the hieroglyphs, the carved people, depicting rituals and offerings to the dead, so they could have comfort, and wealth in the afterlife. The hieroglyphs were all shown in a side view, but they were very detailed. You could have counted the fibers that made up hair and ropes. The paint had been worn away by time and sand.  

A black stone statue called, “Merti with flaring wig, and wife” were next on our tour. Merti was a high official and provincial governor. Positioned next to them was a statue of King Sahure and a Nome God. King Sahure was bigger than the Nome God who, was placing an Ankh in Sahure’s palm. Beatrice brought to our attention that when painted, male Hieroglyphs had a darker complexion than females. Was this because the men were always working in the fields so they were darker skinned, than the women that worked inside? Who would have guessed that my favorite piece of the entire tour would be in the next room? We looked at a beautiful wooden statue of an Egyptian woman with a basket on her head known as The Offering Bearer. It was a very realistic statue. She was walking in a feathered dress. Each feather was painted and defined even though the statuette was very old, ca. 1981–1975 B.C. 

We entered a bright room with high ceilings and glass cases displaying Egyptian jewelry. “This one belonged to a princess”, said Beatrice as we observed the jeweled Necklace of Sithathoryunet. Decorated with semiprecious stones of red, gold, blue, and lapis lazuli, the necklace was given to Sithathoryunet by her father, King Senwosret ll. The bottom of the necklace had bejeweled symmetrical falcons, with the god Heh in the middle. Above Heh was a cartouche.  Around the cartouche, were snakes and suspended from their tails, hung two gold Ankhs. Jewelry of this time worn by women wasn't only for decoration, but granted the wearer with superhuman powers.

Fatigued, I dragged myself into a room with coffins. All the coffins had hieroglyphs and Eyes of Horus painted on them. The coffins that still had color were swathed in bright blues and reds. Beatrice showed us where the liver and intestines were stored. They were put in a Canopic Jar with a carved head for a top. I had a very uneasy feeling the bodies were still in the coffins and was very eager to leave the room. 

   

In the next room, the most successful first female pharaoh awaited us. Beatrice said that Queen Hatchepsut wore the traditional nemes head cloth and shendyt kilt of a pharaoh. She declared herself king in between the reign of her stepson and nephew. She took on the full role as pharaoh including the throne name Maatkare which is actually inscribed on most of her statues.  After that, my father led me away from the tour so I could rest. 

I read, in the book Tales Of Ancient Egypt by Lancelyn Green, that all the Egyptians believed that one day the god Osiris would come back to life and restore all the Ba’s (mummy spirits) to their original bodies. People work hard to show us this amazing history, but what would the Ancient Egyptians think if they knew that all their hard work in building, crafting, and sculpting the wonderful art they made was ending up behind glass cases? Also the Ancient Egyptians left those treasure’s and riches in the pyramids so the deceased could live in comfort but now that the tombs have been stripped of their riches, what will happen to the spirits? I thought about this as I stepped out of the museum, into the cold night air. The pigeons were gone and all that awaited us as we breathed in the cold, were the bright lights ahead.