Des Miones, Iowa. At Callanan Middle School!

I got back from my trip safely. It was the best trip I have ever been on. When I got back my family was so excited to see me! When I go back I have 300 dollars left so I took family to a fancy restaraunt to tell them all about my amazing trip. Mr. Loew wants me! So I gotta go, Hope you liked my blog :)

Berlin, Germany

The last place I went to was my favorite place yet!! I went here because I am going to college here soon some day. I went to the Swissotel hotel in Berlin. When I was here I went to the state capital. It was beautiful!!! Poeple in here were very nice. They showed my around because I was new. I had to speak German with them because alot of them didn't know english. I tried really tasty foods! And I visited the college I am going to. It was very pretty and it had a huge cafe. I signed up for it and told them I would be back in a couple of months to serve my first term. They were very nice and they told me I could call my roomate that is coming in the same time I am. She was very nice but was Chinese so she didn't know that much German. The dorm was big and spacious. I enjoyed visiting Germany more then any other place.
1. The main language is German.
2. Age 15 can start reading and writting.
3. The type is Fedral Republic.
4. Cheif of the state is the President.
5. Teh Judicial Branch- Federal Constitution Court
http://userpage.chemie.fu-berlin.de/adressen/brd-fact.html

Kiev, Ukraine

I visited Keiv which is loacted in Ukriane. I was very tired when I got to Keiv so I went straight to a hotel with out even finding the best one. I just fell asleep right when I got to the hotel. The hotel was called Odessa Odessa. It was on a huge hill in the back of a bunch of buildings. The hotel was very nice. I guess I had a good chioce of choosing that exit. I went on the Stag Tour. Which is a group of bands that play by the hotel that I went to. It was very fun! I had great food here to. I got to try many different salads and breads.

1. The president is Viktor Yushkenko.
2. The population is 46,299,862.
3. The telophone number is 044.
4. Independence day is August. 24, 1991.
5. One of the major industries is coal.

http://www.kievukraine.info/ukraine_facts.htm

Cope Darley, Antarctica

I went to Cape Darnley and stayed here for about 3 weeks. On the way here I went to go shopping at a place that I forgot the name of but it was a little shop in N'Djamena. I bought tons of cool jackets, warm gloves, boots. hats, ear muffs, socks, and a nice big warm coat. I stayed here for 3 weeks because I bought all that stuff and when I get back to Iowa it had just passed winter. I stayed at a cabin kind of up north from Cape Darnley. It was just like the one in my other trip but smaller. But this one made me feel at home and it had a nice burning fireplace with a lot of extra wood. My neighbor would drink coffee with me every morning on my deck. I would tell here about my trip and she would look very surprised. She kept saying she didn't have a chance to roam around the world because she has cancer and is going to die soon. The treatment she ways doesn't help her and I felt really bad every time it came up. She is old though and she told me about her life stories every time I brought up something about my trip.

1. The name used to be E.R Darnley.
2. Cape Darnley is a cape at the southeast side of Jacobsen Bight
3. Jacobsen Bight is on the south-central coast of South Georgia.
4. Cape Darnely is very small
5. Not very many people live here

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_Darnley

N'Djamena, Chad

I visited N'Djamena, Chad for one and a half weeks. It was really hot here the whole time I stayed which was during our fall time. I stayed at the Kempinski Hotel. It is downtown N'Djamena. This hotel was similar to the ones we have here in Iowa. The people that stayed here were kind of snobby to me, Because I didnt know where anything was so they got frustrated with me. I ate every morning in the cafe. They always had fresh food and coffee. I would go on the computer after that to email my friends and family. I was very close to ending my trip so they were excited to come see me soon. I went running in the evenings because I have been having a lot of fast food on my trip. I ran every morning my a very nice old lady that lived in the room next to me at the Kempinski Hotel. She had been all over the world and told me about the places I was going next. She made me look forward to these places and she also gave me extra money to go to the gift shops at these places. She was a very nice lady :)

1. Population- 10,111,337
2. Currency- CFA franc
3. Life Expectancy- 49
4. There are 124 different languages.
5. Literacy percent- 48

http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/places/countries/country_chad.html

Cape Town, South Africa

I went to Cape Town, South Africa. I stayed at the Faltrock Suites. I stayed here for about 4 weeks. This hotel was one of the best so far. I had my own library in my suite and a whole case of new movies. The living room had a huge couch that was leather black. And a very big flatscreen Tv. I watched movies about every night. I found out a lot of new things about Cape Town. I had a soda machine in my bedroom and the kitchen. I cooked a very nice meal every night and tried a new meat called Salega. It was delicious, the best I ever had! I met this girl named Sandrina. She was at a buffee called Malonicks Meals. At this restaurant there was a big table across the whole restaurant so everyone that came would sit together and hope to find a spot by family. I sat by Sandrina because she looked nice. We had fun together. I told her about my trip and that I would have to leave in a couple of days. She wanted me to come back and I said sure. I left a few days after.

1. Population- 2,984,100
2. Currency- Rand
3. Cape Town is the Legislative capital of South Africa.
4. Area Code- 21
5. There are 11 spoken languages in Cape Town.
http://www.travelmuse.com/destinations/ZA/11/cape-town/_guide/6

Harare, Zimbabwe

I went to Zimbabwe after Windheock. I decided to stay with one of my mom's friends that live here. She is very nice and has a huge house in the city. Me and her have fun times together. We went out to eat about 4 times in the 2 weeks I visited. We went to 2 chinese restaraunts and the others were BBQs. The food was great. At the chinese ones there was a buffett. They had one buffett table with all yummy desserts. The others were regular chinese food. I ate so many crab legs that I couldnt eat anything the rest of the day. I went to a amusement park with her and we rode the rollar coasters until we got sick! We also went to the Harare Zoo. There were way different animals there then where we live. That was fun!

1. The officail language is English.
2. July is the coldest moth of the year.
3. The most important river is the Manyame River.
4. Harare is known as the 'Sunshine City'
5. This city used to be called Salisbury.

http://www.mapsofworld.com/cities/zimbabwe/harare/facts.html

Windhoeck, Namibia

I went to Windhoeck, Namibia after visiting Dodoma. I stayed in a small cabin in Smoshville. They have small townhomes close by. The cabins are for rent from 2 weeks-3 weeks. I stayed for three weeks. They gave me a choice from a bunk ned to a queen single bed. I choosed the one person bed because I was the only one. They had a kitchen, a livingroom, and a bathroom with a very big shower. I enjoyed staying there because it was close to downtown. I went to Java Joes downtown and worked on my laptop. I got tons of mail on Yahoo from family who missed me. I went to a funnybone show downtown too. This guy was halarious. I looked him up and watched all of his videos. He is my new favorite.

1. English is the officail language.
2. For emergencies you call 1011
3. The best time to travel in Namibia is form May to October when the weather is a little cooler.
4. Namibia has a dessert climate.
5. Namibia is called the desert country.



http://www.iexplore.com/world_travel/Namibia/Facts

Dodoma, Tanzania

I went to Dodoma, Tanzania next. I stayed at the Holiday Inn. I stayed in Tnanzania for 2 and a half weeks. I was so excited to drive back because here I got MTTS M60. It was orange and drove really fast. Before I left I also got my hair dyed blonde. The people who worked there washed my hair for free because I told them my story of my trip so far. I tried different foods at many different restaraunts. They were all delicious and so were the smoothies they had on the sides of the streets. Mostly everything here that I ate were fruits and meats. On the sides of the streets they had fruits that people fried and selled. They would put like 6 different kinds of fruits that you asked for on 2 sticks and sell them for 2 dollars each. They were delicious because they were dipped in glaze.

1. Population- 36,481,000

2. Currency- Tanzanian Shilling

3. Reliogion- Christain, and muslim

4. Literacy percent- 78 percent

5. Life Expectancy- 45

http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/places/countries/country_tanzania.html

Tripoli, LIbya

In Tripoli, Libya I stayed at the Corenthia Towers Hotel. This hotel looked like a big curved sandwich. I was on the left side of the hotel with a beautiful room with huge widows for a nice view everyday. I went out to eat here like everyday because I found a restaurant that I liked and decided to visit it everyday and I would order something different each day. It was called Damoun. When you walk in there is a huge painting on the wall! It was very big and colorful. It was kind of oval and there was a tiny little signature in the corner I couldn't read. My mom has wanted to go to Libya since she was little because her cat was named Libya. I told her she should of came but she said this trip is all for me to learn about different cultures and languages. I called her non stop there to tell her what happened at all times.

1. Area- 400 kilometers/ 54 miles
2. Time zone- Eastern European Time
3. Population- 1,682,000
4. Latitude-32.9022
5. Longitude- 13.1858

http://www.freebase.com/view/en/tripoli

Bamako, Mali

Bamako, Mali was my next stop. I stayed at the Maissa Hotel. I was very tired so I just stopped at what ever hotel that I saw first. The guy at the door let me in and I asked for a 5 night stay, He escorted me to my room and gave me extra blankets and pillows in case I got cold. And i liked this hotel because I slept great there. I went on a trail walk to one of Bamako's famous stadiums. I watched 3 games because I found a friend there named Somi. I had to tell her about my trips so far and we didn't even know all thise games past us. I went out to eat with her at a restaurant called Sohuokthai. Ladies danced around us and gave us coconuts to drink out of. We had steak and this other one dish called Crambulay. It was awesome!

1. 475,000 square miles in the land area of Mali
2. Frequent rain 3 months and 9 of dry weather
3. French- official language in Mali
4. Main cities here are connected by bus
5. Call 18 if there is a emergency


http://mali.usembassy.gov/basic_facts.html



http://mali.usembassy.gov/basic_facts.html

Madrid, Spain

Madrid, Spain was my next stop. I stayed at one of Madrid's most nicest hotels. I stayed at the famous Plaza De Santa Ana. This place was Gorgeous I tell you. I stayed at the master suite. It was just like a house. It was big and spacious. I stayed here for about three weeks. My mom came to stay with me for a while in Madrid. She wanted to surprise me but then she had to call me to ask where I was staying so she gave it away. The weather here I thought was really nice. I went to a magic show downtown and the guy was talking me in Spanish and I didn't understand a word he was saying, so that was a bummer. But overall the experience was great.

1. Population- 3,200,000
2. Major Industries- Textiles and Tourism
3. Madrid's soccer club is the most successful in the 20 century.
4. Area code- 91
5. Main language- Spanish

http://www.wcities.com/en/guide/fun_facts/11/guide.html

Rio De Janeiro, Brazil

I went to Rio De Janeiro, Brazil next. This time I actually got my own apartment here because of how much money I had and how long I was going to be there. In the apartment there was a small little kitchen to cook in (which bothered me kind of because I planned on staying there for a while). It had three bedrooms. I wondered what I would do with three bedrooms. I used one as my room, I used the small one as the computer room, and used the other one for just storage (not that I had any since I just started living there). After about a week I decided to try a pet, because they allowed animals in the apartment. I bought three chinchillas named Olivia, Rusty, And Millz. They were very entertaining but ate a lot. After I left for my next stop I sold them off of Craigslist to this very nice old lady who had already prepared everything for them. I will miss them :(

1. Population- 7,000,000
2. Main language- Portuguese
3. Rio used to be the old capital of Brazil
4. Elevation- 3m/10ft
5. Area code- 021

http://www.wcities.com/en/guide/fun_facts/101/guide.html

Sydney, Australia

I went to Margue Hotel here. This hotel was not like all the others. They had kitchens in them, so I had to prepare my own food. Which was kind of fun because here they had loads of foods in the fridge that I could cook. They had snacks, cookies, cakes, brownies, and like 5 whole things of icecream. I cooked a huge amount of stew that I could barley eat. It was great and delicious though. They each had a Macbook is their room, I was on the computer a lot there to see where things were. I visited the 2 different hotels. I also went to the Marcure Sydney Hotel half the time I was there. This hotel was exactly like the other one. I went to the bowling alley here and got confused because they had way different sizes of shoes. So u had to try on a lot of shoes. This place was..........adventurous.

http://www.uts.edu.au/international/prospective/about/living.html

1. Over 4.2 million people live here
2. Land area- Over 12000 square kilometers
3. Climate- Warm summers and mild winters
4. Sydney is the oldest and most beautiful city in Australia
5. Sydney is recognised as Australia's wold city

Tokyo, Japan

The next place I went to is Tokyo, Japan. Here I stayed at the Galaxy Hotel. I stayed on one of the top floors and whenever I looked out of the huge windows I got kind of frightened. I would wake up every morning and whenever I walked out of my room and always found wonderful hand prepared food just for me. This place was the best so far. I went to a drive in and I also went to a regular movie theatre. This wasnt really a regular movie theatre. They would have seats that that were recliners and they each had little movie screens on the back of the recliners. I had fresh coffee every morning before I went to walk around in the city. This place had lots of activites for me to do. I had a awesome time here.

1. The population of Tokyo is 12000000

2. Their main language is Japenese

3. Currency-yen

4. Tokyo is generally hot and humid in the summer.

5. Japan has no official religion

http://www.smh.com.au/travel/travel-factsheet/tokyo--fast-facts-20081128-6m8v.html

Bankok, Thailand

My next stop was Bangkok, Thailand. I stayed at the Shangri-La hotel in Bangkok. This hotel had so many lights on the outside of the building that I couldn't really sleep with all of them on. I still had a great time there though. I went to about 5 concerts and they were......loud. I went to go swimming at the hotel swimming pool. It was great, they would come around to you in the pool with a trey and asked if you want desert or a drink. I also tried to go to the capital building but they kicked me out because they are fixing it up more and I didn't have time to ask questions. Anyways I had a wonderful time there and I spent a lot of my money, but it was all worth it.

1. Bangkok is the capital city of Thailand
2. Bangkok is also considered the ' City Of Angels'
3. Thailand has a tropical climate with three seasons
4. Bangkok's population is 12 million
5. Their government is Democratic Constitution Monarchy, with 76 provinces


http://lifestyle.iloveindia.com/lounge/facts-about-bangkok-3049.html

Caracas, Venezuela

The next stop was Caracas, Venezuela. I stayed at the Cota Caribe Beach Hotel. There hotels are amazing. I got my own Room service so whenever I needed anything i could just call. They had gorgeous rooms with colorful comforters and soft feather pillows. I stayed at that hotel for 3 weeks and while I was there I went to tons of places. I went to parades, festivals, and I even went to a circus show. I had a great time here and everyone was very nice to me :)

1. Their population is 6,174,034

2. Average January temperature- 21 C/ 70 F

3. Caracas is known as the Witch Capital Of The World

4. Average July Temperature- 23 C/ 74 F

5. Caracas is the Capital of Venezuela and is the largest city

http://www.wcities.com/en/guide/fun_facts/104/guide.html

Beijing, China

I went to Beijing, China. Here I visited My Aunt Ching. We did a lot of stuff together. We went to retaraunts. She taught me Chinese, It was really hard to learn. I only know like 10 words because I was very difficult to teach my Aunt Ching says. We went to visit all of the old chinese art buildings. We went to visit the Beihai Park. The park is right in the middle of Beijing. Well It was really fun and I hope I can go again.

1. Beijing is the capital city of China

2. July is the hottest month of the year

3. The population is 10.6 million

4. Their city flower is the chinese rose and the chrysanthemum

5. Main rivers are Yonding, Chaobai, and the North Canal

http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art29724.asp

My Preperations For Leaving

First I will have to pretty much pack everything I own. Then I will have to say goodbye to all my family and friends. To be prepared Im going to have to buy A LOT of snacks and drinks for on the way to the trip. I will probably bring a friend or someone from my family to come along with me :). My last thing I would do is collect as much money as i can to try different foods and to stay at hotels. I cant wait!!!!!!!!!!