While we were on the Washington D.C. trip, some of went to a Holocaust Museum. The museum was incredible. They had lots of artifacts and great things.
The museum was huge and I think had 3 floors. If you read every sign and watched every video it would take ten hours to get through the whole thing.
I learned a lot while I was there. But what still wasn't clear at the end was why it happened. I understood a little bit but not much. I think the worst part was when doctors used some of the Jews for medical experiments. They put some in freezing water to see how their body reacts. One man had to go in a chamber with different pressures and his head exploded. It was horrible.
Many were killed in gas chambers and ovens. it is especially horrible because the Jews did nothing wrong. I also learned that lots of Gypsies were killed too but not as many as the Jews. I am glad that it is over and hopefully something like the Holocaust won't happen again.
Three Cups of Tea
I finished reading the book Three Cups of Tea, the kid version, while I was in Washington D.C. In the car ride from D.C. to NYC (yeah, we went there to).
The book was about a mountain climber who got lost coming down from K2, a mountain in the Himalayas. On the way he got lost twice and ended up in a small village. While he was there he saw little kids scribbling on rocks with sticks dipped in mud. The teacher could only come twice a month and shared the teaching with another school. Even without a teacher the boys and girls sat in the freezing weather and wrote multiplication tables in an open field.
Here, if the teacher even leaves the room, most of the kids start going crazy. Later in the book Greg, the mountain climber saved up lots of money by sleeping in his car and keeping all his stuff in a storage room. He also was kidnapped but luckily was set free. I would never be able to do anything like that. His rich friend later makes a new organization and makes Mark head of the organization and starts to build schools over Pakistan and Afghanistan. With all his hard works he helps many kids get an education and makes girls schools too when girls were banned from other schools.
After reading the book I realize how lucky we are to get free education and don't have to worry about not being able to read. We also don't need to worry about girls not going to school either. But many of kids in America aren't exited to go to school.
I learned I should be happy that I get to live in America and get free education.
D.C.
Yesterday my family just got back from Washington D.C. I think it was one of the best vacations I've had. We took total advantage of all the stuff there.
We went in the Washington Monument, went to a Holocaust museum, three Smithsonian museums, one about natural history, one about American history, and one about flight, cuch as airplanes, rockets, and space shuttles. We took the Metro train almost everywhere. It wasn't that great though. It cost a lot of money, it was crowded a lot, it didn't go very fast with frequent stops, there was even poop in one of them. But my friend shared his iPod touch so we played on it a lot.
From the Washington Monument we could see the Lincoln memorial, the Jefferson memorial, the White House, and the Capitol. It's 500 feet tall and has 800 something steps. But the steps had been closed a few years ago years.
We didn't however go inside the White house, they canceled our reservation. But we saw it from the Washington Monument and we saw it up close from the street. There were security guards on the roof and police on the street behind us. We didn't see President Obama either, or any of his family.
We did however go in the Lincoln memorial and the Jefferson memorial. Because the Jefferson memorial didn't really have any walls, there were spider webs all over the place, but it was still really cool. The statue inside was standing up, unlike the Lincoln memorial where Abraham Lincoln is sitting down.
At the rental house in Rockville, Maryland, there were a whole bunch of bikes and we used them all. There was a trail right behind the house for biking, walking, and running. It was very nice and was in the forest but it was paved. And at night there was fireflies. The trail could go all the way to Washington D.C. and to lake Needwood, a not so clean lake with paddle boats, canoes, and kayaks.
We went on the trip and a week after we got there our family friends got there and we hung out with them the whole next week. We also we saw all the monuments and memorials with them.
Next time we go I want to try to go in the White House and maybe see the president, whoever it is the next time I go.
We didn't however go inside the White house, they canceled our reservation. But we saw it from the Washington Monument and we saw it up close from the street. There were security guards on the roof and police on the street behind us. We didn't see President Obama either, or any of his family.
We did however go in the Lincoln memorial and the Jefferson memorial. Because the Jefferson memorial didn't really have any walls, there were spider webs all over the place, but it was still really cool. The statue inside was standing up, unlike the Lincoln memorial where Abraham Lincoln is sitting down.
At the rental house in Rockville, Maryland, there were a whole bunch of bikes and we used them all. There was a trail right behind the house for biking, walking, and running. It was very nice and was in the forest but it was paved. And at night there was fireflies. The trail could go all the way to Washington D.C. and to lake Needwood, a not so clean lake with paddle boats, canoes, and kayaks.
We went on the trip and a week after we got there our family friends got there and we hung out with them the whole next week. We also we saw all the monuments and memorials with them.
Next time we go I want to try to go in the White House and maybe see the president, whoever it is the next time I go.
Vancouver Trip
Last week my family and I went to Canada again. This time to Vancouver BC, not WA.
The first night we got to one of our relatives house in Abotsford at midnight. The next day, Friday, we swam in their inflatable Costco pool. Later in the day we went to my Grandparents'/aunt's house in Vancouver and my cousin Petra came with us. We went to an outdoor public pool. It was pretty crowded becasue it was hot that day just like it was all week. It was only ten bucks for seven people. On weekends it was free but we didn't go becasue we suspected it would be even more crowded. My brother and I went on the diving board most of the time while my cousins and sister stayed in the pool and swam.
The first night we got to one of our relatives house in Abotsford at midnight. The next day, Friday, we swam in their inflatable Costco pool. Later in the day we went to my Grandparents'/aunt's house in Vancouver and my cousin Petra came with us. We went to an outdoor public pool. It was pretty crowded becasue it was hot that day just like it was all week. It was only ten bucks for seven people. On weekends it was free but we didn't go becasue we suspected it would be even more crowded. My brother and I went on the diving board most of the time while my cousins and sister stayed in the pool and swam.
A few days later my aunt took my siblings, my cousin, and I for a walk around town. We first ate at Mcdonalds and started walking to a playground. On the way we spotted tents and my aunt wanted to check it out even though no one else wanted to. It turned out to be a good idea though because they were giving out free goodies like otter pops and popcorn, which felt really good on the hot summer day.
When we got back, everyone's feet were aching except my aunt's. She wore us out.
A few days after that we went to our other relatives house for a barbecue with Chinese food and lots of dumplings. But we had to move all the tables and chairs because there was a bee's nest on the tree that everything was under.
When it was time to go home we got to the border, and the big neon sign said the border had a one and a half an hour wait. But we had to go to the bathroom so we went to the duty free shop and got a little bit ahead in the line. Finally we got through and went back home.
