Morocco and Spain and The End

Morocco was very cool.  I mean it wasn't 106 like the last time Mama and Papa took me there.  This time we stayed in Casablanca the whole time.  We ate some very good food and went to the park, but Papa couldn't travel too far.  He said he was on doody.  I thought that was funny.  One day we went to a mosque with Elise and her dad and mom and brother.  We had been there before when I was a kid.  We took a bunch of pictures and I got ice cream so it was worth it.

After Morocco, people on the ship got sad.  They said the trip was ending soon.  I was sad, too, but I was ready for casa so I wasn't as sad as the other people.  Julian wasn't sad at all but I think it is because he doesn't know what is going on most of the time.  There was a big dinner and party where everyone was dressed up nice.  Then there was some kind of event for the end of the voyage and Papa got to speak.  The next day, we were in Spain. 

We were only in Spain one night, but I enjoyed it.  We ate really good food like croquettas and ham and cheese and olives.  I didn't eat any of that, but the rest of the family liked it.  We flew to Miami the next day.  I was very happy to see casa.  Julian went crazy running around the house and yelling "casa" loudly.  Then he lied down and fell asleep.  I was really tired, too, but I stayed up for some ice cream and to tell Mama and Papa thank you for such a fun trip.  I learned a lot, made lots of friends, and got to see the world.  I hope we do it again soon.

THE END

Ghana

We went to Ghana after South Africa.  It was very different from South Africa.  It was hotter for sure.  I was sweating all day and even at night sometimes.  Julian and I went to the beach with Mama and Papa and Cassidy one day.  We learned how to play drums and dance.  It was fun because Julian doesn't know how to dance- he just moves his butt and smiles.  Papa says that is how most males dance.  I laughed. We performed some drumming and dancing for the village.  We were good, but not as good as the people from the village.  They were very good.

We ate lots of cool food in Ghana.  Papa had something called fufu.  It was made of bananas and corn and came with some kind of spicy soup poured on it.  It looked like Cuban food a little.  Papa said it was very tasty.  Another day he had something called Red Red.  He said that was red beans and red sauce- it looked like spaghetti sauce.  Also very good.  Julian and I ate pizza or chicken.  It is what we do.

Now we are on our way to Morocco, but we are going to make a stop in a place called Gambia to pick up gas for the ship.  No one is going to get off the ship.  Papa said that doesn't count as a country we visit.  I think it does.  I win.

 

Papa said the trip is almost over.  I am sad, but I am excited to get back to Miami and see my friends and family.  Hopefully I will see you soon.

Mauritius and S. Africa

Sorry I haven't written in so long.  I have been having way too much fun.  We stopped in Mauritius for only a few hours.  It is a small island in the Indian Ocean, but it was beautiful.  I don't have too many pictures because Mama always forgets the camera and Papa was busy helping people who had passport issues get them fixed.  Papa spent the day at the US Embassy.  Mama, Julian, Cassidy and I spent the day shopping and walking around and eating ice cream, and going to the park.

We had a long sail to South Africa.  Mama said that Julian and I had been there before, but I didn't really remember that.  In South Africa, we spent most of our time in Cape Town.  We went to the Waterfront a lot, but also went to see the penguins in Boulder's Beach, had lunch in Simon's Town, and took a cool scenic drive along the coast.  The Waterfront was the best part for me, though, because they had a big playground with a huge globe.  They also had an aquarium and we spent time there watching all the fish and sharks and crabs and frogs and stuff.  We went back the next day, but Papa didn't go with us.  Then we found out that the guy swimming in the big aquarium tank with all the sharks WAS papa and Julian and I freaked out and ran all around the place yelling at people that Papa was in the tank.  Everyone laughed.

Cape Town was a great place to spend six days.  Now we are sailing to Ghana.  None of us have ever been there, so it should be fun to explore.  I will write more when we get there- this time I promise!

India

We just left India.  We had a fun time for most of the time.  When we got there, there were drummers and they played while we got off the shipand they had some type of paint that they would put on the center of your forehead as you got off the ship.  Julian danced and didn't let them put the paint on his head.  Papa says India is a very big country and has a lot of people that live there – over 1 zillion of them. We started in a city called Kochin in the state of Kerala.

It reminded me of Miami with all the palm trees, banana trees,warm weather, humidity, very short rainshowers that come in the afternoon to cool thingsoff, and long beaches with grainy sand.. The people in India call Kerala “God’s own country” because it is beautiful.  We drove down the coast to a beach about six hours away. Kovalam Beach.  Papa wanted to get away and relax for a few days and we were able to do that. Well, except the first day when we all got sick.  Papa called it Dehli Belly.  I called it throwing up on mama and Julian.  Everyone was sick for about a day.  Then when we got better, we went to the beach and pool and had fun.  We saw eagles and hawks flying and lots of fish in the water.

I spent most of the time on the beach with my bucket, shovel, and toy truck.  I looked for treasure but all I found was sand. I also liked being in the pool playing with new friends I met at the hotel.  I went walking into town with his Papa.  On the walk, we saw elephants at a festival, and saw vendors cooking all kinds of food. It was definitely a fun and relaxing time in India, but we were excited to get back on the ship.  Julian was excited to not throw up anymore.  Now we are heading to Mauritius.  I will write more soon.

Our next stop was a place called Myanmar but it used to be called Burma and many people still call it Burma but the government says to call it Myanmar.  I call it Burma because it is easier.  Not many tourists get to come to Burma, so we are lucky to be here.  We went to the capital called Yangon (it used to be called Rangoon.  Neither are easy to say so I call it Yangon). There are lots of pointy buildings that look like gold called pagodas.  We went to a few of them and i walked around with no shoes.

It is very hot here.  Yesterday it was 102 degrees. It doesn’t feel so bad because there is a nice breeze, but we have to put on sun screen.  Julian gets really tired after a few hours outside because it is so hot, but he and I really do like being outside.  We went to a zoo the first day- it was fun because we got to feed the hippos and elephants.  There were lots of otters and monkeys and we saw another red panda, too.  We went to a park and played on another day and then went to visit some of the other pagodas.  The biggest pagoda is called Sweatty Gone.  Papa says it is really called ShweDagon, but I think I am right.  There are many symbols and statues in the pagodas.  The most common one is of Buddha, a famous man that lived a long, long, time ago and is considered holy by many of the people that live here.  In one place, there was a huge buddha lying down.  He was a million feet long and smiling at me.  His feet had some writing on it.  It was cool.  Papa said I could not write on my feet.  Papa is not always cool.


We saw a dancing and music show, and a puppet show, and ate some very good food.  They love to eat fried rice, and plantains, and chicken with spices here.  Papa and Mama loved to eat it also. The people here are very nice and love to sit and talk with me and Julian…even though they don’t always speak English.  This is a beautiful place and we hope you all get to visit someday.  Tonight we leave for India and we will write more then.

Vietnam and Singapore

 
I have been having so much fun, I forgot to write about Vietnam.  It was much more like home.  Hot and humid.  Traffic was crazy.  Everyone rides a motorcycle or moped.  The food was very good, but I didn't eat it.  Julian ate some, and so did Mama and Papa.  I ate french fries and chicken because that is what I like. Mama and Papa tried hard to get me to try something called Pho.  I say no to Pho.

We went to see a couple of shows- one was a water puppet theater show.  It was exciting.  The other show was an opera that was kid-friendly.  That was very fun too.
Mama and Papa went out to dinner one night for Valentine's day and I stayed with Julian and Cassidy.  We played games and ran around the ship.  The next day, we went to the water park.  I didn't want to go in the water because there were so many people.  I finally did because Julian looked like he was having fun.  My friend, Elyse went with us.  So did her mom and dad.  We splashed around for a few hours and then went to eat and back to the ship. 
The next day we all went to a big market called Ben Tahn.  There were so many people there selling everything.  Watches, toys, clothes, food, shoes, coffee, pretty much everything.  It was crowded and busy and fun.  After an hour, I decided I wanted to go to the park so we went there and I played.
Life on the ship is good.  I study during the day with Mama and Cassidy while Papa works.  I play with my friends.  I take Mama's iPad and play a little Tiger Woods Golf or EA Soccer.  Then we watch a movie and I go to sleep.  It is a hard day's work, but I have to do it.
After Vietnam, we went to Singapore.  We were only there one night, so there isn't much to write, but I did something very cool.  I went to a fish spa.  Papa and Cassidy and I put our feet in a big pool that had lots of little fish.  The fish came and nibbled on our feet.  Papa said it was to help clean our feet of bad skin or something like that.  It tickled so much I could only leave my feet in the pool for a few seconds at a time.  Papa and Cassidy kept their feet in the whole time.  I don't think they are ticklish.  Or maybe they like being tickled.  We also went to the zoo and that was very fun.  Now we are on the way to Burma.  I will write more about Burma after we go.

China

Hello again. We went from Japan to China.  It was a quick trip, only two days at sea.  We stopped in a city called Shanghai.  There were so many pretty lights.  It is a big city.  Papa says it has 25 million people and that is five times more than all of South Florida, from Key West to West Palm Beach.  I just know there were a lot of people walking and driving.  It was cold so Mama made us wear coats.  Julian didn't like his coat.  He bit Mama.  Mama was not happy.  Me, Wolfie, Julian, Mama, Papa, and Cassidy (Julian calls her Sana) met a very nice lady who took us in a van around Shanghai.  She took us to a park called People's Park.  There were a lot of people.  On one side of the park everyone wanted to practice English with us.  On the other side of the park there were lots of older moms and dads with pictures of their kids.  They were trying to have their kids get married some day.  It was funny.  Then we went to a garden called Yu Garden. We walked around for a long time.  They are getting ready for their New Year so it was decorated with balloons and dragons and flowers. Then we went to a tea ceremony.  There was a lot of different teas for Mama and Papa.  The tea smelled good.  It didn't taste good.  Papa took pictures and a video and will add it to this blog.  We walked around a lot in Shanghai.  I was really tired both nights.  When I woke up today, we were sailing again.  We are heading to a place called Hong Kong.  It is in China, too.  I will write more from there.