Slumdog Millionaire

I hope you have heard of the critically acclaimed movie Slumdog Millionaire by now. If you haven't, get out of your cave and away from the bat poop. Whether you've heard of the child actor controversy or the anti-Muslim violence, nothing should stop you from seeing this movie. To me, it has everything - drama, romance, action, comedy. It's a heart-wrenching film, but you can't stereotype it as being a chick-flick romance or a life-altering drama. You don't just get a small inside view of some aspects of life in the slums of India, you don't just see a movie where a boy spends his life chasing after a girl, you don't just feel guilty for the crimes committed against young kids. You get an eye-opening entertaining experience, the triple E, important for people who don't pride themselves on the knowledge of knowing every line from D movies like Old School or Superbad, especially those who actually look for more than just entertainment in movies. Now I'd be a hypocrite if I said I loved this movie because I learned from it or because I feel more connected to issues in the world I never knew about. I do love that it has done that for people, I do love the story of a person born in the slums that has a chance at a new, better life, I do love that it grabs your emotions and makes you feel for people and relate to people that are part of cultures you don't have a clue about, people you can't relate to in any way other than life, love, loss. I love all those things, but this isn't a Free the Children commercial or a movie meant to inform the masses about conflicts while providing them with an action-packed, emotional story like Blood Diamond. This film is richer, there's more, from the brothers' bond threatened by the third musketeer to the reality of children getting their eyes removed because it gets them more money as beggars, from the other-worldly beauty of true love to the battle of achieving it and overcoming monsters with many faces, from the clever humor that prompts beatings to the fun banter that reminds you of squabbles and jests with your siblings. Those are just some things that are still vivid in my mind that I can't wait to experience all over again. When you watch this movie, I guarantee you that you will find even more richness. Notice that I said when, and not if. That means you've gotta see it. Comes out Tuesday, March 31st, which is tomorrow actually, so there's no excuse of 'oh I'm not paying ten dollars for one ticket' (which I completely agree with).

Costa Rrrrica

Did you know that more than 27% of Costa Rica is a wildlife reserve, national park, or other protected area?

I'm thinking that tours are the way to go in Costa Rica, whether you are a fan of plants, fruit, or coffee.

The Del Monte pineapple farm is in Costa Rica, and you can take tours of the plantation to see how they process them and even taste one. You can also visit a Dole banana plantation. Obviously to get to these places you will be traveling through rainforest and seeing tons of different animals and plant life species.

Costa Flores is one of the largest tropical flower farms with over 600 different species of flowers! There's even 120 different types of ONE flower (heliconia).

You can go on coffee tours, since Costa Rica is pretty famous for their coffee. Grano de Oro is a century-old coffee mill where you can see the work that goes into harvesting and making coffee - obviously you will get to drink some of this coffee.

If I went to Costa Rica, I would totally take a tour of a volcano. THAT is my new goal in life.

book report by a student

Actually, I shouldn't even call this a book report...
The first copy is this:
In Welcome to the Family there was a boy by the name of Nicholas who had a tradition of going to a by the name of "Camp Wannameka" when it was a tradition well broken after his parent decided to go to Brooklyn instead WITHOUT Nicholas. With all that he was stuck at home Nana! Your turn to read the BOOK!!

So, a) to a ____ ... ???
b) this was almost one huge run-on sentence, when I told them that they needed a well-written paragraph with at least six sentences for the summary. Well-written, eh? That's it, that's all I can say about this. I won't go on because then I will start to get mean.
BUT, there is a redone version. It's as follows:
In "Welcome to the Family" the was only one main event. That main event was how his parents left him with grandma Tutti and uncle Frankie who wasn't suppose to be there, with his parents in Brooklyn for the week.
In the conclusion of the story his come home to find uncle Frankie there with a huge attitude

REALLY?!?!?!?!?!? AHHHHHlkasjdflkjsadljflkjsa

Belize - a MYRIAD of rare wildlife

Carnival SURE is good at selling their Ports of Call - as if this picture they include isn't amazing enough, here is their description of Belize:
This tropical paradise promises adventure, both onshore and off. Crystalline rivers flow through impressive lowland jungles, home to a myriad of rare wildlife. Silky sand beaches, waving palms and colorful coral gardens are just part of Belize's natural wonders. Whether mountain biking through a lush rainforest or snorkeling with sharks, you'll experience things you've only imagined.

I mean, omg, who does NOT want to experience any of that? Even the words they use for these descriptions - myriad? What a GREAT word!!

dictionary.com says:
myr⋅i⋅ad  Show Spelled Pronunciation [mir-ee-uhd]
–noun
1. a very great or indefinitely great number of persons or things.
2. ten thousand.
–adjective
3. of an indefinitely great number; innumerable: the myriad stars of a summer night.
4. having innumerable phases, aspects, variations, etc.: the myriad mind of Shakespeare.

love that word ... myriad ...

Panama

Whenever I think of Panama, it's always the Canal or Panama Hats. But after exploring shore excursions on cruise sites, you learn that there's a lot more places that will gladly accept your $$. Here are some of the things you can do while visiting Panama:


Visit and learn about the Embera tribe.

See magnificent plant life such as guarumo (trumpet tree), manglillo, mangavé, espavé (wild cashew) and balsa, just to name a few.


Discover all kinds of indigenous animals including the coatimundi, peccary, howler monkey, squirrel, capybara, and sloth.


Marvel at the beautiful birds such as toucans, trogons, parrots, and momots.


Spot reptiles and amphibians such as caimans, iguanas, and dozens of species of frogs.


Witness beautifully colored butterflies, dragonflies, and cicadas.


Enjoy a visit to the frog exhibit and the serpentarium.


Learn about integral roles these resident reptiles play in tropical ecology.


Tour the Panama Canal - Go through the Miraflores Locks and Lake.


Pass through the Pedro Miguel locks and onto Gaylord Cut.


Cross the Continental Divide


Visit Fort San Geronimo, Fort San Felipe, Customs House and the Black Christ Church.


Learn the rich history of the Portobelo (Pirates’ Paradise) area

more excursions and activities can be found at carnival.com

Pirates

There is quite an odd fascination in society with pirates - at least in the United States. It is popular to dress up as pirates or pirate wenches for Halloween, the swashbucklers are featured in many movies - some of them huge cultural phenomena, when you travel to Caribbean places they don't just sell the history, they sell the pirate life. I personally LOVE the Pirates of the Caribbean movies - when the first one came out, me and several friends dressed up to go see it and got cheered in the theater - I was called 'Saucy.' I collect pirate memorobilia wherever it's available - the Pirates Museum in Nassau, Disney World, Bar Harbor in Maine, you name it. Wherever they sell it I'm all over it.

But let's back up for a minute and think about pirates. No way were they as hot as Johnny Depp or Orlando Bloom. If you ask either of these two actors what it was like being a pirate, they sure won't tell you about lice infestations, the sickness and disease, the muck they had to eat if food ran low, what they slept on, the gut-wrenching smells... just thinking of those things make me think A Pirate's Life [IS NOT] For Me. Let's think about some of the disgusting things they did - terrorizing ports, raping women, marauding and embezzling, mutiny against captains, cutting throats, drinking for days in port. Let's just take a look even at Disney's lyrics:

Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me.

We pillage plunder, we rifle and loot.

Drink up me 'earties, yo ho.

We kidnap and ravage and don't give a hoot.

Drink up me 'earties, yo ho.

Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me.

We extort and pilfer, we filch and sack.

Drink up me 'earties, yo ho.

Maraud and embezzle and even highjack.

Drink up me 'earties, yo ho.

Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me.

We kindle and char and in flame and ignite.

Drink up me 'earties, yo ho.

We burn up the city, we're really a fright.

Drink up me 'earties, yo ho.

We're rascals and scoundrels, we're villians and knaves.

Drink up me 'earties, yo ho.

We're devils and black sheep, we're really bad eggs.

Drink up me 'earties, yo ho.

We're beggars and blighters and ne'er do-well cads,

Drink up me 'earties, yo ho.

Aye, but we're loved by our mommies and dads,

Drink up me 'earties, yo ho.

Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me

I mean, REALLY?

Not gonna lie, but one of my ringtones on my phone is this song. After actually thinking about these things, I have no idea why they are so popular - especially because there are still pirate attacks around the globe! They may not have cutlasses and parrots, but they are still pirates stealing and endangering lives.

So why, after all this 'realization', so I still have no desire to take the ring tone off my phone, to get rid of my pirate flag, to not watch Pirates of the Caribbean and root for the pirates? Huh?

I have no idea...

Let's Talk About Some Basic Lingo

Alright, being a teacher, I get annoyed a lot at spelling - no, not by the tough words that students have never heard of that they can't be expected to know how to spell, but by the common words that all people should just KNOW. Just because we are in a tech-savvy society full of emails instead of letters, instant messages instead of phone calls, facebook wall posts instead of notes doesn't mean that we can just throw everything else out the window. That goes for grammar and spelling, too! I cannot tell you how many times I get papers that have uncapitalized i's, 2's instead of to's, lol's at the end of sentences... I mean come on!!!

I think it's even worse when grown people do this - and that's not all. I feel like my life is flashing before my eyes when I think of all the mispellings and errors I have seen - they just run through my head like electricity, it's crazy. How hard is it to know the basics - or to at least stop and think??

First let's talk about their, there, and they're. Yes, people, there IS a difference!!
Their - means belonging to more than one person.
There - referring to a place, yes, it's that easy.
They're - it is obviously a contraction - do people know what those are these days? Two words put together with an apostrophe. Means they are. SIMPLE.

Alright, how about your versus you're.
Again, contraction! Means that it is two words - you are. YOU ARE. Not your. Your has to do with possession, gahhh it really is so simple!

How about two, to, and too.
Now you do know that two is a number - 2. 'To' is a preposition, links words together in a sentence. Now, 'too' is something completely different. It's when you have extra, or are adding something. Three completely different words.

Now the word definitely. I see innumerable ways people misspell this one, and it drives me crazy when it is a friend I am talking to online or I see written in an email. Think of root words. It has FINITE in it - there is no A in definitely.

Okay, that's all for now.

Volcanoes of the Caribbean

The Caribbean tectonic plate is mainly oceanic and is located off the east coast of central America.
The northern boundary with the North American plate is transform or strike-slip. The eastern boundary is a subduction zone. The southern boundary is complex and is partly the result of transform faulting, thrust faulting and subduction. ( http://www.volcanolive.com/caribbean.html)

Netherlands Antilles: Saba (eruption in 1636), The Quill (last erupted 250 AD)

Saint Kitts and Nevis: Liamuiga (last eruption possibly 1843), Nevis Peak

Montserrat: Soufriere Hills (eruptions 1995-2009)

Guadeloupe: Bouillante , Soufriere Guadeloupe (recently 1976-77)

Grenada: St. Catherine, Kick-'em-Jenny ( many underwater explosions; most recent 2001)

Dominica: Morne aux Diables (activity 1841 and 1893), Morne Diablotins, Morne Trois Pitons (790 AD), Morne Watt (1997), Morne Patates (1270)

Martinique: Pelee (last eruption 1929-1932, 1902 was a great volcanic disaster)

St. Lucia: Qualibou (last eruption 1766)

St. Vincent and the Grenadines: Soufriere St. Vincent (latest eruption 1979)

Plants of the Caribbean

When I think of the Caribbean Islands, or Hawaii, immediately I think of the sunny beaches, water with a million shades of blue, and the incredible colors of the flowers.

There are an estimated 13,000 species of plants on the Caribbean islands, and almost 7,000 are native to their islands. Cuba is the island with the greatest biodiversity ... unfortunately for us Americans, who can't exactly go over and take a look.

Swietenia mahagoni

Heliconia

Amaryllis

Ixora - West Indian Jasmine

Flamingo Flower

Bouganvillea

Calabash

Coconut Palm

Cannonball Tree

Barbados

The first time I ever heard of Barbados was in the movie 'Dunston Checks In', because the father talks about going on vacation there... but I bet you've never even heard of that movie, right?

Anywho... a little bit about Barbados

It is the easternmost island of the Caribbean, which is good as it misses most of the hurricane wreckage

The capital is Bridgetown, and they speak English in Barbados (phew!)

Barbados, like most islands, developed a sugar economy and many slaves came over to work on plantations

Included in triangular trade of slaves, Caribbean sugar and rum, and European goods.

Bajan is a slang term for native-born Barbadians

Bimshire is the nickname of the Brits for Barbados

Elizabeth II is their monarch, but they achieved independence from the UK in 1966

It is mostly made of limestone-coral (non-volcanic)

Apparently, its aboriginal name was Ichirouganaim ... I won't even try to pronounce that

Time-shares ARE available, so go take care of that :) Remember, tourism is about half of the economy!

The national flower is the Pride of Barbados (huh, imagine that)

Martinique

Get ready for gaining some knowledge about these amazing Caribbean islands :)
Martinique:

part of the European Union, is actually a region of France - they use the euro!
could be problematic that they speak French and I don't
Capital: Fort-de-France (huh, surprise surprise)
pop: 402,000
president: Alfred Marie-Jeanne
The North end of the island is mountainous with many trees. Martinique boats the volcano Mt. Pelee, as well as 5 extinct volcanoes. Though the North has black sand beaches due to volcanic ash, the South end is the more attractive to tourists.
Most of the population is comprised of Africans that came over during colonial times to work on sugar plantations.

Martinique is a very popular place to vacation, but it also is one of the more high-end Caribbean islands, having many French influences including Chanel.
If you've ever heard the Beach Boys song "Kokomo" - come on, who hasn't? - then you have heard of Martinique : "To Martinique, that Montserrat mystique"

Caribbean Islands

So, I love the Caribbean as much as the next person... maybe even a little more? However, if you asked me to name all the islands in el Caribe, I would probably miss like 5,000. I'm sure you've all heard of the famous vacation spots, but make a note of how many of these you haven't heard of...

British West Indies/Anglophone Caribbean – Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Bay Islands, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Jamaica, Montserrat, Saint Croix (briefly), Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago (from 1797) and the Turks and Caicos Islands
Danish West Indies – present-day United States Virgin Islands
Dutch West Indies – present-day Netherlands Antilles and Aruba, Virgin Islands, Saint Croix (briefly), Tobago and Bay Islands (briefly)
French West Indies – Anguilla (briefly), Antigua and Barbuda (briefly), Dominica, Dominican Republic (briefly), Grenada, Haiti, Montserrat (briefly), Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Sint Eustatius (briefly), St Kitts (briefly), Tobago (briefly), Saint Croix, the current French overseas départements of Martinique and Guadeloupe (including Marie-Galante, La Désirade and Les Saintes), and the current French overseas collectivities of Saint Barthelemy and Saint Martin.
Portuguese West Indies – present-day Barbados, known as Os Barbados in the 1500s when the Portuguese claimed the island en route to Brazil. The Portuguese left Barbados abandoned in 1533, nearly a century prior to the British arrival to the island.
Spanish West Indies – Cuba, Hispaniola (present-day Dominican Republic, and until 1609, Haiti), Puerto Rico, Jamaica (until 1655), the Cayman Islands, Trinidad (until 1797) and Bay Islands (until 1643)
Swedish West Indies – present-day French Saint-Barthélemy and Guadeloupe (briefly).

taken from wikipedia.org

Cruising Along

So, someone made a comment that I find the most interesting jobs. That really made me think, wow, how lucky am I? Between the whole movie set teaching gig and my new job, I never want to do anything else! So let me tell you about my new job.
Three close friends and I decided to take a cruise over our Winter Break from school, and I got to exploring around on the cruise sites. Took a look at job postings, and saw Youth Counselor, where they wanted people who had backgrounds in Education or Recreation. I had done summer camps, Boys & Girls Club, I teach catechism, substitute, etc etc and thought wow I'm perfect for this job, ESPECIALLY because I LOVE traveling. Seriously love travel...
So I applied to all these major cruise lines, and a few weeks ago got a response from Carnival Cruise Lines (basically freaked out from excitement.) They wanted to interview me, so I flew down to Miami - where the weather was MUCH better than cold Michigan - it was snowing when I was driving home from the airport at midnight... but I digress...
So the interview went SO well, and a couple days ago I got the official letter in the mail saying that I had been approved for employment and would be a Circle C Director. eeee!
You might be wondering what Circle C is? Well Carnival has tons of activities and events for kids and teenagers. Camp Carnival is for 2-11 year olds, Circle C is for 12-14 year olds, and Club O2 is for 15-17 year olds. How perfect for me to be in the Circle C position, since I have been subbing almost the past two years at the same middle school, and absolutely LOVE some of the kids... which actually makes me a little sad thinking that I will miss them. But hey, I'm going to be cruising the Caribbean (or Hawaii or Europe) so I can't complain. I told everybody I'd mail them coconuts. :)
So yes, this is my new job. Just have to get my Medical Evaluation and stuff like that done, and who knows when I start!!