Middle East place I want to go

I want to go to........Qatar! =)

Middle East

Bahrain: Visiting the Al-´Aeen Wildlife Sanctuary

Egypt: Battling tour buses and camel riders to see the Great Pyramids of Giza

Iran: Getting lost in the twisted lanes of Yazd

Iraq: Visiting the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, one of the Seven Wonders of the World

Israel: Escaping to Hula Valley & Natural Reserve

Jordan: Diving into the scuba-friendly waters around Aqaba

Kuwait: Taking in the views of the Seif Palace

Lebanon: Watching the sunset at pigeon rock

Oman: Hiking and caving in the Hajar Mountains

Palestine: Floating in the eerie tranquillity of the Dead Sea

Qatar: Marvelling at the sea turtles

Saudi Arabia: Witnessing the sword dance

Syría: Catching a performance at the Roman theatre

Turkey: Floating over Cappadocia in a hot air balloon

United Arab Emirates: Flying falcons at the Al-Maha Desert Resort

Yemen: Following in the footsteps of Rimbaud in Aden

Invisible Children Entry 3

After saying our good-byes to Borysko we headed back to our hotel. Again all of us went into the pool. I sat at the bottom of the pool just thinking about the whole day. It was very calming being underwater, and and I felt so lucky to be here.

The next day when I got up I decided to put on this new perfume my mom had packed for me. It smelled of warm vanilla, and was very calming. I kept it in my pocket. That day I met up with a girl named Grace. When I saw her the first thing I thought was beautiful. I thought she was so pretty,and she had such amazing facial expressions. I was in for a big surprise to hear about her past. Grace had a very sassy attitude that I loved. Sadly she couldn't speak that much English, so it was very difficult to understand her. I think she felt the same way about me speaking, but we didn't let that get in our way of our friendship. When we were talking one thing that really stuck with me was when she said "You smell good". At first I must admit I thought that was a little weird. Then I remembered about putting on the perfume. I told her that the smell was called warm vanilla, but I don't think she understood what the heck I was saying. I asked her if she wanted to try some. When she saw the perfume bottle, the first thing she did was smell it. Something that touched me was when she looked up she had this big smile on her face. It was very heart warming. I sprayed some on her, and while I was spraying she had her tongue sticking out. She was trying to taste it. I told her stop thinking that the perfume might be bad for her. She stopped, but she kept sniffing herself for a long time. Finally it came to her story of her past. She told us how she was abducted, and was raped for 3 years. She also told us while carrying a young baby on her back, a rebel shot the baby right off her back. She also got shot in the foot. Again I cried for what seemed like forever. While I was being a child having fun, making friends, going to school, Grace was being shot, and being raped. It turns out she is pregnant. After hearing that story I didn't know what to think. I just sat there listening and crying. Jason, Bobby, and Larry were crying too. It was a very heartbreaking story to hear. After finishing interviewing Grace we said our good-byes. I told her to never forget me, and she told me never to forget her. I told her, "How could I ever forget you!"

Invisible Children Entry 2

All the boys made it a lot of fun while I was unpacking. They totally took my mind of of it. After unpacking we went down for dinner. The sight of the eating room was beautiful. It had creative paintings on the walls, and there was this gorgeous, and I mean gorgeous chandelier right smack in the middle of the ceiling. When we got our food I was a little disappointed. I have to admit the food wasn't as good as my last trip to Italy, but it was food so I loved it. (I love food!!!!) Jason and I had spaghetti while Bobby and Larry had bean soup. I tried some of Bobbies bean soup and it was delicious. The taste was much better than the spaghetti.

The next morning we finally started our adventure. We decided to try interviewing kids who had escaped "The Bush". We found this one guy named Borysko. Borysko means warrior. I could see why they named him that. He was only 10 years old and was as serious and stiff as a stick. The feeling of seeing this poor boy like this gave me a feeling I could never forget.....even if I tried to forget it. He told us how he was with some friends playing out on the field, and how rebels surrounded them. They beat up one of his really good friends, and threatened him and the rest of his friends, and if they wanted to live and not get hurt they would have to follow them. Borysko's brother refused to go, and right in front of him they shot him. Borysko was only 6 back then so he went with them, along with 2 more of his friends, and one of his older sisters. Hearing this story was very sad, especially coming from the person who was actually in the situation. On the part where they shot his brother he started crying so hard. I couldn't help myself and cried with him. I even cried just as hard as he did. While crying I hugged him. The touch of him made me cry even more, because he was shaking from head to toe. After a while when I couldn't hear anymore I ran down to where we had parked the van. I hid in there while I cried. I had such mixed feelings in the van, I thought I would be the first person ever to die from just overwhelming feelings. I also was glad I was there, because then I could feel the pain that many kids in Uganda have to suffer everyday. I refuse to be sad forever though. I want to bring all the pain out in dancing, singing, and just happiness. I think that is the best thing to do with pain, and I think all the kids in Uganda feel the same way.

Invisible Children Entry 1

On February 6, 2010 I went to Uganda with a couple of my new friends Jason, Bobby, and Larry. All of us with no experience of traveling anywhere out of the country before, but still we felt like we had to go and show people what is happening there. When I was invited I was really excited, but my mother on the other hand was not so crazy about this idea. I didn't blame her, but I knew it was an amazing opportunity, and I would be able to experience something that not many other kids will ever experience. My mom knew this too, and there for let me go. I was very scared obviously, and my mom gave me a stuffed animal so that when ever I felt home sick or just felt sad I would able to hug that stuffed animal and feel better. The stuff animal was a beautiful orange, red, yellow tiger. Orange and yellow for being my favorite color, and it being a tiger because my mom is the year of the tiger. Also the year of the tiger was coming up. The sight of it was very heart warming, and was glad my mom gave it to me. When she drove me to the plane we sang in the car together. It was so much fun and I was glad that the airport was pretty far from where we live. When we got there we met up with Jason while Bobby and Larry were loading all the luggage. My mom and Jason talked for a while. I just sat there pretending to listen, even though I really was thinking about the adventure ahead. I was the youngest out of all of them, and they treated me as there younger sister, and I treated them as my older brothers. It was awesome. The plane ride was very long. Luckily I slept most of the way. So did all the boys. Almost the whole way I could hear Larry snoring! It was so annoying! Finally we arrived. I have to admit I was so scared. I was literally shaking from head to toe. It was a feeling that I will definitely not forget. Larry helped me calm down, and I was very thankful. When I stepped out of the plane the air smelled so different. It was a mix of smells that were kind of overwhelming. When we got our luggage we headed to this amazing hotel in the heart of Kampala. It was a very big hotel with a big outside pool, a big sweet with a flat screen TV, and with delicious food. It was called the Golf Course Hotel. http://golfcoursehotel.com. After we set our luggage down in our sweet we headed straight for the pool. It felt really good after being in a plane for so long, and the touch of the cool water helped me feel safe and calm. We had so much fun just in the pool, and that was just the beginning of my adventure. I got so much water in my mouth! It tasted horrible!!! The only reason I got water in my mouth was because Jason, Bobby, and Larry started to tackle one another. It was really funny though, and I just had to laugh. I wish I had video taped it. Lots of other kids were there too. I could hear the mixture of their laugh and my laugh put together. It was an amazing sound to hear and hope to share it with my family and friends. I started talking to this one girl who also was from America. She was really nice, and she had come to Uganda with her dad to try to help kids in need. We bonded right away and even found out that her sweet was right next to mine. Her name was Jesse. After a while we all decided that we should start unpacking before we went down for dinner. It was about 2:00 when we arrived at Uganda, but now it was about 5:00. I wasn't crazy about this idea and I have to admit I complained a little, but it is a lesson I am going to have to learn if I am ever going to travel, so I reluctantly did.