Hola from Chiloe!

Hi First Graders,

On Saturday we took a long ride down south to the place where Chile becomes a lot of little islands. We are on the first one, called Chiloe. Say CHILL-OH-WAY.

When we got off of the bus, we had to take a ferry boat. The back of the boat opens up, and the cars drive right on.

We crossed the water, and arrived on the island. The first thing we did was drive around to see as much as we could. There are lots of beaches. This one was pretty empty of people, but had a LOT of shells.

 

These are clam shells as far as the eye can see.

 

The houses by the water are built on stilts to hold them up high. Why do you think the people made them this way?

These stilt houses are called palafitos. Say PAH-LAH-FEE-TOES.

That's right. The houses will stay safe and dry if the water rises. Storms might come and make big waves in the water, but the houses won't flood.

 

 

Where does your family buy food? Aldi? Food Lion? Wal-Mart? We have lots of supermarkets. The cities here do too. But Chiloe is a very rural place. People here buy food and many other things at outdoor markets. The farmers were selling carrots, potatoes, onions, greens, and apples. We bought some apples to take along as snacks.

 

 We had to pay with Chilean pesos. That is the money that is used here. This is what it looks like. The coins in my hand are one peso. They are very small coins, and not round. They have an octagon shape. That has 8 sides, like a stop sign. The other coins are 10 pesos, 50 pesos, and 100 pesos. The bill is 2,000 pesos.

 

These ladies were knitting, and selling the hats and sweaters that they made at the outdoor market.
It was very cool, so they sold a lot of them. It is late fall here. Winter is about to start. Do you know that the seasons are the opposite down here under the Equator?

 

 

After the market, we drove around some more We passed a farm and saw an ox cart at work, hauling things for the farmer. What might do the same job on an American farm?

                                     

                                  That's right. Trucks move big heavy things on farms here.

I love to travel and see the many different ways that people live in other places around the world.
They might speak other languages. They might use ferries instead of bridges. They might not build their homes in the same way that we do. They might use different money or shop outdoors, or use animals to help them work, but people everywhere find ways to make good lives. We may do things differently, but in many ways, we are all the same.

This is my last time to write to you, because school is ending very soon. Have a good summer. Stay safe, and have fun.

Adios!
Your friend,
Flat Stanley

 



 

 

Buenos Dias Estudiantes!

Hi First Graders!
I said good morning to you in Spanish, because that is the official language of Chile.

We left to come here on an airplane on Saturday night, and slept on the plane. When we woke up and looked out of the window, the sun was up, and we could see the Andes Mountains. Aren't they beautiful?

The Andes are covered with snow all year long.

We landed in Santiago, the largest city in the country. We will be staying here for a week, then taking a trip down to the south part of the country. Chile is near the ocean. If you look at a map, you will know what ocean I am near. 

Santiago has all of the modern things that you can see in any city in the USA, and some old-fashioned things too. We saw a horse pulling a delivery cart along the street right beside a city bus.




The people here wear clothes just like ours, but wear special traditional clothes for holidays and performances. Sunday was a good day to arrive here, because it was their national holiday called Navy Day.  There was a street festival and a parade, and lots of things to see. These dancers are dressed in old fashioned costumes. They are doing the cueca. Say it like this: QUAY - KA.

The cueca is the national dance of Chile.



Some other interesting clothes that I have seen are military uniforms. These sailors in the Chiean navy were marching in a parade. Every country has its own special uniforms - different from all of the others.

Do you like to see a parade?



Did you ever ride on an elevator or an escalator to go up in a building? Here they have elevators built onto the sides of big hills to help people go up. They are called ascensors. Say AH-SEN-SORES. These are the tracks. You go into the little red building and get in a little car, and it takes you up.

 

Do you know what this sign means?

 

That's right. It means stop. You could tell from the shape and color of the sign, but the letters are different. Instead of STOP, the signs here have PARE.  Say PAH - RAY.  The sign is written in Spanish, but it means the same thing.

 

Here is one more picture. This is not a soldier. He is a police officer. His uniform fooled me! His dog has a uniform too! I have mostly seen police walking around the city, not driving in police cars.

 

 

That's all from my Sunday in the city. I will write again before your summer vacation after I have a chance to go out and see some more things.

 

 

Your friend,

Flat Stanley

 

Hello again, First Graders!

I have had some time to get out and see more things that I want to tell you about, and I will try to answer some of your questions.

The most unusual animal I have seen is an ibex. It is a goat with curly horns that lives in the mountains. They are not afraid of people, so if you go hiking, you might see one. I didn't take a picture though, so I will show you a picture of a Swiss stamp with an ibex on it.

In the USA, we have a national bird whose picture you can see on stamps, money, and many other places. Can you guess what it is?    That's right, an eagle. All counties have national symbols.

Now, let's see what is in the backpack!

Michael wants to know about the clothes that people wear in Switzerland.  It's a lot colder here than in Rock Hill. Switzerland is full of mountains, and tall mountains have snow on top all year---even in the summer. The Swiss people wear clothes very much like what we wear in the wintertime.

Doctor Kevin is getting ready for a hike.
It is the last day of April, but he has to wear a warm coat.
You can see some snow still on the mountain.
 

One of you asked about the kinds of plants that grow in Switzerland. Plants that like cold weather do well here. On the hike, the plants we saw the most were tall pine trees. Can you see a little snow still on the ground?

These reminded me of the playground at Richmond Drive!

Evelyn asks about the languages that the people speak. I guess I answered that one last time. The main language is French, but many people speak German and English too. Here are some French words that I have learned, and used a lot:

Word in English         Word in French           How it sounds



            Please             s'il vous plait            see voo play

Thank you                 merci                     mair see

Mina wants to know about the food they eat. Their food is mostly like ours, but Switzerland is famous for 2 kinds of food - delicious cheese and chocolate. I know that you have heard of Swiss cheese and Nestle chocolate. We have them in the USA, but they are from Switzerland.

 

 

We went to visit a cheese factory. That is a wheel of cheese that Dr. Kristie is holding!

 

Hai wrote, "Did you see any castles?"  No, I haven't seen any, but I did see a lot of buildings.

In the city people live in tall apartment buildings that look like the ones in American cities. In the last post, you could see those. Out in the country, they have a kind of big house called a chalet. Here is a picture of one.

  

It is right beside a mountain. Isn't it pretty?

 

I want to show you one more picture before I finish. It is at a downtown playground in Geneva. They had monkey bars and slides and a sand box just like yours. My favorite part was something that our playgrounds don't have - wooden rocking horses! I had to hang on tight!

 

 

 

 I am coming back home soon. Can't wait!

Visiting new places is always fun, but there is no place like home!

 

Your friend,

Flat Stanley

 

 

 

Bonjour from Switzerland!

Bonjour children!

Bonjour means "hello" in French, the language spoken in my latest travel destination. Do you know where I am? That's right, Switzerland!

I am trying hard to learn French, but luckily many people here speak English, too, so I am making lots of friends!  They help me understand signs in French, like this one:

It says "White Horse Street." 

Switzerland is a very small country in Europe, across the Atlantic Ocean. Can you find it on the map?

I am in a city named Geneva. It was built a very long time ago, before there were any cars, so the roads are narrow.

Do you see a flag here that you recognize?  The USA has a flag- it is in your classroom.  Every country has a flag, Switzerland too!

A lot of people ride bikes or motorcycles to get around because the streets are so small.  Also, the people care about taking care of the environment.  Motorcycles use less gas than cars, and of course bikes don't need any gas, just people with energy!  Do you like to ride your bike?

I love a bike ride, but my legs are too short to reach the pedals!  So my friends here are taking me on a ride in the basket!  Wheeeeeeeee!

Well, I have more exploring to do so I'd better go!  Where did I put my bike helmet?  Got to put in on before we start!  OK kids I'll write more soon!

Your friend,
Flat Stanley

Mucha! (Numero dos)

Hi First Graders,

This is my last day of my vacation here in Guatemala, so this morning we went for a walk by our hotel along Lake Atitlan. I want to remember how it looks, so we took pictures.

Look at the yard next to our hotel. I like to look at this tree. The gardeners cut it into an unusual shape. What does it look like to you?

 

I think it looks like a hat! I think that's what they were trying to do.

Here are some more pictures of places I went earlier this week. One day I met some first graders here in Guatemala! I went to visit a school where the children were putting on a show. They dressed up in traditional clothes to sing for their parents and visitors. I stayed with them while they were waiting for their turn to sing, then I watched them perform. They were happy and proud to show what they had learned.



 

Where does your family buy food? In a supermarket? Here in Guatemala there are some big food stores, but many people buy their food in outdoor markets like this one.

 

The sellers are all up and down the street, with their foods in large baskets. Shoppers walk up and down, picking what they need.

 

At the market we watched a lady making baskets to sell. She used very long pieces of dried grass, and wove them together with her hands. She worked quickly and made it look easy. If you go to Charleston in South Carolina you can see women making baskets too.

This is a picture of a street in the town. How is it different from streets where you live?

 

Yes. There are no sidewalks and no cars. Buildings are right by the road and people can walk in the street. this town is very old, and was built before there were cars. The roads are so narrow. They are closed to car traffic. There are cars in Guatemala, but some places where they are not allowed.

 

It is not raining. Why is this woman holding an umbrella?

 

 The sun is so strong that many people use umbrellas to make shade and keep off the hot sunshine.  What else can you do to protect yourself from too much hot sun?

We are flying home in the morning. It is time to leave this beautiful sunny country.
I will come back to school before Spring Break.

Your friend,
Flat Stanley

 

 

 

Mucha!

 

Hi First Graders!

In the title, I said Hi kids!
I am in Guatemala. The language here is Spanish, but there are some special words that are different from the ones used in other countries. Mucha! is one of those words. How would people in Mexico or Puerto Rico say, "Hi Kids" ?

Ms. Gentry took me along on her vacation.  and I am having a good time. We are staying at a hotel by a lake. This is what I see when I look out the window. Do you see the mountains across the water? They are volcanoes! They are not active now. They are resting, but the people here say that sometimes smoke comes out of the top.

Lake Atitlan

 

On Sunday we went to church. Doesn't the church look fancy? It has many colorful curtains hanging on the walls and from the ceiling, and the altars are painted gold.



 

After church, we went to visit a coffee plantation. Did you know that coffee comes from a plant?

Coffee grows only in places where it is hot all year round. Look at the purple fruits. They are called coffee cherries, but they are not good to eat. The reddish-purple ones are ripe, and ready to pick. The green ones will have to stay on the plant, and grow some more.

 

After they are picked, the fruit is taken off of the seed, which is called a coffee bean. The beans are set out in the sun to dry. Behind me, you can see piles and piles of them. Later, they will be roasted to get the dark brown color.

 

 

Afterwards, we stopped at a little snack stand to get some food. We saw this sign, and didn't know what pupusas were, and wanted to find out. We ordered some, and they are corn tortillas stuffed with pork, cabbage, bens, carrots and onions. They were warm and yummy! The servers were very friendly, and posed for a picture with me.

 

When our meal was finished, we took a walk around the town before going back to our hotel. We saw some musicians playing a xylophone. It was very lively, happy music. We listened for a long time.

 

That 's all for now. I will write to again after I have had more adventures here in Guatemala.

Your friend,
Flat Stanley

 

 





 



Buenos Dias Estudiantes!

Hola!

The name Ecuador is the Spanish word for the Equator. That is the invisible line that runs around the Earth at the middle, and divides it into north and south. The Equator runs right through Ecuador - about 15 miles from where we are staying in the city of Quito. One day we took a ride to go and see it. They have made a monument, and painted a yellow line on the ground to show where it is.

 

Have you ever been to Carowinds and seen the brick line in the pavement that shows the line between South Carolina and North Carolina! It reminded me of that!

 

There are other countries that sit on the Equator - look at a map or a globe of the world. Can you find some?

 

The area around the Equator is the very hottest part of the world. Because Quito is high in the Andes Mountains, it is not as hot as some other parts of Ecuador.

 

We stopped at a fruit stand to buy snacks. Do you see 2 fruits that you know? But what is the one in the middle?

 

Those are papayas - but a different type from the ones that you might buy in Rock Hill.

 

 

Walking around in Quito near our hotel, we saw some pretty street art painted on the walls of a building. When a painting is made right on a wall like this it is called a mural. Have you seen murals in the USA?

 

 

Nearby, there was a street performer entertaining children with a puppet. It was connected to him, so that his feet were the puppet's feet. He made it dance and sing. We stayed to watch and listen. I think that puppets are funny.

 

In a neighborhood park, we saw kids playing this country's favorite sport. Can you guess what it is? You might play it too.

 

They are playing soccer!

Football, basketball, and baseball are very popular in the USA, but soccer is played in more countries around the world than any of those.

Here is my last picture. We are walking in a garden of huge plants. It is a nice way to end a trip to the "middle of the world."

 

 I am coming home tomorrow, and I'll see you soon back at school.

Hasta luego!

 

Your friend,

Flat Stanley