Every year, millions of tourists come to Turkey to see the natural beauties of my country. Most of these tourists are Russian, German and people coming from North Europan countries like Finland, Sweden and Norway. There are many historical and touristic places in Turkey but most of them are found in Aegean and Mediterranean region. Izmir, Antalya, Didim, Kusadasi, Marmaris, Fethiye, Bodrum and Ephesus are all great examples to these beauties. All of these places are located near the sea. Some of them have a historical background while some don't have. This article is about a small town Patara.

Patara is an ancient town in Mediterranean region. It is located in city of Kas which is one of the touristic cities of Antalya Province. According to the historians, Patara is the birth place of Saint Nicholas who is known as Noel Father in Turkish culture. Most of you know him as an old man who drives his deers and gives presents to the children in Noel nights. He lived all his life nearby Patara, in the town of Myra..

Patara was founded by Patarus. So, it is known with his name. Patarus was one of the sons of famous Greek commander Apollo. In the past, Dorians coming from city of Crete lived in this small town. It witnessed many wars of Greek and Egyptians. In 1. century B.C, it was joined to Roman Empire and Rhodians occupied the ancient Patara. It was joined to Pamphylia in the year of 43. According to the quotes in Bible, Paul of Tarsus and Luke changed their ships in Patara.

Patara has a small hill and a ruined temple on one side of the hill. Currently, It is under ruins. Every year, Europan and Turkish archaeologists come to Patara to search about ancient civilizations living in this region. Excavations are made.Most of those excavations are made on the hill and ruined temple nearby. Off-shore part of Patara is under sand. After the latest excavations, archaeologists announced that Patara has a main street and amphitheatre.

One day, if your steps take you away to Turkey, you should visit Patara. Sure that, you can find many interesting things which have not been discovered yet.

As soon as I step off the train, I know this is going to be another out-there experience because the people trying to sell me things here, is more prominent than ever. Everything from little miniature Taj's, to camera and films, to bottled water, is being thrust in my face, and in every other unsuspecting tourists face. I tighten my grip on the pile of cash and passport in my pocket.

A short bus ride to the Taj Mahal, Agra Fort, and an impressive Marble Emporium filled in most of my day before I was to catch the overnight train to the Holy City of Varanasi and the Ganges.

The Taj is a sight to behold and I just stand and marvel at its beauty and boldness before deciding to approach it for a closer look. It took 200 years to build and is a symbol of love from an Indian King to his wife, doubling also as her tomb. I am warned of a scam before venturing into the grounds of the Taj and that is taking a photo of you and acting as if it is a friendly gesture, and then charging you off the wall for the pic. Fortunately, I take my own pics. (It's interesting looking back at the pictures and the amount of random Indians that seem to invade the background of all of them.)

The Marble Emporium is crazy. All of the work is done on the ground outside; carving, smoothing, shining, and even sticking the little coloured glass pattern pieces to each item. It looks like pain-staking work and even though I can't afford to buy a piece, I take a photo and give the dude a tip for his picture. Just some amazing work.

After a Kingfisher and a vegetarian curry, I head back to the Agra train station and am faced with a 3 hour, unexpected wait for the train to Varanasi. The wait is long and cold and my stomach is not feeling at all good but I don't want to use the scummy train station toilets. I sit on the concrete platform, leaning against my pack and watch the many interesting happenings and goings on that the station provides.

Finally I board the second class, sleeper carriage, and with my feet sticking off the end of my bunk, get a good nights sleep in (as well as can be expected, what with food and beverage sellers boarding at every stop) before waking to yet another amazing, Indian city.

To be continued…

I start by going to Sonu café in Pahraganj again this morning after first having my all over, dettol wipe, body wash.

I proceed to the railway station and find the mass of yellow and black taxis all jammed in waiting for fares, and I make one guy very happy by hiring him and his taxi, and touring for the day.

I have decided that I will venture to the Indian Parliament buildings, India Gate, and then to the New Zealand High Commission.

The parliament buildings are really impressive to look at and also very impressively guarded with sentries posted at all gates and on all corners, high and low. It is more like prison security than a parliament building. Some serious looking men with some serious looking machine guns.

India Gate is interesting, not the structure as such because that kind of looks like a mini Arc de Triomphe but dirtier, but the fact that a snake charmer is getting a lot of attention. So I go over there and see what all the fuss is about. He has three snakes, all in baskets, and he's playing his little recorder, tapping this snake on the head, and it appears to be moving to the music. At the time I feel like the snake is really just pissed off at the fact he keeps tapping it on the head so I pay him his 5 rupees and move on.

The New Zealand High Commission is heavily guarded also, so I have a yarn to the guys guarding it, take a few pics (as it's probably the nicest place in India I've seen so far), and be on my way. I stop at some emporiums on the way home and buy these blanket type things called Naga Shoals which are hand-woven and take 6 months to complete. I pay 925 rupees which is about $31.

For the third night in a row at Sam's Rooftop Restaurant, I eat eggs and chips because my food poisoning paranoia has not decreased and so I'm sticking with the safe option.

After yet another breakfast at Sonu Café, I hail an auto-rickshaw, which doesn't take much hailing, and head to the famous Red Fort which is a palace that used to house the Indian Emperor. I had a guide take me round and managed to learn some interesting stuff, when I could understand him.

My trip back in the auto-rickshaw is carnage because there is so much traffic and it is not helped by drivers all yelling at each other in what seems like very fast Hindi. Great times!

After dinner I reflect on my few days in Delhi. It has been an enjoyable place once I accepted and understood the Indian way of life and living. I have stopped being hassled as much in the street to buy things as it seems like everyone knows me, but really I think that I have just got used to it. My most interesting money making advance was a little girl doing back flips and other contortionist stuff. Overall I think will miss Pharaganj and Delhi but am looking forward to the rest of my trip.

Tomorrow morning I head to Agra and the Taj Mahal and then on to Varanasi and the mighty Ganges. I am travelling by train so I think that is going to be an experience from the observations I have made at the train station! Stay tuned.

To be continued…

We (that is me, my Irish friend Lisa and my roomate Natalie) left from London for Prague bright and early on an October Wednesday morning by first getting a taxi to Stansted airport (nice and new and nearby--all you can ask for in an airport!) and then by catching a Czech Airlines flight for Prague. Two hours later we were landing at a nice bright spacious airport, where we noticed Prague was suddenly called "Praha", which is how the locals refer to their capital city. Don't ask me for pronunciation assistance as I am afraid to say the Czech language pretty much eluded my (rather feeble) efforts at speaking it!

For those who are interested, Sorry is Pardon (nice and easy, I could do that one), and Help is Pomoc! (always helpful to know how to say help in another language). As my guidebook assured me, there would be lots of police about although to ask the ones wearing blue and gray would be useless as it is not their jursidiction to help tourists, however, to ask the ones wearing all black would possibly get you assistance.

The c is pronounced like "ts" though, so one should say Pomots, Pomots!!, or no help would arrive anyhow. Provided there were black clothed police that is….! (:

Anyways, after making our way through the practically deserted airport (well, with a guidebook enumerating obscurity after obscurity, perhaps that is not such a great shock...!), we found the bus stop and with Natalie's able navigating skills we worked out that we needed bus 100 so we could get to the furthest flung metro stop called Zlicin, (and don't ask me how to say it, I've devised my own version of Czech by now and can't learn it properly anymore....).

Turned out the airport is no small distance from the city, and after exclaiming over various buildings and things we soon realized that we were going PAST those buildings and perhaps that wasn't Prague after all. So after awhile we just waited till we got to the metro stop before making anymore such assumptions! It was a good 20 minutes later that we were indeed at last in Prague, right at Zlicin station itself, where we promptly hopped on the metro in order to get to the stop nearest our hotel.

 

After gazing at all the Czech people getting on and off the metro and realizing that really they looked just like anyone except with perhaps a bit of an individualistic dress sense and a rather Eastern European sort of profile (whatever that is), we decided instead to pay attention to which stop was what so as not to miss it. Fortunately our stop had a nice short name (Andel) rather than something like Nadrizi Holesovice, and we soon arrived there some 20 minutes down the line.

 

Again, Natalie assigned herself navigator and dragged us up and down streets trying to decipher street names letter by letter so as to match the map she had in hand. Happily, the street signs were bright red! Sadly, the letters were teeny tiny and you needed to be practically underneath it to read it. This made progress a bit slow and all. However, Natalie did indeed get us there without even one wrong turn, and there we were, on the right street!

 

However, WHERE was the hotel!? All the buildings were flush against the sidewalk with not a sign to be seen anywhere. The only differentiation between any building would be the colour: hmmm, pale blue? yellow? pink? green and yellow? It was anyone's guess. I myself favored the blue one, but wouldn't you know it, it was the yellow one, with the teeniest little bronze plaque on it that was really (obviously) the hotel sign. The Artesse it was called! I could see it quite clearly when I stood right beneath it!

 

The doors didn't open though, and there was a buzzer to get in (looked really like a list of apartment buzzers), and so picking one at random, suddenly, magically, the doors opened silently and smoothly by themselves!! Feeling slightly strange, we walked in down an ornate hallway with flickering electric candle chandeliers to the end of the passage, not sure really where to go, when suddenly!!! There appeared some lady at the end of the passageway in the depths of the gloom saying....."Do you have a reservation?" I was totally expecting a different sentence, such as "All who darken these halls step into a place from which they shall not escape!!", but no such luck.

 

Anyways, she led us downstairs to the tiny little reception room where she explained the trams and the areas of town and breakfast and ordinary things like that. Soon we were happily clutching our room keys (cards really with nice little paintings on them) for room 221, and back down the hall we went to our room.

 

After getting the grand tour of the strangest hotel room ever (tall ceilings, weird murals all over the walls, floor to ceiling curtains, a big wardrobe that was actually a kitchen when you opened it, a sofa that was actually a puzzle bed, and a spiral staircase that went straight down to another twin bedroom and an eye-popping black and white mosaic bathroom....), we unpacked and set out to get some lunch/dinner/anything to eat really.

 

Natalie and I were quite determined to get the Czech experience food-wise, and after managing to hop onto the correct tram with tickets we had already cleverly bought at the airport (24 hour tickets you stick in a machine to activate and then never have to show to anyone again...), we arrived in some square that supposedly had many interesting places to eat.

 

It didn't take us long to find one that had a signboard outside advertising "orginal! czech! food!", so naturally we went there. Soon we were eating half a dozen different kinds of meat.....and not much else! Apparently vegetables are not important in Czech cuisine...aside from red and white cabbage with more vinegar than even a brave soul can down at one sitting. There were also some slices of bread that looked like bits of bread squished together and then baked or cooked, which were called dumplings and tasted sort of like stuffing but mostly like slightly underdone bread. It was a fun eating experience! The Czech waiter tried to teach us how to say the names of the dishes we were eating, but he soon gave up (perhaps he despaired of our being more interested in being entertained rather than being educated, which I suppose was a distinct possibility...).

 

Then off to explore the city where we soon discovered that every second shop is a souvenir shop of either crystal (big thing here), wooden Russian stacking dolls, wooden toys, marionnettes, and decorated eggs. Wowza! Amazingly enough, these shops were in every section of the city, some like superstores they were so large, but nowhere could you NOT see them. It looked to be quite the industry here. And actually there were a lot of tourists despite the empty airport...!! Many people apparently come here to do their Christmas shopping and so that would explain the shops, not to mention the markets, which were additionally filled with scarves and jewelry and leather goods. I accidentally bought some things, it is pretty difficult to resist the myriads of choices.

Well anyways, we also did a lot of walking down little streets here and there and saw some Black Light Theatre show which was interesting, and ate out at some other very pretty cafes here and there. We also saw some art show that took up one whole street, then we explored the Jewish quarter of town, and we even climbed a hill.

 

The hill was actually quite nice since it was really a park with a rose garden at the top and a “mini-Eiffel” tower at the very top. We took a furnicular up to the top and then walked back down on all these twisty windy paths covered with falling autumn leaves....pretty as a picture! We were also able to enjoy some very nice views of Prague itself.

 

We did see Prague castle as well which is also a place worth exploring, although it turned out mainly to be a collection of various buildings surrounded by a wall. The cathedral was immense and beautiful as many cathedrals are. There was also an equally impressive cathedral in the The Old Town Square, where we sat to have lunch and dinner, with the view of the cathedral always in sight....fantastic!

 

Catholicism is apparently the main religion here, with about 20 percent Protestant and the rest Catholic (so said a shopkeeper to us when we inquired about such things). About one or two percent are Orthodox.

 

There was also an interesting memorial in The Old Town Square, the John Huss monument, which shows people being defeated on one side of him and people being defiant on the other side of him. If you remember, he was a martyr for standing up to speak against indulgences, and ended up being burnt for his statements. This caused a lot of riots and uprisings on the part of the Czech people at that time, and he became a hero of sorts for standing up for the people. The monument is to this day used to represent what people are thinking, and during the war it was covered in black for example.

 

One other thing of note in Prague was the bridges, especially the bridge of statues, all medievally, staring at you eerily as you walk from one end to the other. The city itself has many bridges, and looks very scenic and peaceful with spires galore, red roofs, a few domes, and one or two tall towers (but not office building like structures to ruin the effect so to speak...). It is a very “old-worldy” sort of city.

 

Well folks, after two days of being immersed in all things Old Bohemian (as the restaurants referred to anything prepared in the Czech way), we got up at the early hour of 4 a.m. to catch our return flight back to good ole London.

 

So, overall, a very interesting and charming sort of experience! Didn't learn any Czech, but did learn how to calculate Kroners versus pounds! Also found out that service charges and cover charges are added to every eating experience, so you always pay at least double the tip you would even think of paying in the first place. This is what happens when you have a cathedral to look at whilst eating!! But you also get what you pay for I suppose!

 

That's if folks! Hope this enlightens and entertains you, or perhaps some other effect may have occurred, I can't tell from way over here.

 

Ahoj!! (which means goodbye or hello, whichever you like),

Jeannie

 

 

 

 

Fantastic story, isn't it? Every one of us must have had at least one experience like that. No, not about broken hearts or failing grades (but it's very relatable!), but about our superstitious selves defying the limits of reality and common sense.

There is no doubt that folklore -- especially superstitious beliefs -- still pervade in our daily lives. Christianity has not curbed it; science has not shattered its so-called integrity; and technology, while an exact medium, has only contributed even more to the permeation of the paranormal phenomena. There are all sorts of “CSI”s of the strange kind happening on television, and legends of the aswangs and engkantos are enhances its popularity by catering to the younger set in the form of literature and film. They are not just, and no longer, "old wives' tales", so to speak.

To say that superstition is a force of nature would be an understatement. It is deeply rooted in our culture, for they say that a nation rich in culture is equally rich with its treasure trove of magnificent mythos. From the time of oral tradition when our ancestors worshipped all sorts of pagan divinity; to the influx of the Malay, Indian and Chinese settlers when we not only shared our goods but also our popular beliefs; to the conquistador era where lands that have not been "Christianized" have been deemed wicked and nefarious; and up to this day and age, superstitions formed and swelled like a raging tide that seeped to the fertile shore.

A plethora of superstitions can range from the mundane to the otherworldly, from the relatively benign to the extremely dangerous, from the practical to the downright absurd. Some can bring you luck, like wearing polka-dot patterns on New Year's Day; others a precautionary measure, like eating lightly on dinnertime to avoid having bangungot. A number of them have truth in itself -- as it has been proven that animal howls are a sign of impending catastrophe, because our creature friends have sharper-developed senses than those of the homo sapiens'. While there are certainly many that is known for their sheer entertainment value -- perhaps to scare children from being incorrigible?

Whether we are aware of it or not, we Filipinos are superstitious. There is no extent to how many superstitions have been associated to everyday activities. It is almost instinctive in us to observe such. Superstitions have easily eased its way into the collective consciousness, creating a socio-cultural norm to which all must take heed. Even modern society has accepted and adhered to time-old traditions, with the observance of feng shui (which traces its roots in superstition) by urban dwellers seeking the blessings of Lady Luck. And a majority of people would much rather avert to anything "13" in nature, and consider "8" favorable -- from constructions, table arrangements, business dealings, and even on certain TV game shows!

The question is: Why are we compelled to believe superstitions? They aren't necessarily true, and nothing bad will actually happen if we don't follow them -- some things in life are purely coincidental. We don't know why we believe in such, so there's no harm in believing them anyway, right? What's wrong with a little ace on your sleeve?

Well, that's exactly the case. Superstitions stem from a fear of the unknown, so in order to counteract the evil attributed with the unknown and to appease the gods, our forefathers have conceptualized these nifty words of wisdom. This is definitely a testament to the aphorism "What you don't know can only make you stronger." Attempting to rationalize the irrational will only cause serious brain damage, so if I were you, I'd rather leave it as it is and let the legacy live on. Imagine the Philippines without her unique beliefs and practices -- then our country would have been a staid landscape of grim-faced people! Superstitions and folklore are what makes Filipinos an interesting study. Beyond the power of religion and constant change, we still uphold the customs and practices undeniably ours, giving us a keen perception of things and a higher sensitivity towards others.

Bathala must surely be smiling down at me right now...

Topkapi Palace

It's construction started in 1459 by the order of Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II. Mehmet II is one of the important sultans of Ottoman Empire since he was the the conquerer of Istanbul. Topkapi Palace was the home and official residence of Ottoman Emperors from 1465 to 1863. The historical tissue of Topkapi Palace damaged because of big earthquakes and fires. Currently, Topkapi Palace is museum. It is under administration of Ministry of Culture and Tourism. When you visit Topkapi Palace Museum, you can see a large collection of Ottoman art and architecture, Ottoman miniatures, weapons, shields, armor and a display of Ottoman treasure and jewelry.

Dolmabahce Palace

It is located at the European side of Istanbul. After 1853, it was used as the official residence of Ottoman Emperors. It was also the administrative center of Ottoman Empire from 1853 to 1922. Dolmabahce palace is the first European style palace in Ottoman Empire history. It was built by Ottoman Sultan Abdulmecid II between 1842 and 1853. Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, founder and the first president of Turkey Republic, spent his last years in this palace. Ataturk died in November 10, 1938 in Dolmabahce Palace.

Yildiz Palace

It was built in 1880 and used by the Ottoman Sultan Abdulhamid II. Inside Yildiz Palace, there are apartments, pavilions, theatre, opera house, museum and a porcelain factory.

Beylerbeyi Palace

Unlike Dolmabahce, Topkapi and Yildiz palaces, Beylerbeyi Palace is located at the Assian side of Istanbul. It was built between 1861 and 1865 by the order of Ottoman Sultan Abdulaziz. It was designed in baroque style. It was mainly used as a place to entertain visiting heads of state. Sultan Abdulhamid II spent his last years of captivity in Beylerbeyi palace. He died in Beylerbeyi Palace in 1918.

Ciragan Palace

It is located between Besiktas and Ortakoy at the European side of Istanbul. It was built between 1863 and 1867 by the order of Ottoman Sultan Abdulaziz. It was designed by famous Armenian architect Nigogayos Balyan and constructed by his sons Hagop and Sarkis Balyan. In 1910, it was destroyed by a great fire. However, the ruined palace was restored in 1991. It was designed in Baroque style during restoration. Currently, it is used as a five-star hotel.

Olive oil is the staple of almost, if not all Greek plates. Olive oil is found all over Greece, as well as the trees that bear the fruit. It has ties to both religious and folk beliefs, and is used as Greece's official addition to any plate that needs that extra "touch" of Greek taste.

Food and holidays are both very sacred to the people of Greece. The most extravagant meals are held during Holidays, such as Christmas.

The Greek Christmas celebration lasts for thirteen days, from Christmas Eve until Epiphany, January 6, the day that the Magi arrived in Bethlehem, bringing gifts to the Christ child.

Bread is the most important of the Greek holiday foods. Historically, flour and yeast were scarce and expensive and thus saved for special meals. Traditional items, such as Christmas bread or stravropsomo, a fruit-filled loaf, decorated on top with the sign of the cross and Chistopsomto or “Christ's Bread”, a leavened bread made of flour, sesame seeds, and spices, such as anise, orange, cloves, and cinnamon accompanied by dried figs, are eaten on Christmas Eve.

Other traditional Greek Christmas sweets include thiples, fried dough strips dripped with honey, kourabiedes, holiday butter cookies, kataifi, phyllo-wrapped confections made from cinnamon and sugar and drizzled with honey, melomacrona, popular honey cakes, and the ever-popular sweet pastry, baklava.

The Greek also have their own set of habits that they fulfill at mealtimes, which they take very seriously. For example, meals are always held at specific times of the day. Breakfast is held bright and early at 8 AM, lunch not until around 1 PM or so, and supper can be at either 8 PM or 10 PM.

A typical Greek meal would always start with an appetizer, which usually turns out to be a salad. Feta cheese, olives and tomatoes are commonly seen in them. Wine will also almost always accompany the main course. Robolla is a popular choce for the main course, a white wine hailing from Cephalonia.

When the main course DOES come around, though, it could be any number of delicious plates. However, the Greek national dish is perhaps the Souvlaki. t is a blend of lamb or beef and seasonings, seared and stuffed in a pita topped with sliced and diced tomatoes, onions and tzatziki, then served with a yogurt sauce. Moussaka is normally eaten along with a red wine like Agiorghitiko while Styphado is eaten with a heavy red wine such as a dry Mavrodaphne.

Baklava is also by far the most popular Greek dessert - it is a multi-layered pastry filled with crunchy nuts and oozing with honey syrup. It is made up of little Filo squares filled with a walnut, semolina and honey mixture and garnished with honey and grated orange peel.

As far as I can see, Greek foods and culture have not greatly impacted Nova Scotia's own dining habits and foods. However, Athens is one of the most well-known and most popular restaurants on Quinpool. It is a Greek restaurant with a wide variety of meals.

When talking to other people you need to stay polite; how polite you should be would depend of the person you are talking to. At home you would never talk the same way to your boss like you would talk to shop clerk. In Japan you just need to make the politeness higher than you would do at home. Basically being too polite is always better than not being polite enough.

In the public you should behave nicely to the people around you. Most foreigners stand out in Japan easily because they are way louder in public than Japanese people are; do not become like them. Also the only people seen drunk in public are again foreigners.

Never bring shame to a Japanese person by insulting, bad behavior etc. They will forgive a lot; however, if you do a big mistake, they might feel insulted, but their culture will forbid them from telling you; it would be impolite to say anything. This makes it harder on the foreigners, but not impossible. Just look at the other people around before you do anything.

The Culture

Japanese culture is very different from the western culture; because of this some behavior will be inacceptable. The biggest difference s the politeness as explained above. Another one would be the strict rules followed by the Japanese people. They have way more rules than you would think; most of them are unwritten.

It is easy do many things wrong just at the dinner table if eaten with Japanese people at their house. Foreigners tend to misuse the chops sticks to stab the food, which is insulting towards the host. Not asking for rice is also known as impolite. Even if you cannot eat much food, you should always ask for some more rice to make up to it you should eat less other food available.

Walking with outside shoes in Japan is strictly forbidden; walking on tatami with any kind of shoes is totally forbidden. Tatami shall never be daunted by anything else than socks or bare feet.

Children up to the age of five are allowed to do anything they want; no matter what they do they will not get punished. From the age of six their harsh training will start; all the freedom they had until then is gone and they have to start to obey their parents.

Japanese people tend to decline offers, so you might have to force them to obey your offer; for example in a train if you offer a seat to a pregnant lady, she would most likely decline it and say she would be fine without the seat. Nevertheless you should insist, so that she will sit down. For Japanese offering a seat, or anything else is just part of the regular rules; declining it another part of the rules. To accomplish your goal you will have to insist on it; otherwise it will stay the way it was in the beginning.

Life in Japan

The life in Japan can be very different compared to the western world; however, after getting accustomed to the culture and life style it will become very nice and enjoyable. Even when the Japanese people hide their feelings you will start to be able to read them; by reading their feelings you will be able to communicate with them more. Learning the indirect approach that is part of their culture makes everything easier; you know that what they say might be still a no, even when they did not say it out loud.

To enjoy Japan you need to become Japanese; otherwise you will never learn to understand them and will always feel like you will be left out. The feeling will fade, but it will never disappear until you learn to understand them. Without truly understanding them you will always stay foreign to them.

Learning their language will be a big help to aid you in your goal to become Japanese. The language will explain many different cultural facts that you would never obtain.

At our arrival on Sunday afternoon in Montevideo, our United States currency will transfer into Colombian pesos. We will try to understand their native language of Spanish and Brazilian. Don't be overwhelmed as of yet, our trip has just begun. On Monday morning, we will attend school in Bogotá. Students have a 98 percent literacy rate there. We will then stop at a restaurant and a have a meal. We can try plantains with sugar on top. After eating at the restaurant we will retire at the hotel for a nightcap.

"A new day, something else to see." We will travel past the city of Bogotá into the countryside of Colombia. We will travel with Rico. Rico will show us the dates of the festivities such as the Cali's fair, Carnival of Blacks and Whites and Fiestas del Mar. Together we will stop at a café to drink some of the best coffee. We will be of company to Rico throughout Wednesday to Friday. During that time, he will teach us the importance of petroleum and coal in his country. Colombians depends on manufactured goods for a living.

I know that we already have learned so much already but education is a thing that needs to be broadened. On Saturday, we will go the library. We will look through pop-up books the history of Colombia. We will learn that the original people of Colombia were the Calima people. The Spanish arrived and took over Colombia in the year 1499. Similar to the United States, Colombia's government is democratic republic. Colombia government consists of a president, senate, legislators, and a supreme court. Nevertheless, Colombia suffers from political tension that results in widespread violence throughout the country.

It's already hard to think that we will be leaving this country today since we have learned so much. Colombia's food, agriculture, land area, climate, population, history and government have already engulfed us. Colombia's culture has had such a tremendous effect on us. I hope that you are pleased with the trip to Colombia. This chance to travel to Colombia with me will be one of the best experiences of your life. You still have to learn more about the world. One day, I will schedule a trip to another country of your choice. Still, there is no place home. Every journey has to come an end. Thanks again for embarking on this journey with me.

Estofadu is a meal made out of less tender meat usually seasoned with anisadu (native wine) boiled in a long period until tender. Then it is deep-fried, until brown in color and served with sweet sauce. .

The Ybanag prepare carabao tongue estofadu in a special way. The zila or tongue is cleaned very well by submerging it in boiling water for few minutes. The outer part of zila is scraped until the white particles are removed. The whole zila is used and placed on a pan and boiled for 30 minutes. It is removed from the pan and its water dripped. It is deep fried until brown. Then, it is put in a pan added with four cups of liquid, seasoned with one pack of whole corn black pepper, whole cloves of garlic, one piece of bay leaf, three tablespoons of vinegar, one teaspoon of salt, three tablespoons of soy sauce, five tablespoons of brown sugar, two tablespoons of anisadu. The mixture is cooked until tender and for the seasoning to creep into the meat. Then the estofadu nga zila is sliced thinly. Finally, it is served on a platter.