Talk to Teacher Jen - Summer 2008

See you Tuesday!

2008-09-07T04:26:00.002-07:00

Hi Everyone!

We stayed for one week at a farm called Spannocchia. You can see a picture at www.spannocchia.com. It was very beautiful. I can show some photos when I see you. They made Italian food and everything was fresh from the farm. We ate a lot of tomatoes and vegetables and pasta. We relaxed too!

Today we are in a city called Sienna. It is not too big and not too small. We can see many old things. Old buildings, old roads. They are very beautiful. It is interesting to see the same buildings that people saw hundreds of years ago.

Tomorrow morning we go to the airport and begin the journey home! Thank you all for your letters. I am excited every time I read one. I remember and miss all of you! I am excited to see you on Tuesday.

Love,
Teacher Jen

See you Tuesday!

2008-09-07T04:26:00.001-07:00

Florence, Italy

2008-08-30T08:52:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone! How are you? How was the State Fair?

We arrived in Florence, Italy on Wednesday afternoon. It is very very beautiful here. I like the people, the food, and the language.

Can you find Florence, Italy on the world map?

Can you ask Teacher Eloise to teach you "hello" in Italian?

I will tell you about the photos.

In the first two photos you can see the Italian ice cream. It is very good! It is called gilato. We really like the gilato!

You can see some photos of the streets and the river. You can see one artist drawing on the street. She makes a picture that looks like a very old picture. People leave coins for her. At the end of the day, they wash the streets. A new artist comes and draws another picture.

You can see one photo of me at the bottom of some stairs. We climbed up the stairs to the top of a hill. You can see photos of the city from the top of the hill.

Tomorrow we will take a train to another city called Siena. Then we will go up to a very very small rural town. The name is Spannocchia. We will stay there for one week. We think it will be very peaceful and beautiful!

I miss all of you very very much and think of you a lot! I am excited to see all of you on September 9!

Love,

Teacher Jen

Lamu

2008-08-25T03:54:00.000-07:00

Hello Students! How are you? I have enjoyed reading your messages! Please send more!

Here you can see pictures of Lamu. Do you remember what part of Kenya Lamu is in? Take a look at the Kenya map.

This is our third day in Lamu. One day we went out on the boat all day. We went fishing and cooked the fish on the beach.

Lamu is small. It's an island. There are no cars. It is peaceful.

We will go on the boat tonight to see the sunset. Tomorrow we will fly back to Nairobi and take a nighttime airplane to Italy. We arrive in Italy Wednesday morning.

I miss you all!

Love,
Teacher Jen

Our Friends in Kenya

2008-08-20T03:35:00.000-07:00

Hi Students! Thank you for your wonderful messages. I was so happy to read them!

I wanted to show you some photos of our friends in Kenya. The lady with no hair is Sara. She is the manager of a center for boys. The boys can stay at the center if they live on the streets and have no place to stay. We met some of the boys in 2007 and visited them on Monday.

You can also see pictures of the boys. They showed us where they stay and where they sleep. Sara gave us a Kenya drink that the boys usually have for breakfast.

You can see us giving the boys some boxes of clothes. It is used clothing, like at the Alley Shoppe. They don't have money to buy clothes.

In the group photos you can see our friends. In one picture I am next to Wandera. She is the woman with the nice smile. She is standing between me and Andreas.

In another picture you can see our friend Ombok. He is kneeling by me in the front.

Wandera and Ombok are married. They are working very hard for people to have a better life in Kenya. Many people in Kenya don't have enough money for food, water, housing, or health care.

You can also see pictures of some kids dancing. They are a church youth group. They are part of Ombok and Wandera's church.

It is sad that so many people have a difficult life here. It is nice to meet them though and they are so friendly.

Below, you can see pictures of animals in Kenya.

Below that you can see pictures of Isili. Isili is the Somalian part of Nairobi.

I think of you all every day! Please keep writing to me.

Love,

Teacher Jen

Animals in Kenya

2008-08-19T22:20:00.000-07:00

These are photos of animals that live in the National Park in Nairobi. Yesterday we went there. We stayed in the car and drove around the park for 2 or 3 hours. We saw so many animals! I have only seen these animals in a zoo before. These animals are not native to Minnesota so we only see them in the zoo. But they are native to Africa, so I can see them here in Kenya. The giraffes were very friendly! Sometimes they came near the car. The lions like to eat people though, so we didn't get out of the car when we were near the lions! :-)

What kind of animals do you see in the pictures? Do you know the name in your language? How about in English?

Isili Photos

2008-08-19T21:57:00.000-07:00

These are photos from a neighborhood in Nairobi. The neighborhood is called Isili. It is where the Somali people in Nairobi live. Many Somali people live in Nairobi because Somalia is not safe now. So people leave and come to Nairobi.

Some of our Somali friends in Saint Paul and Minneapolis lived in Isili before they came to the U.S. Do you remember Khadra? She lived here.

What do you see in the photos?

Hello From Kenya!

2008-08-18T01:07:00.000-07:00

Hello Students!!!! How are you? How is everything at Arlington Hills? What have you been doing in class?

I am in Nairobi, Kenya. We just finished the 2-day program in Kibera. Kibera is inside Nairobi. One million people live there. It is very poor - there is not enough food, not good water, and not enough toilets. Many kids can't pay their school fees. Even though life is difficult everyone we met there was very friendly and kind.

Here are some pictures from the program. We studied nonviolent communication. Nonviolent communication means talking without fighting. Kids practiced talking about feelings and needs.

Please write me a message. What do you see in the pictures? What is interesting in the pictures?

I miss you all!!!!!!!!

Love,
Teacher Jen

On the way!

2008-08-13T03:53:00.001-07:00

Hello Students! I love you and miss you already. I'll be thinking of you every day and putting pictures on the blog as often as possible. I am excited to share a little of Kenya with you.

Here is a picture of downtown Nairobi.

I will stay at a hotel a little outside of downtown. It's called Shalom House. Here are two pictures of Shalom House:

Shalom House gives the money from the hotel to a school. The school is for kids who don't have good families. They used to live on the street but now the live at the school. They can choose to get a diploma, or they can study a trade. A trade is something like fixing cars or making tools.

Remember to visit me here! I will read every message that you write. I will feel happy reading your messages. I am already excited to see you all when I get back to school on September 9.

About Kenya

2008-08-12T05:34:00.001-07:00

Here is a map of Kenya. Click on it to make it big.

I will fly into Nairobi and stay there for 6 days. What part of Kenya is Nairobi in? What does the big circle next to "Nairobi" mean? What does the airplane symbol next to Nairobi mean?

After Nairobi, I will take a small plane to Lamu. What part of Kenya is Lamu in? What country is Lamu south of? What ocean is Lamu on?

Getting ready to go

2008-08-05T04:47:00.001-07:00

Hello Students! On Wednesday, August 13, I will fly to Kenya right after school. I will arrive on Friday morning August 15.

I am going with Andreas. We have a really long flight with four different airplanes! That's because I got a cheap ticket :-)

Step 1:

I take four flights all together.

Flight 1: Minneapolis/St. Paul to Detroit, Michigan

Flight 2: Detroit to Amsterdam, Netherlands

Flight 3: Amsterdam to London, England

Flight 4: London to Nairobi, Kenya

Please look at the world map in the hall. Trace the route with your finger.

Step 2:

I will tell you about our departure and arrival times in different cities. I will also tell you if there are time differences between the cities. Can you help me figure out how long each flight is?

Flight 1: We have to arrive at the Minneapolis/St. Paul airport by 1:11 p.m. We leave Minneapolis/St. Paul at 3:11 p.m. and arrive in Detroit at 5:59 p.m. There is no time difference between Minneapolis St. Paul and Detroit.

Flight 2: We leave Detroit at 8:55 p.m. and arrive into Amsterdam, Netherlands at 10:40 a.m. on August 14. The time in Amsterdam is 7 hours later than the time in Minneapolis/St. Paul.

Flight 3: We leave Amsterdam at 5:20 p.m. We arrive in London, England at 5:35 p.m. London is 1 hour earlier than the time in Amsterdam.

Flight 4: We leave London at 8:00 p.m. and arrive in Nairobi, Kenya at 6:30 a.m. The time in Nairobi is one hour later than the time in London.

Questions:

1. How long is flight 1?
2. How long is flight 2?
3. How long is flight 3?
4. How long is flight 4?

5. How long do I stay in the Minneapolis/St. Paul airport?
6. How long do I stay in the Detroit airport?
7. How long do I stay in the Amsterdam airport?
8. How long do I stay in the London airport?

9. Add the times for all of your answers together. How long will we travel from beginning to end?

Wow! That's a long time.

Now, go to another window on the Internet. Go to www.timeanddate.com/worldclock.

10. What time is it right now in the capitol city of your country?