Elvis, Football, and More

Hi everyone! I hope you are doing well. I am fine here in Johannesburg! But, I was WAY TOO tired from that jet-lag stuff to write a big story last night. So here are some photos of my first day in South Africa. I will fill in the blanks later.

Here are photos from the future site of the 2010 World Cup. It's the biggest soccer tournament in the world! Kristin says it is like the Super Bowl and the World Series...but MUCH bigger. And here, they call soccer "football." Very interesting.









Here I am with my new friend, Eben.


There were several of these mountains near the World Cup stadium. But Eben told us they are not mountains. They are called "mine dumps." Who knew?



I don't need to explain what this is!

Here you can choose a cup of corn or french fries with your Happy Meal. VERY strange!




There are many, many poor people here in South Africa. Some live in metal shacks.

Others live in new housing. These houses are being built for poorer people. The people with more money live in houses surrounded by tall walls....so you can't even see the house.


We visited a placed called Soweto. It used to be the poorest and most violent part of Johannesburg. Today it is much nicer. Keith was shocked when we visited Soweto. He was here in 1994 and said it was more like the shantytowns I saw in Brazil.

This is the house Bishop Desmond Tutu used to stay at in Soweto.


And this is the place where Nelson Mandela used to live. He is a very famous person that was once president of South Africa. I'll have to tell you more about him when I have time. The house in Soweto is being renovated for a museum so we couldn't see the house. But I can at least say I was there!

We ate lunch in Soweto....something Eben says would have been impossible 5 years ago. The restaurant lets people sign their menus. So Kristin helped me sign mine. I had grilled cheese. YUM!

Here is the Maponya Mall....a brand new mall in Soweto. It has a huge elephant outside of the main entrance.




Here are some more photos of Johannesburg.






And this is Elvis. He hangs just below the rear view mirror in Eben's car. :)


Bye for now.....

Greetings from South Africa!

Hi everyone! I have safely made it to South Africa.


I am currently in Johannesburg...or "Joburg" as the locals call it. See if you can find it on the map. If you read my twitter updates, you will know that King Tut was mad at Kristin again. Our plane was delayed 90 minutes in London. But once we were on our way, I slept most of the flight.

King Tut was still mad when we landed, however, because the equipment bag didn't show up with the rest of Kristin and Keith's luggage. After many phone calls, Kristin has finally been able to confirm the bag is on its way to Johannesburg now. Whew!

Our local "fixer" is a journalist named Eben. He is very nice. He picked us up at the airport and took us to our hotel, the Hyatt in Rosebank. It is very nice. Here is the view from Kristin's window.

I was really tired when we got to the hotel just before noon....but Keith and Kristin were trying to stay awake in order to keep that jet-lag stuff away! It was Sunday here (we are 7 hours ahead of Iowa time). So we went to a nearby mall that has a Sunday market. It was a lot like other markets I have seen on my many travels with Kristin. Kristin bought some wooden masks and a painting and Keith bought this really cool hat.

They didn't have a hat in my size or I would have gotten one too. :(

Keith and Kristin have lots of people to interview tomorrow and I know we have to spend a lot of time in the car to get to the interviews. So I am not sure when I will check in again. But keep you eye on the twitter messages.

Bye for now!

My Next Adventure: South Africa!

Hi everyone! If you have been reading my twitter messages, you know that I have some BIG news.

My friends Keith and Kristin from the Stanley Foundation are going to South Africa and they are taking my with them! How awesome is that? Better yet...we are leaving TODAY!

Kristin says we will drive to Chicago and then fly to London, England. We will switch planes and fly to a place called Johannesburg, South Africa. See if you can find it on the map.

I have already seen Kristin's schedule. She and Keith are going to be VERY busy. So I will check in when I can. If Kristin's phone is working the right way (unlike in Kosovo), you can follow my twitter messages to stay updated on the trip.

Bye for now!

Kosovo Photos!

Hi everyone!

I am sure you think I forgot to post my photos from Kosovo...but I didn't forget. I gave Kristin a vacation from her vacation. See, Kristin was supposed to be on vacation in Kosovo. But I've decided she doesn't know what the word vacation means. She was working ALL THE TIME taking photos, writing articles for the Muscatine Journal, and uploading TONS of information to the Kosovo trip blog.

Kosovo was amazing. I saw so many new things and met lots of interesting people. But I think Kristin did such a great job on the trip blog that I am going to link to her articles. Make sure to look for the highlighted words below so you can read her stories.

Here I am with my new friend Paul at O'Hare airport. He was taking video during the entire trip.

Here I am at the airport in Vienna, Austria. See if you can find it on the map. I had never been to Austria...one more country checked off my list!

Here I am on the bus right after we landed in Pristina, Kosovo. We were headed to the town of Gjakove. That's where my friend Liz has her music program.

Here I am with my good friend Jon at Slovene Village. Slovene was a very sad place...but the kids living there were always SO excited to see Kristin's group. Jon was helping to lead art classes during the trip. You can see more photos from Slovene Village here and here and here and here.

Here my friend Erza is helping me color at Novosell School. Erza went to Muscatine High School as a Rotary student and then graduated from Muscatine Community College.

Here I am in Aimee Wedeking's English class at Novosell School. Nearly every day, the youth and adults in Kristin's group would hold English, art, crafts, and music classes in places all around Gjakove. By the way, Mrs. Wedeking teaches at my school (Louisa-Muscatine). How awesome is that?

You can see more photos from Novosell School here and here and here.

Here I am in Prizren, Kosovo. I'm standing on top of a HUGE hill that used to be home to a big fort. It looks like a bunch of rocks to me. I thought Kristin was going to die walking up the BIG hill....I am so glad I have a ride in Kristin's bag. :)

You can see more from Prizren here.

Here I am with Kristin at the Newborn sculpture in Pristina, Kosovo's capital. This big sculpture that spells the word "newborn" was unveiled the day Kosovo declared independence (February 17, 2008).

Here I am with Kristin's special little boy, Hadji. He is really, really nice.

You can see more photos of Hadji (and Kristin) here and here.

Here I am in Rugova Canyon with my friend Keith!

Here I am with Kristin at a monument on the grounds of Camp Bondsteel, the US military base in Kosovo. It was SO cool to be on the military base!

You can see more photos from Bondsteel here.

Thanks Kristin for taking me along with you on your vacation!

That's all for now...hope you had a great summer! I know I did. Bye for now....

Big News! My Next Adventure Begins Tomorrow

Hi everyone! I am SO excited. My friend Kristin called me a few days ago and asked me if I wanted to join her on another great adventure. Of course I said yes!

This time Kristin is going to Kosovo. See if you can find it on the map.

Kristin is going with a whole group of people as part of the Muscatine-Kosovo Project. Kristin says 37 people are going on the trip. Half are youth members of the Muscatine Children's and Youth Choirs. My friend Keith and his three children are also going. Cool!

Why Kosovo? Kristin reminded me that is where my friend Liz works with children affected by the 1999 war. At first I couldn't remember Liz...I have met so many friends with Kristin....but then she reminded me that I met Liz in Washington, DC a few years ago. And I met 12 Kosovar youth in Liz's program at O'Hare airport in Chicago two years ago. Now I remember!

Kristin says this is a "working" vacation. She says the choirs will be singing but everyone in the group will also be holding art classes, conducting eye and health clinics, and lots of other activities for children in a town called Gjakove.

Kristin is bringing a lot of gifts for the kids. I helped her pack....so did her rabbit, Jackson Harering.



Kristin says she is keeping a blog for the group and will be writing articles for the Muscatine Journal. Cool! But that also means I may not do as many updates on this trip (it is a vacation after all!). But be sure to check my blog occasionally for updates..and don't forget the Twitter section. Kristin says I can do Twitter updates as long as her cell phone is working correctly in Kosovo.

The trip blog address is http://www.muscatinekosovoproject2008.blogspot.com/

We are leaving Muscatine at 8:30am Sunday morning and driving to Chicago. Kristin says we will fly from Chicago to a place called Vienna, Austria. We will change planes and fly to Pristina, Kosovo's capital.

I'll keep you updated when I can. Until then....bye!

Meet My Aunt Lynn

Hi everyone! Today was a very special day. It was the annual ice cream social at the Muscatine Art Center. My Aunt Lynn works there and my friend Kristin is president of the Friends of the Muscatine Art Center. Very cool!


I was busy playing baseball today but I did get to the Art Center at the end of the social to see Aunt Lynn.

Doesn't she look funny in that hat? Aunt Lynn said kids who attended the social got to make them and someone made one for her. And I guess my friend Kristin also had one made. Here she is with Aunt Lynn.

Too funny!

Baseball has been going really well this year. My alter ego Michael's team finished the season undefeated.

WAY TO GO! Keep up the good work!

I'm Now on Twitter!

Guess what? I am now on Twitter!

How cool is that? Don't know what Twitter is? It is an online "mini-blog" that allows people to post short updates from their phone! Each update is called a "tweet."

It might sound funny, but Twitter is really cool. Kristin has even helped me link Twitter to this blog. Check out the right hand column...right under the "hit counter." There's a section called "Twitter Updates."

Kristin and I have tested the new service....so you can see a few posts now. Kristin says this will help me keep you updated when I am on a big trip with her and she doesn't have time to give me on the computer. Basically, the Twitter updates will tell you what I am up to (when Kristin's phone has data service) and then you will know what to expect to see on the blog a few days later.

This is all very new, but I think it is worth the try. Kristin feels bad when she can't give me her computer to update you every night when I am on a trip with her. Maybe Twitter will help fill in the gaps.

That's all for now....enjoy!

Catching Up, Floods and More!

Hi everyone! I have been SO busy since school got out for summer playing with my friends and my new PlayStation that I haven't had time to update my blog. (Special thanks to Kristin's dad for giving me an awesome PlayStation and a bunch of games!!!)

So here's my update.

First, just a few days after I got home from Los Angeles with Kristin, I got to go back to California. Can you believe it? Kristin, Keith, and their friend Jennifer from the Stanley Foundation were going to San Francisco to talk to people about the Brazil radio program. I've never met Jennifer before. She is really nice. Here I am with Jennifer and Keith in San Francisco.

Can you tell where we are in the photo above? If you guessed a baseball game, you guessed right! Kristin, Keith, Jennifer and I went to see San Francisco play the New York Mets. It was REALLY cold outside for June....so I wore my Cardinals jersey to stay warm.

If you read my blog regularly, you know that I saw a baseball game in San Francisco last year too! So I won't bore you with more photos of the ballpark. But I can share with you this link to a video that Keith took of me. Look....now I'm a YouTube!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2iHlVFVIrk

The next day, we went to the lobby of the hotel and I saw some people I know. My friends Simon and David were also in town to talk to the same people about the radio program. How awesome it that?

Kristin, Keith, David, and Simon spoke at a World Affairs Council of Northern California event that Jennifer helped to organize. I was so busy watching the videos and audio slide shows Simon and Kristin put together that I forgot to ask someone to take photos. Trust me, the room was packed and the whole group did awesome!

After the event was over I saw someone else I knew. It was my friend Sherif! Sherif used to work at the Stanley Foundation (and I got to visit with him on a trip to Miami a few years ago).

Sherif now lives in the San Francisco area. It was so neat to see him again!

We were delayed on our way back to Iowa because it was storming (yes....King Tut was mad again). Kristin, Keith and Jennifer even had to rent a car at O'Hare and drive home from Chicago because our plane ride was cancelled.

At first I was mad that I was going to have to spend 4 hours in the car on the way home from the airport.....but a few days later, I was really glad Kristin drove us home. That's because it seemed to rain FOREVER!

It rained and rained and rained and stormed. And as you probably know already, the rain caused many of the rivers here in Iowa to FLOOD. I am very lucky, my house is not near the river. But I know many people lost their homes in the flood.

Last week (June 17), Kristin took me to the Muscatine riverfront so I could see the flood. I was shocked! I couldn't see the riverfront at all. It was under water! Kristin told me that the flood was one of the worst ever here in Muscatine. I had no idea!

Here are some pictures Kristin took of the flood.

This is the Pearl City Station.

Here is the riverfront playground....under several feet of water.

Kristin sometimes parks her car by these signs. Good thing she didn't park there when the water started to get high....her SUV would have been covered by the water!

Kristin says the worst flood in Muscatine history happened in 1993. I had no idea! There is a plaque on the Pearl City Station that shows how high the water got in 1993.

It is hard to see in the photo below, but the river reached over 25 feet in 1993. Flood stage is 16 feet. Last week, the river topped 24 feet in Muscatine. WOW!

Here's the view of the flooded Mississippi from Kristin's office.

Here I am by the water. Here the water is actually on the sidewalk at the Hotel Muscatine.

Here I am standing along the sidewalk of Mississippi Drive. There is supposed to be a street here...but as you can see....it was full of water!

Here's another view of what is normally a parking lot and recreation area on the riverfront.

The statue in the photo below is called "Mississippi Harvest." Kristin headed the group of people who helped get the statue built. How cool is that? Kristin told me the statue would be fine even though it was surrounded by water. Don't tell Kristin...but I could tell she was worried!

I've seen the statue when the river isn't flooded. It sits on a tall concrete base. The base sits on a small hill along the river. So you know the river is really flooded when the water is in the statue's boat!


Thankfully the flood is starting to go away. Today Kristin says she can see the concrete base of the statue. She also says the water is no longer on Mississippi Drive. Whew! But Kristin says there is still a lot of mud and "gunk" on the street. She also says the parking lot is still under water and it will be at least another week before she can park there.

Well that's my update for now. Happy Summer Everyone!