My Life On The List

Samantha — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 21:47:03 +0000

Cu Chi

Samantha — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 18:06:56 +0000

The Cu chi tunnels are a footnote of the war that made it possible for Viet Cong troops to move into the south. These elaborated tunnels, located in the town of Cu chi, the tunnels once covered over 250 km and included everything from firing posts and air-raid shelters to kitchens and infirmaries. My group turned off into a heavily wooded; I couldn’t make out any signs of live let along a museum or a set of tunnels. We were lead to a briefing room which was made up of nothing more then a log wall and a roof to watch a movie on a small TV. Here is where it started to get strange. The movie was nothing more then war propaganda. It started off a little like this “Cu chi the town of palm trees. Cu chi the town of beautiful forests. Cu chi the town of hard working farmers. Cu chi….” and continued on about all the things that Cu chi was. Then it turned to focus on three people and told all about them. It started off with Hung who likes fishing, swimming, hard work, shooting down American helicopters, and riding his bike. It then went to Hoa who loves to cook, sew, kill American soldiers, and bake. All the time the movie showed the the people whom they were talking about running around with various weapons and smiling. The movie stopped and we all sat quietly. Although a word was never muttered we all knew what each other was thinking. The guide got us up and walked us to where the tunnels were located. As I walked through the woods mannequins stood at various places wearing shoes made of the wheels of American tanks and, as our guide pointed out, clothing taken off of dead American soldiers. Again we all remanded quiet. After passing stacks of bombs and huge craters that was a result of them we made it to the tunnels. Our guide asked us to find the entrance, which was impossible to find since is was a small wooden door covered with grass and moss. Anyone who wanted to try to see if they could fit through the entrance. The smallest people in the group agreed and after several minutes of twisting and turning managed to fit through. However the rest of us used the special, bigger entrance made for larger visitor (and when I say larger I’m talking about anyone bigger then a 10 year-old child. I was lead through three different tunnels most of the time so small that I was crawling on my hands and knees. Some of the guys at the front of the line thought it would be funny to try and scare the girls by yelling bat and stopping. We weren’t fooled. The last tunnel took us into a larger room that I found that I could stand in. It had a large table in the center and was used for planning strategies. Again the boys decided to yell bat to scare everyone. Getting a little peeved the girls took the exit out with the tour guide. However the boys, taking a wrong turn, went down the wrong tunnel that wasn’t part of the tour and “haha, bat, haha” quickly changed to “AHHHH!! BATS!” A couple of bats came flying out the exit with a hand full of jittery guys. The tour ended at a small shooting range where for a $1 per bullet we could shoot AK-47′s at targets. Myself and a couple of other people couldn’t bring ourselves to shoot the guns. In a strange way, that even the tour guide couldn’t understand, we felt that it was a bid to morbid. With the guns blasting in the background we decided to take a walk and ended up in what I couldn’t describe as anything other then a cemetery for heavy machinery. Tanks, helicopters with bullet holes in them, and other war-time vehicles were littered through out the yard. When the bus pulled around to take us back to Ho Chi Minh we scrambled back onto it to wait for the rest of the group. Overall the experience was amazing, especially to have an insight into a part of history that is only glazed over in text books, but it asked if I would ever go back? That’s not something that I’m sure I would do. The Cu chi Tunnels sparked something in me that I can’t explain and I’m not entirely sure that I ever want to feel that way again.

Table Mountain

Samantha — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 17:29:31 +0000

Table Mountain is hard to miss. Standing proudly in the middle of Cape Town, Table Mountain was the first glimpse that I caught of South Africa as my ship sailed into the port. It looms over the city creating a dramatic backdrop to the area. Climbing Table Mountain isn’t for the weak of heart or in my case those unknowingly on the verge of full blown strep throat, fun times.

Although this is one of the most climbed mountains in the world, hikers have taken a toll on the paths. Some of the areas have eroded causing areas to become very dangerous and sudden changes in the weather as well as fog have taken many lives. The climb takes on average 2-3 hours and offers several paths up. A few of my friends took the path from the Kiestenbosch National Botanical Gardens and several times faced nothing but rocks where they had to climb ladders. I believe the name of the path is called the Skeleton Gorge. My taxi driver was much kinder and dropped my group off at the entrance that faces the waterfront, near the cable cars. The route is known as the Pipe Track and is one of the easiest ways up. It is about 7km up and the path starts at Kloof Nek just off of Tafelberg Road.

The trip started off as most do; everyone gung-ho about making it to the top, but within the first hour we were dropping like flies (give me some credit I was sick and battling food poisoning). For the most part there is a well laid out path that leads up the mountain. Brush filled paths give way to large boulders that offer a place to sit, shade, and hide from the vultures that were looking to snack on my meaty legs. Although the people in my group claimed that they only saw sparrows and other small garden-variety birds I know that I saw a vulture eyeing me up for a mid-day meal.

A hour and a half into the climb I started to regret being a tight wad and not shelling out the R56.00 for a student ticket to ride the cable cars, but the views that I was getting couldn’t compete with the cable cars. Salvation came when I saw a V-rock formation that signaled that we were only minutes from the top, Surprisingly the hardest part of the climb isn’t the climb.

Once on top of the mountain the real danger begins as I dragged my lifeless body off of the path and to the cable car booth to beg for a ticket down. The top of the mountain offered encouraging signs like “Dangerous path” which needed to be taken to get to the cable cars. Four-foot high stone steps were between me and civilization with nothing but a chain to use to pull my body up from step to step, but there was yet another promising sign “Do not use chain to climb.” I did anyway.

Once we made the perilous trip to the cable car station we stopped at a small shop that was decorated with Coke signs and umbrellas (there is truly no place on this Earth to escape the grasp of Coke and Pepsi even on the top of a mountain). Outside of the shop is a pay phone where one of my friends decided to call home. At this point I should warn everyone that at the bottom of this mountain it was 90 degrees and where we were it was in the 40’s. Suddenly we heard sirens going off. Being tourists we ignored the alarms and went on our merry way. We looked around, took pictures, and then leisurely walked over to the cable cars only to find that they were shutting down and were all leaving. They graciously let us pay, but only in exact change so that we could go with them. The cable car was a wonderful trip down the mountain. It rotates 360 degrees so that everyone has a view of the city and is able to see and laugh at other people climbing the mountain why you are gliding down it in luxury. We also got a wonderful view of Devil’s Peak, which we couldn’t see from where we were climbing. The lower cable-car station is located on Tafelberg Road.

Photograph UW Garden

Samantha — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 18:31:25 +0000

For this goal to be completed 350 photographs of UW Botanical Garden must be taken.

Photograph Seattle in the Fall

Samantha — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 18:30:16 +0000

100 photos of Seattle in fall (counts while the leaves are changing color).

Photograph Seattle with a Holga

Samantha — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 18:27:40 +0000

For this goal to be completed I need take 5 rolls of film of Seattle with my Holga.

Photograph UW Botanic Garden

Samantha — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 18:25:58 +0000

In order for this goal to be completed I must take 350 photos of UW Botanic Garden.

A-Z Challenge

Samantha — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 02:18:22 +0000

The A-Z challenge is to read a new author for each letter of the alphabet. The first letter of the first or last name.

G–Philippa Gregory

I– Indu Sundaresan

M– Jessica Morrison

P–Jodi Picoult

S–Kathryn Stockett

Y–Muhammad Yunus

My Goals For Bug List

Samantha — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 14:44:34 +0000

1. Teach her another language.

2. See her graduate from college.

3. Take her to Disney.

4. Teach her manners.

5. Fill a hope chest with keepsakes to give her when she is older.

6. Go on a cross country road trip.

7. Take her to 7 countries.

8. Help her persue a hobby that she is interested in.

9. Teach her how to use a camera.

10.Do a tour of NASA

11. Teach her to care for a pet.

12. Never tell her to color inside the lines.

13. Teach her the value of a dollar.

14. Help her start a collection of something.

15. Have her pick out a new book each month to read.

16. Teach her it’s about quality not quanity.

50 States

Samantha — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 17:52:08 +0000

Visit all 50 States:

Alabama
Alaska
Arizona
Arkansas
California
Colorado
Connecticut
Delaware
Florida
Georgia
Hawaii
Idaho
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
Mississippi
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska
Nevada
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New Mexico
New York
North Carolina
North Dakota
Ohio
Oklahoma
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
South Carolina
South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas
Utah
Vermont
Virginia
Washington
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Wyoming