Philippines

 Hello once again! It seems like just yesterday I had gotten back from my exciting trip to Europe and tomorrow I will be on my way to Asia!

 The Philippines is my homeland, and has been my yearning for many years. Finally, I will quench this thirst, see and know this exotic place.

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[3] Magandang umaga~Good morning! It is about 4 a.m. here in the Philippines, I have arrived by plane. Already I can feel the heat and humidity finding a home in my skin and can smell the floral aromas. This feels like home.   

     [1] [2] I was surprised as I stepped out of the airport into the city of Manila, Philippines. Instead of the lush, tropical place I dreamed it as, I stepped into what I live in everyday. A crowded, polluted city. It is very crowded, densely populated. The city is so crowded that many families have moved away to live near cemeteries and even inside crypts, where it is more peaceful and less crowded than in the city. There are 2,580,448 births every year as an average. Births that happen in hospitals are profusely packed resulting in most of the newborn's mothers having to share a bed with 5 or more mothers including their own newborns.

  [1] In the public school my aunt's son goes to, students must go to school in "shifts" because there are simply too many of the students to be taught all day long. Teachers struggle, trying to teach their multiple thousands of students in only 4 hours each day. One teacher was quoted, (1)"The four hours we get with each class isn't enough to teach them well. We're really rushing to pack in everything we can into those four hours."

         [1] Getting around this place I once thought a paradise, was a nightmare. Traffic was slow and always congested. Just trying to drive across a street took more than half an hour. The government tries to help their people with the traffic by limiting each vehicle to a certain amount of driving days. Those who are rich and can afford multiple cars, purchase another car and drive that car on the days when their other car is not allowed on the streets.

 

     [1] The countryside of the Philippines is fine and less densely populated, but people who live in these beautiful places are forced to leave and move to the city. Jobs and money to support themselves and their families are scarce in rural areas. They must get money for food, clothes and a home. Thus, they must move to the overpopulated city. This results in a growing Manila every day.

     [5] [4] Like many Asian countries, The Philippines serves a relatively large role in America's everyday life. Many Filipinos and others on this island work more than 12 hours straight. Working in these horrendous conditions, the employees work for $7.00 a day when they need at least $17.00 to survive the day. (Food, housing, clothing, etc.) According to http://nosweat.org/, an organization against sweat shops, a few years ago, a man name Raymon Aguba died in a sweatshop after working straight for 22 hours. In another sweatshop, the workers are forced to take anti-dizziness pills to keep them from passing out while working. Love your brand-new jeans? Or your cute top? Our "love" for these material items is the cause of many lives in Asia.

    

[6] The climate of my homeland was not underestimated. It is very warm, hot and humid. While in The Philippines, I planned on visiting some of my Filipino relatives. I saw my aunt and grandma, Lola. There were so many differences between my culture and theirs. Most of it was a result of the sizzling temperatures they have. Most of the people wear flip-flops, tank tops, t-shirts and shorts. Women who wear dresses are dressed in thin, light material to keep them cool.

    In my aunt's home, she has very large, expansive windows. Filipinos typically have these that they leave open to help the breeze circulate throughout their home more efficiently. Even through the excruciating heat, most of my family members and the natives on this island do not own a refrigerator. Because of this, the local market and other stores sell dried fruit and meats such as dried mango and dried beef.

     Too bad I had visited my homeland in the fall... Filipinos usually celebrate and hold festivities in the summer when it is warmer and people are less busy with school and work.

     [6] Luckily, only a few weeks after I had left The Philippines, had there been a major flood in the same place I was staying. Most of these floods are major surprises to the native people. As my dad describes it, "You fall asleep to the sound of the rain and wake up floating." This is not the only natural disaster the people of this country encounter. Many of these include earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and typhoons.

 [7] [8] Despite the overpopulated, polluted capital Manila, The Philippines is a lush, beautiful, floral place. While I was staying at my aunt's place, she took me to see some of the most amazing things I will probably ever see in my entire life. A couple places were Crocodile Lake and Palawan. To the left, you can see a picture of Crocodile Lake. Most tourists who see this sight descibe it as, "a lake within a lake."    

[9] Palawan Island was the greatest adventure of my life! My aunt and I kayaked and explored deep underwater in the Pacific Ocean. While diving, we were able to experience seeing a very rare animal, the dugong, (sea cow). This island is the "undiscovered country", (for you star trekkies). Many of the smaller, outcast islands part of Palawan have not been discovered and/or explored. The diving expeditions take you far beneath the surface to experience rare animals, coral reefs, and even the underground river!

 

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Resources:

1. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/oct/15/philippines-overpopulation-crisis

2. http://www.indexmundi.com/philippines/demographics_profile.html

3.http://www.seasite.niu.edu/Tagalog/Tagalog_Homepage99/useful_tagalog_phrases3.htm

4. http://daniel-workman.suite101.com/top-filipino-exports-imports-a30367

5. http://www.nosweat.org.uk/node/556

6. Manuel Arevalo. Personal Interview. 4/25/12.

7. http://www.mytravel-asia.com/pois/100670-Crocodile-Lake

8. http://laguna.islandsphilippines.com/attractions-natural.php

9. http://www.etravelpilipinas.com/travel_destinations/palawan.htm


Picture Resources:


1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asia


2. http://gulfnews.com/news/world/philippines/philippine-traffic-woes-worsen-as-car-sales-boom-1.746713


3. http://www.mediatinker.com/blog/archives/009008.html


4. http://www.polotravelltd.com/philippines.html


5.  http://www.fotothing.com/maiylah/photo/c49cbb2b2eb97eecefb22f64171423de/


6. http://bmblog.bagarinao.com/index.php?/archives/164-The-Tradition-Lives-On.html


7. http://www.mytravel-asia.com/pois/100670-Crocodile-Lake


8. http://www.tommyschultz.com/component/photo/image/philippines-4/tubbataha-underwater-photography-sea-turtles-&-tiger-sharks-in--24/green-sea-turtle-blue-water-palawan-philippines-890.html


9. http://wwf.panda.org/?uNewsID=94460


10. http://thegreentravel.net/2011/11/explore-underground-caverns-by-paddle-boat-river-ride-in-palawan-philippines/

Europe

June 1, 2012

 Hi everybody! It's me Zalika Derrik, the new college graduate! Yay! In result of my graduation, I'm taking a European Vacation! Guess where? Italy and Belarus... interesting huh? Got to go, I'll tell you more about my trip when I get there!

June 5th, 2012
[1] [2] Hi everybody again! It's Zalika here! I'm in... Belarus! How exciting!

Here, they speak all kinds of languages! They speak Belarusian, Russian, Ukrainian, Polish and Yiddish. Polish and Yiddish... they're so fun to say! Anyway, the most common language is Belarusian and the second most common is Russian and so on and so forth. Okay... here's some Yiddish! Mazel Tov...maven.

Ha! I wished you good luck and then took it back with sarcasm! How cool!

[3]Okay, okay... get this. They use Belarusian Ruble! Sounds cool, huh? It's not doing so great though... 1 dollar in American money = 8469.96 Belarusian ruble. Imagine pulling all of that money out of your pocket! At some places, they may tell you how much to pay in U.S. Dollars and then ask you for money in Belarusian Ruble. They do this because it is illegal to trade/buy things in foreign currency. This one guy freaked because I handed him American money. Whoops... I'm never doing that again...

[4] Yes... Belarus is having some problems. It's a cool place to visit but there's a lot of trouble right now. Alexander Lukashenko apparently got re-elected and is sending many people to prison. He has sent hundreds of protesters who are protesting against him and the other 7 representatives running against him. Many feel as if he has blocked out all of the voices, especially the voices to whom are against him. He has also conquered over all the forms of government and took away the time limiting a president's term.


[5] Belarus is almost the same as Italy (the next place I'll be going!). They both have a republic government. This is a government that allows it's people choice of representatives to vote and carry out their voice. (I'll explain a little more when I get to Italy).


[6]Belarus is pretty cool! It's always cool and moist, almost like a rain forest. You know... there are some forests around here. I'll have to visit some of those! Anyway, their summers are cool and humid and their winters are cold. It's really nice. You can always like, go outside with your sweater but have your flip flops on. It's cool. It's almost the size of Kansas but... not almost. It's 80,100 square ft.

June 6th, 2012
Did you know that Belarus has 6 regions that it's divided into? The Brest region, the gormel region, the Grodno region, the Minsk region, the mogilev region and the vitebsk region.


[7]The Brest region is covered with lots of rare animals and plants. The result of this are the many national parks and reserves to let the people of Belarus preserve and experience the beauty of it all. In this region, about 2 million people live here. (That's a LOT for just a park of "Kansas"). (Here's a picture of one of the nature reserve).


[8]The next region is the Gomel Region. About 1 million people live here. The most common religion in the this region is Orthodox Christianity, the same as in the Brest region. There's this town in the Gomel region, Vetka, it's so cool! Like, 40 days after Easter, the people dance and sing and then bury an arrow in the ground! How unique! They do this to symbolize the changing of the seasons, winter to spring.


[9]The next region is the Grondo Region. 1 million people also populate this place. The most common religion in this region is not only Orthodox Christianity but also Catholicism. Here they farm a lot of things like potatoes and beets.


[10]Another region in Belarus is the Minsk Region. Almost 1.5 million people live here. This is the region around the capital which makes it highly populated and industrial. They have many industries that manufacture/retrieve natural resources like iron ore, peat and chalk.

[11] The 5th region is the Mogilev region. A lot of this region is forest too! This region is home to almost 2 million people. Here, there are about 17 religions (altogether) practiced in the whole region. That's quite a bit, (compared to the other regions). 35% of this reion and all of the people who live here also experienced the awful Cheronbyl accident, it was nuclear.
[12] Last but not least, the 6th region is the Vitebsk region. Combined, this region has over 3000 lakes and rivers! They call it "the land of the lakes". Here, the most common religion in Orthodox Christian. Many of the old, famous people in Europe were born here. For example, Ivan Hrutsky and Simeon Polotsky were born here.

[12, 13]A lot of the people here brag that the last war they were ever involved in was WWII. And, it's true. The last ever (official/written) war they were involved in was WWII, in which their capital, Minsk was very badly damaged and a lot of people were killed.
June 7th, 2012

[14] Anyway, back to my travels! So... while I was there, I went to this national park called Belavezha. This is where this rare type of Buffalo lives, the Zoobr. They're so cute! I also visited one of the ancient castles there too! Ooh... spooky. There's this castle called Kamianiec... okay fine... it's a tower. But still, it was fun to see! It's old and crumbly, mysterious and...ooh so fun and scary!


June 8, 2012
What a fun time in Belarus! Off to Italy! Sounds fun! I'll be recovering from all my adventure on the plane. I won't need those sleeping pills! See you in Italy!

June 9, 2012

 [1]Hi! Zalika Derrik, again! I'm here right now, in Italy! How exciting! It's totally great here. Except for the fact that everyone is talking in words I don't understand... I looked it up and those strange words every one's speaking is actually a language. (I knew that!) Here in Italy, people speak all kinds of languages like Italian, Friulian, Ladin, Slovene, German, French, Albanian, Croatian, Greek, Catalan and Sardanian. Whew! A mouthful! Thankfully, some people speak English around the places where more tourists visit.

[2] Here in Italy, they use money called Euros. Just as our symbol for dollars is $, theirs is, €. One euro = about $1.32. So, I went to this fabulous Italian restaurant, right? They charged me like 25 Euros which equals $33.00! What a rip-off! But, it was still good food... I mean, how many times can you get real, authentic Italian food in your U.S. freezer? It's just doesn't happen...

[3] Of course... vacations mean touring! So I did a little touring. One of the places I went to was the Eldred WWII Museum. I learned a little bit about WWI. Around 1915, Italy went into the war on Germany's side (but later would enter WWII on the allies' side).  It also told me all about WWII. You see, German soldiers were fighting allies in France and the allies planned to keep the Germans trapped in Italy. They were unable to move to France or Russia. Soon, American and English allies transferred back to their hometown. Some were left, continued to fight and brought the Germans to their knees on May 2nd, 1945. So... anyway... I was at this amazing Italian restaurant right...? And I was talking to this guy and he said that he was born near the end of WWII.  He was about a "tween like you youngins' call yourself these days..." when the war ended. It was a hard time to be in but he lived through it.

[3] [4]That museum also told me about recent events in Italy's history as well. As strange as it seems, the last war they officially had was in 1943 against Germany which was still WWII.

Oh yeah. I forgot to mention that last year's (2011) New Year was really a political struggle for Italians. Usually, every new year, they burn a fake person as a representation of their past. Last celebration, they burned a fake person, made to look like Silvio Berlusconi, their former prime minister. (In reference to the burning of their past), 40% of the Italians felt that "Berlusconi's politics certainly represent one of these things". Apparently, Silvio Berlusconi has put extra strain on the economy of Italy and it seems to be affecting a lot of people. Recently, there have been confidence votes here in Italy, and he just barely passed it. Like, I was walking through this town...um... Palermo. They were having protests about it. A lot of people seem really angry about that.

Italy has this type of government called republic. That means that the representatives the people elect get to vote for the people. Let's hope the people of Italy choose the right people to vote for them...

June 9th, 2012
[5] Italy is a super cool place! Like in America, everywhere you look there are cities, malls and shopping centers. Here in Italy, everywhere you look there are farms, fields and nature. It's amazing!

There are 8 different regions in which Italy is separated. Alpine Slope, Po Valley (North Italian Plain), Adriatic Plains (Carso), Apennines, Apulia and The Southeastern Plains, Western Uplands and Plains, Sicily and Sardinia. Most are mountainous and agricultural; grapes, cereals, vegetables and peaches.

In the Sicily region, there's this active volcano... Mount Etna, it's one of the biggest volcanoes in the world that' still active! The top part of Sicily is...well... kinda ruined because of the volcano which really stinks.

The Alpine Slope apparently has many mountains and valleys plus forests and glaciers. When snow on the alpine slope melt, the water fills the Alpine River. This river powers a hydroelectric plant, taking part in powering some of Italy's electricity.

In the Apulia and Southeastern Plains, there are lots of plateaus that just cut off, right into the Mediterranean Sea. But, this is the best place for fisherman to fish... right along the coast. They fish for all your favorites... clams, sardines and anchovies!


There's limestone everywhere in the Adriatic Plains which makes it hard to farm there. That's why agriculture thrives more in regions like Po Valley and the Western Uplands and Plains.


June 10th, 2012
Yay! It's finally time for some real city touring! Shopping, malls, restaurants... Which first? So... I decided to go to Rome for the first stop.

First place I visited was the Rome Coliseums. They were really cool! I have a picture on my phone. I'll upload it below.

[6] Of course that wasn't the only place I went to...

Ohmigosh! The gondolas are amazing there! So relaxing! If you don't already know, they are these rides on a narrow boat across a canal of water through the city! The gondoliers have to be really talented. They have to navigate a boat...say... almost 37 feet in a really narrow canal. The rides are fun and they're definitely great for couples and all of that. Oh yeah! I also went to this really really nice restaurant. [7] Osteria's. Mm...the food was really tasty and the people were so nice! It's this restaurant owned and run by a family with lots of amazing homemade cooking! If you're looking for a good place to eat, it's there.

[8] Have you ever heard of the carnivals they have there? They look so cool and fun but... the last one they had was a couple months ago in February. So I missed it. But... I did get to see one of their costumes! There was this lady in this costume store someplace in Italy (I don't remember! Okay?) and she showed me the costume she wore for it. All the pieces of clothing were tied together with one main color. Hers was white and blue. I wish I had graduated college in February!

June 14th, 2012

Hi, Zalika Derrik here again! I'm home now, back in "home" home, Colorado! I can't believe I actually got to go to ALL of those places! Wow, what a treat! (Thanks, Mom!) Italy and Belarus! How fun! I hope you all had fun with me as blogged all of the happenings over there!

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Resources:


Italy:


1. http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/european_languages/countries/italy.shtml,


http://www.eurfirst.com/europe/lang.htm


2. http://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g187768-s601/Italy:Banks.And.Money.html


3. http://www.worldwariihistory.info/WWII/Italy.html,


http://eldredwwiimuseum.net/index.html,


http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/country_profiles/1065897.stm


http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/country_profiles/1065897.stm


4.  http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/country_profiles/1065345.stm,


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-16518599,


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-11981754,


http://www.aljazeera.com/news/europe/2010/12/201012152404322810.html,


http://www.aljazeera.com/news/europe/2010/12/201012221686817399.html,


http://www.indexmundi.com/italy/government_type.html


5. http://library.thinkquest.org/J0112187/italy_geography.htm


6. http://www.tours-italy.com/venice-about-gondola.htm


7. http://www.tours-italy.com/venice-about-venice_restaurants.htm


8. http://www.comune.venezia.it/flex/cm/pages/ServeBLOB.php/L/EN/IDPagina/42140


Belarus:


1. http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/european_languages/countries/belarus.shtml


2. http://www.dailywritingtips.com/the-yiddish-handbook-40-words-you-should-know/


3. http://coinmill.com/BYR_USD.html#USD=1,


http://www.travelswise.com/belrarusmoney.htm


4. http://www.aljazeera.com/news/europe/2011/01/2011122215316266586.html,


http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3882843.stm


5. http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/5371.htm


6. http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/5371.htm, http://www.belarus.by/en/about-belarus/geography


7. http://www.belarus.by/en/about-belarus/geography,


http://eng.belarustourism.by/catalog/130_21015.html


8. http://www.belarus.by/en/about-belarus/geography, http://www.belarus.by/en/about-belarus/geography/gomel-region


9. http://www.belarus.by/en/about-belarus/geography, http://www.belarus.by/en/about-belarus/geography/grodno-region


10.http://www.belarus.by/en/about-belarus/geography, http://www.belarus.by/en/about-belarus/geography/minsk-region


11. http://www.belarus.by/en/about-belarus/geography/mogilev-region


12. http://www.belarus.by/en/about-belarus/geography/vitebsk-region


13. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/1118391.stm


14. http://www.belarusguide.com/travel1/Attrctn.html,


http://www.belarusguide.com/nature1/puscha.html


http://www.belarusguide.com/cities/kamianiec.html
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Picture Resources:


Graduation photo: http://www.dipity.com/tickr/Flickr_graduation/


Belarus:
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Belarus


2. http://beltoprent.com/1642


3. http://tobelarus.com/tourism-in-belarus/national-parks/74-pribuzhskoye-polesye.html


4. http://www.belarusvisit.by/farmsteads-in-belarus/detail.php?ELEMENT_ID=861


5. http://www.belarusguide.com/nature1/puscha.html


France:


1.ttps://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/it.html


2.http://coins.about.com/od/worldcoins/ig/World-Coins-Gallery-Index/Italy-Money---Coins.htm


3.http://www.liguriaguide.com/italy-money.html


4. http://en.polyglot-tutor.com/higher-education-in-italy/


5. http://amantivino.wordpress.com/2010/02/07/whats-in-your-glass-tenuta-terre-nere-etna-rosso-%E2%80%9Ccalderara-sottana%E2%80%9D-2006/


6. http://sb.westfordk12.us/pages/6gweb/6gss/wtravel10/r/rmatt/index.html


7. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-16518599


8. http://www.romanlife-romeitaly.com/ancient-roman-colosseum.html


9. http://www.picturesdepot.com/wallpapers/209023/venice+italy.html

Honduras

   Hello, my fellow bloggers once again! As you know, I was just in Alaska enjoying my business trip and it was great! I was recently watching the news Saturday in Anchorage, when I saw that Honduras had a terrible hurricane last week. My church's missionary team is leaving to help. My family and close friends, you know that these things way heavy on my heart...so in a couple of days I will also be leaving Alaska and arriving in Trujillo, Honduras.       ______________________________________________________

It is now November, 24th, 2 weeks after the hurricane...hurricane Mitch. I have left Anchorage and have finally arrived in Trujillo, Honduras after several connecting flights. The sights are tragic and everyone is suffering from the damage, loss and results from the storm. After the hurricane, a huge storm surge hit the country. The wave was massive and flooded the lower parts of the country.

Over 9,000 people in all died in the hurricane and 5,677 of those people were of Honduras. On top of all of that... an average of 8,000 people went missing during the hurricane. I was wading down one of the watery streets and a majority of the people I passed didn't even look up. They didn't even notice that the storm was over. Others cried and were stranded in thought over those they lost. Others were grateful for their lives and for the lives of those they loved that they still had.

After the hurricane hit, sickness started to appear and spread. Malaria, Cholera, Dengue and Leptospirosis. They were terrible diseases. People everywhere were coughing and throwing up. Luckily, after medical help, only one death occurred from Leptospirosis out of all the cases and all the diseases.

 When the hurricane hit the border of Honduras and Managua, it traveled at 4 knots making it last for about a week. This also resulted in over 35 inches of rain, flashfloods and mudslides. The flooding in some parts were so bad that some people had not received help or been rescued until 11 late days after the storm. All of the flooding and mudslides were also a variable in the 5,677 deaths. They also damaged/destroyed 70,000 homes and 92 bridges.

Honduras also had a 50% loss of their agricultural crops which were worth thousands of dollars in money to provide for workers and their families. There was $4 million dollars worth of damage to everyone's property, homes and businesses.

According to some of the weather experts on scene, also helping out, Hurricane Mitch happens to be the 2nd worst storm to ever occur in the Atlantic. It was a category 5 hurricane (staying category 5) lasting 33 hours straight. Its wind was 155 knots which hurricane Mitch maintained for 15 hours straight. The third worst in the world. Because this country is a third world country, it will take almost 20 years for the people of Honduras to recover and get back to the place they were.


After helping out after that hurricane, I finally realized how much pain someone could feel over a natural disaster. I always thought of it as a cool weather pattern that just destroyed houses. But no... this hurricane didn't just destroy houses and businesses... it destroyed people's homes, pulled apart families and killed many people.


Hurricane Mitch.

____________________________________________
Resources:

http://www.who.int/csr/don/1998_11_26/en/index.html

http://hurricaneville.com/central_america.html

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/1998mitch.html

http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/reports/mitch/mitch.html

http://www.who.int/csr/don/1998_12_02/en/index.html

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/leptospirosis

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/dengue

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11875801

____________________________________
Picture Resources:

http://wwp.greenwichmeantime.com/time-zone/usa/alaska/

http://www.infoplease.com/atlas/country/honduras.html

http://proxied.changemakers.net/journal/300510/displaydis.cfm-ID=29


http://www.dosomething.org/actnow/tipsandtools/terms-you-should-know-about-malaria

http://www.osei.noaa.gov/mitch.html

http://forest.mtu.edu/pcforestry/people/1996/brower.html

http://www.osei.noaa.gov/mitch.html

My trip to Alaska

Today is September 29th, 2011...a thursday. I have just come back from my fantastic trip to Alaska which I took last month!! Alaska is an amazing place that you all should visit sometime in your life!This was a business trip (and a very long one) but it was a very unique and fun experience.

On my buissness trip, I stayed in Anchorage, Alaska. (I got this pamphlet that told me all about the climate in Anchorage and the others around it.)Let me tell you, Barrow is the place to go if you want continuous day....and night. In the middle of the summer  it's hot and sunny for days straight. It finally gets to the point where it was like regular days here in New York, though. You see, in the very top of Alaska, Barrow, it is continually sunny for about 75..80 days. In the winter,  it's continually dark and snowy for about 2 months. In Anchorage the average high termperatures hover around 20 - 70 degrees. I was there in the summer and it was about 50...65 degrees about every day for the high temperature.

Alaska has 591,004 square miles of land which is a LOT! Imagine comparing it to the U.S. It would be gigantic! I looked this up for you guys. I hope you enjoy this. Click on the link and it will show you Alaska compared to the U.S. You can also compare other states of the U.S. to Alaska!  http://www.birds-eye-view.alaska.edu/ch2/story2-3.htm

Alaska has a population of roughly 700,000. Alaska is the biggest state in the whole U.S.! That is so crazy! Texas is the second largest but has more than 10 times as many people as Alaska does. Alaska is a huge state with a small amount of people. Rhode Island which is the smallest state has roughly 1,000,000 people in it. It makes no sense how Alaska, the biggest state, could have such a small population. Coming from New York, it felt kind of lonley and almost like a ghost town there to me though...spooky....

According to http://www.ers.usda.gov/, 213,829 people live in the rural area of Alaska and 478,402 people live in the urban area. You can definently see the difference...that's why it's so lonley in the rural area...

While I was in Alaska I did some touring of it. I mean, why wouldn't you? I saw tons of mountains, summits, peaks...whatever you would call them... streams and rivers too. I know that it's probably really weird to be telling you this but there are a LOT! Plus there's only 1 volcano too. A super cool fact is that there are 2,705 islands in Alaska. Wow! Alaska also has lots of lakes and bays as well. If you would like to see the exact number of each of those awesome features that Alaska's surface has, check this website out. http://alaska.hometownlocator.com/features/

Alaska is a small state but that doesen't mean that it has a small economy. Most of the fish/seafood that we eat is from Alaska...especially the salmon. Oh..ho ho.....that salmon is the best that you can get anywhere especially fresh there, that's for sure. Alaska also produces oil and petroleum. Plus trees, barley, potatoes and oats. I also looked into jobs there for my sister, Kim, and I found out that if money for federal government jobs or the petroleum jobs...more than half of the population would lose their jobs. The employments of the people living in Alaska are rounded to about 1/3 of the population per a certain job or certain jobs. 1/3 of the population work with petroleum. Another third's population works in the federal government and the other works with fish packing, managing, tourism, etc.

Alaska has great seafood and it exports it to the rest of the U.S. all the time. But the only thing it doesen't have is veggies and fruits so those are imported for them. That great seafood is salmon, cod and stuff like that which a lot of you (I know) love to eat. You have Alaska to thank for that!

I was getting kind of bored with work especially in a new and different state, you know. So I went to this museum and I learned all about Alaska. Did you know that the first people to live in Alaska came around 20,000 BC? To the left, there is a picture of the bering strait. The land in the top right corner in Alaska and the other is Europe Pretty cool, I'd say... The battle of sitka happened in 1802 in Alaska. It's suppossed to be an important event but I have to no clue what it is...

There were gold discoveries and rushes in Alaska in 1880, 1897, 1899 and 1902! That's a lot!!!

Now I know that a lot of you would assume that in Alaska, they speak English. And you're right...they do! But they also speak a lot of other languages. I figured that out very quickly when I was talking to someone in English and they didn't respond in English but in another language.... Some of those languages are dying and some less than 20 people even speak it...which is kind of sad if you would agree with me. The people who work in the tourist centers speak Tagolog, Spanish, Japanese and German. The rest of the languages that the people of Alaska speak are Eskimo-Aleut, Athabaskan-Eyak-Tlingit or also know as Na-Dene, Eyak, Alskan Tsimshian, Alaskan Haida, Holikachuk, Tanana, Tlingit, Ahta, Ingalik, Koyukan, and the language Han.

Awesome Fun Facts!

-This is the Alaskan Flag. This flag represenets stars in the blue sky. The big dipper and the north star. What's really cool is that a 7th grader designed the flag by winning a flag design contest.

-17 of the highest mountains in North America are in Alaska! Pretty cool!!

- One of the contests in Alaska is the cabbage contest. The largest cabbage evergrown there was 98 pounds!! This record was set in 1980, in Palmer, Alaska at the state fair.

-North America's largest earthquake ever was recorded on the richter scale a 8.6 in Alaska which has been updated to be a 9.2 earthquake!

A Few Alaskan Words and American Words: 

-Alaskan Horse - Large and lots of mosquitos. 

-Chum - Dog Salmon

-Southeast Sneaker- Brown Rain boots worn "just in case" of rain or because of rain.

Alaska what a really fun place to visit so I encourage you all to visit sometime as well! I hope you have fun reading my blog...! Have a great day!!!

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Resources:

1. http://www.alaska.com/about/weather/

2. http://www.city-data.com/states/Alaska-Location-size-and-extent.html

3. http://www.welcometoalaska.com/facts.htm,
http://www.texasalmanac.com/topics/population,
 http://www.city-data.com/states/Rhode-Island-Population.html

4. http://www.ers.usda.gov/StateFacts/AK.HTM

5. http://alaska.hometownlocator.com/features/

6. http://www.alaskaseconomy.org/files/UA_RS_13.pdf

7. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alaska

8. http://www.akhistorycourse.org/timelines/pre1741.php, http://www.beringstraitcrossing.com/overview.htm


9. http://www.alaska.com/2008/10/20/1869/what-language-do-alaskans-speak.html, http://www2.gi.alaska.edu/ScienceForum/ASF4/419.html

10. http://www.welcometoalaska.com/facts.htm, http://www.alaska.com/about/weather/

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Picture Resources:

http://www.alaskaoutdoors.com/maps_travel.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Alaska_population_map.png

 http://www.climateshifts.org/?p=3161

http://www.beringstraitcrossing.com/overview.htm

http://www.welcometoalaska.com/facts.htm

http://www.alaska.com/about/weather