10 Very important things I learned abroad

So I decided that instead of putting a play by play of each of my trips I would just give you a few little treasures of knowledge that I picked up on my trips across the world. I was recently blessed to travel to England with my family and to Dubai and Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates for a conference called Education Without Borders. What an amazing experience!! I was thrilled to meet new people, see new cultures and amazing sights, and learn so much about leadership and changing the world.


10. If you poke an Indian, they multiply by 12. Thank you Naman for teaching me this little gem of knowledge. He was one of my favorite people that I met at EWB in Dubai.

9. A proper English breakfast is one of the best meals in the world. Nothing better! This picture is of our Alaskan Waffles at the Romley House in York, England. A proper English breakfast is sausage, bacon (fried ham, not American bacon), over easy eggs, beans, tomatoes and hot cocoa. Delicious!

8. The Persian Gulf is the most beautiful place in the world. The water is warm in March, as blue as can be and absolutely stunning. And it has the most gorgeous and full seashells in the world, not like California where the shells are all broken.

7. The Emerati people know how to throw a party. There is no limit to the amount spent on fireworks and anything that can be summed up with the word fabulous will likely be found in Dubai or Abu Dhabi. The picture below is the Emirates Palace. It was stunning!

6. I want a castle. Some of these things predated the U.S. by nearly 1000 years. The picture on the left is the Castle Coch and the right is Caerphilly Castle both from Wales.

5. I LOVE CAMELS! Look at that happy face! Mine and the camels!

4. Stonehenge is one of the coolest places in the world! Legend (one of them) has it that Merlin summoned it to England for ritualistic purposes.

3. The Buckingham Palace guards are all nerds. Check it out.

2. I'm not so different from other people all over the world.

1. Traveling is my new favorite past time! My goal is to touch every continent before I die. With the exception of Antarctica, I'd be OK not going there.

World Travels in March 2011

Wow.

March 2011 was in a word, incredible.

I have had some amazing experiences this past month! In mid-March, my family went on a trip to England and Wales. The last week of March I was at a conference in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, United Arab Emirates. I learned, saw and experienced so many amazing things!!

First, a brief rundown of my trip to England. I'll post about Dubai later.

On day one we went to Chesterfield and Sheffield England. These were areas where Christopher served his mission. In Chesterfield there was this amazing cathedral and it's spire was twisted. Legend has it that the building was so surprised to have a virgin get married in it that it bent down to watch. Someday when a virgin is married in it again, the steeple will straighten back up.

Chesterfield was a lovely town. Small and sweet. I liked it a lot. It was very picturesque.

On the second day we went to Sherwood Forest! This was Robin Hood's tromping grounds. The infamous thief who stole from the rich and gave to the poor used this ancient forest as his hide away, taking many a rich man by surprise as they traveled through. This picture is of the Major Oak. Its the oldest tree in the forest and now has to be supported by beams. It would have been fun to see it with a little more foliage, but it was still a beautiful place.

I will continue posting about my trips but right now I've got to get ready for church.