One of my final blog posts.

We are getting close to leaving India. In India, I’m eating as much as possible so that I don’t forget the food. When I get home I will need to do a lot of cleaning after our tenet that looked after our house. It is the rainy season in India right now, even though it cooled down a bit it’s still pretty hot! Sometimes when it rains, it covers the entire road. I’ve seen elephants, monkeys, and experienced a bit of India (and grown a bit). The bit of India I’ve experienced is what it is like in a extremely hot country, and the food, and seeing monkeys and elephants. This will have been a great trip!!!!!

China report

China is home to one of the largest civilizations in the world.  There were several dynasties including the Han, Xing, and the Shang.  The longest one was the Shang, which was 800 years.  The shortest one was the Han, which was 200 years.  One of the oldest martial arts in the world is Kung Fu which started in China in 230 B.C. In ancient China, they invented gunpowder, magnetic compass, and silk in the Han Dynasty.   They were some of the first people to use jade, silk, bronze, and wood. 

The national flag is a flag that has 5 stars and is red. Red is a symbol of communism.The red Ibis is the national bird of China.  China is rural and urban country. China borders the Pacific Ocean, India, Burma, Mongolia and Russia.  The population is 1,338,612,968. The capital of China is Beijing.  The city has 13,814, million people. One fifth of the population of the world is in China (according to a study done in 2005).  Canada's population is 33,212,696.  China is the 4th largest country in the world.  Canada is bigger, but does not have as much population as China. China has 23 States.  The highest mountain in the world is in China and is called Mt. Everest.  One third of the country is mountainous. The major mountain range is the Himalayas in the south-east of China.

 

The Chinese live with 3 to 4 family members. 

Some people love to shop in China. You can buy silk purses and silk quilts, small carved swords, Mao caps, calligraphy brush sets, jade jewelry, wooden combs with figures of Chinese gods, pearl hair pins, beaded bags and shoes.  You can buy these things at stores in China.  

Historically, some women in China had bound-feet, a sign of fashion.  Bound feet is when a girl tied her feet  so that her feet were smaller.  Small feet is a symbol of beauty in China.  Foot-binding was a historical (not done any more) tradition in China to shows a high social rank and beauty. The reason bound-feet is a sign of high social rank is because it signifies a sign of not needing to work.  It started in the 10th or 11th century.  There are still old woman in China today that had their feet bound when they were a child.

There is a policy that restricts some Chinese families from having more than 1 child.  This policy is called the "One-Child Policy". 39.5 of the urban  population is under this policy.  It was created to stop the population from increasing.  Since there is a large population, the Chinese government wanted the population to slow down.  Female children are unwanted to some families, so it has become a problem.

The 4 religions of China are: Buddhism, Chinese Folk, Confucianism, and Taoism. 360 million people practice Buddhism.  Buddhists follow the teaching of Buddha.   One of the things Buddhists believe in is reincarnation.  Reincarnation is the rebirth of a soul in a new body.  20 million people practice Taoism.Taoists believe in creating inner harmony which is inner agreement.Taoism is based on the teaching of Tao Te Ching. Confucianism has 6 million people practicing it.  Confucianism is a way of living taught by Confucius who lived from 551 BC to 479 BC.   

  China had emperors which are male rulers that ruled China.  There are no emperors anymore. This stopped when the last one died of cancer in 1932.  China is a communist country now (It didn't use to be).  It became communist when the last emperor died, and Mao the communist leader took over.  The government is a central and powerful government.  They have a president now named Hu Jintao,  since Mao died in the 1970's.   Hu Jintao was elected in 2003 and has been president for 6 years.

The Chinese eat yummy food like spring rolls, pork, vegetables, baozi (which is a steamed bun), wantons(which are dumplings) noodles and chicken. Confucius once said "Eating is the utmost important thing in life". There are 8 traditional styles of food. These are the styles: Anhui, Cantonese, Fujian, Hunan, Jiangsu, Shandong, Sichun and Zhejiing.  The food is different from the West in several ways. Chinese food is known as being sophisticated, balanced, healthy, and tasteful.   The most important festival is Chinese New Year and it's traditional food is Jai which is a vegetarian dish which has lotus seeds, ginkgo nuts, black moss seaweed, dried bean curd, bamboo shoots. They turned rice into wine and into fried rice too because rice is a main part of chinese food.  There are Chinese New Year cakes which are usually a fruit cake.

  The main festivals/holidays are Chinese New Year, the Lamp Festival, and Labour Day.  Chinese New Year is celebrated by eating hawthorn fruits skewered on a stick and the Lamp Festival is on the last day of the New Year.  The New Year falls in between late January and late February.  The Chinese celebrate New Year by cleaning and decorating and eating.  New Year is when Chinese people eat more than usual.  Lamp Festival is on the last day of New Year.  It is celebrated by putting up lamps to celebrate the end of the New Year. Labour Day is on May 1 which isn't really celebrated in a festival.  Labour day in China is a 7 day holiday when millions of Chinese people can travel.  

The Chinese rule another country. That country is Tibet. They took over in 1969.  They rule Tibet because they think that it is part of their own country.  They don't fight back because they are Buddhists and Buddhists believe in non-violence so they knew that if they fought back they would be breaking the rules. They were never ruled by any other countries.  

The currency is Yuan.   One Yuan is 175¢ Canadian.  In the cheaper western provinces you can eat for under Y25 per day. 

In Beijing there is the Arrow tower. It is a military defense that protected Beijing (It doesn't anymore).  You can find the Forbidden City there which is a imperial palace that has thousands of rooms so it is pretty big.  It was built from 1406 to 1420.  It was were the emperors lived.  Now it is a tourist attraction. There is a museum inside it called the Palace Museum. The Aeronauctil Museum is in Beijing. It has buildings of Airplanes.  There is also the Great Wall Of China, which stretches for over 500 square km and was built to keep the nomads out.  It was built during the Han and Qin dynasty.  It is a Tourist attraction because tourists that like history will want to see some of the oldest history in the world. It is  beautiful because you can see beautiful scenery. It is one of the 7 Wonders Of The World.  A pagoda is a tiered tower found in China, Vietnam, Japan, and Korea.

I like China because I like how they eat with Chopsticks and the Great Wall Of China. I will be in China for awhile and will have seen the Great Wall and eaten with Chopsticks.  China is a wonderful place, with the Great Wall, and other things to see and eat.                   

Bhagat Singh Report

Bhagat Singh was an Indian revolutionary. His goal was to get the British to leave India, just like Gandhi. Bhagat's name means "Devotee".  Bhagat was believed by the British as a terrorist, but to Indians as a hero. His entire family was in the freedom struggle.  He is known by Indians as a martyr.  He has been accused of wanting to die by the British.  He did not want marriage because he wanted to be a revolutionary.  His slogan is "Inquilab Zindabad", which means "Long Live the Revolution"

Bhagat was born in Punjab, a region in India.  He was a Sikh.  His mother was named Conuela.  His father was named Mota. He won a essay competition that grabbed the attention of the Punjab Hindi Sahitya Sammelan including its General Secretary Professor Bhim Sen Vidyalankar. When Gandhi called The Non-Cooperation Movement, Bhagat joined.  He joined the Young Revolutionary Movement when he quit the Non-Cooperation Movement.  He quit the Non-Cooperation Movement because he thought that violence should be used to get the British out of India.  He defied the British and burnt books and British-imported clothing. The Kirti Kissan Party followed Bhagat's ideas.

The Simon Commission was made by Sir John Simon.  The Commission was made to find out Indian events.  The Commission was boycotted by Indians because it did not have a single Indian member. Lala Lajpat Rai was beaten in the chest and killed by John Scott.  Lala was a Indian author and politician.  Bhagat wanted to have revenge for Lala's death.  He wanted to shoot Scott.  Bhagat joined with Rai Gopal, Sukhdev, and Rajguru.  Gopal gave the signal to shoot but mistook Deputy SuperIntendent Saunders for Scott so Saunders was shot instead.  Bhagat shaved his beard and cut off his hair as a disguise to avoid the death punishment.  If he was caught he would be killed. This cutting of hair is a disobedience of Sikhism.

  Bhagat and Batukshuar Dutt threw a harmless, noisy bomb in the Parliament because of the Defense Act of India, which was to combat Bhagat and the other revolutionaries.  The Act wanted power for the police to over-power the revolutionaries. It endangered Bhagat because if he had no power then he could push the British out of India. They stood there ( after the bomb ) and did not move and gave themselves up. In jail he went for a 63 day fast advocating for the rights of prisoners and those facing trial. He was given a trial.  Bhagat decided to use the court room publicize his cause.

Bhagat was hanged with Sukhdev and Rajguru when he was 24.  He was hanged on the 23rd March, 1931.  He was hanged because of his involvement in the Saunders murder and for throwing the bomb in Parliament.  The Indians were deceived because the execution was supposed to take place at 8:00 AM, but Bhagat was killed at 7:00 AM. This was because they wanted to avoid protests.

 Bhagat wrote a leaflet  saying his views and it said "We are sorry that we who attach great sanctity to human life, we who dream of a glorious future, when man will be enjoying perfect peace and full liberty, we have been forced to shed human blood.  But individual sacrifices at the altar of revolution will bring freedom to all, rendering exploitation man by man impossible.  Inquilab Zindabad." 

Bhagat's methods were much different than Gandhi's. Gandhi's methods were non-violent, Bhagat's were violent.  Gandhi did not think well about Bhagat's methods.   Singh was the same with Gandhi because he thought using violence was the best way to get the British to leave India.

Munnar And Spring Break

 Our Spring Break was caused by Emma ( our teacher ) going to the north of India for 2 weeks.  During Spring Break, 2 of our friends came to visit us.  Their names are John ( father ) and Emelia ( daughter ) from Scotland.  We had a lot of fun.  They gave us each an R4 card which allows you to play almost any Nintendo DS game in the world.  They also brought cheese, sausage, and Nutella.  It made us very happy that they did that.  Since than I have had pasta, paratha pizza, and cheese and crackers.  We are really thankful because we are getting a bit tired of Indian food.  With John, Emelia, Mom, Dad, and Isaac, I went to a beach by someone's house near Allapuhza.  We had a great time swimming, finding small crabs, and making sand forts.  On my birthday ( April 7th ) I got: Pokémon Ranger: Shadows of Almia, 3 Goosebumps books, and a tiger stuffed animal named Nosey because of his big nose.  My birthday was great because we had a party with our Indian friends.  Mom made Chocolate-Peppermint cake.  The peppermint was in layers under the chocolate.  With John and Emelia I went to the hill station Munnar for a day.  It was only me because Mom and Dad wanted me to get the experience.  Munnar is in Kerala.  Munnar is known for its coffee and tea.  It was cold there and I had to wear a sweater.  There were a lot of tea plantations and coffee and eucalyptus trees.  It was nice to get away from Mom, Dad, and Isaac. It was a 4 hour drive from our house to Munnar.  It was a long trip.  After Munnar, John went for an elephant ride.  I went on the elephant only for a picture. I felt weird on the elephant because I was on a snorting animal.  The elephant was not entirely grey, instead it had some pink spots on it.  Sitting on it felt like a big pillow under me. The last place we went to was a tiger reserve; didn't see any tigers because they come out later in the night.  I did see ducks and a wild boar. I was a bit disappointed that I did not see tigers.  John and Emelia stayed with us until the 13th of April.  They left yesterday.

 

I'M FINISHED MY MATH.

I just finished my last math test for the year; Geometry, so I am finished with math for the year. I did 15 pages a day. I am not finished for the year, I still have projects to go.

Elephant Ceremony

Yesterday we went to a ceremony with elephants. The ceremony had drummers and horn players. The horn players were very loud because the horn's were pointing in our faces. The drummers were not as loud. There was elephants and the elephants had gold on them. There were people on the elephants, without holding on to anything, just holding on to the elephants spine. The people on the elephants were waving their arms with some sort of fan.

A Book Report.........

Children Of The Lamp Book Report

In this book report I am going to tell you about 'Children Of The Lamp: The Akhenten Adventure' by P.B. Kerr. It is a book about history and has magic. It is fiction.


The setting of the book is in London, Cairo, and Antarctica. These are real places, however, characters and circumstances are sometimes magical. In Cairo there are pyramids. Cairo is very hot in this book, the temperature is up to 90 degrees Fahrenheit. Cairo is very busy and has markets and camels. There is a tomb close to Cairo called 'The Tomb Of Akhenten'. The tomb has a blue scorpion that is encrusted with jade. The tomb is brown with a lot of ancient artifacts. There is a lot of sand everywhere in Cairo with palm trees and sand dunes. In London there are museums, and the museums are full of people. The museums have Egyptian artifacts from the 17th century. In the book it is a chilly summer in London. In London there are small buildings and plenty of gardens. Antarctica is snowy, cold, and has ice burgs. Antarctica has seals, walruses and narwhales. The setting of the book is always changing. Each location is very different with different climates.

John and Philippa Gaunt are twins from America. They live in New York. John is 12 years old, and Philippa is ten minutes younger. John has straight brown hair, and he likes to wear black. Philippa has red wavy hair, and she likes to wear pink. They get along pretty well. They live with their parents. They go to school and are in seventh grade.

Nimrod is another character in the story. Nimrod is John and Philippa's uncle. Nimrod likes to wear red. Nimrod lives in London.

Iblis is another character, and he is human. Iblis is the leader of a tribe called the "Ifrit". Iblis has a cobra that bit a boy named Brekeesh on the foot. Iblis is described as handsome and an arrogant-looking Englishman. He has a hooked nose and smallish fair beard. He is described as "smelling strongly of snobbery and snake".

Baksheesh is the son of Hussein Hussaout who is a archeologist. His feet turn blue when he is bitten by the cobra.

Akhenten is a dead Pharaoh. Akhenten has black hair, almond shaped eyes, a long face, thick lips, dropping jaw, long swanlike neck, sloping shoulders, large pot belly with huge thighs. He is ugly. He is the 4th king of Egypt in the 18th century. He is known as the "Hectic Pharaoh". He is not a djinn, instead a magician. Iblis and Akhenten are the twins' enemies from the time they first met.

The theme of this book is that the twins learn that if you get everything you could wish for, you still wouldn't be happy.

The book starts when John and Philippa start their adventure in their house. They name their Rottweiler dogs "Winston" and "Elvis". The dogs were previously named Alan and Neil. They change the names because they don't think Alan and Neil sound like dog names.
Then the twins go to the dentist and the dentist tells them they have wisdom teeth that have to have them taken out. Wisdom teeth are teeth that are supposed to come in later in your life, "when you are wiser". The wisdom teeth make John and Philippa djinn. Djinn is another name for genie.
After this the twins have a dream where they are on a beach with a big building. Nimrod, their uncle, is in the the building and he tells them to come up but there are no stairs. Nimrod conjures a staircase because he is a djinn in real life and in the dream. After they have the dream the twins go to London alone. They go because of the dream. They think they should see Nimrod after the dream.
After they meet Nimrod they go to Cairo with Nimrod to see Iblis and Akhenten, and to find Akhenten's tomb. They encounter Iblis on the way, but Akhenten does not appear in his tomb. After Cairo, the twins and Nimrod go to London again to search for the Sekhem Scepter. The Sekhem Scepter holds 70 ancient djinn that can stop Akhenten's ghost from turning everyone into slaves. The Sekhem Scepter is hidden somewhere in the British Museum. Akhenten appears for the first time in the museum with a baboon ghost and a cobra ghost. At night John, Nimrod, and Philippa come out of a coke bottle that has been left in the museum after closing time. They find Akhenten and Nimrod is bitten by the baboon ghost and becomes trapped in a canopic jar. The twins release the 70 djinn by solving a hieroglyphic puzzle. The djinn capture Akhenten and put him in the jar with Nimrod.
After this happens in the museum the twins go to Antarctica to freeze Akhenten who is trapped in the canopic jar with Nimrod. A canopic jar is a covered urn used in ancient Egyptian burials to hold the entrails from an embalmed body. To get to Antarctica they travel by plane. After Akhenten is frozen along with Nimrod, a polar bear arrives and comes close to eating John and Philippa. Then John has a idea. The idea is to wear space suits and rescue Nimrod from Akhenten. The reason John chose space suits is because space suits can keep them from freezing in the jar when they go in the jar.
They manage to release Nimrod. After they release him they all go to London and Nimrod sends them back home on an airplane. He thinks their parents missed them.
Throughout the book they go through challenges like defeating Iblis in Cairo, and Akhenten in Antarctica. At home John and Philppa tell their family everything that happened. Their parents feel relieved that John and Philppa are alright.

I liked the book because I like Egypt, Antarctica, and magic. There are all of those in the book. I liked Egypt because I like pyramids. I like pyramids because of the tunnels that run through them. I like Antarctica because it snows there all year. I already knew things about Antarctica and Egypt and I learned more from 'Children Of The Lamp.' I recommend this book to fiction readers who also like history and magic.

Gandhi Project

Mohondos Karamchand Gandhi Project



Mahatma Gandhi was a major leader of Indian independence. He was a spiritual and political leader in India. He was the pioneer of 'Satyagraha' , which means resistance to tyranny through civil disobedience. In other words, to resist the oppressive and cruel government by not listening or obeying the laws of the government. This was Gandhi's peaceful way of protesting. He called Satyagraha his "non-violent weapon".

Gandhi was born in Porbander, Gujarat in 1869, on October 2nd. Gandhi's birthday is now a national holiday for Indians. It is known as Gandhi Jayanti. He was a Hindu. His mother's name was Pulitibal, and father, Karamchand. Karamchand had 4 wives. 3 of them died in childbirth. Pulitibal was the only survivor. Gandhi did not have any siblings, or half siblings. Mahatma is not part of Gandhi's name, but a title given to him by the Indian poet, Rabindranath Tagore, when Gandhi got his reputation. Mahatma means " Great Soul". His real name was Mohondos Karamchand Gandhi. At the age of thirteen Gandhi married fourteen-year-old Kasturba Malhilah in an arranged marriage made by their parents. Mohondos Gandhi and Katurba had four male children. Hanilal was born in 1888. Manilal was born in 1892. Ramdas was born in 1897. Devdas was born in 1900. They had another child but he died only a few days after birth. At the age of 19 Gandhi went to London to train as a barrister. He was very shy so he would have been afraid in court and wouldn't have been a very good lawyer. Before he went to London he made a vow to his mother not to drink alcohol, eat meat, or be promiscuous. In London he joined the Vegetarian Society. He could not stomach his land-lady's cabbage and mutton. He was happy in London.


After Gandhi got his degree he went to South Africa. In South Africa Indians didn't have civil rights. In South Africa he was treated like he was inferior because he was Indian. One day in South Africa, Gandhi was denied a seat on a train by the racist, caucasian driver just because Gandhi wasn't caucasian. Gandhi sued the Railroad Company and won. The South Africans threw Gandhi in jail many times because he was protesting Indian's rights by using Satyagraha. He realized by doing Satyagraha in South Africa that it might also be used to free India from the British rule. Because of Gandhi, the Indians in South Africa probably saw how they could make a change to not be discriminated against. He believed in 'ahimsa' which means non-violence.

The British ruled from 1858 to 1947. When the British were ruling India Indians were discriminated against. Gandhi thought that Indians shouldn't be treated like slaves. When he came back from India he started to gather peasants, farmers, and urban laborers to protest against the British.

Gandhi had many beliefs on how you should live. Gandhi's belief was that you should never tell lies. He lived in a self-sufficient community. He was a vegetarian. He took fasts, meaning he did not eat for as long as 2 months at a time. Gandhi fasted to protest. He thought that you should make your own clothes, because that made you self-sufficient. Satyagraha spread through India at lightning speed, gathering millions of followers throughout the country. More and more people protested because Gandhi told others to do the same. There was need for that to happen so that they could make the British leave. Indians in public office resigned and children were removed from government schools. Streets were blocked by squatting Indians who refused to rise even when beaten. They were protesting for the British to leave India.
Gandhi ended Untouchability which had been a tradition in India. Castes are hereditary classes of Hindu society, distinguished by ranks of ritual purity or pollution and of social status. The top are touchables and the bottom of the caste system are untouchables. He tried to raise the status of the untouchables who every one avoided. He gave the untouchables the name "Harijin" which means "Children Of God". Gandhi took a fast for 3 weeks to protest against untouchability.
He became leader of the National Congress Party in 1934. He started some campaigns for Indian Independence, expanding women's rights, poverty and building friendship between the religions. In 1922 he declared to the British to Quit India. In 1930 he led a 400km Dandi Salt March from Ahembad to the Arabian Sea. The Salt March was about the salt-tax, that prevented Indian people to get sea-salt from the ocean. It was a law the British made. Gandhi thought that the Indians should be able to get salt from the ocean, this is why Gandhi started the Salt March.

The Boer War was between India, South Africa, and Britain from 1880 to 1881. Gandhi commanded a Red Cross, which is a humanitarian organization that helps millions of people each year prevent, prepare for, and cope with emergencies. In 1910 he founded Tolstoy Farm. Tolstoy Farm was in Phoenix, and he set up little colonies to share his ideals with people. He is the national symbol of a free India, because he made the British leave India in 1947. He made the British leave by protesting against them using satyagraha. Gandhi went to jail because of his protests against the British in 1944. While he was in jail, his wife and secretary died. The British were soon forced to release him because Gandhi got a bad case of Malaria, and the British didn't want him to die in jail. Quit India was announced for the British to leave India in August 1947. On the 15th of August, 1947 the British left India.

Gandhi was deeply suspicious of the Muslim League. The Muslim League was a political party that led to the creation of Pakistan. Gandhi viewed the Muslim League as a precursor to Partition. Partition means that India and Pakistan were the same country, but got divided into India and Pakistan during Partition. The major religion that stayed in India were the Hindus, and some Hindus came down from the area that became Pakistan. The Muslims went to Pakistan. There was conflict between the Hindus and the Muslims. 5,000 people were killed in the conflict. It was a violent transition. Gandhi fasted for the last time to bring peace to the war between the Muslims and the Hindus.

Gandhi was killed on the 30th of January, 1948. He was 78 years old. He was killed by 3 pistol shots from Nauthraum Godse while taking his nightly walk. The reason Nauthraum shot him was because Nauthraum had links to the extremist Mahabatra Aluf, who held Gandhi responsible for weakening India. Nauthraum was executed after Gandhi's death. Gandhi's ashes were put in urns which ended up all over the world.

After his death Prime Minister Jawahalal Nehru said "Friends and comrades, the light has gone out of our lives, and there is darkness everywhere, and I do not quite know what to tell you or how to say it. Our beloved leader, Bapu as we called him, the father of the nation, is no more. Perhaps I am wrong to say that; nevertheless, we will not see him again, as we have seen him for these many years, we will not run to him for advice or seek solace from him, and that is a terrible blow, not only for me, but for millions and millions in this country."

Things in our life here

It seems like every Sunday we go with Rajesh and his daughter Varsha on The Quest For Crab. The quest takes place in either Vypeen Island or Wellington Island. Once we had to go to nine or ten shops before we found any crab. Once my brother Isaac threw up, but luckily not in the car ( told us this before it happened ). Some of the crabs were as big as the hand, others were huge. It's really funny, we still have our Christmas decorations up. Now I can go up to the mini-stores on Ponoth Road ( pronunced Po-knot ) and say "Milka", "Curda" (yogurt), and Wellum which means water. The timed power outs have not been going out for a while. It usally goes out between 7:oo and 10:00. I'm almost finished my math book and I've finished my notebook. Isaac is reading and doing very well in math.

Answers To Questions

Snakes,Snakes,and more Snakes ( don't forget Udyamperoor or xmas )

Mya. No they didn't try to bite me.
Claire. I don't really know.

Kerala Report Part 1
Duncan a. Nope I haven't seen any snow it's India.
Duncan b. Our Christmas dinner was great because my cousin came over for dinner.

Alcatraz
Duncan a. I'm having a great time in India.
Duncan b. The food is great, very spicy in some places.
Duncan c. We haven't seen any exhibits.
Duncan d. We are not going to Thailand

keep asking questions and I'll answer them as soon as I can.

Elephants, Ooty, Coimbatore, And Monkeys In The Car!!!!!

A few days ago we went to Coimbatore for a friends guru's ( guru means teacher ) 60th birthday. The birthday was at a Shiva temple. Dad let me have a turn with the video camera. While we were in Coimbatore, our friend told us we were going to Ooty. It was very cold there, we even needed hoodies and long pants. On the way up the mountain ( where Ooty was ) we all felt sick. From Ooty we left for Mudumalai. Mudumalai is a animal park. On the way there we saw some animals. Here is a list of what we found: a Woodpecker, some Peacocks, and monkeys. The monkeys were Black Faced Langurs. One of the monkeys even jumped into our window!!!!! In Mudumalai we saw Elephants. One did some poses for the camera.

Monkeys!!! Part 2

Langurs are the third group of monkeys we will talk about. They are grey and have a black face with glossy fur. They have golden fur on their heads. Females have a white patch of fur somewhere on their body. In Indian mythology Hanuman, a monkey warrior god, burnt his hands and face trying to rescue another god. Legend has it that Langurs tried to help him and also got burnt trying to rescue him. This is why they have black faces. Males are 75 cm long, and females are 65 cm long. Their tail length is 75 cm long, sometimes even longer than their body! Their life span is 20 years. Langurs are arboreal. They live in India and Pakistan. They eat leaves, fruit, buds, insects, tree bark, gum, seeds, and flowers. They are nocturnal, meaning they only come out at night. They can't see in the dark but have extremely good hearing. They live in groups. They have one mate for life. They are territorial which means they defend their home against other invading monkeys.


Rhesus monkeys are the last monkeys we will talk about. They are one of the best known monkeys in the world. They are 53 cm long on average. They are brown or grey and have pink faces. Their life span is 25 years, so they live longer than Langur monkeys. They live in the mountains and they are arboreal and terrestrial (meaning they live in the trees and on the ground). They can live in trees up to 2,500 m above the ground. They live in trees and semi-deserts in India. They are mostly herbivorous animals, eating pine needles, roots, and sometimes a insect or small animals. If a Rhesus breaks into a house, they don't just take food but they also household items. Rhesus monkeys also live in groups. The group is hierarchical, meaning they have ranks such as one leader. The group may contain up to 180 monkeys but the average is 20. Females are closer to being human than males are. This is because their period cycle is closer to humans. In January 2001 the first transgenec monkey was born with the genes from a jelly fish. His name is ANDi and he is still alive.

In this report I have talked about Marmosets, Macaques, Langurs, and Rhesus monkeys. It has been interesting because I'm living in India and have seen some monkeys.

Monkeys!!!! Part 1

Monkeys can be found in cities, jungles, and the rain-forests of the tropics. They live in Asia, Africa, Europe, and South and Central America. The 264 types of monkeys in the world are divided into two groups: the Old World monkeys and the New World monkeys. The Old World monkeys are big like apes. The New World monkeys are smaller. The easiest way to tell the difference between them is the nose. The Old World monkeys' noses are flat with nostrils pointing to the side. New World monkeys' noses are narrow and have nostrils pointing down. In this report I will tell you about 4 different kinds of monkeys that live in India: Marmosets, Macaques, Langurs, and Rhesus Monkeys.

Let's start with Marmosets. Marmosets are monkeys that are about 20 cm ( centimeters ) long. Their body temperature is about 4 degrees Celsius. Some Marmosets use their sharp teeth to harvest the gum from trees.They eat insects, fruit, and leaves. Marmosets are highly active. They are arboreal which means they live in trees. They have sharp claws, and tactile ( means touch sensitive ) hairs. They don't have wisdom teeth, and their brains are different from other monkeys. Their life span is about 12 years. They're found in India, South and Central America. A adult weighs 300-500 g. Their tail has wide bands that are white. They are prickly looking. The fur of marmosets is a combination of brown, grey, and yellow. Because of it's black tail it's called the black tailed monkey. Marmosets look like squirrels. They have claw like hands instead of flat hands. Pygmy Marmosets are the smallest monkeys in the world.They can leap vertically and horizontally.Twins are common but triplets are not unknown. Marmosets live in groups of 3-5 monkeys. Most groups are territorial and defend their group.It is a diurnal rain forest dweller. They can climb trees and live in the upper canopy.

The second monkey I will talk about are Macaques. The Lion Tailed Macaque is the most endangered Macaque in the history of Macaques. Macaques live in the Western Ghats of India. They are arboreal. Their life span is approximately 20 years. They eat fruits, seeds, shoots, pith, flower, cone,mesocarp, and pioneer plants. They used to only eat indigenous plants, but that changed and now they eat non-indigenous food as well. The fur is dark brown or black. Because of it's silvery mane the Lion Tailed Macaque is also called " The Bearded Monkey". It's called the Lion Tailed Macaque because of it's tail which has a tuft of fur like a lion. They can be up to 70 cm long. They are dog-like and rounded. They weigh up to 15 kg.
Lion Tailed Macaques live in groups of 10-20 monkeys. They have ranks within the groups, such as one leader. They are a territorial monkey, defending their group with loud shouts. If this does not work then they fight violently. Unlike other monkeys macaques avoid humans.

Snakes, snakes, and more snakes (don't forget Udayamperoor or Xmas)

We went to a snake park a few days ago. It was amazing. I couldn't believe it when I saw the KING COBRA!!!!!!!. Here is a list of things that I saw: crocodiles, peacocks, pythons, boa constrictors, monkeys, porcupines, and rat snakes.

Today we went to Vypeen island. We bought some huge crabs from a couple of stores. They were about 800 rupees, which is pretty good for big crabs. We are going to try to make black pepper chili fry, wonder what it will taste like.  After Vypeen Island, we went for a big lunch in Udayamperoor. We had karimeen, a type of fish, surprisingly Mongoose, also surprisingly crane, prawns, and duck. The karimeen was done in a sort of wet tomato curry. The Mongoose was very spicy because it had a lot of black pepper (the crane was the same as the Mongoose ). The prawns were a bit spicy with coconut chunks. The duck I didn't try. 

On Xmas day Isaac and I got a Nintendo DS each, 2 games for our Nintendos, books like Jenny and the Cat Club by E. Nesbit, candy, movies to play on my DVD drive, and computer games like Mystery Mansion Arcade.

Kerala report: part 2

The sports that are commonly played in India are cricket, badminton, and kabaddi. Kabaddi is played with 2 teams on either side of a field. Each team member takes a turn running to the other side of the field. They try to get points by wrestling or tagging (I think tagging is safer) the other team. The runner holds his/her breath the entire time he/she is running. I haven't watched kabddi, but one day I went to the beach and I saw some children playing cricket in a field of palm trees.

A traditional Keralan feast is called sadya. Sadya is spread out on a clean, green banana leaf. Sadya can include sambar, rasam, aviyal, kaalan ,olan, kichidi, pachdi. Sambar is a thick lentil dish with vegetables. Rasam is thinner than sambar but spicier, rasam is also called pepper water. Aviyal is a thick mixture of vegetables , coconut, and yogurt. Kaalan is made of any one vegetable, yogurt,and coconut. Olan is made of pumpkin, coconut milk and ginger. Kichadi is made of yogurt and cucumber. Pachadi is made of grapes, pineapple, and coconut. My favorites are porotta (a type of flaky flat bread), and thali (a meal made with rice and little bowls of different curries). There are a lot of spices in Keralan food, such as black pepper, chilies, cardamon, ginger , and turmeric. Most of the Keralan dishes include lots of coconut and coconut milk. I don't have a favorite food yet because I haven't had them all. The food in Kerala is great, and it is very spicy in some places.

The Keralan backwaters are canals that run through half of Kerala. They are both man-made and natural. The natural canals were formed by the action of waves that created low barrier islands. The backwaters were originally used for transportation for coconut, rubber, spices, rice, and cashews. People live in houses along the canals. They have boats to catch fish and go to the market. Some of the people work at the rice fields that are around the canals. Lots of tourists go on houseboats to see how beautiful the canals are. We went on a houseboat ourselves. On the houseboat I saw lots of fish and fisherman in canoes. One of the fisherman came up to the boat with tiger prawns for 1000 rupees per kilo, which is a lot for a kilo. The creatures in Kerala 's backwaters are crabs, mudskippers, frogs, terns, kingfishers, darters, cormants, otters, and turtles. Unfortunately Kerala 's backwaters face many dangers such as pollution, droughts, large dams, and sand mining.

I learned that Kerala is a great place to be because of the different food and the beautiful backwaters.

Kerala Report: Part 1

Kerala is a state in India, the locals refer to it as 'God's Own Country'. Kerala is located on the South-Western coastline of India. It is by the states Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. It is also by the Indian Ocean and the Arabian Sea. We are in the city Cochin(Kochi). The biggest city and capital of Kerala is named Thiruvananpurum. Thiruvananpurum is 220 kms from Cochin. The population of Kerala is 31,838,619. 8.5 million tourists come every year to Kerala. The Backwaters are one of many tourist attractions. The three main religions of Kerala are Hinduism, Christianity, and Islam. 57% of the population are Hindus, 19% are Christians, and 23% are Muslims. There are many languages spoken in Kerala including the main one, Malayalum.