This week, I really enjoyed commenting on wonderful posts from students that live in Australia, Canada, and America!

I commented on one of Chantal’s posts from Australia that happens to be a very entertaining scary story: Wow Chantal! I thought your story was extremely creative, well thought out, and entertaining! I encourage you to keep writing more, because I really enjoyed reading the first of many! If I had a superpower, I would probably have speed, because I would never have to worry about being late to places as I usually am!
-Ella

Then, I left a relatable comment on one of Victoria’s posts from Australia about so badly wanting a dog: Hey Victoria! I loved this post, because I’ve experienced the same exact situation with my family a couple years ago! My brother and I so anxiously wanted a dog, but my dad was against the idea too. After we got my dog though, she started to rub off on him, so don’t worry! – Ella

Lastly, I commented on an informative post on Sara’s blog from America about camels: Hey Sara! I’m Ella and I found your post about camels very interesting and informative! I actually rode a camel at the sunset on a trip with my friends and it was on of the coolest experiences I’ve had so far!

In your eyes, caves are probably the most unappealing sight of nature out there. When, you see caves, what do you think of them? Are they mysterious? Scary? Boring? I thought the same exact thing when I began my trip to Yosemite that consisted of acres and acres of pure nature, and I continuously asked myself, “Are caves even important?” As I’ve recently gone through multiple Yosemite caves, I’ve noticed their true, meaningful purpose. They aren’t there to scare you or to hide a monstrous beast in its shadow before it ambushes you, but perhaps they are there to trigger or intrigue your curiosity and lead you to explore further. What I never knew before I had encountered all these caves is their importance to lead me to another brand new, beautiful sights that I was determined to examine and learn more about.

There was one cave though that was quite exhilarating out of all, the Spider Cave. Now, don’t let the title throw you off! It’s not called the Spider Cave because of the imaginary mini crawlers making their way up my spine, but it is called this frightening name because in the same moment you stepped into the cave, it was absolutely pitch black and you would need to creep through it just as a sneaky spider would. Another thing that I never knew a cave could help me achieve was stepping up to be a leader. The only possible way to get out of the cave was to reach the end (and if you were wondering, there were no surprise exits along the way), and the only way to reach the end was to depend on the peer in front of you to provide the detailed and thorough instructions that they received from the person in front of them.  Teamwork was the ultimate key that we needed to use to complete the tough yet doable challenge. Although you would think caves are just a useless pile of rocks, they can bring out qualities deep inside of you that you would never imagine could suddenly burst out, like all types of nature have the power to do!

As I feel the Halloween spirit that surrounds me in the October month, I love to find a really fun and creative costume every year. Doing so, I’ll search online for DIY’s and videos on simple and creative ideas for this joyous American holiday. Instead of being a cat or bunny every single year, I try to switch it up often and try some new outfits that fit well for school and Trick-or Treating later on. Once I find the perfect costume, I can finally relax and enjoy the spookiness and fun mood of Halloween. This year I chose to dress up with a group of friends as superheroes, so we all wore a colorful cape of a classic, iconic superhero and it all came together nicely! My Halloween was definitely one to remember!

What I find so cool and interesting about popular foods in America is that some of the popular “American” foods are actually originated from other countries. For example, pasta and pizza, which are a couple of my favorite foods in the whole world, are native to Italians, but still enjoyed by hungry families and especially children across America! Basically found on any Kid’s Menu in any restaurant you walk into, pasta and pizza can be eaten in different delicious styles and served with multiple toppings. Pasta can be devoured as different shapes and with many different sauces such as Marinara, Alfredo, and much more! Along with pasta, you can find 1000’s of different flavored pizzas that vary with many unique combinations of toppings like Pepperoni, olives, or just classic cheese. They both have a dear place in my heart! Here’s a link where you can learn more about the history and love for pizza by people all over America and also by several countries all around the world! http://www.lifeinitaly.com/food/pizza-history.asp Enjoy!

I really enjoyed learning about new cultures and their favorite foods in this activity!

This comment was on Mary-Ellen’s blog: http://maryellenw06.edublogs.org

Hey Mary-Ellen, I’m Ella all the way for California! Wow, I absolutely loved your creative video and I’ve never tried any Australian foods, but after watching this video, I’m definitely going to make sure I taste all of them soon. Are all these foods special deserts or do you and people from your community eat them on a daily basis? I would love to get to know more about you and I can’t wait to check out your blog another time!

This comment was on Ayla’s blog: http://aylaz13.edublogs.org

Hi Ayla,
I’m Ella from California! I really enjoyed learning some cool facts about the Canadian dish, Poutine. It’s very funny-looking, but I’m sure it’s still very tasty! I am looking forward to trying it sometime and I was wondering what ingredients it contains? I enjoyed reading your post and I’m excited to come back to read more soon!

This comment was on Victoria’s blog: http://victoriaw06.edublogs.org

Hello Victoria,
I’m Ella from California! I thought your video about Australian favorite foods was so entertaining and fun to watch! Basically, I’ve been seeing Vegemite in so many videos and posts and I was so curious to know what it is and what do you eat it with. I’m looking forward to enjoying more of your posts soon!

This comment was on Chantal’s blog: http://chantalz13.edublogs.org

Hey Chantal, I’m Ella and I come from California! I find your loving passion for maple syrup amazing and I loved reading your detailed post about your favorite Canadian treat! I also eat maple syrup on my waffles, pancakes, and French toast, but I’ve never heard of maple syrup candies or popsicle sticks! Are they easy to make, because I’d sure love to try? I will definitely love to read more of your posts in the future!

This comment was on Claire’s blog: https://bloggingwithclaire.edublogs.org

Hi Claire!
I am Ella from California! I really enjoyed your post about the iconic Australian dish, Damper. It was so interesting to learn about a completely different method of cooking camping treats compared to how we cook s’mores where I live! Here in America, when we go camping we cook delicious s’mores over the campfire, and it was so neat to see how you bake this dish in coals of a campfire. I wanted to know if there are any other foods, besides Damper, that people in your country cook with this cool technique when they are out camping? I will make sure to visit your blog soon and read more of your great posts!

Here in America, we have a wide variety of healthy and delicious lunch options at our cafeteria! As you walk into the cafeteria, you can choose from Chinese food, hamburgers or chicken sandwiches, salads, nachos, and pizza for our main meal. Then , there are cookies and different types of deserts as a special treat, and specifically at our school, we are required to take a fruit for extra nutrition in our lunch! There is also a snack bar with many tasteful snacks from chips to slushies! So whenever I forget my lunch at home, I know I can count on the good school lunch!

For this activity, my grandpa told me the story of the time his father migrated to Israel from Russia in the 1930s. At the time, they didn’t have any advanced technological transportation or communication, so my great grandfather traveled to Israel by foot and donkeys to flea the discrimination of Jews in Europe. He, his wife, my great grandmother, and some other families walked until they reached a certain point where donkeys and walking wasn’t an option, so they would load boats and sail the rest of the way to their ideal destination. But before they got there, on this planned journey, they encountered new people, cultures, and places where they needed to adjust to different environments and shelters. Their final goal was to reach the state of the Jews or Israel that was being gradually developed for people just like them who were being kicked out of Europe or forced to convert and practice other religions that they didn’t believe in. Although it was an extremely long, tough, and scary crossing, my great grandfather and his nation felt they needed to do whatever it took to build and be present in the state that was made especially for them.