Hi everyone!

Hi Kids!!!

Welcome to the first grade! 

My name is Flat Stanley.  Have you read the book about me?  I am flat so people can send me in envelopes and suitcases all over the world.  I love to travel and I want to tell you all about the new places I go and the people that I meet this year!

Right now I am with my friend Dr. Appelgren.  She is Mrs. North's daughter.  Do you know Mrs. North?  She is my friend too!

Dr. Appelgren put me in her suitcase and took me to a country called Kyrgyzstan!  Kyrgyzstan is a small country, but it is near some big countries that you might have heard of.  Can you find Kyrgyzstan on a map?

I like to take pictures when I am travelling.  Would you like to see my pictures?



I have learned that most people in Kyrgyzstan live in houses and apartments just like people in Rock Hill.  But, some people live in a special kind of house called a yurt.  Families who have a lot of animals need to bring their animals to the countryside in the summer so that the animals can eat a lot of grass.  But, their houses are far away so they need a place to live.  They bring all the things with them to make their yurt, which is a temporary home.  It gets very cold in the winter, so when it starts to snow they will take their yurt apart and go back to their regular house with their animals. 

Can you see kids in the picture who live in a yurt?  How do you think their days are different from yours?  Do you see the animals?  What kinds of animals do you see?

It used to be that many people in Kyrgyzstan lived in yurts and they had to move around a lot.  Have you seen their flag?  Here is a picture of it that I took in the capital city of Kyrgystan, Bishkek:

The design in the middle of the flag is the same pattern that you would see if you stood in the middle of the yurt and looked up.  So yurts are very important to this country. 

Do you know what the capital city of the United States is?  Do you know what the things on our flag mean to our country?

I am having a great time meeting new people and learning about Kyrgyzstan.  I will tell you more soon!
Your friend,
Flat Stanley

Zambia Part 2

Hi Kids!

Your friend Flat Stanley here. Sorry I have been slow to write again, sometimes travels get so busy! I hear you are about to start summer vacation. Will you be traveling too?

Last time I wrote I was visiting a school in Zambia. Well, I was able to join my friend Dr. Kevin and drive around the city of Lusaka in a Land Cruiser truck! Here I am getting ready for our day trip.

I noticed that many people do not have sinks in their homes. Some people have to walk down the road every morning to get water for bathing or drinking. Here are some boys in the neighborhood doing the morning chore of filling water buckets to bring back to their home.

Wow, we are sure lucky to have water in our homes! These boys are good helpers though and I'm sure they made their parents happy helping with chores.

After our drive around the city we decided to go on safari. Do you know what a safari is? That's right, it is when you go searching for animals in the wild. Many people think of Africa when they think about safari. Did you know that you can go on a safari in your very own backyard? All you need is a hat, some sunscreen, a pencil and paper to write down what you see and maybe a pair of binoculars. You look around nature and try to find as many insects, birds or animals that you can find. It is important to be nice to the animals so that you do not disturb them. Here are some of the animals I saw on my Africa safari. Can you name them?

Which animal is your favorite?

Off to another adventure! Have a great summer vacation and thank you for being such good readers!

Your friend,

Flat Stanley

Zambia School Trip!

Hello!

It's your friend Flat Stanley here. I bet you have been wondering where I have been? Let me see if you can guess...It is one of the largest continents and is known for elephants and zebras. That's right! AFRICA! Africa is a big place with many countries. I traveled to the country of Zambia with my friend Dr. Clarke. We flew into Zambia's capital city, Lusaka. Mrs. North told me that you wondered if it is rainy or dry in Zambia. It can be both, there is a rainy and a dry season. We arrived at the end of rainy season, so everything was very green.

Zambia is in the middle of southern Africa. Below is a picture of me visiting a school in Zambia. It is called Kondwa Centre. Kondwa means happy in the local language...Nyanja. On the playground wall they had a map of Africa and Zambia inside it...Zambia is shaped a bit like a butterfly some people say. What do you think?

I had a fun time visiting the school in Lusaka. They have a playground, 4 classrooms and many colorful drawings on the wall designed by the students. Many of the children do not have much money, so the school provides each student with two meals a day and a toothbrush! I packed my own toothbrush in my backpack so I could join in on the fun! Here are the bags where students keep their toothbrushes...

We drove around Lusaka in a big car. Logan, I heard you were wondering about the houses in Zambia. :) Most of the homes are very different from Rock Hill. Homes in Zambia are often made of concrete blocks and metal roofs. It makes a lot of noise on the roof when it rains, but it was exciting. We drove to a fruit orchard that belongs to the school. Here is a picture I took of Dr. Clarke with Mrs. Angela. Mrs. Angela is the school principal and is very nice.

They are standing next to guava trees. Do you know what a guava is? They also had mango, banana and papaya growing in the orchard. My tummy was full afterwards!

I'll send another report from Zambia soon. I'll leave you with a lesson on how to say "Thank you" in Nyanja..."Zikomo kwambire"! Give it a try and you'll be speaking like a Zambian too!

Your friend,
Flat Stanley

In Haiti

Hi kids!

So, I've made it to Haiti with Dr Fitter.  Dr Fitter works with Dr Appelgren.  He brought me along to see Haiti and visit some spots with him and his colleagues.  We have spent some time in the capital, Port-au-Prince, and I also was able to travel around the country.  Haiti is in the Caribbean and it's pretty warm down here!  On my first day we were driving around Port-au-Prince and I saw some interesting things.

This is a picture of a tap-tap.  They are like buses down here.  They are extremely colorful and people hop on and off them as they make their way through town.  I was very impressed with the designs and the paintings on them.  You can also see in this picture that a lot of the people wear clothes that are similar to those that we have in the United States. 

I tried looking for a Stop sign in the capital, but never found one.  But, I was told that they definitely exist and look the same as the ones in the United States.  I'm going to keep looking though!

One of the fun things about Haiti is that they speak several languages.  The main languages here are Creole and French.  A lot of the signs are in both languages.

Here is a sign that I saw.  Can you see the French?  Can you see the Creole.  They look alike and sometimes sound alike, but are different languages. 

When I was traveling, I was able to see some of the country.  Here is a picture of me next to a lake.  It was really big!

I also went and visited a school here.  It was really cool and the teachers were really nice. 

This is the National School in Hatte Chevreau.  The teacher held me up so I could see the sign better.  I went inside with them and the teacher taught a lesson.  He was really nice. We laughed a lot!



They even gave me my own seat at one of the desks.  I can't wait until the other students get here and we can talk about our different schools.

I hope everyone is doing well.  More adventures to come!

Your friend,

Flat Stanley