Quarantine Rambles

Hello!

Welcome. 

I don’t think anyone reads this blog. 

But I’m quarantined. I have nothing to do. So I might as well write something and put it on the internet so when I’m older I can find it and cringe a little.

(By the way, if this is a college admissions officer/FBI Agent/Future Employer reading this, this is just for a fun activity. I’m a very responsible person! This is just a reflection of my rambling thoughts that can be put aside when it comes down to business!) Here are a few of my weird rambles on equally as random topics. 

Fonts: When I was younger, I loved using all those different thoughts that Google Docs has to offer. My classmates and I would scroll through fonts to find the one that perfectly matched the vibe of our personal narrative. I disliked writing those by the way, because I a) could never remember enough details b) got a lot of shade from my teachers for not knowing how to use “show not tell.” (For the college admissions officer, I swear this has changed. That was in elementary school. I’m a different person now, I swear. I can even spell the word because.) I used the weird fonts. Like the really weird ones, with names like Pinyon Script. But I usually ended up falling back on the trusty Chewy. Oh Chewy. The preferred font of my elementary school days. Now however, as a ninth grader at [redacted] High School, I can only type in 11 pt. Times New Roman. Yes, 11 pt. I don’t know why, but 12 pt. seems too big. Obviously I size up for assignments. I’ll be honest though, it surprised me how many people turn in 5 page papers in Arial. Arial! It’s a terrible font! It’s so boring and not aesthetically pleasing in the slightest. Basically, Arial should not be the default font. It should be Times New Roman, and 9th graders should know to use it on papers. (Once someone genuinely turned in a paper in Comic Sans. Which, power move, but unprofessional.)

Legally Blonde: Watch the movie. Watch the sequel. Listen to the musical. Watch the musical proshot. Do it! What, like it’s hard? Ok, that was a blatantly obvious and very cheesy reference that I may or may not have structured that introduction around. Fine, I 100% did. But I digress. The Legally Blonde Franchise is fantastic. I can’t speak for Legally Blondes, but all I’ve seen has been really good. Elle Woods is just such a good protagonist. She’s hilarious, smart, fashionable, and kind. There are so many *chefs kiss* one liners from the musical and movie. Emmet Forrest (I’m using the musical names because I can’t be bothered to look up the movie ones) (Actually hold on I looked up Emmets last name and in the movie it’s Richmond which… disappointing? Because then you have Woods and Forrest and that’s just so cute) is such an unproblematic love interest. They become friends first, and establish that trust and have actually interesting chemistry before they start dating. I think when I started writing this segment I had something specific to say about Legally Blonde, but I needed up just talking about how much I love it. Which is fine, because frankly I’m happy to continue. Some other things I love compiled into a list: (this is based off the Pro-Shot of the musical)

• the fireman’s pole in the middle of the Delta Nu house
• The scene right before Margot/Serena/Pilar go up to see Elle after she gets dumped. It’s just really funny. 
• During/After the Positive dance in the Harvard Offices, you can see how much everyone is breathing and I just have so much respect for the actors.
• Also during Positive you can see Margot posed a bit… friskily with one of the admissions officers.
• “Bruisers not a dog. Bruiser is family.” And the way Laura Bell Bundy delivers that line. 
• Callahan isn’t a good person, but Blood in the Water is such a good song. The actor is insanely talented.
• The Harvard Variations gang. I love and respect them all in their own special ways.
• Paulette. Bonafonte. Rufus. Kyle. Enough said.
• The way the other worker in the hair salon looks when Paulette turns on Celtic Moods.
• Gloria Steinem circa 1963.
• The Delta Nu girl that switches the calandre during “Chip on My Shoulder.” 
• Chip on My Shoulder in general because it’s an awesome song.
• I just have immense respect for anyone that does Whipped into Shape. Literally insane. Brooke just has to be in so much shape to do that number. I can’t even imagine.
• The scene where Brooke and Elle talk alone, especially “I’ll double Delta Nu Sister Swear.” “Oh you’re hardcore.”
• Emmet going in for the kiss and Elle going in for a hug but you can tell that Emmet is ok with it any other way.
• Nikos and Carlos doing this weird tango thing.
• “I do not bond.” The high note. So fun.
• Nikos and Carlos showing up in matching white outfits.
• Aaron Schultz driving the golf cart (I think.)
• Vivienne's character arc. We stan women supporting women.
• The Irish Dancing. Kyle executing some moves and Paulette sort of just walking around the stage a little confused then shaking her head giving up.
• The Scene of the Crime song.
• How horrified Enid is when they show that perm.
• Vivienne dumped you didn’t she.
• The way they sing “And now I’ve found my love” because it mixes their voices and the background and I don’t know it’s just really impressive dude. 

Cereal: My final note. The milk goes before the cereal. Do I need to repeat it because your mind is so blown? Ok, I will. The milk goes before the cereal. The milk. Goes. Before. The. Cereal. 

(Brought to you by a tired teenager that did not proofread this.)

Wadi Rum, Jordan, 2018

Hello, wonderful people! Its hoot, or Traveling Child here again! This summer (the summer of 2018) my parents and I visited Jordan as part of our big summer trip. (There are/will be posts and videos on that!) Our first night in Jordan was spent in the dessert in a Bedouin camp. It was an awesome experience, and here are my thoughts on it.

Beginning with a hot day, my family crossed the border between Israel (near Be’er She’va) and Jordan. The whole process start to finish too about an hour. During passport control, some of the officers got chatty. That was funny. We had Jordan Passes, which included our visa and some other stuff. One thing to be warned of is that it is hot. Like nearing 100 Fahrenheit - or even more. Another problem was the flies. The minute we got out of the taxi, they were practically swarming us. So heat, and bugs, made the experience not so fun. However, it was really cool to physically step over a countries border.

Now that day we drove to Wadi Rum. The drive was super pretty, giving me a taste of what I would see the rest if the day. When we drove up the village. Someone called the person from our tour group, Wild Wadi Rum, so he could drive us. Now the tour of the desert is usually about 5 hours, but we got to the village late. Thus we asked if we could split it up between two days. So we did. It was incredible. The mountains are everywhere, and they are all so unique. Sometimes there are rocks you can climbs, which makes for an awesome view. The desert was incredible. Its a once in a lifetime experience.

Technically, you pay for the tours with this company. The tents are just provided. This is really a case of you get what you pay for. They have electricity in the evening, (as does the bath room, which has limited. but still running, water) and beds, and blankets. The windows might just be holes in the wall that you can close up, but they provide a nice breeze. Dinner consists of chicken and veggies that are cooked underground, as well as a few other foods like local stuff and rice. For breakfast, there is local food.

If you hate roughing it out, this is not the trip for you. If you are an avid camper or just want something different, beautiful, and adventurous, I 100% recommend this.

(P.S! Want to see videos of the Wadi Rum desert? Head on over to my YouTube Channel and check out that video!)

My Trip to Seychelles 2017

Hoot-loooooooooooooooo everyone! Traveling Child here! This June I visited a place that I am very happy to have in my traveling repertoire (or just my passport): the Seychelles! I stayed on three islands in three different hotels. If you want to see an awesome video montage of my stay (with plenty of pretty beach footage) then go to my YouTube channel or jump directly to the Seychelles video. 

Mahe

I will start off by speaking about the Mahe island. It is the main island of the Seychelles. While others may have different opinions, I personally think that the main island isn't always the most interesting. But still, it was beautiful.

 We stayed at the Hilton Double Tree Hotel. In this hotel once you come in you get to sit on a comfy couch, eat a warm chocolate chip cookie (OH YEAH!), and have a few fruity drinks while they confirm your information. We were taken to a room on the second floor, despite our Gold HHonors membership. They were apparently out of rooms on the executive floor. (The “Executive” floor is the third one.) When we walked in the room, we were greeted by flower petals on the bed sheets spelling: Welcome. But something was off. Despite us requesting a non smoking room, these accommodations smelled of, what else: smoke. They moved us to another room later that night.

Besides the rooms, I'll give you a quick run down on the hotel. Free WiFi is available to HHonors members, and the connection is not terrible. The beach on the property is not very good. Constant waves, the water is quite murky, and the sand is not very soft. The pool on the other hand is very nice. As far as height goes, I myself was 5'2 at the time and could touch the bottom with the tips of my toes. Practically all the food is expensive. An average dinner for two adults and one kid was $80.00. EIGHTY! At least breakfast was included, but it was pretty standard, nothing special.

Now, I got sick during our stay here. The hotel was helpful giving us information on where to find the local clinic, the pharmacy, and extending our stay two extra days. We had to move rooms a few times because they had our room scheduled for other guests, but overall the staff was very helpful.

Things to do as a kid: It is fairly basic. Swimming in the pool and lounging by it is quite relaxing. While the beach may not be swimmable, there are rocks on one side that are pretty fun to climb. If, of course, you know what you are doing and are careful. Just sitting in your room relaxing and watching the Indian Ocean outside is fun too!

Silhouette Island

Next up, Silhouette Island. The island is mostly taken up by the Hilton Labriz hotel that resides there, but there are local people on the other side. There are replicas of homes that people lived in back when the island was a plantation. I didn't go because, I'll be honest—it looked boring. I can see old stuff in museums. 30 minutes away from me! I didn't come for that. I came for the beach.

Transportation on this island = bikes, your feet, and GOLF CARTS! (I love golf carts. Like a LOT.) You can arrive to this island by boat coming from a different Hilton on Mahe, or by helicopter. Most common is boat. Be warned: the boat ride can sometimes be choppy. I was fortunate enough to have smooth sailing, but during certain wind directions the boat can go up and down like crazy.

Now I'll stop with the yada yada yada and get to the interesting stuff. With dining you have a few options. With all the restaurants (with the exception of the uber-expensive buffet, Café Dauban) you have to make reservations for dinner. Sakura is an Asian restaurant, closed Wednesdays. I got Miso Soup and some rice, which was really good. My parents say their sushi selection is pretty good. Portobello is an Italian restaurant with a bit of a dress code and its closed Mondays. The hotel staff were practically raving about it, but I wasn't super impressed. All the pasta dishes were complicated, the seafood and meat dishes didn't sound good to me. I just ordered some plain pasta and they made it. (Good tip for picky eaters such as yours truly ;) ) Teppanyaki is one of those Japanese restaurants where they make the food right in front of you! We did not go, because it's pricy. Just like everything else on the island. Grann Kaz is a Creole place that resides in the 150 year old restored plantation house. Once again, did not go. Just because I don't like Creole food. Of course, they also have the basic room service selection. For lunch the only place is Lo Brizan. It is a poolside bar, but has a nice lunch menu. What I liked was that they had pizza! The Margherita pizza was delish!

The rooms are sick. We got upgraded to a beach view (thanks to our gold membership; Disclaimer: this is not sponsored… lol, I wish) so we could literally step outside, walk a few meters, and BOOM! Beach.

Our favorite beach was one by the Presidential Suites. I saw people walking there, but save your feet some trouble and call up a golf cart. After a ride, you arrive at a practically people-less beach that is so pretty. Downside: you can't really swim in the water unless you are a really strong swimmer. Also, if you go past a bunch of rocks, once high tide comes, it's hard to come back without getting soaked. Not that I really minded; it was hot.

A place where you can safely swim without worrying about waves is the pool. It is a really big pool. Four “bags” filled with Styrofoam beads act as hug floating pillows!

About getting back… we took a helicopter. Yes, it was a bit pricy, but so worth it. I thought I was going to spend the entire ride with my eyes closed and holding on for dear life. But it was the coolest thing I have ever done in my life. That's all I gotta say about that.

Things to do as a kid: There are so many things besides swimming and exploring you can do! The kids club offers lots of options. Sometimes including free food! Here’s a sample:

  

Also, one day they had a full on partay! Woop woop!

(By the way, you can find all kids club and other daily activities/information in the hotel newspaper that they deliver to your room daily.)

These activities, I personally think are geared towards younger kids. For kids/tweens/teens (what up my tween squad!) there are some other things to do! While I was there, and I hope it's there while you are too, the staff was holding an island wide scavenger hunt! If you want to stretch your brain muscles a bit and have some fun, maybe the hunt is for you! Another fun thing to do is just play around in the sand! Maybe you can build a beach volcano using a water bottle and some sand! (*hinty hinty linky linky* https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=eML7XZT3zp4 ) 

La Digue

Finally: La Digue island. This was my personal favourite island of the three we visited. To get there you must first fly to Praslin Island, and from there take a 20-25 minute ferry ride to the island.

The awesome thing about this island is that pretty much everyone gets around on bikes! Our hotel helped us rent bikes, but I saw rentals all over the place! This is fun because you not only get a workout, but feel very accomplished once you get to your destination.

We stayed in Cocotier du Rocher. It's not a fancy hotel, but has WiFi, clean sheets, and a kitchen. The kitchen was helpfully stocked with salt, pepper, dishware and utensils. It had a microwave, toaster, and small portable stove. The staff was also very helpful and washed the dishes for us!

 As far as food goes, you have a TON of options.  If your hotel has a restaurant, check it out! Or, just go to the restaurant in another hotel! There is also an awesome pizza place close to the main area by the ferry dock.

Now what we’ve all been waiting for: the beaches of La Digue! We did not take any guided excursions. We made our own. One of our day trips was to Grande Anse, Petite Anse, and Anse Coco. 

Getting to Grande Anse is a bike ride up and down a bunch of hills. Bringing water and taking breaks are highly recommended. Once you are on Grande Anse, getting to Petite Anse is a twenty-thirty minute hike. It was pretty hard, but doable. We passed people on the trail wearing hiking shoes or just sneakers. My family wore flip-flops. A bit more slippery than closed shoes would be, but it can be done! Once on Petite Anse, I would recommend going to Anse Cocos. Yes, it is another thirty minute hike (and harder this time) but the result is worth it. Anse Cocos has a natural pool, surrounded by rocks. It's really pretty and definitely worth the hike.

Our favorite beach by far was Anse Source d'Argent. My dad tells me that it is one of the most photographed beaches in the world! I can see why. It resides in a national park that you have to pay to access. My opinion? WORTH IT!!! Besides the beach, you can see a vanilla farm-thing, and giant TURTLES the size of a big pig! Small baby turtles you can look at, and big turtles that you can actually feed! So cool!

FUN STORY TIME: There is a local cuisine restaurant right by the beach. My mom and I wanted ice cream. The menu of the restaurant said that they had ice cream. We walked up to order. My mom said, "Do you have ice cream?" The woman behind the counter said, "No." The menu was one of those erasable white boards! So if y'all don't have ice cream... You get the point. I won't spoil this beach for you. You'll see it in the vlog, but I really have to say: stay for the sunset. So pretty!

Before the kids section, I need to do something. I need to warn'ya!

WARNING: LA DIGUE ISLAND HAS A BUNCH OF TINY LITTLE BUGS. THEY ARE SMALLER THAN FLIES, AND DON'T BITE. BUT THEY ARE ATTRACTED TO (BUT NOT LIMITED TO) THE FOLLOWING: LIGHT, FOOD, DRINKS, WHITE THINGS, ELECTRONIC SCREENS, and the JUST LIKE ME book by Nancy Cavanaugh! Oh, just me? Ok then. The bugs are annoying, but the island is so awesome that you should just try to ignore them.

Things to do as a kid: There are not any predetermined "kids" activities. But that doesn't mean you will just be bored. The bike riding aspect of things is (as I said before) super fun! I liked trying to race my dad. Then at the beach, dig holes. I dug a really deep one that I stood in and was up to… my knees!

So this concludes my written overview of my trip to Seychelles 2017. I hope this gave you some useful information and that you come back to join in the crazy fun we have here! Please check out my YouTube channel and the Seychelles video, read a few other posts, and stay tuned for another Hootabulous Adventure!

Hoooooootbyeeeeeeeeeee!

Sand Volcano - A Fun Beach Project

As you may have noticed, Hootsome now has a YouTube Channel! (queue applause). All of my videos will be posted on that channel, and a link to them will always be on my blog. But anyhoo, today's video post is a little video I made when I was vacationing on a certain French-speaking island. I hope you enjoy it!

Warning: Explosions may (or may not) occur in this video. Do not, I repeat, do not be alarmed!

Traveling tips with the traveling child - tips and tricks for a beach vacation

Hi guys! 

I recently came back from a trip to the Caribbean, and today, I will be sharing with  you some tips and tricks for a beach vacation that I learned while I was there!

First, let’s make sure our beach time is comfortable, so…

1. Bring mosquito spray.

I was in the Caribbean at the end of June and very start of July, and I got a lot of mosquito bites, in the strangest of places! I recommend using lots of spray, on your legs, arms, and natural spray on your face. I also recommend using a mosquito zapper that looks like a tennis racquet, like this one:

2. Bring sunscreen and use it!

It is sunny in the Caribbean, and man is it hot! If you want to avoid getting sunburn and getting too hot, try these tips:

• Put sunscreen everywhere: on your legs, your arms, your face, your back, you know, all of those places!
• Wear a rash guard as much as possible!
• Bring umbrellas to the beach, and if you don't have one, sit in the shade.
• Drink lots of water. An insulated water bottle such as The Swell allows your water to stay cold for hours!
• SWIM!!! This tip may seem strange, but if you stay in the water, you will stay cool, even if the water is warm. 

3. Bring a misting bottle with a fan.

You can find one of these fans at your local pharmacy, Target, or Walgreens in the Summer section/isle. These little bottles allow you to stay cool, plus, they are pretty portable. I have the Discovery Kids Battery Operated Misting Fan, and I am pretty satisfied with it. (Tip: do not submerge the fan and/or part with batteries in the water, it starts to malfunction. Don’t ask me how I know ))

So, those are some of my tips and tricks for a beach vacation! You will be seeing more tips and tricks for a beach vacation throughout more of my travel posts. By the way, speaking of travel posts, when I make posts like this, I will be calling them the Traveling Child posts!

Peace out and have a Hootsome summer (or fall, or winter, or… you get it)!