Throughout the month of June, we’ve had 130 Summer Apprentices working with us as LittleMissMatched Bloggers! What is a Summer Apprentice, you ask? Summer Apprentices are aspiring poets, fashionistas, designers, athletes and intellectuals…and they are all girls aged 8-14 years old!
This June we worked on creating blogs inspired by this theme: Vacations, Carnivals, Ice Cream Shops or Shows…Tell us About Your Traveling Toes.
And have they ever! This past month, our tweens wrote in as fashion journalists, food critics, entrepreneurs, poets, experience reviewers and more…all sharing about their traveling toes. We selected 8 notable writers to be featured right here on “Threads”, so check em out! Discovery Girls’ online magazine has also featured 8 writers and you can read these here: www.discoverygirls.com/dg-blog.
LittleMissMatched Winners:
Amelia, 10
Anna, 8
Katie, 11
Morgan, 11
Sadie, 12
Zoe, 8
Keri, 13
Mona, 12
Discovery Girl’s Winners:
Olivia, 8
Olivia, 13
Callin, 11
Rebecca, 11
Kaitlyn, 10
Kate, 13
Megan, 12
Gina, 9
Congrats to each of you…and everyone enjoy our team’s blogs!!
Vacations, Carnivals, Ice Cream Shops or Shows…Read all about MY traveling toes!
It is too bad that not many people have been going to Japan since the earthquakes and tsunamis. For me Japan is a place filled with special memories, but there is also delicious food to devour and beautiful parks and temples to visit. When I was four I was dedicated at a Shinto Shrine in a ceremony known as Shichi-Go-San, a celebration of moving to middle childhood. I will always remember the yellow kimono I wore and the visit to the photo studio.
Shinto is a tradition that honors ancestors, animals, spirits, and forces. I have a favorite Italian artist who seems to have been inspired by this same tradition.
In Japanese Anime it is a tradition to use “cute characters,” sometimes animals and sometimes spirits. Simone Legno’s clothing company, Tokidoki, uses cute characters inspired by this tradition. The Japanese word “Tokidoki” which means “sometimes” inspired him because he believes that “everyone waits for that moment that might change one’s destiny, maybe by chance or maybe by meeting a new person.”
I am inspired by both Tokidoki and by traveling in Japan, and if I observe my surroundings, maybe I will find that moment that will change my destiny.
Let me know here what you think!
- How Bazaar!
Vacations, Carnivals, Ice Cream Shops or Shows…Read all about MY traveling toes!
In the capital city of Turkey, Istanbul, there is one of the most famous bazaars on Earth. Visiting this bazaar is a great way to learn about Turkish culture, because it is full of local scarves, jewelry and art. Many go there like tourists and locals. I was just there and thought it was amazingly magnificent.
I felt so small in the labyrinth of shops, with hallway after hallway full of astonishing things that are stacked up to the high ceiling. Thousand of people pack themselves into the hallways and shops like sardines. The crowd buzzes and salesmen yell out to get shoppers to visit their shops. You have to bargain with them to buy anything. It’s loud, but fun. I was surprised when I got there because where I live shops are completely different, but this was more exciting.
The market is so old, I could see it all around. I noticed how the architecture changed through the centuries. I ran my finger over the ancient walls and felt cracks and holes. The rock is cool and hard—so fascinating! Even though it’s old and crumbly, it still looks awesome.
If you’re ever in Istanbul, you really must go!
Let me know here what you think!
Slumbering Skeletons...YIPES!! :)
Vacations, Carnivals, Ice Cream Shops or Shows…Read all about MY traveling toes!
In June, I visited Palermo, Sicily, off the coast of Italy. We took a tour of Catacombs, which are tunnels where Sicilians put dead bodies. Walking through tunnels, I saw how people dressed and how small their bodies were. I’m only 11 and some of the full grown men were my height! It was creepy to think that if a hook came loose from the wall a dead body could come crashing down! Some of the bodies were falling apart, but others were well preserved with hair, teeth, and skin!
Our guide told us a story about a girl born in 1918 named Rosalia who died when she was only two years old. Her father was heartbroken and begged his doctor to find a way to preserve her body to look like she was just sleeping. That’s exactly how she still looks today! The sad part is that her father visited her every day for a year but couldn’t’t bear the grief and killed himself. After the suicide, the doctor swore never to tell the ingredients of the formula.
You can find the ingredients to the formula and see pictures of Rosalia online while planning your trip to Palermo.
Let me know here what you think!
