In French class at school , we have pen - pals ( all the way in France ) . We had to write letters about the holidays to them . I wrote mine on the computer , then decorated them further : I have always wanted to be able to decorate a tree , let alone something , for the holidays . My dad always says I am persistant , and pretty much I am . I made it happen for myself . We celebrate Hannukah . It 's tons of fun , what with the presents , games , candles and all . But I always wanted to have something big , like a christmas tree . So my mom , brother , and I started to build a gigantic menorah ! It was mainly my idea , but they helped make the finishing touches . We first built the base , a triangle shaped big wedge of cardboard , and then made the base of the candles , which was to lay on top of the triangle shaped base . Then , we made candles : big towers ( made of cups ) with colourful stripes of duct tape . My brother and I stuck them in . We haven 't made the middle candle , the shammash , yet . We are waiting for some special materials . I decorated it : one side with paper colored snow flakes , one side with a duct tape quilt , and on the other side , my brother and I wrote all the names of people who are important in our lives . It 's pretty stunning . And , like there 's santa , we are even thinking of making a hannukah monster / person or something ! Happy early holidays ! Hearing ; listening ; speaking : that is learning . From reading , picking up conversations , conversing and talking with people , that is how idea 's spark and begin to evolve . Yesterday , I went to TEDyouth . Have you ever heard a TED talk , or watched one online ? Well , they made a program for kids , and I had to enter an application and I got accepted . Tons of kids , from all around New York , attended . It was all about getting kids feedback and what kids think , and we got to listen to some adults speak on a topic they focus on . For example , there was a mathematician trying to teach us that you can use math and numbers to figure out life equations , like do I need to study for a test or can I goof off ? It was really funny . Another person just gave a talk through questions , all of his questions about life and himself , and questions that were unanswered . Asking questions that don 't have definite answers let you explore the endless posibillities of " answers " , and what " can " and " can 't " be . And he showed that through various animations and cartoons . Anyway , my point is that listening to other people 's ideas and building off of them is really fun , and is a way to learn : what other way is there to discover than to do ? My school , ms . 51 , mixes in a lot of art projects with as our school work . I have that a lot in French . We had to make a cartoon within the second week of school , so there are some mistakes , but here is mine : I created a statue of liberty for a French Project at school . With bottles , cans , wire , and photo shop , you can create a lot ! Here it is : School is in my hands . . . In ELA , we are doing a research topic called an iSearch . My topic is on the composer Mozart . When I was looking online , i found this quote : " When I am traveling in a carriage , or on a walk after a good meal , or during the night when I cannot sleep : it is on such occasions that ideas flow best and most abundantly . " - MozartSo very real . . . I am back in Brooklyn . Everything feels so familiar . For the past two days I have started soccer and I am enjoying it , mostly because I feel confident on the field and so I am having a lot of fun . Also , school started on Thursday . I like my school a lot more than I thought I would . Before school started , my dad kept telling me " don 't have your expectations to high , and its ok if you feel a little stressed by the first day . " My dad does not say that kind of stuff without knowing anything , so I asked him why he was saying that and then he admitted to me that one woman ( who he somehow met ) with an older daughter gave him that " advice " . So of course , I felt in a way that people were over preparing their kids , so that started to make me feel like I would hate going to middle school . But honestly , and even after just two days of it , its just school , like I have been going to for the last seven years . And , I like it a lot . Plus I got into my top choice talent , Drama , and now I am so completely relieved and happy , and I know that I am going to make it a good year . Yesterday I went to the Maritime Museum , a museum on ships and Portuguese navigators . There where many models of ships that represented real ones used on missions lead by Vasco Da Gama , Infante Dom Anrique ; who we now know as Henry the Navigator , and a few other men . In one part of the museum , there was a display of three ships ; the Naus S . Gabriel , the S . Rafeal , and the Carare Beerio , used for an expedition lead by Henry the Navigator : they were used when he discovered the spice route around Africa and India . On that journey , the crew started with 220 men and by the end , lost 116 men along with a whole ship . Here is a picture of one of the ships : Then we left that room , walked through a courtyard and came to a huge room full of life size models of ships . There were so many , and one that I liked had a silk red fabric cover , in replacement of what we use today as sunroofs on boats . Another one was like a mini palace on a boat , with gold engravings and beautiful patterns . I thought it looked like a palace even before I knew that it was designed by a queen , Queen Maria of Portugal ( a long time ago ) . There is so much care put into each boat , and each one is different which makes it very special : they are not the same model built 100 times . In the same room there were also models of planes , the kind I built ( I built miniature ones ) with my friend at a construction camp earlier in the summer . They also had a lot of old fashion steam engines . Everything was a different size and you could view the ships from a ground level or from up above : they had stairs leading up so you could see the top . All of the ships were either moved by sail or oar , and the oars where so huge that it took two people to row them . It is a very cool museum . I also think the setting , and the way they present it , is very nice . First you enter through a regular door into a small room where you by tickets . Then , through a huge and carved door way , ( so bug its even hard to say its a doorway ) , you emerge into a dark , low lit hall which has all the models and statues of ships and navigators , then you go back to real time in the interior courtyard , and the end comes to a huge , white painted with stain glass room , naturally lit with bug windows , with all the life size planes , boats , and steam engines . Yesterday I traveled to another country , Portugal . This is the last foreign country we are going to before we go back to the U . S . The bed I had in Barcelona was very comfortable , and I slept very well . I was the last to wake up yesterday because I could hardly bring myself to get up . We had to wake up at 08h00 to get the bus to go to the airport . On the bus I kept watching this T . V . that had the top things to do in Barcelona . It was a replayed loop but it was interesting to watch . When we checked in our baggage , we got onto the plane . I sat in between my mom and brother . While I was on my mom 's iPhone , my mom was trying to get my brother to write . He finally did , but just one sentence . I like reading his work so I asked him to do more but he just said no . Then my mom and I started reading " Watership Down " for our book club . It is about talking rabbits that have to flee there home because it is going to be made into some site ( I don 't know yet ) , which will destroy the rabbits . My mom and I switched reading every few pages . The flight was very short , and in an hour we where there . Right as we where about to leave the plane , my brother stuck gum in my hair . I do not know what goes on in his head . I got so angry at him and so did my parents . I don 't now why he did it . But of course , we sorted it out . When we got outside the fresh air felt so good . One thought that came to me right when we arrived was that I liked the city . Everyone 's spirit was very light and happy , and the city was colorful and welcoming . We got in the cab and my mom asked the driver some questions . He works 12 hours a day everyday . I have to say that my parents are such good interviewers and that I know a lot about how people live because of that . We settled in to the apartment but left right away for lunch . I had barely any dinner the night before and no breakfast so I was hungry . As we walked up the stairs ( Lisbon is a very hilly place just like San Francisco , and they also both have cable cars ) to the restaurant , my mom and I did obsPosted by After I woke up , the order was my mom , brother , and dad . Once we were all dressed and ready to go , we went outside . There are two ways to get out of the building , one by taking the elevator and another way by walking down the stairs . So Roman and I decoded to wall down . We new our parents were going to take the elevator down , so as we walked down , we pressed every floors elevator button , so hey would have a local ride . It was really funny because every time the elevator stopped - we new because of the loud metal sound - we could here my parents mumbling what or why ! When we finally did get out , we went to this little bakery where I got a muffin and a pineapple juice . After , as we walked to the bus stop , we went into this shop called Durmofish . The name attracted us . It was actually a nail salon , but the way they do it is by soaking your feet or hands into a tank with water and fish who masage you and bite the dead cells of you , and it feels really good and ticklish . I got a free one because i stuck my hand into the basin while my parents talked to the owners . All the fish came to my hand as soon as i put it in . A photo ( if you look closely you can see the fish souraounding my hand ) : We needed to find directions to our destination , so my parents asked this old man . I think he had a speech problem , because every time he wanted to talk , he had to pause and it was very awkward . He would make a great character . We found directions though . We settled at the worst restaurant ever ; basically like a McDonald 's in disguise . We barely ordered anything , and I ate nothing . The point was - a very agreeable point - that the view was great . Our table was outside and it viewed the famous Sagrada Familia . The Sagrada Familia is a church , that was built by many architects starting in the 19th century to now . They say will be done yin the mid 2000 's . One architect started the church . Then Goudi took off . He created this church to not be your typical Victorian Jesus and Mary church , but a church with shape , curves here , circles there no hard strait lines , and more , a lighter church , not drowned on paintings and color but not drowned at all , with mostly wight , pink , a lot of cream , and blue . The stain glass windows were every where , stained with brilliant shades of color , with huge columns and rigged stair ways . All of that could be seen throughout inside . As we sat at the restauraunt waiting for our time to go in , we saw the magnificent outside if the Church . What I liked where too things : one , because Goudi designed it , it was like multiple churches connected , each one having it 's own original style but still being able come together : and two , the fruit basket on top of one tower created by a Japanese architect . After we left the church , we walked for a long time to the Music Hall . Then we got a few sandwhiches , kind of a mix with a crepe , paninni , and tortilla . Mine had tomato and cheese , and it was very good . The music performance we saw was very electronical ; this man put together a song in garage band and played an instrument to go with it . It was cool , but that was not what we were expecting at all . Also , it was not in the big grand hall designed also by Goudi , where we wanted it to be . After , we went to a few stores to by some clothes for the school year . My brother and I had such a fun time trying all different coats on . I got a shirt and a scarf . The wierd thing is though , is that size 10 - 12 , the size i usually get , is huge , and the 7 / 8 size shirt in that store fit me . That was a very calm but fun day . I am in Barcelona ( or Barthelona , how Spanish people say it . The king once had a lisp , and he made sure everyone repeated him so he would not feel alienated . That language is Catalan . ) . We arrived at night , which was nice because there were no naps involved , just eat something for dinner and got to bed . That night , we wanted to go to this restaurant that we spotted on our way to the apartment . When we came back to eat , just like it had been before , the restaurant was totally empty and bucktooth woman and the old man just sat and watched T . V . It was a very depressing scene , so we went on to another place . The next restaurant ( we did eat there ) we went to had a few people in it , but was still pretty empty . We were exhausted from our full day of traveling so we ate there . The man who served us had a very sad face , and the food was not that good , but we didn 't pay any attention , we were that tired . The next day we explored the city . We went to the Grand Rambla , the biggest walk way in the world . We walked there for a while , and explored some cool original shops . We had some lunch , at a nice garden cafe . While i was eating , I wrote postcards to some of my friends . Then went to the contemporary art museum , which was closed . So my dad , my brother , and I decided to go inside this church . I have seen many old churches , but this one was very ornate , and the nice thing was that they had different levels of all the religious things . It had all the detailed paintings , the vague ones , and even the cross with the man made out of a simple piece of wire . This one painting showed many paintings in one , many scenes . Somethings were hidden , and I found the hidden lion in the shadows . We also went to the natural history museum , and the Picasso museum . There , we saw his early works to his latest , with the point of view faces . I noticed a lot of change in his style throughout his life , and his arty pieces were only really formed later in life . Seeing all his works , it was hard to believe they were made by the same artist . Later that day , at the dinner , my brother and I played soccer with an empty water bottle . It was very fun , and a cute dog even played with us too ! He grabbed the bottle in his mouth , the owner took it out , and my brother and I tried to kick the bottle between each other with out the dog getting the bottle . The next day , the main thing we explored were houses designed by Goudi , a famous spanish architect . Also , we went to another art museum were we saw a documentary on Antoni Tapies , and i got inspired and wrote down some words and sentences and sketches that came to me when I was watching . Here are some photo 's of the buildings we saw : For the past two days , this is who we have been discovering . On 8 - 14 - 11 , we had a full traveling day from Marsielle to Figueres , Spain . We woke up in Marsielle at seven a . m . , 7h00 , v to catch the train at 8h00 . We were all dressed in in long pants and sweatshirts because the train is very air conditioned and cold . We got out of our apartment , and rolled are suitcases to the front of the main station . There are big stairs leading up to that , huge stairs , so we found a different way to go up with our heavy luggage . Once we got there , we got to have our last French breakfast , in the station because we had a little time before our train left . I had a chocolate croissant . We got on the train , played games like guess who , went on electronics , I drew , did math , and waited . Once we got off that train , we transferred to another . My brother and I watched a video . That train ride was very quick . After that train , we were supposed to transfer to another one to take us to our final destination . The most unbelievable thing happened . The last train we were supposed to take was the front part of our previous train . We were sitting in the back of the train , what a coincidence , and by the time we got out , the front part had all ready detached and left . Plus , that train was a TGV train ( which means it was a speed train ) , so because we missed it , it would take us four hours instead of 15 minutes . There were other people who had missed it too . One of them had been at the station since 10h00 : they had no idea about the train because on the screen , it had said that there was a twenty minute delay , so they assumed it would be later . The other person was a young woman who was traveling to Barcelona , and because of this , she would miss her flight . She was in tears . I haven 't even gotten to Dali yet ! When we did get there , we checked into our hotel . We quickly took our baggage up to our room , got in the car , and went to the Dali museum , for our 20h00 tickets . Of course , we made it , like we do ( mostly ) every time , usually at the absolute last minute . The exhibit was great . The exhibit had so much in it , and we spent almost half an hour in this one room , where they had a sculpture of a woman made of brass , and this car with a broken window that rained inside when you pushed a button . All of this was set in the round interior courtyard , where you could see the floors up above with a glass window every time there was a manikin in a different pose . Other rooms had paintings , sculptures , and interactive exhibits . Dali also explored perception , so there was a lot of artwork that could be viewed as multiple things , as well as different places to look from . One piece was a painting , flat , that you couldn 't understand until you looked into a wine bottle that reflected the image right side up . He also had a room dedicated to the face . There were to paintings of eyes on either side of the wall , a nose fireplace with two nostrils , and a pink couch that looked like lips . On the outer edge was hair that was formed like a doorway , and to see the whole face , you looked through a hologram to shrink the size and make it viewable with the eye . After we left the museum , we went back to our hotel . It was raining , but still we decided to go into the pool . That was so much fun . They had a water slide into the pool and a diving board , and i went on each one a countless amount of times . The next day would be another traveling day to Barcelona , but first , we went to Dali 's home . It was not like all those old fashioned homes , with so much dark color and old rugs and paintings of religious things , and i am glad about that . It was actually interesting as we toured the house , because so many museums and homes we saw last summer were like i just described , and i wanted something else . Dali 's home was fairly modern , but still had the old feeling which i like . Another thing for perception : there was a mirror in the front room , facing the window , and from Dali 's room , because of the mirror , he could watch the sun set and rise . Still in the great Marsielle . On that day , we woke up and rushed to the Viex Port , the Old Port , to catch a boat . The boat ride was three hours and was a tour of the Calnques . The line for the boat was very long . When we asked a guide about it , she said the line was normal and was even longer at two o ' clock , which , i assumed , meant it was a big atraction and must be beautiful . We got on the boat , and chose a 4 seater table inside the it . As the boat started moving , i went outside . I found a seat right on the left side , a seat on the edge viewing the water . The wind blew my hair into my face , and normally i would of brushed it away but i liked the feeling of it ; the wind was cool , and the breeze kept it from being to hot . The weather in Marsielle is really nice ; not too cold , not to hot , and you can still wear shorts and a tank top or pants . The Calanques were huge , mountain sized , curved rocks , with moss covering it making it look like a frosted cake . I also saw a few hikers , and i wanted to climb up . The boat never stoped , but we saw beaches that we had already went to and beaches we wanted to go to . That night , we walked up to the cathederal , where it was said to have the best view of France . It was a very steep walk , but it was later in the day so it wasn 't that hot . When we got there , the lighting was picteres so my dad took tons of photo 's . The view was okay . The cool thing was that there were two points of view of the city , one was straight , were it was like a mountain , and it looked pretty close , but if i turned to my left , looking down , i could see a whole different looking city , that looked millions of miles away . It was really cool . Then of course , if you looked up , you would see stars starting to come out , they looked a trillion miles away , though some how , very close . Mr . Bombompsky didn 't just know of people , but made contact with them . Two falls ago , Mr . Bombompsky had heard that Robert Goldman was in New York . Somehow , he found out that Mr . Goldman was going to Central Park on the first Saturday of his stay . Mr . Bombompsky had wanted to meet him , so he made his way from Brooklyn to the city . " Excuse me , but I think I recognize you , " Mr . Bombompsky had planned to say , in a casual tone to get the conversation started . But it had gone the oppisite way of planned . Mr . Bombompsky did recognize Mr . Goldman : he was sitting on the bench near the Broadway entrance . Before he could say anything , Mr . Goldman exclaimed , " I think I recognize you . Are you , ah , I can 't remember ! " Mr . Bombompsky was taken aback , but then knew what Mr . Goldman was going to say . He would of suggested the idea for him , but wanted Mr . Goldman to say it in his own words . " Oh , yes ! You are , you are Bombompksy , Mr . Bombompsky , the famous writer ! Voila ! Oh , I have heard so much about you and read all of your books , even the ones for children . It is a pleasure to meet you . " He shook Mr . Bombompsky 's hand hard . Mr . Bombompsky smiled , very full with satisfaction but trying not to show it too much . He wondered why Mr . Goldman , who didn 't have a French name or last name at all , had a French accent . " Thank you . And you are Robert Goldman , no ? It is a pleasure . Why are you in New York ? And where did you come from ? " Mr . Bombombpsky had inquired . " I come from Marseille , " he said while smiling , and the corners of his white mustache lifted up . " I just wanted to explore " the City " , as they call it , no ? " The conversation was taken to the Pie Café , where each of the authors got an ecpresso . As he thought back to that conversation , Mr . Bombompsky realized he was in no mood to travel , and wished he could hear the conference through his Apple Macbook air , recorded , but knew he couldn 't let down his old friend . Mr . Bombompsky slowly finished packing the bag , until it would close without anythiLola I just read back at my other posts . I really enjoyed reading them , but I used way to many exclamation marks . I think I am getting better , though . She wished she could listen to the music Mr . Bombompsky and his friends had made . She wanted something knew from her piano . She had gone to Italy for a vacation because she thought she had needed a break . But every second of every minute of almost every hour , she dreamed of being back in her apartment , playing the piano . Sometimes she would start moving her fingers around , trying to play . Each time , she forgot where she was . And her pieces always echoed through her head , just like they did after she played . Sometimes , she held her hands to her head , and tried to figure out why she was so in love with this instrument . The one thing that had helped her through that was writing her own piano piece . She had already written 3 pages of music , without even getting to play them . But the music in her mind stayed , and she heard it none stop . When she went on a tour of the temples in Italy , everyone could here her humming . It was as if her humming made the temples come alive , and everyone around her could feel the energy of the ancients sorounding them . Everyone liked it , though . Everyone on the tour asked if she was a proffesional musician . She didn 't know what to say to that , so she smiled , and said , " I am the living female Motzart . " That was what she hoped she was . And Ida had thought her response would make people laugh , and go away saying she was a crazy old woman , but it did the oppisite . People became fascinated with her . They watched her , while she didn 't even know it , because Ida wasn 't trying to impress people . She just felt a sudden urge of happiness , which she expressed through the humming and the composing . Evan a few mothers asked to get autographs for their children . She sipped her passion fruit Tazo Tea . " Excuse me ? " Ida heard someone say . She turned and looked to see the young boy with strawberry colored hair next to her . He was wearing a red t - shirt and cargo shorts with lots of pockets . " What 's your name ? " he asked in a British accent , a sound that Ida always had loved to hear . " WillLola We ( of course , my family and I , for vacation ) came here on Sunday , on an eight hour Lufthansa flight . A baby was crying the whole time , so I barely got any sleep . I got some great ideas for my book from the airport . Once we got to Frankfurt , we had to wait two hours before my next flight . During that time , we sat at a restaraunt . My brother had a cold , so my mom asked for some hot water and honey . When Roman , my brother , got the milk , it was standing on a little plate with one of thoses packets of honey you get get for free at any deli in America . The milk was four Euros , ( for every 1 American dollar , it is worth 1 . 2 Euros ) , and the packet of honey was 1 Euro . I have never been charged for honey before . On Tuesday , our first real full day , we went to two different beaches . The first one , in Niolin , north if Marseille , was on a rocky platform , with some sand , and most people were not swimming because it was also a dock , but we went in . I did , my mom did , and my dad did , but my brother didn 't . He gets sensitive when it comes to Freezing Cold water . At the same beach , we went to a restaraunt that was above the rocks . They were just closing , but they let us have a salad and a crepe anyway . The food was not worth it , but the setting and feeling of the restaraunt was very good . After that , we took the train back to the main station in Marseille . From there we took the metro , spent a while searching for the right bus , got on , got off , got on a shuttle , and Voila ( It took much longer than a Voila ) . At the second beach , in Les Goudes , a calanque , it was extremely windy . At first , we didn 't think there was even a beach , because it was partially hidden . But out of the corner of his eye , my dad saw people swimming and lying on a beach , so we found away to get there . On the way there , we saw a man who helped us navigate , and when we said thank you , I said Merci in a very good French accent . I am taking French next year in middle school , and it is good I 'm traveling in France this summer . At that beach , it was so windy that I didn 't know if I should swim or not . I did , and so did my dad , but my mom and brother waited and got towels ready for us for when we came out ( it was that cold ) . Then we rushed into this bar / cafe , which had the best apperance because it had a gigantic statue of a spaceman out front , and a pool table , very comfy chairs , and good ice cream inside . We walked a little , and then took the bus back . For dinner , we went to a good restaraunt called Chez Noel , near our apartment , and we had a mussle dish , grean beans , and ravioli . My mom got this very weird and bad , bad , bad , specialty of the house dish ( it was some sort of animals legs ; :( ) and it tasted and smelled horrid . The next day , we went to Arles , a small town just out of Marseille . No one wanted to go , because we had to wake up to early , but my dad insisted . I am making it seem bad , but I am glad my dad did that because it was really fun . We explored the weekly market outside , ( for basically breakfast and lunch ) and got some real french cheeses , meats , bread , and fruit . I don 't know if there is " French fruit " , but the fruit was good and ripe anyway . Through the market , we walked into the town through the main gate . We bought a pass that was valid for 2 museums and 4 monuments . The first museum we went to was a contemporary art museum , were we saw Pablo Picasso 's works , and we saw lots of paintings of people , there faces shown in all different points of view just in the one face , something we looked at during the school year . There were also very cool rooms that explored sound , and again , great setting . We walked around a lot more , and I mainly forgot what we did next . But after , of course I do remember this , we went to a Bull Fight . It was in one of the monuments , an ancient Roman ampitheater , a stadium built a long time ago in stone . They are building a stadium in my neighborhood , near a mall , ( a " perfect match " ) , whinch does not belong there . Most people voted no , because they wanted to keep Park Slope residential , but they one because it was of " Jobs ! Jobs ! Jobs ! " . Anyway , all I am saying is that it would of been really awesome if they made the stadium like the one in Arles . It is quite a dream . Anyway : the bull fight : for the main part , men in white suits started to chase the bull , then once it was after them , tried to run away out of the mane circle . That , was fun to watch , but once a man made a very close jump , and the bull fell over , it got interesting . The bull had fallen over the gate , and had almost hurt itself . His mouth was all bloody . I felt bad for the bull . You would think that he would just get back up and go back in the main ring and chase another person , but no . The bull just layed there , trying to figure these people out . When he did get up , he wouldn 't go back in . I think he had had enough of these " fools " , so he was going to revolt . It was also kind of scary , but you could feel a sense of pride in the bull . He started running around the outer inner edge , and people who were standing there had to duck . He ran , and whenever he came to the door to go back in , he ran the other way . He broke some of the walls , to . Finally , they had to make another bull come , and he chased the first bull back inside the stall . Then we had to leave . But then she remembered that this flight had been delayed . That meant that she would miss the flight from Berlin to New York . Oye , she said to herself . She put her hands on her face and shook her head . She might have to stay overnight in Berlin . But that would cost a lot of money , and Ida was saving her money to purchase a grand piano . Ida had a friend who lived in Berlin . Ida had known this woman since she was very little . They were both raised in Russia , but then Ida had decided to come to New York and her friend married a German man , so she moved . Ida wasn 't that fond of her friend anymore . But if she could stay the night at their house , she would save about 120 Euros ; 70 for a hotel , 20 for a cab ride , and 30 for food . She could manage one night with her old friend . But maybe she wouldn 't need to . Maybe her flight home would be delayed . Maybe she could spare a lucky penny . If she wasn 't lucky , though , she would have no way of finding her friend . She hadn 't contacted her in years , all she could remember was that her name was Anje Croton , and she was married to someone by the name of Erich Croton , and that they had two kids , and lived in Berlin . Ida would figure that out later . The only thing that excited her was that she would be able to go to Café Au Lout . When Ida was younger , she travled to Berlin many times , because she had entered a Piano contest , which had taken place in Berlin . She had discovered the Café , and had always dreamed of going back . For some reason , Ida loved the Café 's Elderberry tea . She had never heard of it before , and the minute she tasted it , she knew she loved it . If it wasn 't for the fact that she had many other things to do , she would come to Berlin just to get a sip of the tea . Since then , she started drinking tea . She had started exploring all the American tea brands , but never found any of them as wonderful as the Elderberry tea . Ikea made an Elderflower juice that came in a box , but it tasted fake to her . The only American brand that she sort of liked was Tazo Tea . Posted by Your Here , Then There , Then Back to Here " Ladies and gentaleman of terminal four , flying on Lufthansa , with the destination of Berlin , Germany , we are now boarding . First class passengers , please come to the gate , " came a thick , Italian voice from the loud speaker . Ida shot up like bullet , rubbed her eyes , and put her glasses back on . She straitened her back , picked up her bags ( a green rolling duffel and a purse ) , and got ready to go . By the time they called the economy class , Ida was already standing at the gate , ready to go . She was first in the line , so she gave the woman her ticket and boarded the plane . As she got comftorble in the not so comftorble plane seats , she took out her iPod and listed to her absolute favorite song , a piano piece by Aldo Cicillini . Ashe listened to this wild song , she found herself saying in her head " I am so lucky to be sitting at the window " . She said this as she looked to the woman sitting in the middle seat , a plump old lady who barely fit in it . Ida took out her book . With the first two courses leaving an excellent impression , they started the desert dessert of a cactus themed cream pie . The meal had been very satisfactory , and everything had gone as planned . Mr . Cordelle had brought his wife , and she and Liza were happily talking . Mr . Bombompsky , Mr . Cordelle , and Saki Motto were having a three - way conversation about the major decreases in the stock market . Mr . Bombompsky argued it was another depression , but Mr . Cordelle had faith in America , while Saki Motto didn 't know the half of it , but was just listening in . After they finished eating , Mr . Bombompsky decided it was time for music . " Excuse me for moment , " he said to his guests , who were now rubbing their stomachs happily and sipping the fruity dessert wine Liza had brought . Mr . Bombompsky went to the bookcase . He pressed a button , and behind the wall was the music room , and in the center was his Lithuanian drum set . Along the walls were records , pictures of famous musicians , and instruments hung up . Mr . BombPosted by The Earths Tectonic Plates Shift to the Famous Piano Teacher Ida Cremchanskivich 's stomach rumbled . She was so deep in thought about her book that she had forgotten to eat , and now wasn 't even sure where she was . She was supposed to be eating the dinner from her Airplane , but her Lufthansa flight had been delayed . As she looked around , she remembered . Her stomach rumbled again . She sat on the metal chairs ( with little cushioning ) of the airport , while looking at her watch , saying over and over again to herself , " why is my plane so late ? " and trying to read her book . It was 3 : 00 a . m . Italy time and 10 : 00 p . m . New York time , where she lived . She now was stuck in the Fagvingiana airport in Sicily , Italy , waiting for an airplane to go back to Germany , where she would transfer planes to go back home . The flight had been delayed from a 1 : 30 flight to a 3 : 00 one , but was not here yet . Ida assumed it was never going to come . She looked around the airport . She saw all these tired people , waiting , looking at there watches , playing games that they didn 't even like but needed to do something to pass the endless time . There were also all the restaurants , and shops , most of them closed . As she saw the familiar restaurants , she imagined herself sitting at a Central Park bench , eating a hotdog with sauerkraut and mustard from her favorite pushcart peddler , Benny . Ah . She smiled at this wonderful thought . She quickly looked back at her book . If it weren 't for the fact that she was enormously hungry , her eyes would be glued to the page . Ida had read so many interesting books through out her life . And many of them she had loved so much that she read them in one day . But then , she felt like she had never read them , because she had read them so fast . She was trying to savor this story . She was just at the best part , Mr . Bombompsky , an author who was writing a book , was having a " character meal " to describe his top character in his new book : the character was Lee Cot , a western cowboy . She was saving this part to read Lola Mr . Bombompsky Returns to the CoverMr . Bombompsky smiled . He was very satisfied with what he had written . He turned to the page with his notes on Emil 's grandma . He started to think more about her . That was the hardest character to write for him , because he had never had one . He remembered his old friend , Vince Tuckler , and the many afternoons he had spent at Vince 's house , were Vince 's grandma would be waiting at the door , offering cookies to them , and watching the boys because Vince 's parents were at work . Vince had never eaten the cookies , he thought they were disgusting . Mr . Bombompsky hadn 't thought so , but he played along anyway . Mr . Bombompsky never had someone waiting for him at home . His parents were at work too , and his mom 's parents had passed away , and his dad 's parents were mean and didn 't get along with the family . Even though Mrs . Tuckler 's cookies weren 't the best , Mr . Bombompsky had found it comforting to be around her . Emil 's grandma was based on Vince 's grandma . Mr . Bombompsky leaned his head back in his chair and stretched his arms out , the kind of stretch a writer does after they have been sitting at their desk writing for a while . He got up , and went to his kitchen . Just three weeks ago , Mr . Bombompsky 's kitchen had been redone . Along with all his other passions , he thought it was vital to have a good cooking space , especially if you are a writer , like himself . Mr . Bombompsky spent hours in his kitchen , cooking up delicious meals , and , every time he was working on a book , tried to cook the character : he tried to create the character through cooking , by adding spices , choosing what country the food was originally from , fresh food , caned food , was the character a vegetarian , a vegan , if they were stranded on an island what would they eat , etc . That night , for dinner , he decided he would have a three - course meal based on Lee Cot . He opened his computer , and researched ' classic foods of Arizona ' . It turned out to have kind of a Mexican , American , fruity flavor . But Posted by Mr . Bombompsky Returns to the Cover Mr . Bombompsky smiled . He was very satisfied with what he had written . He turned to the page with his notes on Emil 's grandma . He started to think more about her . That was the hardest character to write for him , because he had never had one . He remembered his old friend , Vince Tuckler , and the many afternoons he had spent at Vince 's house , were Vince 's grandma would be waiting at the door , offering cookies to them , and watching the boys because Vince 's parents were at work . Vince had never eaten the cookies , he thought they were disgusting . Mr . Bombompsky hadn 't thought so , but he played along anyway . Mr . Bombompsky never had someone waiting for him at home . His parents were at work too , and his mom 's parents had passed away , and his dad 's parents were mean and didn 't get along with the family . Even though Mrs . Tuckler 's cookies weren 't the best , Mr . Bombompsky had found it comforting to be around her . Emil 's grandma was based on Vince 's grandma . Mr . Bombompsky leaned his head back in his chair and stretched his arms out , the kind of stretch a writer does after they have been sitting at their desk writing for a while . He got up , and went to his kitchen . Just three weeks ago , Mr . Bombompsky 's kitchen had been redone . Along with all his other passions , he thought it was vital to have a good cooking space , especially if you are a writer , like himself . Mr . Bombompsky spent hours in his kitchen , cooking up delicious meals , and , every time he was working on a book , tried to cook the character : he tried to create the character through cooking , by adding spices , choosing what country the food was originally from , fresh food , caned food , was the character a vegetarian , a vegan , if they were stranded on an island what would they eat , etc . That night , for dinner , he decided he would have a three - course meal based on Lee Cot . He opened his computer , and researched ' classic foods of Arizona ' . It turned out to have kind of a Mexican , American , fruity flavor . ButLola The Story Shifts Once Again That night , Mr . Bombompsky started packing for the book conference he was going to go to in Marseille . He was leaving on Thursday , and today was Tuesday , so he did not have much time . He sat on the bed , hopeless . He was too busy thinking about his book to pack . His desk was 4 feet away from the bed , and his notepad and his lucky # 2 pencil were on it . " Why not ? " He said to himself . Even though he knew no one else was there , he looked around the room to check if anybody was watching . He knew he had to pack , but couldn 't bring himself to do it . He slowly walked to the desk , sat down , and began . Lee Cot woke up to the sound of thunder . He shivered , even though it wasn 't cold . The treasure of Bompo , and rain , did not go together . Before Cot had come on this mission , he did some research . In each of the books he had read ( there were about twenty of them ) , there was at least 1 story of someone who had tried to get the treasure , but than it rained , and in each of the stories , something bad happened because of the rain . It deserts , rain is rare . But some said that the treasure , or the guardians ( if there were any , who knows ) of the treasure , knew when a bad person was trying to steal it , rather than a good one , so they caused it to rain . Other than that , the treasure had nothing to do with what happened . Of course , this made Cot very nervous . He knew there was nothing he could do about it , so he waited for the rain to come . He took deep breaths . He started saying bad things about himself in his head . He waited some more . But the rain never came . Instead , it started to smell like a chicken soup . Not the kind of a can , but the home made granny kind that was made for you if you were sick . It kept thundering . And it kept Cot perplexed . He kept looking around , trying to make sure there wasn 't a dinosaur stomping around him . I looked up from my writing . I could hear my grandma walking up the stairs to my room . It sounded like thunder , either she had had grown , or she was bringing up somethiLola Mr . Bombompsky is Introduced To understand this part , and the parts to come , you might want to back track and re - read alittle . Mr . Bombompsky always wore purple Indian slippers to not match with his black suit coat with yellow hexagonal shaped buttons . He had three pairs of black socks and three pairs of brown socks , which he mixed to make 6 pairs of brown / black socks . His socks always were a little big , because he needed to fit his money in them . " Mr . Bompomsky , your eel - avocado roll is here . " Mr . Bombompsky blinked . He was at the Sushi - Ishus , the Japanese restaurant he went to every Tuesday . " Thank you , Saki Motto . " Saki Motto was Mr . Bombompsky 's favorite waiter , and he made sure he was his waiter each and every time he went to the restaurant . He sat at the table and bit in to the eel . The fish was brought to the restaurant every Monday night , and Mr . Bombompsky always came on Tuesday for lunch for the fresh fish . He tapped his # 2 pencil on the table . Before he had become a writer , he was a famous Ukrainian drummer , and he loved to make a beat out of anything . He came to the Sushi - Ishus on Tuesday weekly also because Tuesday was his thinking day . And of course , eating eel - avocado rolls made his novels even better . Eating eel - avocado rolls increased his imagination . Mr . Bombompsky looked down at his purple satin slippers , wondering if Lee Cot should go forward in his journey or not , or if the story should go back and focus on Emil , who through his illness was writing about Cot . As he contemplated that , he knew that he needed to make his book a quadruple Nobel Prize winner . He ate another roll . He ate more and more eel , until his imagination had overtaken him . Lee Cot Finishes His First Scene He shook his head , and galloped forward . Suddenly , the sky changed from a light shade of green to a light blue , with a strong , hot sun . Now Cot wasn 't sure weather he was imagining things or not . But he needed to focus on the treasure . The treasure of Bompo was the whole point of going on this journey . Everybody through American history had tried to get the treasure , for it was said that when it was found , the person who found it would be rewarded a great deal . It did not say how . Stories had been told about the treasure forever . It seemed to be a goal of most people to get the treasure , but no one had succeeded . Like many people , because it had never been found , Cot 's parents didn 't believe there even was a treasure . But Lee had no doubt . That 's why he was galloping high speed , because he knew . He believed there was a treasure . Cot 's great uncle , Lucas Cot the third , had been so close to finding the treasure , but had been killed right before he could take it . Something went off in Cot 's head . An image of a man on a horse , in a similar dessert to the one Cot was in now , appeared . The man was approaching a hole , and gold light seemed to be shining out of it . But before the man could go down and see what was inside , another man , dressed in all black , took out a gun . Smoke was everywhere . The man had been shot . This image had appeared in Cot 's head more than once . The treasure of Bompo was said to have a gold stone that shone when someone was in danger . Cot knew it had something to do with that image . In the far distance , Cot could see something go down very far . It was like a huge hole . He took out his engraved telescope that had been passed on to him from his great uncle . Cot knew that somehow , his great uncle had known that if he didn 't succeed with getting the treasure of Bompo , Lee Cot , who was a just a little boy at the time , was going to . He couldn 't see very far anymore . The moon was not full tonight , and did not show much light . Cot put the telescope back iLola The Story begins The crack in the ceiling must have been staring at me for a while . Bony fingers rubbed across my face : they were my fingers . They burned as they touched my heating face , and with all my might I pulled them off . I turned my eyes to my rug , something new to look at . Strangely , the horse weave on the rug seemed to speak to me . I saw the pile of paper on my desk , I saw the pen , and I saw the horse on the blue rug . The horse moved , and I was moving on it . The crack opened , creating an oasis of sand to come pouring in . Cactuses sprouted in an instant , my pale , green painted walls became a bright yellow , and instead of the cool air that should have been blowing on me from my fan , I felt a dry wind blow across the room . Lee Cot , western cowboy , ran on his horse through the barren dessert . His house and life were behind him ; he was moving toward danger . He could smell it . But in front of him were a group of horses , and the leader of the pack seemed to be flat with a blue background . This was not Arizona . Not what it had appeared to be before this day . Posted by Hello . . . I am writing a book . I started a week ago . I will publish bits every 1 - 2 days ( I hope ) . I have worked really hard , and i have also really enjoyed writing it . I want you to enjoy too ! Please leave any comments or suggestions you have . I have gone through a lot with this book . The first part , of course , was the first thing I wrote . But then , I lost it , so I had to re - write it . It was really hard , because I really did like what I wrote , but I made it better . Well , kind of the same , but I had the idea of what would happen next . Have you read the book Zoom ? OR any books by Miara Calman ? These books / authors were kind of my " mentors " , so i am using i similar technique , i really like there styles . Book Review : Olive 's OceanSometimes , you realize things because they never happened . That 's what happened to Martha , the main character . Martha now regrets what she didn 't do , and the struggle all happens because of that . How do you live when you keep thinking , Why didn 't I do that ? Olive , a girl from Martha 's class , who had no friends and was bullied , just died in a bicycle accident . Olive 's mom looks through Olive 's journal , and finds a page where it is labeled , " My Hopes " . One of those hopes on the list is to become Martha 's friend . Olive 's mother brings it to Martha . When Martha reads it , a lot of feelings she never felt before , come out . Feelings that she never thought she would feel , let alone think about . Wanting to change the past can be one of the hardest feelings to deal with , because you know you can 't . It is a very emotional book . And a very well written book . Much more happens , and more feelings come out when Martha goes to visit her grandma , who lives near the sea , a place were Olive had hoped to go . . . 8 / 10