Argentina is a South American country with a population of thirty one million people. Argentina's capital is Buenos Aires, which is one of the largest cities in South America. Buenos Aires is situated on the coast of Argentina, which makes Buenos Aires a major trade route in Argentina and in South America. Argentina's national language is Spanish and the major religion is Roman Catholicism.

Argentina is a country with much natural beauty. It has miles of beautiful beaches and is also surrounded by the majestic Andes mountains. The Andes mountains are among the highest mountains in the world. Argentina's tallest mountain is the Cerro Aconcagua. This mountain reaches an amazing height of 22,200 ft. America's tallest mountain only reaches the height of 20,000 ft.

Shopping is a big attraction in France. In Paris, department stores are good places to shop. In Normandy, shops have a rich selection of antiques. Sunday is a good day to shop on in Normandy because many stores have discounts. Normandy has a lot of lace too. The prices are high and the pieces are labor intensive. There are some good beaches in Normandy. It has lots of seaside coasts. There are many widely spaced resorts. On the Atlantic coast there are many waterslides, wavepools, and other water goodies. Paris has lots of culture. The Eiffel Tower was built in 1889. It costs $8 to go to the top. It's open daily from 9:30 A.M. to 11 P.M. At night you can almost see all of Paris. In case you get hungry there are cafes to eat at on the Eiffel Tower. The Louvre has a collection of great art works throughout history. It was built in the 13th century. It has the Mona Lisa by Leonardo Divinci. There are seven sections at the Louvre. They are ancient civilizations, sculptures, furniture, drawings, paintings, prints, and arms armor. Don't try to see it all at once. The hours are wed-Mon. 9-6 and Tuesday open til 9:45. Admission $10 for adults, $7 for ages 18-25, 18 and under are free.

The landscape of Brazil is covered with plains, plateaus, and tropical grasslands. The plains has a fertile ribbon of lowlands, about ten through thirty miles wide which are along the country's coastline. Behind the plains sits a huge interior plateau that runs steeply near the lowlands in front of it. This drop forms an escarpment, steep cliff that separates two level areas. In Brazil there is much poverty. People make a living there by subsistence farming. Even though they do farming subsistintly, they use much advanced farming there. Aside from farming there is much more to there culture. People there are involved a lot in astronomy and mathematics. Architecture is another way of living there. This used not only as a money making job, but private uses also.

Day 1:

We arrived at Omar Torrijos airport via American Airlines early in the afternoon. We purchased our required tourist cards (3 balboas, as US dollars are called in Panama) at the airport, then caught a taxi for the 18 mile ride to our downtown hotel. The ride in the battered, un-airconditioned car was rather expensive (30 balboas), but the driver spoke English and was very friendly. We arrived at the hotel and checked in. While my dad was checking in I bought a guidebook in the hotel lobby and read up on the history of Panama City. The original city was founded in 1519 by Pedro Arias Davila, known as Pedrarias the Cruel, because of his eradication of all but three of the local Indian tribes during his tenure in Panama. Davila used the city as a place to store Incan gold before it was shipped to Spain. The original city was sacked and burned in 1671 by a group of buccaneers led by Henry Morgan. The city was rebuilt within a year, this time on a peninsula 18 miles away and surrounded by a strong wall. This old Spanish city is now the in the middle downtown Panama City.
Panama City is an international melting pot and its eating choices range from American fast food to excellent internationall cuisine. Eager to begin our sightseeing, we grabbed lunch at a nearby McDonald's after checking in then caught a bus. The buses in Panama are a tourist attraction in themselves. They are brightly painted, hung with fringe, and have constantly blaring Salsa and Caracas music playing. They are cheap (50 cents a ride). but are very crowded. After asking several drivers "Donde va este autobus?" we finally found one going to the Plaza Independencia. This plaza is the main square of the colonial town and is bordered on one side by a cathedral with twin mother of pearl towers that took 108 years to complete. On two other sides it is bordered by the Archbishop's Palace, now a university and the Central Post Office. While in the old part of Panama City we also visited the Iglesia de San Jose and saw the Golden Aaltar. This altar was in the original Panama City and was saved from Henry Morgan's pirates by a monk who painted it black to disguise it. When we finished touring we returned to our hotel and then ate dinner at El Pez de Ora, one of the city' famous seafood restaurants.


Day 2:
We woke early and headed out for a morning of shopping at the Mercado Publico. I bought some jewelry and some small wooden figurines as souvenirs, but when I asked "Donde esta los sombreros de Panama?", the vendor told me Panama hats were made in Ecuador. The hat most commonly worn in Panama is the "pita", a narrow brimmed straw hat with black and white stripes. The most important phrases to remember when shopping in Panama are " Cuanto cuesta esta?" and " Acceptas tarjetas de credita?" After shopping we had Chinese food in one of the local restaurants.
After eating we went to visit Panama's most famous attraction, the Panama Canal. The Canal was completed in 1914, and is considered one of the greatest engineering feats in the world. We took a shuttle from our hotel to the canal and then went on a 90 minute train ride all the way across the isthmus along the canal. The railroad we were traveling on was built in 1855 to transport '49ers who were on their way to the California gold rush and was the first "trans-continental" rail link. At one of the train stations we got off and walked to the Miraflores Locks, sat on bleachers, and watched the ships go through the canal. After our tour of the Panama Canal we returned to our hotel to get ready for a night of dinner and theater. We ate dinner at an Italian restaurant then went to the Teatro National for a performance of the Folkloric Ballet. The Folkloric Ballet features native folk dances and costumes and was very entertaining.

Day 3:
We rented a car and left Panama City headed southwest along the Pan American Highway. First we visited the Parque Natural Metropolitana, a zoo on the outskirts of Panama with monkeys, deer, sloths, and iguanas. We then drove toward El Valle, about 75 miles away. El Valle is located in the center of a dormant volcano. There we saw hot springs, botanical gardens (with square trees which scientists have been unable to explain!), and golden frogs found nowhere else on earth. We continued down the highway passing through the towns of Penonome, the geographic center of Panama, and Nata, on of the oldest towns in Latin America. The Interior of Panama is mostly farmland and grazing land for cattle. We even saw some cowboys! At night we arrived at Baquette, a village on the side of the dormant Baru Volcano, where we spent the night.

Day 4:
We began our day by visiting Volcan Baru National Park and taking a short hike to see the beautiful plants and birds. The volcano is the highest point in Panama at 3475 meters. After our hike we ate lunch and then drove to Chiriqui Grande where we dropped off our car. We then caught a ferry to Bocas del Toro where we visited Bastimentos National Park. The park has pristine white sand beaches where sea turtles nest. The coral reefs off the coast are home to more than 200 species of tropical fish. While there we also got to visit caves containing the largest population of fruit eating bats in the world! Later we went snorkeling of the coast of Almirante Island where we spent the night.

I went to China at 4th April, with my grandma and grandpa. That day, we got up at 7 o*clock in the morning. We went on the ship at 9:40am. When we reached China, we saw our relation, they saw us and helped us to carry the luggage. They are very kind to us.

After about 1 hour, traveled by car, we reached home, it was about 1 o*clock, we were very hungry, they*ve already cooked the lunch for us. After lunch, we walked around in the village . When we back home, we chatted until dinner was ready. There was on toilet there, so my grandpa and me cannot eat more and more although all things were very good.

After a terrible night, we went to another village. We went in the bus about 3 hours, after we reached there, it was about 4:30pm. I don*t think we could walked around the village again. The house that we lived was designed by my grandpa, we lived happily (very happy) there. -We had water, Town gas, light, TV * * Oh, great!

We went back to Hong Kong at 8th. After a the tea break at the pipe, we got onto the ship at 4:00pm. I thought I was too full, I was seasick! We reached home at exactly 6 o*clock. My mom was already cooked the dinner for us. After we enjoyed the dinner, I went back home. At home , I had a hot bath that it was one of the best enjoys in my life.