Teachable Moments from Around the Globe Via Postcard

The largest amphitheater of the ancient world where games and entertainment for the masses where held. Construction began by Vespasiano in 72 A.D.

Roberto I writes: Ciao from "Bella Italia" the Colosseum is an amphitheater in the center of Rome, the largest ever built in the Roman Empire and is considered one of the greatest works of Roman architecture and engineering! Many greetings, Robbie ;-)

Thanks so much Roberto I this means a great deal to my daughter and I, you have brought us so many wonderful teachable moments from Italy we are eternally grateful!

Pat writes: We have lots of Gambel's Quail living on our property. They are fun to watch! When startled, they dash into bushes, their head feather's bobbing as they scatter.

Postcard #2 reads: The dessert is ablaze with colors, and many plants will bloom through May and June. This is why Hummingbirds aren't coming to our feeder (they have real nectar.)

Postcard #3 reads: Arizona is famous for colorful sunsets. My husband and I sit on our patio and watch the sun set over the Tucson Mountains.

Postcard #4 reads: Arizona is the Grand Canyon State. It is also a four corners state, the others being Utah, Colorado and Mexico.

Postcard Facts:

Gambel's Quail - Found Primarily throughout Mexico, this species also stretches into the American Southwest, and is the most popular game bird in Arizona.

Picacho Peak State Park - Spring in the Sonoran Desert brings an abundance of wildflowers, including Mexican gold poppies, brittlebush, and lupine. These wildflowers germinate only after heavy seasonal rains, and once pollinated, their heat - and drought- resistance seeds are dispersed by wind, which then remain dormant in the soil until the following year's annual rains.

Arizona - Arizona is blessed with bright sunshine and fantastic weather year-round. You'll find endless places to fish, swim, run, pedal, paddle or to just sit and be amazed!

Arizona - Arizona became the 48th state on February 14, 1912, and is the sixth largest state in the U.S. at 114,006 square miles. The state also carries the distinction of leading the nation in copper production.

So many wonderful facts about Arizona thank you so much Pat & John!

Our friend Shurbani T. sends us a new postcard with more interesting facts about his home Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. He writes: Hello and Salam to you ;-) By this time you should have received my first postcard. These are the traditional games in the state of Kelantan, a state in the north east and bordering Thailand. Till we meet again in the next exchange, please "gembira selalu" (happy always). Reguards, Shurbani T.

The postcard states: The favorite pastime of the people of Kelantan. Top-spining, Rebana drums, Pony Riding and kit flying.

Many thanks again for sharing with us. We also love pony rides and flying kites ;-)

Our friend Helo C. writes:  I live in Sao Paulo, Brazil the largest city in South America.We live in a concrete jungle. This is a crazy town, many cars, multitudes of people, and very noisy. However I love living in this place.

- The postcard shows an aerial view of the Ibirapuera's Park.
- The other shows an aerial view of The Square of the Republic.
Hugs Helo C.

• The Grande Marquise ("The great marquee"), where the MAM - Museu de Arte Moderna ("Modern Art Museum") is located;
• The Cicillo Matarazzo Pavilion, home for the Museum of Contemporary Art, University of São Paulo, and a space for events and expos, including the São Paulo Art Biennial and the São Paulo Fashion Week;
• The Manoel da Nóbrega Pavilion, which until 1992 was the city hall;
• The Lucas Nogueira Garcez Pavilion, formerly known as "Palácio das Exposições"("Expositions Palace") and now known as the Oca ("hut", given its round shape), which harbors both the Museu da Aeronáutica ("Air Force Museum") and the Museu do Folclore ("Folklore Museum");
• The Armando de Arruda Pereira Pavilion, home for the Prodam - Companhia de Processamento de Dados do Município ("Municipal Data Processing Company");
• The Palácio da Agricultura ("Agriculture Palace"), home of Detran, municipal transit department. The building was originally intended to harbor the municipal agriculture department;
• The Planetarium and Municipal Astrophysics School. The Planetarium building which is shaped like a flying saucer. It was the first Planetarium in the Southern Hemisphere and has a dome which is 20 meters in diameter. The German projection machine shows the sky above São Paulo from dusk to dawn. During the projection a professional astronomer explains the most famous stars and constellations as well as the movements of the Earth and other planets.

This according to:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ibirapuera_Park

 

By helping another postcard blogger we received this wonderful postcard. Thanks Christian for this wonderful card, we love it! The postcard reads: "Salud Kyra! Thank you very much for the postcard you sent to me. Belfort is a famous old town in Eastern France, not far from the German and Swiss boarders. Greetings from France, Christian."

We hope to travel to France someday ;-)
http://www.canyousendmeapostcard.com/index.php

Another outstandingly thoughtful postcard arrived today from our marvelous friend Tarja K. in Finland. She has provided us with so many interesting facts about her home. Today the postcard had a wonderful added touch the stamp was much like our Mr. Potato head with added features eyes, mouth feet, ears, etc. The postcard itself was also very whimsical. She writes:

Hello again! This card is showing something different about Finland, one popular cartoon character  "Kiroileva siili"/ "The Swearing Hedgehog". He is always complaining about everything and in a bad mood. But this one on the postcard isn't the angry one, it's a female with eyelashes!  ;-) HUGS.

Today among the postcards from friends we also received three from family in Tucson, Arizona. From Pat D ( and family) she writes: Hi! My hubby and I live in Tucson, Arizona. This postcard shows what the desert looks like on the outskirts of the city, but there are many cacti and other desert plants in town too.

The second postcard reads: This photo shows downtown Tucson, where the city's highest buildings are. I can see these buildings from my classroom (I'm a teacher) downtown.

Postcard #3 reads: Hello again my K-1 class has been learning about dessert variable and invariables. The Javelina belongs to the class of variables called mammals. They travel through Tucson in dry washes:  we see them in our yards. They are not a type of wild pig.

The Javelina, also known as the peccary, is the only pig like animal native to the Americas. The Javelina can be found from the Southwest Untied States to Argentina. Javelinas average 20 inches and weigh about 50 lbs.They have grizzled brown -black fur and live in small groups and eat roots, insects, worms, and fruit.

Thank you Pat D we have learned so much and next week we will obtain some books from the library on this interesting Javelina.

This latest postcard is from Marlen N one of our postcrossing pals. She hails from Dresden, Germany and that is where the postcard is from. Marlen writes: Greetings from my home city Dresden which is the capital of Saxonia, a federal land of Germany. Dresden has many interesting sightseeing and nature places. Some of these can bee seen on the postcard. Best Wishes, Marlen


Thank you so much we had no idea Marlen that Germany had federal lands.

 Today we received our very first postcard from Poland. It is from Wolsztyn, a town mainly made up of trains. There seems to be much controversy about what the future of this wonderful train driven town will be. It turns out for the past 13 years  the steam engine train has begun to lose steam in the race for faster and more passenger friendly trains. Tourism and privatized railways have significantly changed Wolsztyn railroad system which and now that many private owners have gone bust the future of this wonderful town lays in the hands of those left with funding/ the majority. So our suggestion: If you are in or near Poland in the near future be sure to check out the incredible steam engine town of Wolsztyn. Many thanks to Lidka R for her wonderful postcard we have learned so much!

This latest postcard is from Martha in Indonesia. The photo displays Mount Sumbing & Sindoro, Central Java. This view is from the road into Wonosobo, near the Dieng Plateau.
Our writers says:

Hi warm greetings for you all from sunny Indonesia! Well this tropical country has lots of rice fields, mountains, and also great beaches and coastline. Oh and some volcanoes. On the daily menu there is rice and vegetables. You should visit Indonesia soon to figure it out!

                                                                                                                  Cheers, Martha

http://www.firstgiving.com/gerardoshouse

Today I would like to extend the reach of our fellow readers to a friend of ours who has recently contributed to Teachable Moments from Around the Globe Via Postcard. For 8 & 1/2 years my friend has sponsored this young man Gerardo and recently he made an incredible trip to Central America in January 2010 to meet and visit the child [now teenager!] Gerardo who he has sponsored through Children International for approximately 8 1/2 years now. It was an awesome experience, and January 26 was easily the best day of my life!

Throughout the years, he has been able through their program to provide for many special gifts to him, but the one that is most dear to his heart at this time, he cannot provide alone. That is to build him a home! Hence the name of the page: Gerardo's House! And in his country, it could be done for so little! Since he works for a non-profit as well, he is looking for help to do this, from the smallest to the most generous of donations.

Gerardo lives with his mother and younger half-brother in the gorgeous countryside of San Pedro Sula, Honduras, and as pretty as Honduras is, it is one of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere. Right now, his mother is renting a tiny multi-purpose room in a rural area where farm animals run freely on the dusty, bumpy roads. Their home is simple and clean; they are very proud people, and happy and healthy, thank goodness! While Gerardo and his younger brother go to school, their mother is a domestic employee, and makes very little. The amount she pays for rent is just short of 30% of her wages. This fact blew us away! Since Gerardo is in the program until he 'ages out' at 19, I would like to build them a home that they could call their own soon so they could better spend their money on other things, and enjoy a nicer quality of life. (And possibly breathe a sigh of relief and sleep well at night!) Maybe if his mother were not spending this percentage of her earnings on rent, they could buy a refrigerator or an actual stove instead of the tabletop gas burner she prepares their meals on. On the website is a photo of him and his mother leaving their home on that beautiful day! This is a cause we all should be MOST passionate about!

Donating through this website is simple, fast and totally secure. It is also the most efficient way to support my friends fundraiser efforts at this time.

Many thanks for your support -- and don't forget to forward this to anyone who you think might want to donate too!

Help my friend Kevin G and Teachable Moments build a home for Gerardo! Please and Thank you.

To donate and or see more click on the link below or at the top of this posting.

http://www.firstgiving.com/gerardoshouse

This was by far an interesting assortment of postcards we received at once from Brenda P in Florida, USA. The very first one I noticed was the postcard of the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Our daughter is beginning to wonder about what is beyond earth. So this is a great postcard we will for sure be picking up a space book at the library this week. We love flowers too so the Dogwood was interesting and when we looked it up we discovered that it is our state flower. I knew what our state bird and other things where but interesting to find this out from a postcard swap. On March 15, 1941, the North Carolina Legislature approved the dogwood as the state's official flower. The two Egypt like postcards are actually from The Egyptian Museum in Cairo, and the Florida International Museum. We love Egypt and are so excited about these 2 postcards. The three coast postcards are of Costa Rica, Brazil, and Napoli,Italy we must get info on Napoli since this is our 3rd postcard from there. The cute church postcard is of the Cedar First Ward Chapel in Cedar City, Utah. The Winslow sign card is from Arizona. Yearly in late August visitors from all over the world travel to Winslow on to the Hopi Villages to witness the most spectacular religious rite in the world, the Hopi Snake Dance. This ceremony is a prayer for rain and is performed with live rattle snakes! A caravan sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce leaves Winslow on the morning of each dance. Anyone interested in traveling with this caravan (for which there is no charge) may write to the Chamber of Commerce, Winslow, Arizona and will be notified of the exact dates. This leads us into The Family of God postcard which shows it is wonderful to share knowledge and do spiritual things together. And finally the NOISE is actually a postcard of a painting by Ed Ruscha in the 1960's. This painting is oil on canvas, with the word NOISE in bold letter filling the width of the canvas against a dark background forms an arresting image which seems to appeal impossibly to one of senses that the painting cannot reach. We enjoyed every single one of these in different way thanks again Brenda P for sending us many teachable moments!

We are welcoming our first two German postcards. We received them from Mona L. thank you. The first postcard is from Munich, Germany and shows the well known Oktoberfest. Mona writes: Hey over there, as promised a card from Munich. It's one of the biggest cities in Germany and my absolute favorite! Here is also the annual held "Oktoberfest" which is visited by more than 6.2 Million people from all over the world every year.

The second postcard reads: Dear Kyra, It's me again ;-) The two small pictures are taken from the annual Baroc festival. It's on of the biggest events here every year. People wear costumes and dance to old classical music. The big picture is the castle of Ansbach with its beautiful garden. Hope you like it < We love it thank you > Best wishes Mona L.

Mona this is wonderful to see I was aware of Oktoberfest but had no idea about the Baroc festival. So we looked this up, we love the music, costumes and castle you described thank again Mona be well.