TrentGrad - Katy Whitfield | Read The Full Entry | Subscribe | 0 Comment(s) | 0 Photo(s) | 0 Video(s) | [diary=316564] | 2008-08-26 22:54:56
 TrentGrad | Katy Whitfield | Travel Blog |
TrentGrad - Katy Whitfield
Hey everyone, I must admit I have the travel bug again but the travelling is slowing down just a little bit. After much travelling in Canada, Europe, Colombia, Grenada and Trinidad in the Caribbean I took a sabbatical from teaching to head off on a series of travel adventures to different parts of the world. My first stop-England, Wales, France and Monaco. My second trip from October to December I was in Asia and Southeast Asia-Hong Kong, Thailand, Philippines, Cambodia, Vietnam and then south to New Zealand. In the spring I was in Austria, Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary and Germany. In August I am off to build a school in Kenya. Looking forward to sharing with you my thoughts on the places I will be visiting. I am thankful for all the friends and family who have been great hosts and will be great hosts along the way. Thank you for taking the time to travel vicariously through reading about my experiences through 18 countries so far this year. I truly believe that in travelling I am gaining a better understanding of the world and that in meeting new friends my world has been opened up to so many exciting life giving experiences.
Take care
Cheers,
Katy
Joined on: July 12th 2006
Last Login: August 26th 2008
Blog Entries: 65
Photos: 242
Last Login: August 26th 2008
Blog Entries: 65
Photos: 242
Status: BLOGGER
Blogs & Travel Journals
by TrentGrad, order by Date newest first.
Jambo! Today was probably one of the most memorable days of our welcoming to Kenya and in particular to Emori Joi , the school where would be teaching and working for the next three weeks. In preparation, we had a two -hour swahili lesson with our resident expert and Kenyan facilitator Santai. Kiswahili was introduced in Kenya so that people could have a common language. It is a combination of arab and bantu that was developed in the 15th century by the traders who came here. It is the national language of Kenya, the official language in English. Here are a [View Full Entry]
By TrentGrad
August 25th 2008
August 25th 2008
to the Great Rift Valley and beyond to Emori Joi
Africa » Kenya » Rift Valley Province » Masai Mara NP
August 5th, 2008 Jambo! Today we left Rosslyn and headed south from Nairobi toward the Great Rift Valley, Narok and the Masai Mara. The paved busy roads of Nairobi soon became dirt roads. Everyone we passed on the side of the road souted out greetings of Jambo! Some of the Maasai people we passed were in traditional dress with beautiful clothes and blankets as well as beaded jewellery and others were in clothes similar to what we wear. The children were dressed in their school uniforms, usually with coloured dress shirts, sweaters and sandals or bare feet. We saws lots of [View Full Entry]
TrentGrad - Katy Whitfield | Read The Full Entry | Subscribe | 0 Comment(s) | 0 Photo(s) | 0 Video(s) | [diary=316103] | 2008-08-25 17:47:13
Jambo everyone. I am now home safe and sound from my incredible adventures in Kenya. I do however want to share my thoughts on my experiences so I am going to post my blog now because I did not have access to a computer while I was away. So these are my journalled thoughts... hope you will get a sense of how important and life changing this experience has been for me. love you all August 3-4, 2008 Jambo, habari gani? (hello and how are you?) What an incredible whirlwind these past few days have been. I am writing this journal [View Full Entry]
TrentGrad - Katy Whitfield | Read The Full Entry | Subscribe | 0 Comment(s) | 0 Photo(s) | 0 Video(s) | [diary=316023] | 2008-08-25 14:55:13
By TrentGrad
August 22nd 2008
August 22nd 2008
Almost time to fly home after an experience of a lifetime in Kenya
Africa » Kenya » Nairobi Province
Jambo, habari gani? mzuri sana? greetings from Nairobi. We travelled back here today from the Masai mara after 3 incredible weeks at Emori Joi. I have so many stories to tell and photos to share. Yesterday I climbed a volcano and walked around its crater at an altitude of 8,100 ft. An incredible journey that I am very proud of! We met some incredible rafikis who we will never ever forget! We are shopping at the Sarit Market to get some final souvenirs, then we will head to the Carnivore for dinner and get on the plane at 11:50p.m. for the [View Full Entry]
TrentGrad - Katy Whitfield | Read The Full Entry | Subscribe | 1 Comment(s) | 0 Photo(s) | 0 Video(s) | [diary=314972] | 2008-08-22 13:03:38
By TrentGrad
August 4th 2008
August 4th 2008
Long flights, safe arrival and getting some lovin' from some sweet giraffes
Africa » Kenya » Nairobi Province » Nairobi
Jambo everyone! Habari gana? Mzuri!(we are fine!) We finally arrived safely in Nairobi, Kenya this morning after our two long flights from Toronto to London, a 9 hour stopover in Heathrow and then 8.5 hours of flying on Kenyan Airways. The Air Canada flight was adequate, but the Kenyan Airways flight was excellent. Very professional and kind staff, good food and lots of great leg room. We are a group of 23 people here on this trip. 8 adults-teachers, parents and even Jessica our resident Police officer and 15 students from Toronto and Hamilton areas. We are an enthusiastic bunch who [View Full Entry]
TrentGrad - Katy Whitfield | Read The Full Entry | Subscribe | 0 Comment(s) | 0 Photo(s) | 0 Video(s) | [diary=308233] | 2008-08-04 14:57:08
By TrentGrad
August 2nd 2008
August 2nd 2008
Jambo! I'm off to Kenya
Africa » Kenya » Rift Valley Province » Masai Mara NP
Jambo everyone, Well the time has come for me to pack my bags one last time in this amazing year of travelling and head to the Masai Mara in Kenya. I will be going on a 3 week service trip with students, teachers and a couple of parents to live in the Emroi Joi community, help build a school house, teach as part of a summer education camp, and spend some time with the mamas, children and community members in an exciting and challenging experience as we learn from each other. The trip is being organized by Adventure Learning Experiences which [View Full Entry]
TrentGrad - Katy Whitfield | Read The Full Entry | Subscribe | 0 Comment(s) | 0 Photo(s) | 0 Video(s) | [diary=306986] | 2008-08-01 06:19:43
Guten Tag everyone from East Berlin where I am staying for the next 3 days. I arrived this afternoon from Budapest. Turns out there was an accident on the railway so I had to take a cab instead... so it goes... I made it on time. Met a couple from Washington State and we shared stories of our travels to pass the time. They were very helpful in helping me to navigate the rail system from Schoenfeld to where my hostel is. Once I arrived, I met one of the other people in my room who happens to be from Waterloo [View Full Entry]
TrentGrad - Katy Whitfield | Read The Full Entry | Subscribe | 2 Comment(s) | 12 Photo(s) | 0 Video(s) | [diary=285543] | 2008-06-09 21:15:01
By TrentGrad
June 8th 2008
June 8th 2008
Taking a bath in the rain and literally in Budapest
Europe » Hungary » Budapest
Jó napot from Budapest Hungary! We arrived here yesterday morning after a 3 hour bus ride from Bratislava, Slovakia. It is a beautiful ride through the countryside, though most of us on our minibus were catching up on our sleep. Most of our time in Bratislava it was overcast and rainy, but we did manage to get a chance to walk around the town as I described in the last blog. But to be clear, the Communist apartment buildings were built en masse as very simple 15-20 buildings with little effort to make them look beautiful, more so they are like [View Full Entry]
TrentGrad - Katy Whitfield | Read The Full Entry | Subscribe | 0 Comment(s) | 10 Photo(s) | 0 Video(s) | [diary=285167] | 2008-06-08 22:34:25
Hi everyone, Nosdrove is what you should say as Cheers in Slovakia but my friend Kathy always says "Nice driving eh?!" because she can't pronounce it... This is some of the fun we are having after being together on the tour for the past week and a half. We arrived here in Bratislava today in southern Slovakia after taking 3 trains, one of which was a very local train that was standing room only. We fortunately had reserved seats. We had had such a great time in the High Tatras in the mountains where the views were spectacular, the local food [View Full Entry]
TrentGrad - Katy Whitfield | Read The Full Entry | Subscribe | 0 Comment(s) | 9 Photo(s) | 0 Video(s) | [diary=284483] | 2008-06-06 19:28:59
By TrentGrad
June 5th 2008
June 5th 2008
The peak is the limit above the clouds
Europe » Slovakia » High Tatras » Tatranska Lomnica
Dobry Den everyone. We are now in Slovakia in the High Tatras. We got here last night and have been enjoying the views of the peaks above us. We have been enjoying local slovak foods including pasta with nuts, pierogis and something called the Robbers Purse. Today we took a cable car to the peak. We were up about 2634m. Beautiful views above the clouds and we even had a cup of tea at the peak. Took a ton of photos. Tomorrow we head to Bratislava and then onto Budapest. Missing you guys, wish you were here. Enjoying the cooler temperatures [View Full Entry]
TrentGrad - Katy Whitfield | Read The Full Entry | Subscribe | 1 Comment(s) | 18 Photo(s) | 0 Video(s) | [diary=284077] | 2008-06-05 15:27:50