Date: Monday 6/30/08
Day: 4 of my Journey
Tiresome! In the English language it means causing to become exhausted
in endurance, strength, vigor, or freshness. Coming from the Kentish word tiorian. It is what you may call any type of physical
labor or righting a twenty day journal like this one in order to fulfill the requirements to receive high school credits or
a scholarship. Today things were different. Instead of putting the alarms on the night stand we placed them under our pillows so
Josh couldn't turn them off. We all woke up and took turns taking two minute showers. We all got dressed this time remembering
our lanyards. We rushed to the breakfast table and receive yet again the bland breakfast of cereal and toast.
We
soon boarded our van to go to the Gaia foundation. This was our first real ambassadorial activity: cleaning up the reservoir.
There we were bucket by bucket shovel by shovel we move all the ash away from the reservoir. We then got a much needed lunch
break. To the dismay of some it was a completely organic and vegetarian lunch, but I didn't mind. I ate my way through
a buffet of rice and grilled tomatoes and peppers. After that, we had an educational meeting about how to be environmental
citizens. Unfortunately, I soon found out "educational meeting" was just another word for lecture. I could barely
hear the man with his thick accent but I managed to make out some of it. He mentioned selective breeding and GMO's. I
asked Johnnie and he told me this meeting was talking about buying from local farms to prevent selective breeding and GMO's
and to conserve energy and water.
Next
we boarded a local caterpillar bus to head over to Valletta, Malta's capitol. We were taken through to see the main church
of Valletta, Saint John's Co-Cathedral. There were many beautiful frescoes, tapestries, and statues. Among them all
was one of the most beautiful paintings. It was the only painting Michelangelo ever signed: The Beheading of St. John the
Baptist. After that we had some free time. I got some ice cream and spent the rest of my time talking about golf with Johnnie.
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The interior,
in sharp contrast with the facade, is extremely ornate and decorated in the height of the Baroque period. The interior was
largely decorated by Mattia Preti, the Calabrian artist and Knight. Preti designed the intricate carved stone walls and painted the vaulted ceiling and
side altars with scenes from the life of St John.
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We soon
boarded the caterpillar bus and counted off. Our next destination was the Badger Karting go cart track. We each grabbed our
hair nets and were off. It was so exciting. First, we jumped into our go carts for a practice round. Then we returned
for our timing round. I felt really comfortable behind the wheel and I was confident I would make it to the final round. With
a bit of skill and a whole lot of luck I made it! I was pumped! In the end I finished in seventh place event though I crashed
into the barrier. That was what many would call a very tiresome day!
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