GO ITALY!!!!!

hey guys, italy is playing ukraine tonight, so you all should watch it! it should be a pretty good game!
tomorrow i am going to moltopuciano to a winery, so that should be fun. after that, i am going with some friends to a villa that was turned into a club. it costs 20 euros to get in, but a friend of a friend works there and is going to get us in for free! i love saving money, thought grandma would appreciate that! the villa is huge and it has gardens that you can wonder around in. can't wait!
watch the game, and cheer for italy! talk to you guys later!
love you all!

Our Calendar

Just thought I would post our calendar because it is almost humorous. Other than the trips I have been on over the last couple months, we have;

Me in Jakarta and Singapore from July 7th through the 15th
Whole family in Hawaii from July 19th through the 26th
Lisa in Min. from August 2nd though the 6th
Maybe the whole family in Bali and Phuket Thailand from August 8th(ish) through 23rd, 24th.
Georgia for the wedding August 30th to Sept 3rd.

Then we are planning a trip to Mumbai India, Qatar, Karachi, Dubai, Bahrain. Dates not set.

Then looking to take the family to Australia hopefully in December. Dates not set.

Then a Disney cruise to the Carribean in Spring.

I am sure there will be many trips to Asia in between.

Already been to Korea, Thailand twice (Bankgkok and Phuket), Hong Kong twice, Singapore twice, Kuala Lumpur, Australia. I may be forgeting something but still humorous.

Sam in Italy

Sam,

Sounds like you are having a blast. If you fall in love, make sure he has plenty of money so I can retire. Don't forget your uncle!!


The reason things show up as Italian is because different contries have been given different IP ranges. IP is the protocol that the internet uses to route information. Since you are in Italy, websites know this and direct you to the "proper language". There is usually a little button you can press to change things to english. Look for it on the websites and it should help.

You can also go here and might find something that helps you.
http://www.google.com/language_tools?hl=en

Next trip

Is to Jakarta Inodnesia leaving July 7th and returning the 15th. Will also stay in Singapore once again for a few days.

A little about Jakarta;

Jakarta, the capital, is the largest city. It is located on the north-western coast of the island of Java on Jakarta Bay, at the mouth of the Ciliwung River. Jakarta is also the centre of activities for the whole of Indonesia. There are more than 300 ethnic groups in Indonesia with over 200 languages being spoken. Half the total population are Javanese with the balance being made up largely of Sundanese in West Java, Javanese in Central and East Java, Madurese in East Java and Madura, Balinese, the Coastal Malays, Buginese, Makassarese, and Bataks. Being a big city, Jakarta's population is a composite of many racial strains, including Arab, Indian, Papuan, Dutch and Chinese. But the majority are of Malay origin.

Ciao Regazzi! sp?

hey guys, i was trying to post some pictures, but the folder is not opening on this computer, and for some reason everything is in italian so i have to get on a different computer, one that is in english...i was also trying to respond to janet's and grandpa's comments, but i couldn't figure that out either because that was in italian! i won't get on this computer next time.
ok, well, janet, that game was amazing, and you will be happy to know that i was rooting for the americans, even though it was getting intense at the bar! i'm happy that kev and anna have been watching the games. its a lot of fun over here, and everyone is into it.
gramps, i am having a lot of fun, and i think you guys should come out here and see how beautiful it is. the view from my bedroom is amazing.
i promise i will get some pictures up here soon. ce vadiamo! sam

Last night i slept on a friend's hammock under the stars, and it was really beautiful. i got up early then and went running. it was a nice morning. tonight we are watching pride and prejudice in the park. i'm excited. i spent a few hours today in the bookarts studio and it was really interesting. i never knew there was so much skill and effort that was put into making books. i had a lot of fun. i think i am going to try to make a book of my own. i hope i get to. morai sent me some pictures of our trip so far so i'm going to look through them and maybe post some or send you guys some. talk to you later! a presto! sam

Hi Sam

I just read your blog. It seems like you like Italy. Just like Jaime, who loves her new favorite city she just visited for the first time. We hear Lake Como is spectacular and of course Florence is fabulous. Verona is another great city to visit, with Shakespeare's story of Romeo & Juliet. Italy is fantastic in many ways. We are looking forward to seeing you again in Georgia at Jeykll Island. Love Gr'pa & G'ma P.S. Karen and Patrick just got back from Thailand and Hong Kong. I'm sure some photos will be posted soon.

News from Sam

we went to perugia and assisi this weekend, and perugia was great! in cortona this weekend there was a poetry and music festival. saturday night i went to this jazz show in this cool courtyard. it was a lot of fun. the whole town stayed open all night long. everyone had a good time. sunday i spent the entire day in the studio working, i had to miss the weekly soccer game. i took one break to explore this cool antique market that was going on in the park. they had a lot of cool stuff. on wednesday, we are watching life is beautiful for my italian class, and then later in the park they are showing pride and prejudice. every wednesday they are showing american movies in the park. they are playing match point next week, i think, and a few weeks later they are showing the davinci code! i am excited to see it. how is sofi doing? there are many dogs here, a few yorkies, and they make me miss sofi. tell everyone i said hi! miss you guys...love you, sam

Karen's update

Hello from Hong KongHi Daphne, mom and dad and everyone else. forward this messaget to Janet andkids. I am going to try to skype you from the room. I am comng home in 4days. Wait till you see all the prizes I got you! I got something foreveryone. Dapnhe,Will you help me pass out everyone's souvineers when I gethome?I'm in Hong Kong now at the Eaton Hotel, Kowloon. When I checked in, theytook mypassport and a couple minutes later someone came up to me and said "comewith me please", I figured I was wanted or something! But apparently Patenrolled us in some sort of VIP club. I have never, ever, ever, seenanything like this place! They took me to a VIP lounge with free drinks,internet, library, food, everything. Hong Kong at night is a sight to see.It's overwhelming. I haven't even been to the room yet, but it is thepresident's suite or somethng. Pat said this room cost $149 per night. Ithink he is mistaken. In Chicago this place would be at least $600.I'm telling you, I have never....Thailand was beyond description amazing. I am at a loss for words. Everybodyneeds to come to Thailand and Hong Kong, if you don't you are really missingsomething special. The flight was not bad at all.The people here are so polite and nice, they make me feel like a VIP. InThailand, evryone smiles and is very polite, except the Muslim sea gypsyswho were very aggressive.I wanted to cry leaving Thailand, but now I am excited to be here in HK. Theonly problem is I miss Daphne. I want her to be here with me so bad. I can'twait to see her! I am going to bring her here. This is a great place for avacation because it is so cheap for us now.Pat is coming in tomorrow. I think i will do a city tour or something likethat.I cannot carry anything else. I definitely (sp?) have to buy a humongoussuitcase.Jaime, I really shouldn't encourage you, but you must go to Thailand.I have to buckle down and study when I get home because I am getting used tothis!I actually feel bad for Pat though because he has been working and I know hemisses his family very badly.Lisa, take advantage of this while you can!See you all soon. Bring a huge car to pick me up at the airport!

From Mom to everyone

I don't have too much new here in Gurnee. We spoke to Pat at length this morn and he has convinced me that we all need to take a time to spend in Asia having a great time and investigating opportunities. We should all coordinate some time maybe next summer so that we all have enough time to plann our schedules and the school people can also bee there. We leave in 3 hours for our Bell family reunion in Mo. K E-mailed us this am She is having the time of her life. Can,t get the "stupid Blog" (her words) to work. D is having a nice summer enjoying all her activities. It is nice to have Jaime and Kevin home for awhile. J leaves for Greece the middle of July We need to hear from Kevin and Bradly if they want to be in this family. Also Jaime and Sam Let's get with the program guys. W e miss you. Love to all MOM

hey mom,
this weekend we went to siena and had a great time. it was really pretty. we went into this museum that was the hospital during medieval times, and there were all these secret passage ways. they had them lit, but covered with glass, so as you walked by you could see all the passageways in the building. it was really cool.
saturday night was the usa and italy game. it was so intense! did you guys hear about it? there were three red cards and i think only one yellow card. an italian elbowed an american in the nose, and it exploded with blood. it was great! the whole town came out to watch the game, and there was a pretty big american crowd too, so it was a lot of fun. they ended up tying, so that was a bummer. it was still fun though.
yesterday the town had their inaguration of the program for us. the flag throwers came and put on a show. it was a lot of fun. after, we went to this great resturaunt that was really nice but pretty cheap. the waiter, who also owns the restuaruant with his wife, kept bringing us little surprises throughout our meal. he would do little magic tricks to make things appear too. it was really fun.
we officially started our first project today. we are redesigning a piazza in cortona, so its fun to actually go to the site and see it.
in italian, our professoressa brought in a cd and is making us sing this song. its a pretty catchy song, so i hear everyone walk down the halls humming it.

Karen's solo adventure

Hi everyone. I am safe in the hotel in Krabi. It took 3 1/2 hours to get here from Phuket. I was going to take the bus but I ended up taking a Mercedes with a driver for a little more money because it saved me about 4 hours. I stopped at a great store on the way and bought a ton of bags. I don't know how I am going to carry everything! The store had things that were sold for a tsunami charity.

I am so far from anywhere! There is nothing here but an amazing hotel, a beautiful bay with tons of islands. Tomorrow I am going to visit a place called tiger cave. It is a cave temple that you have to climb up 1300 steps to get to. At least it will keep me out of the stores.

I got a nice suprise when I got to the hotel. I get free breakfast and 16usd to spend on food and drink. When I got to my room someone brought me some fresh fruit. Even the stuff in the minibar is free. There is a beautiful library with a bar in it and free internet service. I can get online in the room for 27 cents per connection. I will skype Daphne on Tuesday morning. The day after tomorrow I am going to go kayaking in Phang Na bay with all the cliffs. Tomorrow after the temple I am going to go to Ao Nang beach and Railay beach. Amazingly, I haven't spent really any time at these stunning beaches because there is too much to do. I have to make sure I spend some time on the beach.

There are no Americans where I am. It is muslim in this part of Thailand.
Well, I have to go spend some of that 16 dollars, it is going to take a while!
Bye for now!

P.S. You guys can email me if you want or need to and I will be able to check it.

More pics

Baby elephant took a liking to me and gave me a big wet kiss.

Thailand fun

We are having a blast but not much time for blogging. Lisa, we have been trying to call you but you have not been answering your phone. Here are some fun pics for now.

A room with a view

Our room in Phuket before it gets messy.

oh, yeah, well....

Mom, Dad, Daphne, Anna and I are busy planning our next trip too!
After traveling 7 hours we will end up here, in Hannibal Mo. Bet you are jealous! We will post blogs and pictures documenting all of our adventure. I'm sure there won't be a dull moment. We will party with our cousins and represent all you bums. Then when we get home we can share stories.

Elephants!!

Went for a drive tonight with the guy putting on the event in Phuket. Him, his wife, his "housekeeper" and I went to dinner where we are having the event Friday night. It is called Mom Tri's in Patong Beach. Look it up. Very nice. On the way there, I saw a huge Elephant just sitting there in the forest. It was unreal seeing such a huge thing just camping out. Will try to photograph some.

I am there!!

17 hours of flying and an hour drive from the airport. Looks like it will be worth it. One of these is a pics of our view. The other is the little islands all over the place from the plane.

Off on a whirl wind

Tonight I leave for Phuket Thailand!! Then Sunday off to Singapore, then to Hong Kong. Karen will be flying in from Thailand to Hong Kong right during the laser show which happens every night at 9 PM. Check out the Hong Kong picture. This is what she should see. Other city is Singapore and then Phuket beach.

News from Sam

hi mom, cortona is wonderful! are you and grandma still planning on coming? you should because it is so beautiful here. everyone in the program is really cool too.

well, i can't talk much, computer time is limited and my clothes should be done soon. we have two washing machines and i figured i should use it to wash egypt dust out of it, but it has taken two and a half hours so far for one load! but me and three other guys were just planning bocci with some old italian guy. it was a lot of fun. it was a little different than how we play though.

let me know if you guys are coming, cuase that would be so much fun. oh, and i am talking to martin about going up to germany for a few days to experience the world cup, so hopefully that will happen.

oh, and i am taking italian instead of jewelry making. i thought you would like that.

ok, well, i should be better now about keeping in touch. classes start tomorrow, so i will email you to let you know how they go. talk to you later, tell everyone i said hi! love you! snuggle sofi. sam

-- The true meaning of life is to plant trees under whose shade you do not expect to sit.-- Nelson Henderson

Will & Grace

Here is the Will & Grace building in Greenwich Village near NYU.

There is a fascinating museum on Ellis Island. I saw the name Mrs. John Sweeney as someone with a belonging in the museum. I wish I would have had names because there is a computer room where you can research your family. So, whoever goes next can be prepared!

Ellis Island

On grandma Betty's side, the family came through Ellis Island around 1901 from Scotland. According to Uncle Paul:
Michael J. Sweeney, born 11/28/1872; died 11/28/1941. Buried Calvary Cemetery, Mt. Olive, Ill. Margaret Burns Sweeney, born 6/11/1877 in Hamilton, Scotland; died 12/28/1961. Buried at Calvary. ~~~~~~~~
I assume they arrived in the US at Ellis, but I don't know. There were 3 children on the ship (it had sails; maybe a steam engine, too) with them: Sarah, Margaret and John. Anna was born almost immediately after arrival in, I think, 1901.
Then about every 2 years another was born: Jane, Elizabeth, Agnes, James, Dorothy, Michael, Catherine and Patrick Grady. After Agnes I'm not sure of the order.
I don't know what the citizenship status of the first 5 was. How 'bout that for topicality?
Anyway, the ethnic makeup was Irish (Grandpa) and Scotch (Grandma -- and Grandpa, too, born to immigrants from Londonderry, Ireland) which includes Celt, Erse, Gael, Hibernian, Pict and Scot. (You and me get some Druid from my father's side along with Dutch and English. Pehaps Norman and Saxon, as well.) ~~~~~~~~~
There is a website for the family of Robert Burns geneology under the name Burness, his birth name. I wrote to the compiler but never heard back.

Friends Fountain

This is the Friends fountain. It is at the SE corner of Central Park.

Turtle Pond

This was taken at Turtle Pond in Central Park.

Little Italy

Here is a photo of Cafe Napoli, a restaurant in Little Italy where we dined al fresco! Great pasta and ambience!

Imagine

Here is the mosaic in Strawberry Fields near the Dakota. There is a guy who makes peace signs from various materials. This day he used flowers. Sometimes he uses fruit, hot dogs or pumpkins. He also tells a lot of info about John Lennon. It is a little tricky to find so if you go, look carefully at 72nd and Central Park West.

We had a lot of fun in NYC. Here is a future award winning photo! Crissy took it from the Staten Island Ferry at sunset.

Some points

Jamie and Sam,

It looks like you guys had a great time. What an experience. In the last couple months, you two got to do more than most people do in their whole lives. Your pictures are fantastic. Jamie, in going over all of your pictures, you could easily be a photographer. Your pics are truly awesome. You have a natural eye. Don't tell your mom, but If I were your age I would consider being a photographer for National Geographic or Conde Naste of something. You are really good.

Sam, You would make a fantastic pharaoh! I loved your choice of travel clothes. You look like someone on Lonely Planet!

I hope you two never forget this experience.

Jenny, There is no way of listing comments except for the way it is right now. If comments showed up like many other blogs, it would get to long to fast and recently posted items would end up quickly, in the archives. Posts in the comments area are listed in chronological order so that should be easy to follow no?

What we could do if you want is not post comments as comments but post them as blog entries and then they would show up in order and you would not have to click on the comments buttons. Either way works for me.

Welcome to the Secos!

This is fun. I have a question. Is there a way to see new comments other than just checking them out? Is there a way to sort by date so we can keep up with conversations?

Hi, this is a test.

Crissy will post some photos from NYC soon. She took an especially good one of the Statue of Liberty from the Staten Island Ferry at sunset.

Welcome to the Secos!

Hi, this is a test. Crissy will put some photos on soon. She got some good ones in NYC!

another blogger question, etc.

Hey Blog Master Pat,
What happens to the old archived blogs? My friend in my office thinks she needs the same knee surgery that you had and I wanted to show her your pictures. Just curious!
Jaime is home! She did smell like a camel, she showered but her clothes were not washed and they stink! She and Sam have quite a tale to tell. They have been keeping a secret travel journal since they were young, and nobody else has seen it. Oh, the stories that might be in there. I don't think I could handle reading it! Jaime is working on her 300 pictures and is going to post (most of them) very soon. She will post a blog when they are ready. "Coming soon to a blog near you." Look for it guys, they are amazing.

Forgot one of my favs.

Better Aussie Pics

A couple things about Australia I noticed. Walking around Sydney is much like England. Although I realize they were/are a colony, I did not expect it to be so much like it. June 1st was the first day of winter there. It was strange flying from Summer to winter. The leaves were falling from the trees and it felt like it does when it is "the holidays" here. It was very strange. Loved it though.

another email from Sam

hi mom, thanks for depositing the check. everytyhing is working now.
tomorrow we are going to get the pictures off jaimes camera so maybe we will send out a few...maybe put them on the blog and just tell everyone to go there. jaime is just thinking that she will do it when she gets home.
it sounds like you are having a good time with everyone. i'm glad that you got out and went hiking. last night we hiked up mount sinai in the dark by torchlight...aka, flashlight...and then we watched the sunrise this morning from the top. it was amazing. in our group were four people who just finished their two years in the peace corps in senegal. jaime and i are making plans to do it sometime. it sounds like they had an amazing time.
today, we just slept on the beach, drank strawberry juice, and tonight we are having a party. we invited all our friends from the town and we are going to celebrate jaimes birthday and our last night in egypt. we had an amazing time, especially in this town. time moves slower here, everything is just perfect. we are really sad to leave our friends. it feels like we have known them for years.
i got you guys souveniors that i am sending home with jaime, so make sure to get them from her in new york. ok, well since we have less than 24 hours left in dahab, which means gold in arabic, i am going to run. i am going to cry when i leave this place. no other place is close to it. tell everyone i said hi, and i will email ian probabaly tomorrow. miss you guys, love you! sam