israel-palestine peace talks

   The peace talks between israel and palestine have started once more. There is doubt in most of our minds if this is actually going to work concerning that peace talks have been taking place for 50 years on the subject and nothing seems to have changed. The Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas had threatened to pull out of the peace talks unless Mr.Netanyahuh suspend the building of houses in palestinian earth as expected the israelis have no motivation of stopping what there doing. Now lets turn to Mr.Abbas there is no point talking to this man as he isnt the power in palestine the hamas is nothing can be agreed without the Hamases say so. Perahps these are the days that we have all been waiting for but l think not and we probably have a long way to go before we get there. l am in the attempt of making a tender boiled octopus so l will have to stop there. l am sorry l have not been able to write and all that as l have been busy with school and social life.

The Strathardle Games

  Its another bore that we have to shuffle through every year but after it ends u are dying for it to come again. Its remotely intresting for about an estimate of 30 mins then it starts too drag. Its nice as its the meeting place for our family. It does spark some excitement when some relative decides on wanting to race and ofcourse the home industries tent is extremely important this year as l was in america and my brothers didnt see the point my grandmother as always did. Though this year she only entered three potatoes and l can admit they looked a bit pitiful but if the judges new anything of potatoes they would distinguish hers as they were fine specimens of that potatoe species. We had plenty of excitement on the race front my cousin jo zoomed through all of them and earned a lot of money for my grandmother (who immediately takes it all (not sure why). My intelligent 7 year old cousin told her this: 'Dont leave that money hangin around u should put it in a bank and use it for compost intrest'. As l am writing this lm back in athens and the summer holidays have cme to an end and have just slumped myself on this computer after going though some maths equations.

New York

   What people say about NY are anything but exagerated. For me it was like arriving in another planet skyscrapers looming over my head and it trully is the city that never sleeps. l had a good introduction to the place as 2 are arrival we went to dine at 'The Oyster Bar'. We dug in to a handful of raw oyster following for myself some fried catfish while my great uncle dug into a some sought of soup which contained: half a lobster, mussels and scallops. There l was educated about the difrent classes in the restraunt as l aked someone who l presumed a waiter for a reconmendation he looked at me scowled, mumbled something under his breath and left. l was baffled and my uncle quickly explained how it all worked. When we had finished we went over to the subway taking a train to times square. It was quite late in the evening and that made it even more spectacular. Another thing which l found so intresting is the variety of spoken languages with the majority standing with chinease. We walked around for a good while before retreating to our hotel. We woke up the next morning and quikcly got dressed and checked out and went to get some breakfast. Which we did while sitting down on a bench in central park. After finishing my delicious omelete sandwich. We caried on with our journey. We walked all the way up to the metropolitan museum where we spent a good 3 hours looking at the various artifacts. At this stage my uncle was worn out but l wasnt. l stormed through the streets until we found a deli where we had sandwiches. We discused what we were going to do next. And we came to the conclusion that we would head down towards the statin island ferry. We did this again through the subway which didnt take very long before goinjg off to the ferry itself which l had been told was the greatest deal in the city. The view from the water was like nothing l had ever seen before and the elegant statue of liberty made it a even more powerful moment. When we had  finished with that we spent a good  whle walking about before catching the 6:30 train to New Haven.

The boat ride

   We embarked on a picnic boat trip with Jenifer and Ron. We packed up the food and placed them carefully one by one in the boat before placing ourselves on the soft cushioned seats which were numerous in the boat itself. The night before we went to hear her talk about Haiti and what there trying 2 do. So a lot of talk of haiti with perhaps a bit of my life in Greece and the various inhabitants on the Connecticut River. We sweped through the water before slowing down at a cove where other boats were also embarking on a picnic. The food Jenifer brought was spectacular it consisted of beef riblets, a lovely pasta salad with lobster and prawns and for desert some cookies. On the return journey l was apointed river of the boat so that is what l did. After we had unpacked we went off to the nearest yaught club to listen to a band play music. We had to go soon after woulds beause the dog had been locked up in his cage long enough. Before leaving l was given a folder by Jenifer which inside was found her finished book about her hospital in Haiti and l was to edit it as best l could.

The yaught trip and the lobster roll

   After the picnic that Friday evening we where invited to a  trip on there yaught. After much collaberation we decided 2 go using are bikes. The journey there was about 8 miles  passing through big roads and narrowly missing the gigantic cars that you find everywhere in america. It was a large and modern house which l found had a very intresting variety of haitian art (As the owner a lady called Jenifer runs a hospital in Haiti and sells the local art to the americans to raise money 2 benifit the society in the village where the hospital is situated). Jenifers husband a lovely man who owned the boat greeted us with his grandson read who the night before had become a friend of mine. When we did at last board the boat we were greeted by no wind Sadly because of the this we were not able to get that far and soon had to turn back as if we did carry on it would take a good while before we could get back. Despite that we had an enjoyable but short ride on the river. Today we went off for lunch to this seaside restraunt where we ate this most amazing delicacy known as a lobster roll. l would recomend if u ever are eating a lobster roll to empty out all the melted butter into the roll as it gives a very juicy flavour to this wonderful roll.

America

    Its a fun country to stay in and its amzazing how diffrent we are cultury. There are a lot of flags around and rather big cars. The food is very good and l had the best burger of my life at this place called Jack Rabbit. We have done numerous things during the 5 days lve been here l arrived  on tuesday and on the same day had a very nice meal at this place called Alforno. Wednesday we spent most of the time resting as l had not yet got used to the time. Ofcourse my sailing course started the day after and ended on the weakend. We did a race on Friday it was all rather messy as most of the people there hadn't sailed for a whole year. l show great pity atthe kids who had never sailed before to be sudenly told 2 go and rig up a bluejay as we are doing a race. Most of us completly messed up the course and just did big rectangles until it was time to head back. During the race the expected happened and everyone collided together and numerous boats capsized even though there was hardly any wind. After the club was over me and my uncle roger cycled to the beach with some friends to enjoy a evening picnic for the rest of the day.

My holiday in Wales

  

So far...

   We spent a rather exhausting time in pelion. The sun was barely under 30 degrees C for most of our stay. To escape from this exhaustion everyday we marched out of the house and went to various beaches along the coast. During these 2 weeks some friends came to visit from athens. They stayed at a rather nice hotel which l found had a rather intresting background to it. It was built in the 1800's by a greek merchant returning from egypt, and on the village of agios dimitrios he built a rather flashing mansion. But in the middle of the 20th century it was abandoned and left to ruin for 8 years before a man from athens came along bought the mansion and converted it into a hotel.  So we had a good time with them. As l might of said in the beginning of our holiday we moved into our new summer house. Quite earlier than planned 2 albanians came and practically picked up our house and put it in the van. We have also eaten in various rather nice restraunts beside the beaches. l was rather disapointed because l didn't catch a glimpse of a snake during the trip as whenever l do stumble across one l don't have my camera on me. l made another rather nice meal from Claire Macdonald which we all enjoyed. For three days we went down to milena where we did a bit of sailing. While l am writing this l am worrying about my faithful mutt and how he is coping without us as we had to put him in a kennel, my dog had a rather exciting holiday and chased goats in the afternoon and perhaps a good fox in the evening. Though he did just prefer to lie under an olive grove and dose in the sun. He also had a fair amount of time bouncing around with his girlfriend , which shouldn't be happening as we had him castrated 3 months ago. l'm afraid that there will be another lapse of time before l can post another blog again as l am leaving to england in 2 days.

   The academic year is closing up and tommorow will be my last day at school for the summer. l am regretted to say that l will not be writing for a while as l am of to my summer house in pelion. Where we shall spend most of are time sorting out our new house there. l shall write as soon as l can and l would like to wish everyone a splendid summer.

inviting lyse douset on facebook and fathers day

   i was stumbling across the endless search box of facebook when l suddenly realised taht l should join lyse dousets fan page. That l did but also in my delight l could also personally add her to my friend list. As my mum is a friend of stephen sackur (hardtalk). With my request l sent her message telling her l was a great fan and how brilliant l think she speaks on television, olso how morally she has benifited me. l will wait anxiously till her answer has arrived.
   Today as many might know is fathers day. We all acted like we had no idea when or what fathers day was and my dad looked a bit disapointed. Before lunch he and my little brother headed to the pool. My older brother headed downstairs to play wii and me and my mum went off to buy a painting from a rather pleasant english lady who had her own art gallery. We returned back to the house and headed of and got some really good asian food and that is really the fathers day we have had

Ethnic fighting in Kyrgystan

   l know its a bit weird for a boy of mere 11 to read the economist, but today l stumbled upon a article about the recent fighting in kyrgyststan, between uzbeks and kyrgyz. l arleady knew that fighting had been happening in the area but not in such detail. About 200 people have been reported dead but hundreds of thousands of uzbeks have fled including women and children. The neighbouring country of uzbekistan have allowed 40,000 certified refugees, but now they have closed there borders and are not allowing. In the article 2 tragic stories (true) came up which l which l will tell you know: On June 12th at the border, Uzbekistani guards hesitaded as a histerical women sobbed and stumbled towards them. They raised there rifles but didn't fire. Then they began to allow them across. After the first stampede the bodies of four children lay, crushed to death, in the dust.
2 story (true): At dawn a young man wakes up wailing . His neighbours at home have been shot dead, his house burned and his wife and children lost.

These 2 stories really gives us an image of how awful and terrible are earth can be.

Cooking my own meal and going to this party

    After my return from the trip l cooked myself and my family a meal for the first time. l got the recipes from 2 cooks Nigel Slater and Rena Salaman. The recipes follow as chicken with lemon and garlic, fried auberjines with tomato topping and union bread. My parents congratulated me and my mum said that shes going to start paying me so l can make her food for dinner partys (serious). Also for a point of information my parents didn't help me at all except for taking them out of the oven. Today we all went to a party staged by one of my brothers friends. The owner of the house was a man known as Leon and he was delightful and was filled with intresting stories about hunting and trips overseas. Sadly a friend of my brothers head split open and was sent to hospital but never mind that. They also had a small farm were they produced crops for themselves and for friends as Mr.Leon is one of Greeces best advertisers. They also had a troop of deers which he rescued from the north of greece from a cruel looking animal dealer. They are breeding rapidly and at the moment he has 3 babies. The pool was brilliant and there really is nothing better than lazing in a pool in the mediteranean summer.

Trip to delphi

   Well the hotel was nice and luxurious, but personally l didn't quite enjoy the trip the fact of cycling up steap slopes for 3 hours in 40 degrees celsius isn't much fun or hiking as a fact. Most people collapsed in heatsroke including me. The guy who organised it was a psycho and he pressured us way to much and if we did anything wrong he would growl at u like some kind of tiger. Talking about the site itself to tell you the truth u cant really enjoy a site if you only have 15 minutes to see it. We basically ran up and ran down, to make matters worse we had no tour guide and we hardly new anything about the site itself. There were positive aspects to the trip like hanging out with friends andeating out in the evening. The hotel food was a nice buffet and l really liked the pool even though overall we had 10 minutes to swim in it. Also answering to my cousin Theos comment on my post about my dream job, yes l do like luxury but it isn't and will never be vital in my life also l hope l do get to see u Theo when l go to america. Alo to spark up all of our moods on the last day while we were eating a forest fire sparked out in the mountain area of parnasos it was about a km long, but by the time we finished it was about 5 km long so it was quite releaving when we got on the bus

Yr 8 debating and going to the Wok shop

   This post is dedicated to the fact of how disapointed l was towards the debating l witnessed today. First thing first on both sides governing and opposition they didn't have a clear, well built case. Most of the point of informations were jibberish and they whispered when they were talking (they can speak fine when they play football). Finally today on the way back from school we stopped by at the Wok shop. Another hobby l have is cooking and l love doing it. Well at the wok shop which sells asian products we bought dumplings, sattae sauce, stickky rice and sushi seaweed. We will hopefully make sushi in the coming week and might try some new recipes with the sauces.

Trip to Delphi and dream job

  l have been meaning to report that on Wednesday l'll be going on a class trip. Though l have been before l am compeled to go again as it is a fascinating place and to note that the hotel were going to is extremely classy and expensive(this has driven me to go again). The trip will take place for 2 nights and will include cycling, swimming, hiking and clambering up the site itself. Now to explain what Delphi is! In ancient greece it was a sanctuary towards the god Apollo it is most comonly known as the place were the greek oracles would answer the questions given by people and answer them in riddles. To cope with the struggle to stay alive through the boredom my mom has kindly donated her i-touch which l will take care of responsibly.

   Now to a completely diffrent subject, l have given it much thought and have come to the conclusion that l want to become a journalist as a corespondent for BBC or CNN. See one of my main motivations in life is to see the world and to lead a intresting and quite dangerous life. That is why l would like to turn to the middle east of africa possibly the carribean alongside mexico. To be truly frank l dont really mind what ever area of the world l do end up in. l would like to change area every 5 years so l can live a spontanious life. Meanwhile when l am somewhere l will travel to diffrent areas of the continent. l have been greatly influenced by Lyse Douset. Zeinab Badawi, Kitsty Lang and Steven Sacker, bbc world news has helped me agree on this decision through manly the show Our World. To make sure that l do get there l have sold myself to the devil.

P.S If any relatives are intrested in where lm staying go to http://www.anemolia.gr/

This week

   I have to say that this week hasnt been the greatest weve ever had l for instance have lost my ipod. My brothers friend flipped out and laid a large punch on my brother. Which left him sprawling in agony and extremely upset. My brothers friend Fred has now been suspended and will not be aloud to take part on the awaiting trip. Lets hope that all are nerves will be cured at Pelion ( boredom sometimes makes my nerves get even worse)

My ipod, 2 ronnies sketch

   My ipod has led a small and unfortunate life. I suppose lvehad it for about 2 weeks. But just yesterday it slipped of my hand and ended up quite unfortunately in my cup of tea. This was extremely displeasing and didstressing to lose my birthday present plus 60 euro of my own money. Luckily though we have a warranty and were sending it back and recieving a new and lets hope an even better one. Yesterday was a event called Literally night at our school me and my friend Jason acted out a samll sketch which came out very well.

Results

For any relatives who are intrested in how l did in my exams. Heres a list of all lve been told until know
History A*
ICT A*
Science A
Spanish A
Greek B
l am hoping that the others will be just as good as what l acomplished so far.

ipod touch,cancer vaccination & end of exams

   Yaaay! A few days ago my awaiting ipod touch arrrived. The facilities on it are amazing and l am very impressed. Nowonder Apple has overtacken Micrososft in stocks by 20%. Yes ladies and gentleman apple is know officialy the Number 1 technology selling company in the world. Going onto another more happy news headline. Doctors in America believe that they have at last found a vaccination for breast cancer. Breast Cancer is affecting more and more women every year if they do find a cure it could save hundreds of lives. Now for another thing, after a long struggling week l have at last finished my exams. They were suprisingly easy except the Maths test which l did struggle on but l know as a fact that lm not the only one who found it difficult. Another recent honor was that lve been chosen by my teacher to go introduce the yr 6's to the upper school.

Israel

I was watching the headlines yesterday and was disgusted about the whole episode with Israel storming a boat filled with aid set to go to Gaza to help the Palestinians there. First of all they had no right to storm a ship in international waters. Suspecting that they were carrying weapons drugs etc is insane. Israel always comes up with these pathetic excueses whenever something like this occurs. They completely ignore UN Rures. Over the years again after again they have taken more and more land from the Palestinians. I also couldnt belive how a few years ago they bombed Gaza and put it under siege. This has affected civillians as the missiles were targeted at water tanks and public sectors. They conrol thoroughly what goes in and out of the City and restrict aid from charities and building supplies, this has left Gaza povert stricken. I was quite impressed about how people in Europe reacted and how upset they are about the whole situation. Personally l dont mind going out and burning a whole load of Israeli flags in the centre of Kifissia.

my mums cooking

   To be frank my mums a fantastic cook same with my dad. A variety of stews, curries etc. Food from all around the world she aims mostly at Indian, Greek, Mexican, some Italian and Morrocan and Egyptian. She recently has made stews and some currys, were going to make Sushi, stuffed chicken breasts, tacos and much much more. My dad specializes in breakfasts the table is covered with French toast, Pancakes, Muesli, bacon and eggs. Everything a kid needs. My dad is also better making cakes my favorite cake he makes is his carrot cake (it still doesnt beet my Grannys).

  A lot has happened this past week. Including my little brothers, First holy Communion, going to the beach and heavy studying. It was a briliant and well organised service, the rest of the troop including my brother were fantastic and did very well. After the whole thing had ended we ate the most amazing food before departing back to the house. Today we went off to the beach and had a good swim at the nicest beach around Athens (which by the way isnt that nice). Still we swam. This week lve been studying at home during lunch my free time. Its madenning still its only a week every year and l should be able to endure it.

What l like to do

   l always enjoy a good long political discussion with Sajan or possibly Jason or any other important headline at the time. l am very enthusiastic to join debate but sadly it runs during the time l have tennis. Next year lll swich days and add debating into my curriculum. My outside events are probably swimming,sailing,cicling,kayaking and fishing. I detest cricket probably because l dont like standing in 40 degrees Celsius with a bunch of batters who cant hit the ball and even if they did it wont come my direction. The summers hear are hot so l normally stay in the library during lunch normally reading or doing my homework. In Spring and Autumn l play basketball with a couple of friends.

Books

   l have to say l just love books. The librarian added that l took out more books than anyone in my year. They range from H.G Wells to Raul Daurl. l also thoroughly enjoy history books especailly world war 2 and Classics. l am also a great fan of National Geographic, Wildlife, Focus and my favorite New Scientist  at the moment l am reading The Invisible Man and a copy of New Scientist. l have recently been pulled to the topics of Apparteid and Arab-Israeli Conflict. My hunger to read and to expand my knowledge is overwelming as there is so much left to learn. l read as much as l can but l do have a fixed times from 8:20 to 8:40 l will jump on the sofa with a cup of tea which l like with a lot of milk and a book at the ready. After that l will head downstairs and watch BBC World News until 9:30.

Pelion

Pelion is a beautiful mountainous region situated in the centre of the country. At the moment were renevating this 100 year old house just up the slope of the mountain. The side that were on is covered in olive groves and has a rich bio-diversity on the other side its forested with chestnuts and oaks this side also has very steep and dramitic cliffs. l would say the better beaches are on the other side of the mountain were you can find in my point of view the best beaches in the country. For food our side is filled with ταβερνασ which are greek restraunts with great greek delicacies. The locals are very friendly and you see them pitched on there donkeys giving you a smile, most of them are farmers and grow olives, herd goats, sheep and hunt for wild boar during the winter.

My trip to America

This summer lm going to go visit my great aunt in Connecticut. lm going to go endinborugh to Heathrow and then a direct flight to Boston. lve always wanted to go to America and l love there sweets and fastfood. Its a soughta ritual in my family every cousin related to my great aunt go to america when there 11 years old. They normally spend 2 weeks in America the first week is travelling to boston and new york and hanging around in connecticut and then the next week thell spend time in a camp. My case is diffrent and lll be spending 3 weeks in America as i am planned to do a sailing course and during the weekends lll go to new york and boston. Sailing is one of my favorite sports and l enjoy doing it in greece l am sure l will enjoy it equally or possibly more in America.

beaches

The Mediteranean as you might now is wonderful for swimming and Pelion is one of the places that have amazing beaches but nobody knows about them. All along the coastline you can spot beuatifly shaped beaches embeded in the rock, the sea is light blue and sparkles in the afternoon and when the sun starts to fall the most spectaular sunsets cover the sky. No thanks to tourists and oil ships rubbish and tar can be washed into these coves but not in Pelion. Athens has one ok beach called Skinias it isnt anything specail but its all athens has to offer.

My little brother while we went fishing in Scotland.

My mom at monemvasia

A friend of ours called Caroline sitting beside a tree in Candilli

My mother on a walk behind her is my older brother

Possibly my favorite beach close to are summer house we always like coming here during the summer.

My brother infront of my grandparents house in Kirchmichael

Being sick

Today l wasnt felling that well so my mom didnt send me off to school. Well it was a boring day are Sri lankan cleand Somali came over and l always love talking to her about her home country. As a ritual of being sick l always uncover old videos filmed by my parents when l lived in Bahrain. The memories of Bahrain which is a country in the middle east bordering Saudi Arabia and Oman are fuzzy because l left there when l was only three it was also the place l was born so l suppose its quite important for me. So its always nice seeing me and my older brother when we were young and the landscape of bahrain intrigues me as its very diffrent to were l live.

exams

My exams are coming up and lm pretty anxiuous about the results. l normally get ok results and l study a fair bit so lm crossing my fingers and hoping l can fit it all in my mind. By the way thankyou for commenting on my blog and l think l will start reading yours 2.

Kiffisia

Kifissia is a middle class neighboorhood in the suburbs of Athens. It is very colourful and has lots of trees. l often enjoy cicling around possibly running errands for my mother or visiting friends who live close by. l normally go have a coke with them possibly a Starbucks milkshake and maybe a quick stop to a greek version of waitrose were they get there exports. l live in a compound with some of my favourite cats which are a mixture of persians,british blues, turtle shell, tabby and my favorite a black cat whos owned by are neighbours also friends.

Trips

This year has been busy with school trips and trips with my family. With school l went 2 Acrocorinth which is a Frankish Castle in Corinth, various museums, byzantinial monastrys etc. With my family we went to Monemvasia which i a tipical meditaranean village, many times to pelion and ekali which is an estate owned by a family called the nol bakers supposidly relatives of lord byron.

my dog and his balls

   Today my dog was castrated. l dont think hes that happy with that idea and hasn't quite got to grips with the situation. Hes a bit dizzy and is not feeling too well and is whining a bit. l hope he will now stop following female dogs in the park and running away from us.

my favorite TV shows

l awfully enjoy HOUSE and other similar soap oprahs. Plus a bit of animation like the simpsons and Southpark. l really like watching BBC world news before bed. My favorite reporter is Zeinab Badawi who does various shows and does BBC news every weekend.

more about me

   Well l have a summer house in the mountain region of pelion a.k.a the hills of the centaurs. l have quite a few friends not 2 many not 2 little. l really want 2 go to india, russia and italy. Next year me and my family have decided to drive around Europe so l will visit Italy quite soon with it france and possibly Spain. Going to an international school is difficult because so many people leave and friends dont last

school

l like school and l'm one of the few who really enjoy it. My favorite teacher is Mr.Goldsmith who teaches English my least favorite is my maths teacher shes ok but l just detest the subject. My top 5 subjects are: Science, English, History, Classical Cicilization and Spanish. l like politics and am starting on the debate team with a friend of mine. We are planning to call ourselves: The political bashers, the 2 wonders of the debating world, the drake and the kalamari and the potentials. l show liking towards one girl but would like her to stay anonymous even though l dont like her that much.

my family

I regard my family as quite large. I've got 7 aunts, 7 uncles, 3 grandparents, loads of cousins, 2 brothers and my parents. My favorite relatives are my 2 grandmothers and l find my grandfather a very intresting and clever person. All in all l find my family very cool and am glad to have them. My family live in completely diffrent places. My uncle james lives in China with his family, my grandparents and uncle live in Scotland specifically Edinborugh and Glasgow, my uncle ed and his family live in london and my great aunt and uncle live in America. On the other side of the family live in Cheshire and oxford

Riots

As explained in my first post the crisis here has not affected us job wise. But about a week ago my father was walking back to his car when he got caught up in the riots and breathed in tear gas, the same story happened with my friend Kimon who was with his dad in the hotel Grande Bretagne in the center and he to breathed it in. Personally l'm relieved that l havent had the honor to be tear gased. My brother was sitting exams in syndagma and he said he saw bllodstains and fallen coins l think hes lying but l decided to add that to.

Myself

l am a 11 year old kid living in Athen specifically the neighboorhood of Kifissia. The country l'm living in right now isn't at its best, it hasn't affected me yet but l think it will in its time. l go to St.Catherines British Embassy school and l am fascinated by all the things l can learn. l love writing essays and learning (which is a bit strange for someone my age). My dad works for the Black sea trade and development bank he works alongside Russia, Greece, Ukraine, Albania, Boulgaria and Azzarbazuan, meanwhile my mother works at home running a small mosaic business and my brothers who l haven't got much to say about.