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We checked into our hotel; a very homey-cheery little place. There are grapevines surrounding the resort. They've even got a swimming pool and a small little hot tub. Later, we got together with the rest of the family, and had dinner at the Calistoga Inn. I had Pasta Avocado, which was pretty garlicy. But, it was a nice place.

It was 12:00 our time once we turned in. Now, we're going to a kid-friendly vineyard with a couple of my wild cousins. See Yah!

Dear All,

Well, I know I haven't been keeping this blog very up-to-date, but I plan to blog some of my trip to San Francisco (I'm leaving tomorrow!). My cousin is getting married, so I'm going to miss two whole days of school. The wedding is going to be in a vineyard, somewhere outside of San Fran, where my cousin works. I'm staying one night out there, and two nights in the city. I can't wait!

Anyway; I found did this quiz on HungerMovement.org on how I "will change the world", (see the results below) and hope you'll do the quiz too! (Email me your results, too!)

Yesterday was the hielba, or strike, in Arequipa. The taxi drivers and public transportation workers protested the unfair gas prices in Peru, as they probally were most affected by the price. I did not personally see it, but my friends say it was very interesting to see. Suposidly, they blockaded the streets with large rocks and threw things at cars. They said there were police everywhere, just waiting to strike them.

The protests here are dangerous, and most citizens don´t leave their homes. The city is shut down in fear the the protesters will hurt them. In the past, the army was even called in. But, luckilly, not today.

Yesterday, we (my group and I) had to get up at 6:00AM to get on the tour bus to Colca Canyon. Before the bus got there, I was expecting a little tiny van that you see regularilly here in Arequipa. But no, this bus was the real deal. Our guide, Renzo, was really informational, and quite good at his job (which later ended up him getting a good tip). The road to the canyon was really beautiful, even though it´s not what I´m used to. The terrain is desert-like, with allot of shrubs.

The bus ride was tough, a rough 4 hours on a bumpy road seeming to go nowhere. But, at last, I saw the first glimpse of some whitecapped mountains in the distance, which I guess means your getting close (finnally!). Hehe, I´m over exageratting on the ride; we met allot of great and funny people! There was this family from England that were living in Sao Paulo, Brazil and another sweet couple from the UK. I knew this was going to be a fun journey.

The hotel was wonderful, lots of colors and a great buffet dining room. My shared room was also cool, with a great view of the Colca Valley; only a half an hour from the canyon. The not so cool part; the hotel owned a spitting llama (I´m pretty sure it was a llama, but maybe it was an alpaca). Llamas are one of my favorite animals, but almost 100% of the time I get spat at. This time was the same (as always), but only this time he spat at me twice. Later in the day, we took a hike with Renzo to the mountain. It took everyone´s breath away.. the terraces (the Inca way of farming, more here) were really interesting to look at. After taking a billion group photos, we headed back. On the way back down the path, there were several ¨stops¨with Peruvian kids (maybe 8 or 9) explaining some of the different kinds of corn, potatoes, and other crops. Some even had a llama (it didn´t spit!). Later, we played rummy all night.

The next morning, we, again, had to get up really early. The montains were great, the canyon even better. We saw condors (usually very rare to see). It was a great small little trip and was, by far, the best thing we have done so far!

Well, as I said yesterday, I went to a pizza party with all of the American exchange students. It was really fun! I met Tia, as most people call her; such a sweet and gentle lady. Hehe, we took lots of pictures with funny faces and odd and unusual things (as I call it: Modern Art).

Welcome to my NEW blog! Here, I'll be talking about my life, my upcoming trip to Perú, and lots more randomness to come.. Well, here's my day so far:

Today was my last day of school before I leave to Perú. It was a pretty good day, but kinda embarassing. We played for the eighth grade completion ceremony. We played the National Anthem. Besides that, we played Bringer of Joy, Great Gate of Kiev/Hopak, and Best of Bach; songs most people have never heard before. We did pretty good.. well besides the fact that four late people came in the middle of the first song and having to start one whole song over because we were at the wrong speed. But overall, I thought we did good.

And now to the bad part: After we finished and headed back to class, a friend of mine started playing the National Anthem as we were leaving the stage. I played with him. Now.. I played allot louder then he did. Guess what? The door to the stage was still open; right at the moment our principal was making a speech! Gladly, Ms. Kincaid didn't see who was playing (I later confessed going along with it). Ah well; it was better than watching "Shiloh" all hour.

Tomorrow I leave for Perú... I'm SO excited! I'm pretty much packed; I've got my sunglasses, and my camera (and Butt Wipes [insider joke for Perú-goers.. no time to explain now]... woops). Haha, well I'll hopefully update this blog down there.

Have a great summer everyone!

As a part of the first year since founding celebrations, The Logo Contest was created. The winning logo was to be the official logo for YFCI for a whole year. Four members contributed in creating logos to be chosen as the 'official logo' for Youth For Change International. Seven logos were created for the contest, members showed a great amount of excitment about the contest, all was very eager to know the results too.

Our moderator 'winmsn' created two logos. Our ambassador from Malaysia 'fathiamar' created four logos. Our members 'evilslayer' and 'sohuda' colaborated and created one. It was an opportunity for our members to show their creativity in creating logos. The winner was to be given 10 karmas and would recieve a certifcate from YFCI. The winner was announced on the second of March and was no other than our member 'fathiamar'. His logo A4 won the contest, he recieved 10 karmas and a certificate from YFCI.

Now you can see the logo on our website, communities on social networks such as bebo and orkut. The exisiting logo is YFCI's special mark now and will remain so for the rest of the year. The other participatents were also given certificates. The contest spread some competetive spirit amoung members and spiced up things at our boards. Everyone used to check the 'logos' thread very regulary to see if there was any update concerning the contest.

It is our seal now.