Last week I went to Southern Sudan with Panther Bior. He took me to his village Merange, Southern Sudan but first I had to get there. I had to drive to LA really early in the morning and all of flights took about 30 hours. So when I got there I slept for a really long time! When I woke up I realized that I could hear and see the war brewing on the horizon. That day we had kind of a relaxing day. Panther first took me too meet all of his friends and family. We play some games with all of the kids. Then after that we went and swam in the Nile River. That was really fun! At the end of the day his wife made us a diliciouse meal.
The next day he took me to Nairobi to meet his other brother who is going to school there. So since it is a very long drive we spent the day in Nairobi and that was fun its a much bigger city then Panthers village. In Nairobi we went to a rappers concert and this rapper was from Southern Sudan also his name is Lam Tungwar. After the soccert was over we drove back to Panthers village and it was pretty late so we all went to sleep.
The rest of our trip was very fun and a great experience! We did a lot of cool things like playing soccer some more with these adorable little kids. We also volunteered for a lot of different thing we spent a couple of days helping Panther build his school and a couple of days helping The Red Cross and Children In Need. After helping all of those people that have had to go through horrible things in their lives it really makes you feel better and it makes you feel like you have touched so many people. When we were leaving all of the little kids that we had played with and helped got very sad to see us leave and the made us sad but we promised that we would be back soon! Then we got on the plane after many hugs and sad good byes and the trip back took about another 30 hours!
It was Emmanuel's last day in California for who knows how long so we woke up kind of early and helped Emmanuel pack up all of his stuff so we did not have to worry about it later! When we were done we when back to Mackenzie Park and we bought Emmanuel carton of confetti eggs as a souvenir. His other souvenir was a camera full of pictures of us having fun! That night we had early dinner at Our lady of Quadelupe church because they have really good mexican food but you don't want to stay there to long because it's in a bad part of town. The next morning we drove Emmanuel to the airport and said our good byes and hope to see you soon and then he left.
Now since it was the first week of August it was Fiesta time!! So we wanted Emmanuel to experience the whole Santa Barbara experience, so our with day together was devoted to Fiesta. So we slept in and when we woke up we went over to Mackenzie Park. Once we got to Mackenzie park I got one of those eggs filled with confetti and smashed it on Emmanuel's head a true Fiesta tradition! Emmanuel thought that that idea was really fun! Mackenzie Park usually has rides at Fiesta time so we went on some rides and Emmanuel said the these rides were like nothing he had ever experienced before and that they were amazing but he would not like to go on them every day! After the rides we had lunch we had beef burritos. They were good not the best i had ever had but they were good! Now it was about 1:00 pm so we headed over to De la Guerra Plaza. There we to listened music and ate an early dinner and then we had ticket for the Bull Riding event and then The Rodeo. Emmanuel thought that the Bull Riding was a little to violent! He loved the Rodeo though! I love them both! When they both had finished it was about 11:00 pm! So we went home and went to sleep!
On day four, first we woke up at about 10 we went down stairs and ate some cereal. Then we got dressed and drove down town to go to the Fiesta 5 movie theater to see the new movie Jake and Jill. We munched on popcorn and candy. Emmanuel said that this was the first time he had popcorn and that it was way to buttery and salty, but he loved it! After the movie was over we went back to my house to change into our fancy clothes and went to the Santa Barbara Bowl for a Katy Perry concert. When we were going to our seats one of the ushers asked Emmanuel where he is from and all this stuff and in the middle of the concert Katy Perry made a shout out to Emmanuel and asked him to come up one stage and she gave him a hug and gave him and everyone with him meaning me and my mom back stage passes! So when the concert was over we got to meet Katy Perry that was so awesome she was really nice and she was very intrested to meet Emmanuel. Your not going to believe this, but also back stage was Oprah Winfrey and to meet her was amazing!! After a late night of partying we went home and ate a little food but none of us were hungry after such a exciting night!
Our third day together was a much more relaxed day! First we slept in a little bit and then we when to Jeannine's Bakery at about 11 o'clock. We went to the one off of State St. and when we were done we when shopping on State St. We went into practacly every store! We started where Jeannine's is and worked our way down State St. now we were at the bottom so we went into Sarkeez Bar and Grill so Emmanuel could meet my brother he is the manager there. Right when we entered Emmanuel was supriseed on how many T.Vs there were in there. After that we drove over to the courthouse and went to the top of the tower and looked out and saw a 360 degree view of Santa Barbara. He loved the sound of the courthouse bells chiming. After that we drove over to The Santa Barbara Mission so that we could take a tour. Emmanuel said that that was nothing like he has ever seen before. After a full day we headed home for a BBQ dinner Emmanuel thought that that was delicious! Then we when to sleep.
On our second day together I took him to a classic Santa Barbara beach day. First we woke up early, got our swim suits on under our clothes, loaded the surf boards and headed to the Santa Barbara Harbor to see the sun rise. That was so pretty Emmanuel was so exited, he thought that it was truly beautiful! After that we were drove down to Santa Clause beach and ran into the ocean and if you're wondering Emmanuel got a special water proof prosthetic led so we could go swimming. We felt the freezing water all over our bodies. After a couple of hours of swimming and playing in the ocean we got of for a while and ate some sandwiches we had a couple of turky and a couple of peanut butter and jelly that my mom made that morning. Since you can't swim after eating or you'll get a cramp we hung out for a few miners and then we played some volleyball. The warm sand felt so good. Emmanuel said that this was the first time that he had ever been in the ocean and the first time he had played volleyball! I was very surprised by that. After about an hour of playing on the beach we went back in the ocean and I tried to teach Emmanuel the basics of how to surf. He was surprisingly very good! It was now about 4 o'clock so my mom told us that we should probably get out so we could go get dinner. So we slowly got out and dryer off and put our clothes on and drove back to the harbor to go to the best seafood restaurant in Santa Barbara Brophy Brothers. But since Brophy Bros. is always very crowded we had to wait for about an hour ao we walked on the break water. Emmanuel was walking a little to close to the wall that separated him to the water and got s big splash and then burst out laughing! so now we walked back to the restaurant and go our table and ate the best meal ever . Emmanuel said that he loved it and could eat it all the time! Now we were very tired and drove home and when to sleep after a fun filled Santa Barbara Beach day!
Emanuel just left after a exciting week together there he goes after many "goodbyes" and "hope to see you soon!" Now let me start from the beginning. My mom took me to the airport to pick Emanuel up. It was about 9 at night so we when straight home and when to sleep the next day was when the fun began. Our first day together we slept in a little and my mom made us her special fried egg sandwiches for breakfast after that I took him to the SBMS campus to meet all the staff and kids and because some people think it's the best view in the town. After our first fun day we when to the best Mexican restaurant Los Arroyos.
