The Bahamas

The Bahamas have always sounded like a beautiful country to visit, and they are such a close neighbor to us that it was really great to learn about all the islands.

Video Links

• Geography Now! The Bahamas
• Geography More!  Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahamas - the link should take you right to the part about The Bahamas, which is the last section.
• Best Places in The Bahamas - decent video, but it is mostly just different island names with tourist activities on each one.  Also it actually ends at about 6 minutes and then just continues on with ads, so we are still on the lookout for a better one.
• Shocking Bahamas Food Tour - a fun, non-touristy view of some of the places and dishes of The Bahamas.  It is a longer video put together more like a Discovery Channel show.

The Bahamian food list I found (Top 25 Bahamian Foods) has a lot of seafood cuisine (obviously), but with some dishes that remind me of Southern cooking in the US.  I decided to go with Chicken Souse and Johnny Cake for our Bahamian meal.

I neglected to separate the wings, and for the future I think I would skin them as well before cooking.  I also left out the green pepper because some of the comments said that wasn't as traditional and I thought it would change the flavor of the meal more than the carrots would.  I think I would also choose to make this with whole allspice instead of ground so that the broth would be clearer.

My youngest daughter made the Johnny Cake, and although it looks like it would be bland and dry, it was actually moist inside and a little sweet.  It was a perfect accompaniment to the Chicken Souse and a big hit with my family.

I never would have guessed to put a lot of lime juice and allspice together in a stew, but it was really delicious and flavorful!

China

 Shortly after we returned from our travels to Italy, Slovenia, and Vatican City, my two youngest had the opportunity to go to Chinese Camp.  All four of my kids have participated in it before, and it is a great way to learn more about Chinese culture, cuisine, and language.  They had a really great time, and I decided we would follow it up by making China our family country of study.

Video List

• Geography Now! China
• Are Hong Kong & Macau Countries?: interesting CGP Grey video that gives a brief overview of the history of these two special areas of China.  Currently it does require a membership to view.
• 12 Things to Know Before you Visit China: a Wolters World video that gives some older but still relevant insights to visiting China
• Top 10 Places to Visit in China

Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of the fun foods and crafts the boys got to make while they were at camp.  However, I'll put some fun links to additional activities, foods, and resources below:

• Our local Costco has several different kinds of dumplings available that are easy to make, including Chicken and Vegetable Potstickers and Steamed Dumplings.
• There are some fun shows based on Chinese mythology and literature: 
• Journey to the West: Legends of the Monkey King - The Monkey King is a famous and popular figure from a 16th-century Chinese novel.  This classic animated series was produced in China and can be found on YouTube and various other websites.
• The Monkey King - same figure with a new version of the storyline in an animated Netflix movie
• American Born Chinese - This live-action Disney series assumes some knowledge of Chinese folklore (especially about the Monkey King) in this reimagined modern-day quest.
• Amazon carries some Chinese paper dragon craft kits that are easy to make.
• Liu and the Bird: A Journey in Chinese Calligraphy - This beautiful picture book tells both the story of a little girl and how Chinese pictographs first evolved, helping readers see the meaning in the characters of today.
  
  

Vatican City

 Even though it is the smallest country in the world, Vatican City holds major religious and cultural significance.  Despite having a history spanning many hundreds of years, the Vatican State was not an independent country until 1929 when the signing of the Lateran Treaty brought some measure of peace between the relatively new Italian government (mid-19th century) and the Papacy, since both wanted Rome to be their capital but wanted to be independent from the other.  Not only is it the residence of the Pope, but it also houses hundreds of incalculably valuable works of art.  Some put the valuation of Vatican City (and Catholic Church) assets at $73 billion minimum.

Video List

• Vatican City Explained by CGP Grey
• How to Become Pope by CGP Grey

Normally we like to go to Geography Now! to start off our learning, but since they are going alphabetically, they have not yet reached Vatican City, so we turned to another of our favorite channels: CGP Grey.  We had to get a basic membership to watch one or both of these videos, but it was well worth it as the videos are very informative.

Why did we skip so far ahead in our country list?  It is because we had an opportunity to visit the Vatican while we were in Italy!

We met early in the morning at St. Peter's Square for our tour.

members of the Swiss Guard at the south archway on the side of the Basilica

Fun Fact: all of the artwork in St. Peter's are actually mosaics made of small glass tiles.  There is only one true painting in the Basilica (above Michaelangelo's Pietá).  This is why you can take photographs inside the Basilica: the flash will not harm the mosaics.

a view of Vatican City from the top of the dome on St. Peter's Basilica

St. Peter's Baldacchino - sculpted by Bernini, it stands over the High Altar, which was built over St. Peter's tomb

one of the entrances to the Vatican Museums

The Vatican Museums contain incredible works of art dating from as far back as Ancient Egypt ...

... and Ancient Greece all the way up to modern artists like Matisse.

The symbol of the Papacy (and thus Vatican City) is the Papal crown with two crossed keys underneath, visible here both above the white stone shield and above the red dragon crest (the coat of arms of Pope Gregory XIII).

And while Vatican City may not have a particular cuisine, we did eat some sandwiches and pizza from a food stand in Vatican City before heading over to the Vatican Museums!