Emmanuels visit!

On Monday I picked up Emmanuel from the airport and we went straight to see the pier and I showed him the Ty Warner sea center mostly because I love that place but also I thought he might enjoy to see some of the aquatic specimens we have here in SB. Emmanuel wouldn’t stop talking about the leopard shark and how rough its scales are. I agree petting one is like swiping your hand across a sheet of sandpaper. I have a feeling he really enjoyed that!

The next day we went to the wharf and spent hours just walking up and down. I think we went into every building along Stearns wharf. We also went into the maritime museum. Emmanuel thought that it was just the bee’s knees. We both went to the little movie theatre in the museum. They were playing a segment about seals and sea lions. I personally thought the movie was boring but Emmanuel felt differently. After that we went to El Camino Cielo to see over all of Santa Barbara! I have a feeling he really liked that too.

For dinner on Wednesday we went to los arroyos and we both had a plate of enchiladas, my personal favorite. When we finished our enchiladas I took Emmanuel to get a chocolate milkshake from my favorite fast food restaurant, my lovely sister Nonny. Once we had finished our milkshakes on the roof we went to

On Thursday we went to the Santa Barbara history museum. We went into the butterflies alive exhibit and that was by far my favorite part of our little expedition through the museum! After that we went to the bug exhibit to see the caterpillars in their cocoons. Next we went to the animals of Santa Barbara exhibit. All the animals are sooo cute!!! Then we visited the bird exhibit. Some of the glass boxes containing some sort of stuffed bird had a little black button. They encouraged people to push the button and if you are stupid enough to follow the instructions to “push me” your eardrums fill with the loud screeches of either a great horned owl or an annoying little pelican that doesn’t even deserve to be in a museum because you go to the beach and see twenty live ones that are three times as annoying as the ones behind the glass. Well anyway, before I could warn Emmanuel he, he, he… he pressed the button and it not only caught me off guard but him too and he was the one pressing the button!

On Friday Emmanuel begged me to take him and see Charlie. Once we were in Charlie’s pen Emmanuel decided he didn’t feel so desperate to see the overweight sow any longer because the smell was so horrendous. He claimed he had never smelled a stench quite like that one and he hoped to never smell it again!!! So after that we went to somewhere I thought would smell a little better, the rose garden! So not only did we get to rid our noses of the stench of “Charlie” but we also went up to the mission! After that long day of many smells Emmanuel and I were pooped so I sent him home to take a nap because he needed some resting for tomorrow!

For Saturday I planned to introduce Emmanuel to all the teachers at my school. We went down to the school at about 12:00 and we planned to stay for about three hours! All the teachers seemed really interested in Emmanuel and I was very proud of myself for bringing him in and not one of the “smarter” students. Emmanuel and I went to Teresa’s room first but she wasn’t there as always! So next we went to Domi and Pam’s room and as usual only Pam was sitting at her desk. Once we had finished his “interview” Emmanuel and I went into Jakes room. He seemed pretty happy to see Emmanuel although Jake looked like he had a lot of work on his plate. As we walked to john’s room we were stopped more than 5 times by parents and students and teachers who were missing from their classrooms. We could have walked all the way down to the office and back and it would have taken us just as long. Finally we were through the door we had made it to johns class out of all the teachers john acted the most happy to see my familiar friend! After john was all talked out I took Emmanuel home and asked him how it went for him and we both agreed it was very fun and educational. Sadly the next day I had to take him back to the airport as my week was over and my fun was done.

While Emmanuel stayed with me I taught him some things about America and how we do stuff here and he taught me some stuff about Accraghana and how they do stuff there. Overall I had a very educational time but one of the most important lessons Emmanuel taught me was to never give up because you can do anything and you can get anything accomplished as long as you never give up!