Ashton and I have always been close friends we’ve probably known each other since we were toddlers. Well that’s because our families are very close and because of that, its not unusual for our families to go on vacations and spend holidays together. When my parents told me that we were going to Paris this year, I was extremely excited and I was beyond happy. What I didn’t know was that this holiday would be unforgettable.

The day before the trip went by surprisingly fast. We didn’t do anything else except for pack. My parents advised me to bring a lot of clothes since they told me that we would be staying in Paris for a while. The day of our trip started out really cloudy for a summer’s day but I didn’t mind since I enjoyed looking out the window and admiring the clouds while waiting for us to arrive at the airport. Ashton called me a few minutes before I got into the car to tell me that his family was almost on their way to the airport. I was really excited to meet Ashton since I hadn’t seen him in two weeks. I don’t know how I managed to survive two weeks without my best friend, but I did. My parents told me when I was younger, I was apart from Ashton for almost a week and I went crazy. So being a part from him for two weeks without losing my mind was a big accomplishment. I guess you can tell that we’re really close.     

It took us quite some time to arrive at the airport but I wasn’t complaining since the scenery outside of my car really entertained me. To be honest with you, there wasn’t much to look at except for gardens and houses but they somehow were interesting to look at and admire. When we went into the airport my parents were trying to contact Ashton’s parents to ask where they were and of course they weren’t here yet because they’re always late. When Ashton saw me he instantly ran to me and engulfed me in his arms.

The plane ride to Paris didn’t feel very long and I sat next to Ashton but I ended up not talking to him at all since I slept through most of the flight. The airplane food was surprisingly good unlike some other airplanes I’ve been on. A few minutes before we landed, I had time to admire the view outside the window next to my seat. After we went exited the plane we met up with our parents and we tried to find our luggage. It didn’t take us a long time to find our luggage bags which was a relief since the only thing I wanted at that moment was to go to the hotel and sleep.

The moment I stepped into my hotel room I instantly took my shoes off and jumped onto my bed but of course something had to interrupt me and today it was the hotel phone ringing. The person who was calling was apparently Ashton who wanted to explore the city and because I hadn’t seen him in two weeks I agreed to join him. I wasn’t surprised when our parents allowed us to explore the city since we’ve done this a few times before. Since we weren’t familiar with the city, we bought a map from the hotel’s reception desk.

We decided not to use a taxi since we wanted to feel adventurous. We walked down a street that was really crowded and it was surprisingly very breezy for a summer’s day. Ashton wanted to go to a bakery because he said he was craving macaroons. I was honestly a bit miserable since I just wanted to sleep in my hotel room and because of that Ashton was trying to cheer me up by making a few jokes, which were really bad. When I was laughing at one of his jokes, the map I was holding suddenly flew out of my grasp. Ashton and I looked at each other worriedly since it was our only map and we didn’t know how to get back. We quickly followed the map that was flying in the air. It landed in an alleyway that looked different from the rest of the street. It looked like the opposite of the street with shops and the other alleyways that were surprisingly colorful because this alleyway was really dull and a tad bit creepy. What made the alley a little bit creepier was the fact that I could here noises from one of the doors in the alley but they weren’t  ordinary noises they actually sounded more like screams. I was obviously freaked out and Ashton was to, surprisingly. You see, Ashton is someone who never freaks out. Never.

I stupidly decided that it would be a fantastic idea to go inside and “rescue” the person who I made a conclusion of being in danger, which is probably the worst thing I could have ever done. Ashton wasn’t too keen on the idea since he was really freaked out and just wanted to grab the map and find a bakery but he ended up giving in and he agreed to go inside with me.

The door was opened so we went inside easily and I almost slipped since there were stairs leading downstairs right in front of the door. Both of us took out our phones and turned our flashlight on since it was really dark and there wasn’t any light switches or any lights. When we finally reached the bottom of the stairs, it was a dark room. I knew that my phone was going to die and I was pretty sure that Ashton didn’t charge his phone in the hotel either. We walked around the dark room and didn’t see anyone but we did see two other openings. It looked like tunnels or it might be a maze. Ashton and I split up and in the middle of walking through the tunnel/maze my phone died. I tried calling for Ashton but no one replied. I wasn’t exactly surprised since we did split up. I ran through the tunnel and I could feel someone following me. At this point I was extremely scared and all I wanted to do is to go back to the hotel. I kept running until I tripped over something on the ground and bumped my head on one of the walls. I could here footsteps behind me and I thought that someone was going to murder me. I still couldn’t see anything since it was all dark so I just accepted my fate. Then I could feel someone’s hand on my shoulder and I was honestly trying my best not to cry. Then that person started speaking and it took me a few seconds to realize that it was actually Ashton. I hugged his legs since I wasn’t exactly able to stand up because my head was throbbing. He helped me up and fortunately his phone was still on he lead us through the tunnel until we found stairs that lead upstairs which we assumed would lead to a door that lead outside.

When we walked out the door, I noticed that my legs were covered in dirt and that my arms were also dirty. We decided to go back to our hotel and when our parents asked us why I had dirt covering my arms and legs we told them that I accidentally fell into a puddle of mud (which would be almost impossible since it hadn’t rained). We didn’t want to worry them or get in trouble so we decided not to tell them the truth. In the end, we ended up ordering macaroons and eating them in Ashton’s hotel room.

Family celebrations are one of the most exciting events to attend. Every year, my family arranges an event. Usually, we would eat dinner together in a fancy restaurant but a few years ago we attended my uncle’s wedding. At that time, I’ve never been to a wedding before and the idea of going to one scared me. The only wedding I’ve ever seen at that time were the ones in movies and because of that I actually thought that the bride would wear a long white wedding dress and that their wedding cake would have ten layers, but I was wrong.

The day before the wedding was very hectic. All my family members were rushing around to prepare things for the wedding. One of my family members told me that my uncle’s wedding would be a traditional Balinese wedding and not the typical ones I’ve seen in movies. I was really shocked since I didn’t know that you could have weddings that are traditional. The night before the wedding was extremely nerve wrecking for most of my family members since most of them hadn’t finished preparing things for the wedding. I wasn’t nervous at all. I was actually really excited. The next day, everyone had to wake up really early in the morning. I’ve always hated waking up in the morning but on that day, I woke up easily because I was so excited. The traditional wedding ceremony was held in my grandparent’s back yard. It was a weird ceremony. My uncle and my soon-to-be Aunt sat on top of a platform and on that platform was a priest. It started off with the priest saying prayers then after a few hours of praying and cleansing them, the finally put their rings on each other’s fingers.

The day after that was the day of their reception. We stated in a big hotel. All my cousins and I waited for our turn to get our hair and makeup done. We decided to explore the hotel. First, we went to the area where the reception was going to be held and saw a few of our family members that we haven’t seen in a long time. We weren’t allowed to go inside the room since there were security guards in front of the entrance of the room. A lot of the staff from the hotel was moving tables, chairs and other furniture into the room. After that, we decided to explore all the other floors inside the hotel and we met even more family members. A few hours later we went back to the hotel room we were previously in and got our hair and makeup done.

A few hours before the reception, one of my cousins and I decided to visit our uncle and aunt’s room. When we arrived, our Aunt was trying to put on her traditional wedding dress while getting her hair and makeup done. She wore a lot of makeup that made her look even prettier.

When the reception started, I saw a lot of people crowding outside the room for the reception. When the doors finally opened they all rushed inside. I noticed that next to the entrance of the room, there were a few tables that had a box under them. My parents once told me that people would five money to the couple by putting the money in an envelope and placing the envelope inside the box.

In the reception I ended up eating a lot of the food that was served since it was all really delicious. I also met a few of my family members that I’ve never met. Attending this wedding was a rally fun and unforgettable experience because it was the first wedding that I’ve attended in my whole entire life but one of the things that made me a bit disappointed was because they didn’t have a wedding cake.

A few days ago, my group and I had a debate with the topic of “Drug traffickers should receive the death penalty”. I was in the opposing team therefore my team did not agree to the topic. I was in the same group as Kayla, Yemi and Enrico. In my opinion, my group was very organized and we worked really well together. I was the second speaker with the topic of “Very few countries agree on the death penalty” I don’t think my argument was well structured since I got confused on what to say sometimes and some sentences didn’t make sense.

My group had 3 arguments, which were about human rights, the number of countries that oppose to the death penalty and giving the drug traffickers a second chance. In my opinion we had enough evidence to support the arguments to persuade the audience to agree with us. We could have argued much better if we weren’t so nervous and much more confident.

In my opinion, I did pretty well when I spoke but I stopped a lot to look at my q card because I forgot what I had to say next and if I tried to memorize it even more the night before, I would’ve remembered even more then I did and I wouldn’t have to look at my q card after every evidence I say. I don’t think I incorporated any of the aristotles persuasive techniques because I felt like I could’ve made my speech better and added the techniques to persuade others even more.

From the first debate, I don’t know which group should win since I think they both equally have good statements. In my opinion, I think I should get at least a 4 or a 5 because I was really nervous and I don’t think I did well enough in the speech since I stopped and looked at my q card a lot.

We arrived at the Volupides household at 2 am. We found Queenie Volupides’ husband (Arthur Volupides) laying on the floor in front of the stairs with his right foot on the third step and his left foot on the second step.  He was still holding his glass on his hands. Witness (Queenie Volupides) said that they had had a tiff. She tore out of the house and went to the country club where there was a party going on.  The autopsy found a wound on the back of his head, which was the cause his death. Queenie confessed that she invited her friends over for another drink then found Arthur dead. She said to her friend “Something terrible happened. Arthur slipped and fell on the stairs. He was coming down for another drink-he still had the glass on his hand and I think he’s dead. We collected evidence from the house . We found some pieces of evidence that disprove Queenie’s confession.

        Firstly, we noticed that Arthur was lying on his back. As a rule, people usually fall face-first if they fall or trip down the stairs. It is unusual to see Arthur lying on his back since Queenie claimed that he fell down the stairs to get another drink. Another thing is that we also noticed that Arthur’s right foot was on the third step and his left foot was on the second step. As a rule when people was walking up the stairs, one of their foot is usually one step higher than the other. This proves that he did not go down the stairs. It’s likely that Queenie was not telling the truth. It’s also likely that he was going up the stairs instead of going down the stairs.

Secondly, we noticed that everything on the stairs (including the carpet) is not misplaced and its very neat. As a rule, when people fell down, they usually grab on to things or try to steady/save themselves to prevent injury. Which would have to results to have things moved out of its place or it would move the carpet. On the scene, we noticed that everything on the stairs was very neat and it is unlikely to not wrinkle the carpet. Another thing was that we noticed that the Autopsy only shows that Arthur’s body was only injured on his head. As a rule when people fall down from the stairs, they would suffered more than 1 injury or more injuries to other parts of his body. This proves that Arthur was unlikely to fall down the stairs and it’s likely Queenie was not telling the truth.

Thirdly, we noticed that there was a frying pan cooking in 1am. As a rule, people don’t usually cook at 1am as it’s commonly a sleeping time. Another thing that we noticed was that the amount of smoke coming out of the frying pan. It was unlikely that a regular food will produced that much of smoke when it’s cooked. It can make that much smoke if there was a liquid in the bottom of the frying pan. Which will cause it to be very smokey. This proves that the frying pan contains liquid as it produced more smoke than it is supposed to be. This proves that it’s unlikely queenie was cooking because she’s hungry or that she was cooking for her friends since they were just going to her house for another drink.

In conclusion, we concluded that Queenie is proved that she had murdered her husband Arthur by using the frying pan. When Arthur went upstairs, Queenie took the frying pan and hit Arthur from the back. Arthur fell down and dead. It was believed that she hit Arthur because they had a tiff. She put the frying pan back on the stove before she dried up the blood and turn the stove on to pretend she was cooking and to remove the evidence of she hitting Arthur from the police. She framed her action by inviting friends over and pretending that she just knew that Arthur was dead.  

In the beginning of the holiday my mom made me go to a lantern festival with her. I didn’t think that I would like it but in the end it was actually pretty cool. When I arrived, It was very crowded but I still enjoyed being there. The festival started at 6 pm but I arrived at 7 pm because there was really bad traffic.

When I arrived there, I saw a lot of colorful lanterns. All of the lanterns were very different from each other. They were all in different sizes; some of them were even taller than I am. My favorite ones were the ones that were shaped as fruits. They were all lit with different colors and it made it look really pretty. The park where the event was held was surprisingly very clean.

They didn’t have a lot of food to choose from so I ate this traditional food with eggs. I only stayed at the festival for an hour or two because it was really hot and crowded which bothered me a lot. Fortunately, the traffic on the journey back wasn’t as bad.

This is the second part of my review on the book "Holes". In English we were all asked to do a 2-part "Holes" Review. 

A few months after Sam and Mary Lou got shot, She spent 20 years as a dangerous Outlaw. She was known as "Kissin' Kate Barlow". 

In Camp Green Lake, Stanley finds a lipstick container that has the initials of "KB". He gets very suspicious and tries searching for more treasure. He told the counselors about it and The warden told him to dig more to find more treasure. 

Stanley finds out that Zero could not read and write and offered him help in exchange of Zero helping him dig holes. The Warden finally realises what was happening and got mad at Zero. Zero runs away and The Warden erases all data of him from their computers and files. Stanley got very guilty and decides to run after Zero. 

Stanley found Zero and he looked very tired and unhealthy. They decided to head up to God's thumb. After a few hours of going there they finally reached the mountain but Zero got very unstable and Stanley had to carry him up the mountain. That's when he realised that he has gotten stronger in the past couple of months. 

They reach the top of the mountain and Stanley saw a water source and decides to drink it. The water is a very muddy water. They also find onions and decides to eat them. 

They head back to the camp to find the suitcase that belongs to his great-great-great grandfather. They eventually found it and got caught by The Warden. A few minutes later a lot of yellow spotted lizards surround Stanley and Zero but do not bite them because they have onion in their system. 

Then Stanley's lawyer came to bring him home and The Warden tells them that its her suitcase and that they stole it from her and then Zero points out that there is Stanley's name on it. Stanley and Zero goes home and Camp Green Lake is turned into a Girl's Scout Camp.

Stanleys father finally made a successful experiment called sploosh which is a foot spray that helps prevent foot odor.

Camp Green lake is first introduced as a camp with a dried up lake. The lake dried up since about a hundred years ago and the people who lived near it moved away. Most importantly, the yellow-spotted lizard lives in camp green lake.

 Boys who have committed crimes are sent to camp green lake. Their job is to dig holes everyday. The aim of digging holes is to build character and will follow the law. Stanley chooses to go to camp green lake than go to jail because he thought that It would be fun. At Camp Green Lake he met X-ray, Squid, Magnet, Armpit and Zero. 

Stanley was sent to camp green lake because he 'stole' shoes that "magically fell from the sky". He didn't really steal them but he was accused of stealing them. His family blamed his no-good-dirty-rotten- pig-stealing-great-great-grandfather. 

His great-great grandfather was the reason his family had bad luck since he was cursed by Madame Zeroni for not fulfilling her wishes (to carry her up a mountain and drink from the river/stream) after she had helped him  by giving him a pig so he can get married to this Girl but It didn't happen since his pig wasn't heavy enough. He then thought it wasn't important to carry her up the mountain and he moved to america and thats how his family got cursed. 

His family was also poor because while his grandfather was in america he got robbed by Kissin' Kate Barlow (The most feared outlaw). Kissin' Kate Barlow was once a teacher but Sam (A man who sold onions) broke the law and kissed her. It was Illegal for a Negro man to kiss a white woman so none else went to her school and both Sam and his Donkey got shot.