I would highly recommend eating at the Ithaa Undersea Restaurant located at the Conrad Hilton Maldives resort on Rangali Island not only for its finest-of-fine dining, but also for the tropical aquatic scenery and friendly service.
ITHAA UNDERSEA RESTAURANT
Here is an up-close-and-personal photo of our neighbors, Bluestripe Snappers, as we dined:
BLUESTRIPE SNAPPER
The menu is fixed for each seating and is switched up regularly.
1st course: fresh green pea soup, sage butter capellini, tomato confit, chamomile
GREEN PEA SOUP
2nd course: green mango and papaya salad, seared sea scallops, carrot mousseline watercress and organic olive oil
SEARED SCALLOPS
3rd course: grilled reef fish, lemon mashed potato, sautéed young kale tomato lemongrass essence
JACK REEF FISH
OUR DINNER’S COUSIN!
dessert: 57% dark chocolate mousse, rice crispy base & Valencia orange parfait
57% DARK CHOCOLATE MOUSSE
For a live tour experience of Ithaa Undersea Restaurant, check out this YouTube video.
For the most recent reviews of Ithaa, check out Trip Advisor.
Fun fact: Ithaa in the local language of Dhivehi means mother-of-pearl.
ITHAA UNDERSEA RESTAURANT
You won’t be disappointed!
It wasn’t turkey, but we were happy to have Thanksgiving dinner-Maldivian style at Ithaa Undersea Restaurant.
Extra Credit: Please support us in raising awareness of child trafficking by emailing us a photo of you and your Star to iEMPOWERkids@comcast.net and we will sing your praises in a video on our blog as a Star Advocate who empowered a child!
This year I hope to read every book that Aubrey and Anjuli’s school teachers assign to them with the exception of their text books. To meet this goal I got a list from each of their English teachers on parents night, went to the local bookstore, and bought dozens of books that are now stacked a few feet high on one of the nightstands by my bed.
To ground you with some background on BEOWULF, it helps to understand that it offers readers both fictional elements, as well as real historic events. It is the oldest surviving long poem in Old English and is often cited as one of the most important works of Old English literature. BEOWULF was written in England between the 8th and 11th century by an anonymous poet. Because the original manuscript had no title, over time the story came to be called BEOWULF after the protagonist.
BEOWULF is set in Scandinavia and includes a number of clans from all over northern Europe including the Geats, Jutes, and Frisians, for example. So it was a little confusing to follow where the clans resided or what territory they controlled until I found a map online to better plant me in Beowulf’s world.
Truth be told, this was my first time reading any version of BEOWULF and I’m glad I did until I went online and read reviews of Nye’s new telling. According to a minority of the reviewers, Nye’s version does not “reflect the original text” of BEOWULF, nor does Nye “embrace the themes from the original manuscript.”
In Nye’s defense he does state on the very first page of his new telling that “there are literal versions of BEOWULF. I have not tried to compete with them. This is an interpretation, not a translation.” So for the naysayers out there, Nye gives his readers a disclaimer, as well as why and how his telling came about. The cover title also states “New Telling” which should clue potential buyers.
Personally, I enjoyed Nye’s story, especially the thread regarding the bees. It came full circle for me by story end. The bee thread also reminded me of the-overcoming-fear role the bats played in the Batman Begins movie when Bruce Wayne sheds his childhood fear of bats and actually leverages them as an adult to accomplish his mission of doing good for Gotham. Given that Beowulf means ‘bee wolf’, it was satisfying as a reader to watch Beowulf not only overcome his fear of bees, but to embrace it. As a storyteller, it makes logical sense to bring in and develop the bee thread. Anything otherwise would seem remiss and a lost opportunity. So I get why Nye developed the ‘bee wolf’ symbol in Beowulf’s journey.
Is it disappointing to learn that I haven’t really read the real BEOWULF?
Yes, but as a young adult author and mother, I’m more thrilled to hear Anjuli rave about the story Nye has written without my prompting. At her age, the joy of reading is more important to me than becoming a scholar on BEOWULF. Should she decide to major in Old English Literature, she will most certainly have a chance to read a truer translation of BEOWULF than the one she is currently reading. Until then, I plan on letting her enjoy the reading process in the same way I give Santa Claus all of the credit on Christmas morning year after year.
Over the what-I-prefer-to-call Native American Indian Day weekend, my daughters and I headed to the John Muir House in Martinez, California. Aubrey had an opportunity to earn extra credit in her history class by learning more about John Muir and his work as a conservationist and naturalist and then writing a report on it. That’s when I discovered STICKEEN written by John Muir and illustrated by Carl Dennis Buell in the museum bookstore.
From the back cover of STICKEEN:
The year is 1880. One stormy Alaska day, John Muir rises before dawn, puts a piece of bread into his overcoat pocket, and sets out to explore a glacier he has recently found. A little black dog named Stickeen trots along behind him, launching an adventure that Muir will later call “the most memorable of all my wild days.”
Together, Muir and Stickeen find a majestic ice-cascade two miles wide and a lake filled with icebergs. But when it comes time to turn back, they find themselves trapped on an island, surrounded by icy crevasses a thousand feet deep. The only way out is a narrow sliver-bridge that passes across a great crevasse and up a cliff of ice.
“A stirring tale, exquisitely told” is what Booklist says about STICKEEN and I couldn’t agree more. For one, though written in 1909 I found Muir’s language both accessible to a modern day reader, as well as beautifully, poetically descriptive in a non-over-the-top way. Secondly, I’m a huge fan of a good dog story and STICKEEN does not disappoint. But, most of all, Muir plants us on that sliver of a narrow ice bridge, and then with an ice pick chipping away at the ice cliff to form steps of all things to escape off of the ice island where he and Stickeen are trapped. It’s amazing Muir survived minus the kind of gear I suspect teams today would require before embarking on such an adventure. And with just a piece of bread in his pocket for nourishment no less!
Muir often talked about the little black dog and their adventures at parties and lectures. It is said that waiters, porters, and others would hide behind curtains or even under tables just to hear Muir share it. And I can understand why, having just read STICKEEN. It’s the kind of story that pulls you in from the first page and holds onto you until the very last word. I would highly recommend STICKEEN for both children and adults. Thankfully nobody need hide behind a curtain to enjoy Muir’s adventure with Stickeen.
If you’re a John Muir fan and happen to be in the San Francisco Bay area, I’d also recommend a visit to the John Muir home in Martinez. Be sure to visit the Giant Sequoia tree that John Muir planted in 1898 as a sapling he brought back from a trip to the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Today, the former sapling is about 70 feet tall and is infected with the fungus Botryosphaeria dothidea, a vascular disease that causes branches and tips to die. Seeing what is not native to the Bay area was a huge highlight for us, as you can see below.
It gives me huge pleasure to welcome fellow VCFA alumna and Beyond the Margin critique partner, Ann Jacobus to World Reads, a blog that features interviews with authors who’ve written a story set outside of the United States for children or young adults. I’ve been fortunate to watch this story evolve and grow and the best way I can sum it up is by describing ROMANCING THE DARK IN THE CITY OF LIGHT as an “ANNA KARENINA meets THE BOOK THIEF in a Parisian setting” story. Read on to learn more about Ann and her debut novel.
From Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin’s Griffin/Macmillan
Release date: October 6, 2015
This is a dark and edgy upper YA thriller so for readers 14 and up.
Where is it set?
My YA novel is set in what most people will agree is one of the most beautiful cities in the world—Paris, France. Some scenes take place in parts of the city that most tourists don’t see. And the setting is filtered through the point of view of a character who is depressed and suicidal.
In 70 words or less, provide a succinct plot description of your story.
Troubled, eighteen-year-old American Summer Barnes has one more chance to graduate from a high school in Paris. There she meets an awesome guy named Moony who’s totally upbeat about life, and her. She needs his friendship desperately, but he can’t put up with her bad choices much longer. Hot, mysterious Kurt, on the other hand, is all about self-destructive fun. He wants Summer to understand that life, and death, are easy choices.
Marc Olivier Le Blanc photography, Pictures by San Francisco Photographer, advertising and editorial.
How are you connected to the setting of your story?
I lived in Paris for ten years with my family. I also studied and traveled in France as a teen and as an undergraduate.
Lucky you, Ann! What inspired you to write this story?
The germ of the idea for this story came from a scary incident in the Métro, where someone ended up on the tracks in front of our train. I was with my young daughter and we quickly left. We never found out exactly what happened. But I couldn’t forget it and that’s where my imagination and the writer’s eternal question of “what if?” took over.
What was the biggest challenge you had writing your story? How did you overcome it?
My protagonist is depressed and ultimately suicidal. It was more challenging than I imagined living in her head for long periods of time (like, years). But the only way around it was through. This was a story I wanted to tell, and even when I gave up on it, I always returned to it.
What kind of story can we expect next from you? Is it set outside of the United States? If so, where? And what is it about?
I am working on a companion book that picks up a year after RTDCOL ends, with Summer living with her aunt and working on a suicide crisis line in San Francisco. Some other characters from the RTDCOL show up, too. She’s very ANTI-suicide now.
We can’t wait for the next book, Ann! What else would you like us to know about you or your story?
I’ve lived outside the US for over two decades of my life and wish everyone could have the chance to travel, or better yet, to live outside their native country for at least a year. I’m convinced it could do wonders for world peace. My family and I lived in the Kingdom of Bahrain in the Arabian Gulf for four years. So one of Summer’s love interests is from the Gulf. We also lived in the Czech Republic for two years, and then for ten in Paris. We loved each experience and are grateful to have had these opportunities.
Can you remember the first book that made an impact on you? And why?
I remember reading the timeless The Witch of Blackbird Pond at a tender age, and being outraged at the injustices heaped upon poor Kit Tyler. She was forced to leave her tropical island home in Barbados and live in cold, harsh, hard-core Puritan 1687 New England. And they thought she was a witch to boot.
If you like thrillers, memorable characters, and a good read, be sure to order your copy today at your nearest bookstore!! Thank you Ann, for joining us at World Reads and a big congratulations!
