My friend Benjamin took this picture while we were in Cairo, Egypt. I wish I had taken this picture because everything about it is stunning. The composition, the colors, and the way the books like in constrast to what we know as a book store is just amazing. It is beautiful photography.
Picture taken by: Benjamin Bartley
Dubrovnik, Croatia. Here is a picture of the old city walls. Pretty much the only interesting thing to do there. They make killer pizza and suprisingly amazing ice cream. Take a tour around the city walls. It’s worth it just for the beautiful pictures you’ll get.
The Chinese Opera in Beijing, China.
Beautiful. High pitch singing and lots of acrobatics. A unique experience.
Anyone have any stories to share? Would love to hear them 
Hope you like the picture of the day.
With love, Zen Girl
When I visited the Great Wall of China, I saw this and was puzzled as to why there were LOCKS along the wall.
I’ve always been curious about it’s meaning and am wondering if anyone has an idea?
Thanks in advance 
There is just something about the Great Wall of China that just takes your breath away. To think that it can be seen from space. To think that it took about 1400 years to build it. Stone by stone. It’s breathtaking and it really makes you stop and appreciate the wow factor of it all.
I won’t lie, when I was there, I cried. Mostly in part because I couldn’t believe that I could check off another item of my life to-do list.
Definitely a must-see for anyone that can make it.
I entered the “Friendship Store” in Beijing expecting a setting similar to malls in the U.S. But, was struck as I was lead by our tour guide inside this building, and to the right, where there was a factory setting in which I saw how cloisonné vases and other items were made. In this factory they make different items such as bracelets, animal figurines, vases ranging from the size of a coke can to about 6 feet high.
In the cloisonné factory, there were 8 tables, and 4 girls sitting at 4 of those cream colored plastic picnic-looking tables. These tables were full of the materials that these girls were using to create the cloisonné vases and other items. All of them were currently working on vases, one of them talking on her cellular phone while she did this. The girls ranged from ages of 16-25. I asked one of them how old she was, and she answered 18. This girl was almost my age, and had been working in this factory setting since she was 15. The girls wore jeans and t-shirts, and had their hair tied back. Two of them chatted while they worked, the other two stayed in their stations and worked on their vases. The materials that were placed on their tables were copper wire, which they used to mark the design on the vase. They had tweezers that they used to twist and glue the copper on the vase. After this, they “fill” the copper area with different colors. Some of the designs on the vases were flowers, others were phoenixes or dragons.
The tour guide explained to us that the process to make a vase the size of a coca-cola can takes seven people two weeks to make. After the women initially fill the copper areas with color, it is heated to place the color, and then refilled five times, until the area is filled to the top. A separate worker works in the “heating room”, in which he holds the vases with prongs, and places them in a well-shaped oven that is located on the floor. After that, another worker “polishes” the vase so that all of the vases areas are even. The final step is the actual polish, in which another worker uses a machine to polish the vase and make it shinny. These workers could be seen behind a glass, the machines were dirty, filled with a white substance, and the workers wore gloves, but no masks. They also wore jeans and shirts, that were dirty, but it seemed to grease dirt, not ground dirt streaks that marked the workers pants. They also chatted with their co-workers as the women did; however, they had to yell over the loud sounds of the polishing machines to be able to speak to one another.
Buddhist (Theravada) Temple
During my stay in the Buddhist Temple, Wat Sanghathan, in Nonthanburi, Thailand, I was able to observe various prayers. Morning Prayer at 4:30 in the morning, mid Morning Prayer, evening prayer and night prayer at 7 at night. The prayers were all basically the same, except sometimes differentiating in length.
I will be describing the late evening prayer at 7pm specifically. Prayer was celebrated in a large meeting hall. It did not look like a temple or shrine from the outside. The walls were glass, although you could not see inside because inside they were covered by drapes. Inside the shrine was a large empty space. There was nothing on the walls, except the drapes that covered them. It almost seemed as if the shrine were under construction. In the middle back part of the shrine was a large gold-colored statue of “Present Buddha”. In front of this statue was a space in which a monk sat in prayer/meditation. He sat there without moving, it seemed as if he did not even blink. In front of him sat four monks, which were the leaders of the prayer. However, only one of these monks chanted for the rest of the congregation to follow. The grounds (which were a total of 36 acres), were divided by gender. Women stayed on one side, and men stayed on the other. In this shrine, only women prayed, except for a number of monks, which ranged from 10-20 monks, sat on the left side of the shrine during prayer.
During prayer, some women did not pray, but merely sat with their legs crossed and eyes closed, meditating. There were also children who stayed at the shrine. All of the people that were praying were those who were staying in the shrine. The three nights that I participated in evening prayer I only saw three people that were not wearing white robes. Only the monks and nuns were wearing mustard yellow robes. A nun never was the head of prayer.
Before prayer started all the women took mats that were provided at the shrine and placed them on the floor to sit on them. Some women brought their own mats on which to sit on, although this was usually not the case. Once we all sat on the mats, the women chatted in a low voice, while others bought these small yellow boxes with a red cross on them, which were intended to offer to the monks. These boxes contained items of first-aid and basic items like soap that the monks and nuns might need.
Most of the women had a small book with the prayers that were chanted at the shrine. Some had simple tattered books, with a soft cover, but others had more decorated books with a hard cover. Some women did not need a book to join in the prayer, they had them memorized.
Sometimes during the service women would walk in and take a place within the shrine and began to pray. It was not looked down upon to enter late at the shrine, everyone simply continued praying. Most people closed their eyes if they did not need to read from their prayer book. The prayer was chanted in a monotonous tone. The tone in which the monks and congregation did not change during the prayers. There were times during the prayer in which everyone would bow. At the beginning of prayer you are required to bow three times. First you place your palms together and place them in front of your forehead, then your heart, and then place both palms down and bow towards the front. This is repeated three times at the beginning of prayer and at the end when you are finished. It was also done at times during prayer.
At the end of the prayer, the women who had bought the yellow first-aid boxes would walk towards the statue of Buddha in the center of the shrine and placed it as an offering to the monks.
Other women stayed in the shrine, to wait for the later evening prayer which started at 9pm.
The topic of my field component papers were religious rituals in the countries of Vietnam and Thailand. One of the religious rituals I observed pertained to the Cao Dai religion in Vietnam, and the other was Theravada Buddhism in Thailand.
I noticed many more similarities rather than differences. One of the similarities I was able to observe was the color used to dress the congregation. In both religions, the laymen wore white clothing. Also, those who were in higher positions such as the priests in the Cao Dai temple and the Buddhist monks wore different colored robes. The monks wore mustard yellow robes and the priests at the Cao Dai temple wore red, yellow and blue, representing their beliefs in different religions.
Another similarity that I found was that both congregations removed their shoes before prayer (because the temples are holy places), and both sat on the floor. However, they sat in different ways. In the Cao Dai Temple all the participants in the prayer sat with their legs under their body and their feet facing the back. In the Buddhist Temple, people could sit in this manner, but also crossed their legs, or placed their legs to the side: it did not matter as long as your toes did not point towards the statue of Buddha. Another similarity that I observed is that the congregation would repeat certain phrases and chant together. The only difference is that in the Buddhist Temple the monks would chant certain phrases, and then the laymen would follow. In the Cao Dai temple, the laymen followed the choir.
A big difference between my stay at the Buddhist Temple and the Cao Dai Temple, is that in the Buddhist temple there are six prayers that occur during the day, although you are not obligated to attend all of them, it is expected of you when you read the Precepts before staying at the temple. I was not able to stay during the total duration of the prayer at the Cao Dai Temple, but our tour guide told us that it is usually an hour long (same as in the Buddhist temple), and that they have three prayers during the day.
In both temples the congregation was divided by gender. The only difference being that in the Buddhist temple, men and women do not pray together. The only men present at the prayer in the shrine were the monks that lead the prayer.
During both prayer rituals there were moments during the prayer in which the laymen had to bow, and both had their own way of beginning and ending the prayer that included bowing. The ways in which each religion began and ended their prayers was almost identical. In the Cao Dai Temple the people rested on both their knees and placed their palms together and over their forehead and then bowed forward. In Buddhism the same is done, except that the laymen place their hands in front of their forehead, heart and then bowed.
I am not surprised to have found so many similarities and few differences between the Cao Dai and Buddhist religions, because Cao Dai included Buddhism in part of their beliefs and rituals. However, one big difference I found between the rituals is that “outsiders” were allowed to sit amongst the laymen and pray, they did not need to wear the white robes if they were not staying at the temple. In the Cao Dai temple, is seemed as if you had to be a member to join in the prayer, because there were no people that were no dressed in their typical clothing (white for laymen, and red, yellow and blue for the priests). People could come into the temple and observe from a second level, but could not stand in the first level and pray with the rest of the congregation. Also, I did not see any Vietnamese entering the temple to make any offering to either their shrine or their priests.
1. Barcelona, Spain
2. Hong Kong, China
3. Istanbul, Turkey
4. Jerusalem, Israel
5. London, England
6. New York, NY, United States
7. Paris, France
8. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
9. San Francisco, California, United States
10. Venezia, Italy
11. Antarctica
12. Amazon Rain Forest, Brazil
13. Canadian Rockies, Canada, Alberta
14. Galapagos Islands, Ecuador
15. Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona, United States
16. The Outback, South Australia
17. Papua New Guinea Reefs, Papua New Guinea
18. The Great Sahara, Morocco
19. Serengeti Plains, Serengeti, Tanzania
20. Angel Falls, Canaima National Park, Bolivar, Venezuela
21. Amalfi Coast, Campania, Italy
22. Boundary Water Canoe ARea Wilderness, Minnesota, United States
23. British Virgin Islands, British Overseas Territories, UK
24. Greek Islands, Greece
25. Hawai’i, United States
26. Japanese Ryokan, Japan
27. Kerala, India
28. Torres del Paine, Chile
29. Seychelles, Africa
30. French Polynesia
31. Austrian Alps, Austria
32. Big Sur, California, United States
33. Nova Scotia, Canada
34. More og Romsdal, Norway
35. The Lake District, Cumbria, England, UK
36. Loire Valley, Pays de la Loire, France
37. Hue, Vietnam
38. North Island, New Zealand
39. Toscana, Italy
40. Vermony, United States
41. The Acropolis, Athens, Greece
42. Angkor Wat, Angkor Archaeological Park, Siem Reap, Cambodia
43. Giza Necropolis, Cairo, Egypt
44. Great Wall, Beijing, China
45. Machu, Picchu, Cusco Region, Peru
46. Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado, United States
47. Petra, Jordan
48. Taj Mahal, Agra, India
49. Vatican City
50. Outer Space
1. Firenze, Italy
2. Roma, Italy
3. Venezia, Italy
4. Istanbul, Turkey
5. Krakow, Poland
6. Paris, France
7. Praha, Czech Republic
8. Siena, Italy
9. Sevilla, Spain
10. Barcelona, Spain
(Personally, I think that Segovia is better than Sevilla.. there is more to do in Sevilla, but Segovia takes your breath away).
