It's a Small World

The chance to travel to a new place can be a fun way to learn about other cultures around the world. If you're limited by time or money reading a book, website, or listening to music may be a great way to experience another place.
Here are some websites that are fun to check out when exploring life in other places.

A website that shows different parts of the world is found at A Kid's Life in...
Teens and kids who live all over the world show us about their country. I like how you can get a first hand account about different places. The web site's graphics also help you to get a sense for interesting aspects of their culture.

Another handy resource when looking at different countries is a metric/customary conversion chart which can be found at Kid's corner: Metric Weights and Measures
When have you needed to convert between metric units, or from customary to metric units? Last year, I was training for a 10K run and wanted to know how many miles I'd need to train for. The conversion, 1.6093 kilometers = 1 mile would have been useful. Before running I thought it was around 5 miles, but after checking the math I realized a had run more.

Another question that's worth asking is: How much is your money worth? Money Exchange is done on a daily trade market which can be found at XE World Currency Converter.
This converter tool has a calculator type feature that will show you exactly how much your money is worth on any one day. For example, upon checking we can see that one US dollar is worth 12.5150 Mexican pesos. Which other types of currency do you know about? What other travel resources have you used that could also be helpful?

Sizzling Sounds of Summer

The sounds of music add sizzle to the summer. In outdoor venues the sounds of music fill the air. Some of my favorite venues in the summertime are Millenium Park and Ravinia.

Millenium Park area has an incredible Jazz Festival. One jazz musician is two time Grammy Award winner, Roy Hargrove. Hargrove plays jazz that is infused with hip hop, funk, gospel, and soul music. The Video link here shows Hargrove playing the trumpet along with lots of rhyme and soul. I like how jazz music blends different styles together. Concerts at Millennium Park are free of charge and bring lots of talented musicians to Chicago.

Ravinia is a 30 minute Metra train ride north of Chicago. Like Millenium Park, Ravinia is a summer time festival that has famous musicians and young stars. Ravinia has tunes from lots of different bands including Rock, R&B, Blues, Country, Gospel, and Classical. The Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) plays at Ravinia on many nights. Trumpet player, Tage Larsen from the CSO has a video link here. Larsen says, "I was amazed by the balance and unity (of the CSO). I could hear how they matched each other and was blown away by that 'Chicago Sound'"

It's fun to kick back and listen to the rich sounds of these star trumpet players. The music that fills the evening sky is like an ocean that carries many different sounds and memories with it.