Sweden

 

This week we will race through Sweden. It is located in Scandinavia and is famous for exporting build it yourself furniture throughout the world. Just kidding. It is actually famous for being the homeland of the Rytting family!

Sweden chart

A Swedish landscape video

ROADBLOCK

Take a Chance

a church in Alsike

So many immigrants took a chance and sought a better life, economically and religiously including the family of Charles Frederick Rytting

He was born in Krusenberg, Alsike, Uppsala, Sweden. His family settled in Granstville, Utah. This is a distance of around 5,000 miles (probably as the crow flies)

The roadblock this week is to walk at least 5 miles, while listening to the music of ABBA. You don't have to do it all in one go. They have many songs to choose from :)

DETOURS

Lordagsgodis

Click on the link above for an article about Lordagsgodis.

Apparently part of Swedish Culture is that you only eat sweets on Saturdays!

This detour should probably be worth 50 points, for me anyway,  but of course it is only 5.

The detour is to only eat sweets on Saturday this week!

Tomten

Tomten are gnomelike creatures that live in Sweden. 

They help protect your home or farm.

They like you to take care of your belongings.

So this detour is to make sure you don't leave any of your belongings laying around in the public living spaces of your home by the time you go to bed, otherwise you won't get 5 points and a tomten might play a trick on you. 

A story about tomten by Astrid Lindgren (who wrote Pippi Longstocking)

Kiribati

 

Kiribati chart

Flag coloring page

This week we are in the tiny Pacific island nation of Kiribati. Guess what? It's nation is in all four hemispheres!!!! Pretty cool, but also kind of crazy when it comes to time zones. Kiribati is made up of many very small islands and only has a population of about 120,000 people. 

One of the first things I learned about Kiribati was that it isn't pronounced how I thought. the "ti" makes an s sound.....

This video explains a lot about Kiribati

The official tourism video

Roadblock

Kiribati is the first place on earth to greet the sunrise each day. 

(Refer to that Geography Now video for an explanation of how for a couple of hours each day, Kiribati can be in three different days at once)

The roadblock for this week is to take the time to notice the sunrise at least 3 times this week.

Detours

Fish and weaving

A pandanus mat

The people of Kiribati weave a lot, and they have lots of fish, so this task is a combination of the two.

Fish Weaving Craft Instructions

Kiribati Food

Seafood is the main staple of  the diet in Kiribati. Coconut, taro, breadfruit, pandanus, pumpkin, papaya, and banana are also grown there. So this week eat some seafood, or if you can't stand that, some coconut or banana or hey, breadfruit if you can find it.

Viet Nam

 

This week we are visiting the country of Viet Nam. 

VietNam flag coloring page

VietNam chart

10 Facts about Viet Nam

ROADBLOCK

Table Tennis

2017 South East Asia Men's Team gold

Table tennis is a popular sport in VietNam (of course soccer is the most popular). The roadblock this week is to play some table tennis. Or outdoor tennis if you don't have access to table tennis. Be creative if you need to!

Detour

Dragon Boat:

In Viet Nam the dragon is one of four sacred animals (the dragon, unicorn, tortoise, and phoenix) The dragon brings rain and symbolizes water. There are many boats decorated like dragons. There are also dragon boat races, with sleeker boats than the ones in the video.

For this detour you can make your own dragon boat:

instructions for dragon boat

Vietnamese Food

Blog about Vietnamese Food

Try some Vietnamese Food this week.  You don't have to make your own bone broth (though it does make your kitchen smell good), just give it a try. 

Uganda

 

(from Harpar's Bazaar)

Uganda Chart

Uganda Flag Coloring Page

This week we are travelling east to Uganda. The equator goes through Uganda. It has abundant wildlife and has part of Lake Victoria in it. It is home to the mountain gorilla. 

Some facts about Uganda

ROADBLOCK

The Source of the Nile

The Nile River has two main tributaries, the White Nile and the Blue Nile. The White Nile is considered the source of the Nile River and is in the Jinja Region of Uganda. The drainage basin of the Nile covers 11 countries.

The roadblock for this week is to go swimming!  Because swimming takes some effort to plan and it is likely that you can just manage to go once, I am not going to say how far or how long you need to swim, just swim. 

(from gorillaugandasafaris)

DETOUR

Go on a Safari

The grey crowned crane is the national animal of Uganda

Check out this blog to see pictures and learn about some of Uganda's wildlife

Uganda really has a ton of animals. It has lions, elephants, zebras, hippopotamus and more. For this detour dance along to the jungle jive: (but really check out the animal pictures)

Eat a Rolex!

Not a watch, but a rolled egg dish

This post explains how to make a rolex

There are many recipes you can find to make the flat bread (or if you really want you could get the uncooked tortillas from a store and pretend)

One recipe for chapati