3rd and 4th weekend of Summer

3rd weekend- Went to a San Jose BART station for the first time, and went to see some Amazing fireworks on the 4th of July

4th weekend- Went to a birthday party with some pretty big bubbles, came home, and my family made bigger bubbles ourselves

My First and Second Week of Summer

First Weekend- My friends came all the way from Connecticut to visit
Second Weekend- Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. Epic!

"Rome Wasn't Built in a Day"- An Interview with the Sponsor

“Rome wasn’t built in a Day” 
(Great Things take time)

 - An interview with the Sponsor -

  By Suryatej Vakkalanka

I decided to have an interview with my sponsor, Mr. Palla, to show what he thought of Rome. This was a really nice experience for me, as it helped me view Rome in another perspective. The interview was set on June 2nd, 2017, at 3:49 p.m.

As I walked inside Mr. Palla’s classroom, I said “Hi Mr. Palla! It’s a pleasure to see you again.”

While I waited for a response, I saw it wasn’t filled to its peak capacity, as usual. Instead, there were only a few students, of which most were working on a project. I decided that was good, as less people would be interrupting my interview with Mr. Palla.  

“Hello Sunny! How are you?” Mr. Palla announced

“Good,” I started. “In my magazine, could I have a page where I interview you about Rome?”

“Sure. Sounds good.” Mr. Palla asked

“Should we start now or later? It’s your choice, really…”

“I think now would be a good time” he decided

“Ok”. I took out my special paper and pencil. These were things I kept for a rare occasion like this.  

“First question,” I said, “what was the worst thing about Rome, in your opinion?”

“Well, I would say it was all the bloodshed and gore, in-

“Wait. What does ‘gore’ mean? I asked

He answered “The same thing as bloodshed, or blood”

Mr. Palla continued “As I was saying, bloodshed occurred most in the colosseum”

“Cool. Well, onto the next question, who was the best and most effective emperor of Rome?”

“Of course” he cried “that would be Augustus, the foundation of Pax Romana and longest reigning Emperor. One quote of his was “I found Rome a city of bricks and I left it a city of marble.””

            “I thought he was the best too,” I agreed. “He changed Caesar’s dictatorship to something more powerful, but at the same time implemented parts of it into his masterplan.

            “The third question: What was the best quality of the Roman Empire?

Mr. Palla said “The best quality it holds is that they influenced us. They made the greco-Roman tradition. Everything we do, the government, ‘We the People’, everything, is influenced by the Romans”.

             “You said that also about the Egyptians and the Greeks” I protested

             “Yeah. Well, they were our ancestors” he reasoned

             “I guess. Next, what is your favorite Roman food?” I curiously asked

I knew he would be specific about this question, because he had Italian blood.

             “I don’t think anybody these days likes to eat flamingos, but I love Italian food” he answered.    “Some of my favorite foods of Italy are spaghetti, pizza, and pesto sauce” (p.s, he said more names of food, but I don’t know how to spell them).

             “Lastly, what would you teach if you could teach only one thing about Rome?” I eagerly asked

             “The organization and discipline of Rome. It was the best characteristic of Rome, also what made it succeed. I hope modern people can be as disciplined and organized as the Romans, at least one day ”    

             “Ok, thanks so much.” I said “This is the end of the interview. See ya, Mr. Palla”

 “Later, kiddo” Mr. Palla concluded

 

"Rome Wasn't Built in a Day"- The Falls of Rome

 

“Rome wasn’t built in a Day” 
(Great Things take time)

 - The Falls of Rome -

  By Suryatej Vakkalanka

There were many theories about how Rome came to an end, and these are the top four. 

Barbaric Invasions- The Roman army always kept the edges of the Empire secure from Barbarians. In the 300’s A.D., the Roman army had to deal with civil war uprisings, and thus left the Rhine-Danube frontier unsecured. Soon, the hunters from Germany and herders from Europe began to raid the Roman lands in Gaul and Greece. The Germanic general, Odovacar, overthrew the last of the Roman emperors and made himself ruler. Furthermore, Germanic tribes settled in the west of the Empire. From then on, Roads and Bridges were broken, and many fields and crops grew dust. Pirates made the Roman Empire unsafe.  

Political Corruption- Rome had a major problem of choosing a new emperor. As the Romans never created an effective ways to decide the next Emperor, it was always an open debate for the old Emperor, the Senate, the army, and the Praetorian Guard. For sometime, it went good when the Praetorian Guard decided the next Emperor, and he would reward them. Although, starting at 186 A.D., the Praetorian Guard strangled with the new Emperor, and started to sell the throne to the highest bidder. This political waste might have caused the decline of Rome   

Rise in Christianity- This was difficult to deal with during the Barbaric times because Christianity made people “pacifists”, or people opposing war. This might have caused the Romans to refuse to fight the Barbarians. Another disadvantage with Christianity was that Churches attracted people who had skills to defeat the barbarians, but they just stayed inside the church. Lastly, the money that was being wasted on those churches could be used to hire extra army soldiers to protect the border

Inflation (In prices)- Right after the reign of Marcus Aurelius, prices started to go high in Rome. This was because the low gold deposit. In addition, because there was more gold being spent on luxuries, so less gold could be spent on coins. To make up for the loss in gold, Merchants increased prices in their goods. Eventually, people began to barter (trade) items on a daily basis. This may have helped lead to the end of Rome.

"Rome Wasn't Built in a Day"- Julius Caesar

“Rome wasn’t built in a Day” 
(Great Things take time)

 - Julius Caesar -

  By Suryatej Vakkalanka

    Julius Caesar was Rome’s most famous dictator, consul, and military general. He was born on July 12th, 100 B.C. in Rome. His mom’s name was Aurelia and dad’s name was Julius- they were a rich family. At 16, Caesar’s dad died, and that was when he started making his way into politics and the army.

    From 61-60 B.C., Julius Caesar served as governor of the Roman province of Spain. His wife Cornelia tragically died, and he later remarried Pompeia, but divorced with her pretty quick. After he traveled back to Rome, Caesar made a deal with Pompey and Crassus, forming ‘the  First Triumvirate’. This alliance helped him get elected consul for 59 B.C. The following year, he was appointed governor of Gaul, where he stayed for eight years. While there, Julius expanded the Roman territory in Gaul, going up to the river Rhine. Although, while at Gaul, he was still mindful of politics at home, and thus hired political agents on his behalf. Later, Crassus died in battle, at Syria. This left Pompey and Caesar as the leaders of Rome.

    Because Pompey felt Caesar was gaining too much power, he told the senate his opinion, and they agreed. Caesar now had a choice- he could either go inside Rome and claim dictatorship, but risk to start a civil war, or he could stay out of Rome and get executed by Pompey’s forces. As he decided to go in, Caesar “...crossed the Rubicon...”, something he couldn’t take back. As predicted, Pompey was no match for Caesar, and easily got crushed. He was forced into Egypt by Caesar, and eventually got killed there. Caesar also fell in love with Cleopatra, had an affair with her, and together produced a boy named Caesarion. Although, he  didn’t marry her because of Roman laws. When Julius Caesar came back to Rome, he declared himself dictator for life. This surprised and angered many people, as they were not used to having leaders for life. Although, Caesar thought this rule was important for reforming Rome.

    Even though Caesar said he would serve for life, he lived only one more year before the senate killed him. During his time as dictator, Caesar changed the Roman calendar, reorganized the form of government, and resurrected two city-states. He even was careful to solidify his dictatorship by filling the Senate with his allies and making coins with his face on it. On March 14, 44 B.C. (the Ides of March,) the Senate finally applied what it had been planning from a long time- the assassination of Julius Caesar. Brutus and Cassius were said to have killed the famed dictator. After his death, Caesar’s great-grandnephew, Gaius Octavian, took the throne. Later known as Emperor Augustus, he was the first emperor of Rome.

Overall, Julius Caesar completely reformed everything in Rome, and started a new type of government called ‘the Roman Empire’. He was one of the best political leaders at that time, and made Rome extend its boundaries at the same time. What Julius Caesar created was never lost, and is still flowing in the blood of Rome.  

 

"Rome Wasn't Built in a Day"- The Roman Army

“Rome wasn’t built in a Day” 
(Great Things take time)

 - The Roman Army -

  By Suryatej Vakkalanka

The Roman Army was undoubtedly one of the best armies in the world. With its professional training and precise organization, the Roman Army swept through the Mediterranean like a tornado. The key reason the Roman Army succeeded was because of their organization. Soldiers were divided into huge groups called legions. The leader of a legion was called  ‘legatus legionis’. One legion equaled 10 cohorts, one cohort equaled six centuries, one century equaled ten contuberniums, and one contubernium equaled 8 legionaries (soldiers). The non-citizens, who were known as Auxiliaries, were commanded by ‘prefectus cohortis’. The types of soldiers that were part of the Roman Army were legionaries, cavalry, auxiliaries, archers, artillery soldiers, slingers (skirmishers,) and horsemen (non-citizen). The requirement to be a Roman soldier was to be around the age of 18 to 20 years old, and you had to be freeborn; not a slave. The average legionary (Roman citizen) got paid 750 denarii, while the average auxiliary (non-citizen) got pain 250 denarii. Centurions (officers) got paid 13,500 denarii, and finally, Primi Ordines (generals) got payed 54,000 denarii.

Furthermore, the main weapons and tools that the Roman army used were the helmet (galea,) armor (lorica segmentata,) shield (scutum,) sword (gladius,) and javelin (pilum). There was a mark under each soldier’s leather strap of their galea, or helmet. That mark showed they were part of the Roman Army, and not a spy. The armor were basically thin stripes of metal that were held together by leather straps. It could easily block the soldier from arrows. The scutum of each soldier was rectangle-shaped and was designed so that the soldiers could make a turtle formation, which was similar to the Greek Phalanx, according to Livy. The gladius acted as a dagger and a sword, which was useful during battle. It was really powerful when in the right hands. Lastly, the Pilum was sharp and thrown from a long distance, and if it got stuck it the opponent’s shield, he would have to throw the shield away. Other things common soldiers wore were a tunic and a belt underneath the armor, a scarf, and military sandals made of leather.

When Auxiliaries fought for 25 years, they had the chance to retire, along with a piece of land, pension, and citizenship for the soldier and his family. Legionaries, on the other hand, got only a piece of land and pension after retiring, and usually lived in retirement houses. They didn’t get citizenship because they were already citizens.To emphasize the Romans were excellent soldiers, some of the battles they have won were ‘the Battle of Zama’, where Scipio led his troops against the well-prepared Carthaginians, and ultimately won. Another battle was ‘Lake Regillus’, where Dictator Postumius and the Romans fought against Tarquinius Superbus and the Latins. Surprisingly, the Latins and Tarquinius fled from the battlefield, which gave the Romans a victory, once again.   

    All in all, the Roman Army was really organized, disciplined, and skillful for that time. They were one of the best armies, as military academies even today use their strategies.

"Rome Wasn't Built in a Day"- The Punic Wars

“Rome wasn’t built in a Day” 
(Great Things take time)

 - The Punic Wars -

  By Suryatej Vakkalanka

The Phoenician sea-traders were known for trading overseas, and later settled at Tyre and Carthage. Starting in 600 B.C., Rome grew and prospered, and later took over Tyre. The Phoenicians permanently moved to Carthage, and called themselves the Carthaginians. The Carthaginians were the Roman’s sworn enemies. While the Carthaginians were taking over new colonies, the Romans began to look for ways to eliminate Carthage. Soon, the two powers started to fight for power of the Mediterranean Sea, which led to the First Punic War.

“The incident that sparked the fighting took place in Sicily...”, when ‘King Hiero II of Syracuse’ fought against ‘the Mamertines of Messina’. At first the Mamertines called the Carthaginians for help, but later regretted it and called the Romans for help. Rome thought this was the perfect opportunity to declare war because Carthage was trying to control Sicily, which was against their peace treaty. The First Punic War, which lasted from 264 to 241 B.C., was located at the Mediterranean Sea. Because the Romans did not have a navy, they copied Carthage’s quinquereme, with an additional corvus. With the corvus removed, the Romans won.  

    While Rome was continuing its expansion into farther lands, Hamilcar decided to declare war with Rome, via Spain. He took his sons Hasdrubal and Hannibal with him, who hated Rome as much as he did. After Hamilcar drowned in an accident, Hasdrubal led the army for sometime, but Hannibal took over shortly at 221 B.C.. He was known to be loyal to his men at all times, and according to Livy “he was the first one to enter battle and the last one to leave it”. To evoke the Romans that he wanted battle, he attacked Saguntum, a city in Spain that was a Roman ally. As an element of surprise, Hannibal decided to cross the Alps to reach Italy. Unluckily, one of Hannibal’s calculations went wrong and they ended up crossing the Alps in the winter. After all the harsh conditions, Hannibal finally made it to Italy, and “Even though he had lost half his troops and many of his elephants, Hannibal’s crossing was a victory against impossible odds.”

    For 15 years, Hannibal kicked butt on the Romans with his inventive hit-and-run method. One of the major battles he won was the ‘Battle of Cannae’, where the Romans suffered lots of losses. The Romans couldn’t do much because they sent all their forces to Spain and North Africa. Hannibal never actually attacked Rome, because Carthage refused to send reinforcements. In addition, the peoples Rome conquered refused to help him, too afraid to fight against the Mighty Romans. Rome finally found a leader to make up for its losses, whose name was Scipio. Scipio had all the characteristics of Hannibal, and studied him to learn his weaknesses. Then, Scipio sailed to north Africa and threatened to destroy Carthage. In desperation, the Carthaginians called Hannibal back home. Hannibal came back to defend his country, but ultimately lost the ‘Battle of Zama’. “Carthage was compelled to give up all her interests in Spain and the Mediterranean”. Even after this major restriction Rome wanted revenge, which led to the Carthaginians giving up 300 children of nobles. After Rome forced Carthage to move inland, Carthage had enough and refused. This made Rome declare war against Carthage. The Carthaginians “turned every open space into a weapon workshop”. For three years, Carthage held up against the mighty force of Rome. The city finally fell in 146 B.C., when it was burned to the ground and the survivors were sold to slavery. 

"Rome Wasn't Built in a Day"- The Gladiators

“Rome wasn’t built in a Day” 
(Great Things take time)

 - The Gladiators -

  By Suryatej Vakkalanka

“Of the thousands of men who ended up in the arena, the vast majority were either prisoners of war, criminals, or slaves.” As the Roman Empire grew through battle, defeated captives were forced to fight in the Colosseum. After they entered Rome, the foreigners were auctioned off to be slaves. The biggest and strongest were sent to gladiator schools to be trained as gladiators. The Emperor flashed a thumbs-up if a fighter earned his freedom, although a gladiator had to wait for the occasional thumbs-down to kill another unlucky gladiator. Although criminals, slaves, and captives were forced to be gladiators, it was amazing to think ordinary people volunteered to be gladiators. Citizens did this because, if anybody fought as a gladiator honorably enough, they would receive a ‘rudius’, a wooden baton. It was considered an honorable award, and the fighter could get loads of money if he came back after he received the rudius. Occasionally a nobleman would dare to fight in the Colosseum. This would make the audience go crazy, but it was shameful to his fellow nobles. The only thing that was more bizarre was when an emperor fought in the Gladiator. Their opponents were treated badly before the battle, even drugged. The Emperor Commodus even paid himself 1,000,000 sesterces for each battle he participated in. Later, because of christianity growing in Rome, Emperor Constantine ended gladiator games in 404 B.C.. Today, there are representations of Gladiator fights in illegal chicken fights and robot fights.

The Retiarius is one of “The most readily identifiable of all the gladiators…” (Suetonius,) who is depicted to like like a fisherman. Until 100 A.D., there were no official records about this particular gladiator. The Retiarius became popular when he started to fight the Secutor, becoming one of the common pairs of gladiator history. The Retiarius was a unique type of gladiator because he was ocean-themed, and other Gladiators’ origins were elsewhere. His trident was used as his primary weapon, and his net was used to capture the enemy. A dagger was his secondary weapon, used in an emergency. The Retiarius’ armor consisted only of a loincloth as his main garment, and a metal shoulder-guard as his armor.

Known as the most heavily harmed gladiator, the Crupellarius originated from Gaul. Like the Retiarius, the Crupellarius was first mentioned in 100 A.D.. The crupellarius wore a bucket-like helmet, finished off with a lightweight sword and a rounded rectangle-shaped shield. As described by the historian Tacitus, the Gallic gladiators fought against the Roman legionaries. They were “slaves training to be gladiators. Completely encased in iron...crupellarii, as they were called, were too clumsy for offensive purposes but impregnable in defense...Romans used axes and mattocks and struck at their plating...Others knocked down the immobile gladiators with poles or pitchforks…”.    

The Murmillo got his name from the Greek word for a type of fish, as many modern sources indicated. Quintilian recorded a Retiarius addressing a Murmillo by saying “It’s not you I’m after, it’s your fish; why are you running away from me, Gaul?” The fish he was talking about was the one on a Murmillos’ typical helmet. Other than that, the helmet’s features included a high angular crust and broad curved brim. The Murmillo and Secutor shared the same loincloth clothing, right arm and left leg pads, straight sword, and curved rectangular shield.

"Rome Wasn't Built in a Day"- The Colosseum

“Rome wasn’t built in a Day” 
(Great Things take time)

 - The Colosseum -

  By Suryatej Vakkalanka

If you lived in Ancient Rome, it was common to watch land and sea battles and at the Colosseum, whether you were a poor artisan or a rich noble. The Roman Colosseum was built 2,000 years ago, and is still an amazing sight today, emphasizing Roman glory and strength.

After Vespasian fought against the Jews, he was crowned emperor of Rome in 69 A.D. Titus (Vespasian’s son) laid siege to Jerusalem during Passover, on 14 April 70 A.D. Titus easily won, as he had far more troops. During the siege, Titus also purposely ordered his troops to burn down and loot the ‘Temple of Jerusalem’. This event in history is known as the ‘Siege of Jerusalem’- the decisive battle of the ‘First Jewish-Roman War’. The ‘Great Revolt’, also known as the ‘First Jewish-Roman War’, was the first rebellion of the three major rebellions during 66-136 A.D. involving the Jews and the Romans. When Titus came back to Rome in June 71 A.D., he was greatly appreciated for defeating the Jews. Vespasian was also appreciated because he was giving back the glorious space where Nero had built his palace, to the public. Livy wrote “On the site of that Golden Palace, he decreed, would be built a new amphitheater where the public could enjoy gladiatorial combats and other forms of entertainment”.

Although Vespasian ordered the construction of the majestic sight to begin, he died before it was finished. As a result, Titus took over at 79 A.D., and succeeded his father by finishing the construction of the grand amphitheater, which took eight years to complete. The Colosseum was built by slaves taken from the Jewish war who helped master craftsmen. To commemorate this special event, Titus held a festival including ‘100 days of games’. One year later, in 81 A.D., Domitian (Titus’s brother,) became emperor. He erected the ‘Arch of Titus’ at the foot of the Palatine hill to honor his brother’s and father’s victories at the Jewish war. The ‘Arch of Titus’ is believed to be built with the money gained from the ‘Temple of Jerusalem’.   

As well as being in the center of Rome, the Colosseum is one of the few early free-standing amphitheaters. Being the largest amphitheater in Rome itself, the magnificent building stretched 620 feet long and 513 feet wide, rising 150 feet upwards. “It enclosed an arena about as long as a modern football field”. The exterior of this grand building contained three stories of arches in the stone walls, otherwise the structure would have collapsed under its own weight. There were also semi-circular-columns that supported the arches. The columns had a style for each story, which was the Doric, Ionic, and finally Corinthian order. Moving on to the interior, the Colosseum held more than 50,000 spectators, all while seating them within ten minutes of arriving. The seating arrangement depended on their rank- the Emperor sat closest to the arena, in the ‘Imperial Box’. Then the nobles, the common people and lastly the slaves and women in the nose-bleeding seats. Because the Romans couldn’t have possibly fit a wooden roof over the wide space of the Colosseum, they constructed a canvas awning. The entertainment mostly included gladiator and naval battles, with the exception of earlier plays. Beneath the sandy floor were over 28 lifts that hoisted animals up to the surface.

After four centuries, the public stopped adoring the Colosseum, and by the 20th century, two-thirds of the original Colosseum was destroyed because of earthquakes and lightning. Restoration efforts started in the 1990’s, and it is now a major tourist attraction.    

 

"Rome Wasn't Built in a Day"- The Real Founding of Rome

“Rome wasn’t built in a Day” 
(Great Things take time)

 - The Real Founding of Rome -

  By Suryatej Vakkalanka

During 616 and 509 B.C., Rome was a monarchy, ruled by kings. Apart from that, there were two classes of people: the patricians, who were wealthy landowners, and the plebeians, who were poor merchants. Further described, patricians originated from the Latin word ‘patres’, which meant father, referring to the fact that they chose the “fathers” of the city. They made up only five percent of the population of Rome, and had much of the say in government. Plebeians, on the other hand, originated from the Latin word ‘plebs’, which means many, and it also supported the fact that they made up for 95 percent of the population. In addition, plebeians had no say in government because they were laborers, shopkeepers, and artisans. Overtime, patricians resented the royal family’s rule, and finally  overthrew the (now cruel) ‘Tarquin Family’, including ‘Tarquinius Superbus’. After that, the patricians set up a republic for the people of Rome.

The republic of Rome was supposed to “serve the people”, and it did: to the patricians. After the republic was set, the patricians created a senate and two consuls as their leaders, who represented their own interests in court. On the contrary, nothing changed for the plebeians, as they still (forcefully) served in the army, and had to pay ‘heavy taxes’. More importantly, “...since laws were not written down anymore, patricians often changed and interpreted them to their own interests”. As a result, the ‘Conflict of the Orders’ began, which lasted from 494 to 287 B.C..   This conflict involved plebeians demanding more rights to themselves. In 494 B.C., the plebeians had had their last straw, and refused to serve in the military army unless their demands were met. Livy, an ancient Roman historian, wrote “There was great panic in the city...people left in the city...uncertain whether they should...stay or...depart”. “What were to be the consequences...if, in the meantime, any foreign war should break out?”

           Because the patricians didn’t want to take the risk of being unprotected in war, they made some exceptions for the plebeians. First off, the plebeians were now allowed to have 10 officials, called the ‘Tribunes of the Plebs’, who represented the “...plebeian interests to the Senate”. Furthermore, they also had the ‘Council of the Plebs’. Plebeians also demanded that laws be written down, so patricians wouldn’t change them. The result were laws inscribed on 12 wooden tablets, set in the public, which became known as ‘The Twelve Tables’. Plebeians still wanted power in the government, because compared to the patricians, they were weak. In 367 B.C., a law passed that one of the two consuls has to be a plebeian, and finally, in 287 B.C., the Roman democracy became equal when the Citizens’ Assemblies (all male adult Roman citizens and Council of Plebs) were allowed to pass laws that “...affected the entire society, instead of just the plebeians.”

As plebeians and patricians became more equal, Rome slowly turned into a true democracy. The interests of both classes came to be represented in the government, and action’s of some classes were balanced by others. Even the U.S. got its idea of ‘democracy’ from the Greeks and the Romans, from its senate of the 300, to electing consuls (or presidents, in this case).

"Rome Wasn't Built in a Day"- The Mythical Foundings of Rome

“Rome wasn’t built in a Day” 
(Great Things take time)

 - The Mythical Foundings of Rome -

  By Suryatej Vakkalanka

Many ancient civilizations created myths to explain how they began, and one of the myths the Romans created was “The myth of Romulus and Remus”. This myth dated back to April 21st, 753 B.C, close to when Rome was actually founded. It all started when Numitor, king of Alba Longa was overthrown by his brother, Amulius, and ordered Numitor’s daughter, Rhea Silvia, to become a vestal virgin. This meant she would not give birth, but she and the god Ares had twins, who were the mighty Romulus and Remus. Enraged, Amulius ordered Silvia to drown the babies in the Tiber river. Although, they survived with the guidance of Tiberinus “the father of the river”, and Mars, their father  

Romulus and Remus washed ashore at the foot of the Palatine hill, where Lupus, a she-wolf, took them in. After they were a bit older, the shepherd Faustulus raised them to be strong, helpful adults. Although, they were furious when they learned that Amulius overthrew their grandfather, and went to their birthplace to restore their grandfather’s power. While coming back to Faustulus’s village, they decided to build a city to celebrate their grandfather’s victory. Even though they worked together with the creation of the city, naming it was a problem. As a result, Romulus killed his brother, Remus, and named the city after himself, which was Rome. In retrospect, the people of Rome also might have liked Rome better than “Reme”, as it sounded fiercer.

Another myth of Rome’s beginnings is called The Aeneid, which was written by Virgil, an ancient Roman poet. This is described as a sequel to the world-famous Iliad, except in a different direction (because the Iliad already has sequel, the Odyssey). In the Iliad, after the Greeks destroyed Troy, half a dozen people-including Aeneas’s father (Anchises), son (Ascanius,) were lead by Aeneas. Directed by the hearth gods, Aeneas was told to find a new city in the Italian Peninsula. Although, Hera threw them off their course because Paris didn’t choose her as the most beautiful goddess, and they were Paris’s fellow Trojans. At last, they landed in African city of Carthage. There, Dido was the founder and queen, and took them in. Aeneas told his story of how the Trojans fled from Troy, and he was destined to found a new city, although he accidentally wound up here. Feeling sympathy for him, Dido married Aeneas, and he stayed there for a period of time, enjoying the luxuries of Carthage. Later, the hearth gods reminded him of his duties, so he set sail for Italy. Meanwhile, Dido was depressed that Aeneas left, so she gathered all his belongings, stood on the summit, and stabbed herself with his sword.

Again, bad weather blew Aeneas’s ship around, but they finally make it to Sicily, the largest Mediterranean island. There, they held a funeral for Anchises, Aeneas’s father, and Aeneas went to the underworld and saw that if he built Rome, the descendants of him will make him proud. Instantly, he went back up and resumed his journey upcoast, to the region of Latium. Latinus, the king, greeted Aeneas’s people, and was about to marry Aeneas to Lavinia, his daughter, when Turnus came. Turnus wanted to marry Lavinia too, thus a quarrel started between them both. It turned to a war when  Ascanius (Aeneas’s son,) killed a deer of Turnus’s men. To get help, Aeneas went to some tribes who were angry at Turnus. The war started, and after sometime, Turnus killed Pallas, the son of the tribes’ king. Angry at this, Aeneas went one-on-one with Turnus and killed him, thus ending the war. After the battle, Aeneas married Lavinia, and found the city of Rome, becoming the first king.

My best "Raspberry Pi" experience

Hello Guys!

Today, I will be telling you about my first two visits to an event called 'Design_Code_Build', which was located in the Computer History Museum, Mountain View, CA. The main aim was to learn about a computer called Raspberry Pi, which is one of the tiniest of the world. You can buy it at any store for about $30-$40. As a matter of fact, I decided to buy it so I could learn about Raspberry Pi even after the classes ended.

My first visit to this event was really interesting. When I arrived there, a got a free T-shit (so epic) and then I went into an auditorium, where the event started. After the introduction, our team (which consisted of 10 people) where assigned to create an avatar. Because we didn't even know each other, we didn't really come up with much of an avatar (unless you consider a blank board an avatar).
After that, we ate gummy bears and goldfish for snack. Then, we looked at a few exhibits, which consisted of a huge supercomputer and music-recording devices, such as audio-cassettes and mp3 payers. Then, we got hands-on with an activity that required us to interact with a raspberry pi computer. In this specific activity, we made sound with a computer, monitor, mouse, keyboard, and speaker. The program we used was called Sonic Pi. After this interesting activity, my teammates and I listened to a speech by David Fradin (but trust me, this was not a boring speech). He is a really cool guy, and Google him up if you want to learn more. Finally, my favorite part of the day came: lunch! My team was so hungry that we were literally drumming the table before we got to eat. After the delicious lunch, my whole group did a maze activity, where you had to go around a labyrinth with your partner's help; but you had to close your eyes. We were supposed to relate this to when we gave commands to a computer in the sound activity. Later, we looked at some more exhibits about Wikipedia and iTunes. At the end of the day, we participated in an activity where we had to make a play, which portrayed everything we learned today. As I had a loud voice, my team eventually picked me as the narrator. At the end of the day, we got one more survey before we were allowed to go home.

The second day was a bit more advanced, as we spent more time at the computer. All we literally did this day was 'Design_Code_Build'. I came to the entrance as usual, and got another T-shirt for free (again, so epic). We started off that day with a few more exhibits. These, on the other hand, were about the Hollerinth census machine and a teapot that was created using 3-D computer modeling. After these interesting inventions, we had gummies and goldfish. Then, we used computer coding to illuminate an LED light. After sometime, we listened to another speaker. She talked about NASA and trying new things. We got to eat lunch outside, and I enjoyed it this time because my friend was sitting with me. Next, my team continued the LED project by making it turn on with a button, and then we designed a slide so a golf ball could roll down and hit the button. The day finished with a trip around the museum, with my family.

My third visit was right before Father's Day, so dads (or moms) were welcomed to come with their children. To start the day off, we participated in an activity that needed us to write down the steps of a task (such as brushing your teeth, cleaning your room, or making coffee). Then, we ate Scooby-doo gummies (you should totally buy those) and goldfish for snack. After that refreshment, we made an LED light glow. Because my dad was really fond of computers and coding, him and I finished faster than anyone else, and even tried to light up multiple lights. After that challenge,we looked at some exhibits, which included the homebrew computer club. Then, we came back inside the auditorium to listen to a lecture by Mr, Vijay, who works at Broadcom Foundation. Finally, I got my lunch, which was the same as before. The only difference this time was they gave a plain white cookie instead of the traditional chocolate-chip. After lunch, I participated in a Sonic Pi activity (if you want to play with Sonic Pi, go to sonic-pi.net). Next, we looked at some other exhibits (which, by the way, I already looked at a hundred times). The day came to an end with another activity, better described as a play. It was basically a re-creation of the first activity of the day. The last day of Design_Code_Build ended with a snack (which I loved). 

My Last Day of 6th Grade

Hello Guys!
How are you? I wanted to notify you about my status this week. First off, I got my grades in, which were mostly A's (go me!). My parents were also pleased with my 4.0 GPA. I also finally finished my Social Studies Magazine, which I was working on for over a month. This is the cover page of the magazine:


The last day of school was really exciting, but it was also sad because my favorite teacher, Mr. Palla, was retiring. Over the years, I realized this has been a really fun and interesting year for me. I had all my teachers and friends sign a yearbook-like paper:


After summer started, I started to go to a 'Raspberry Pi camp', and not the pie-eating kind. I learned a bit about Raspberry Pi, which was actually a computer. Inspired by the program, my dad bought an actual Raspberry Pi computer for me to practice at home. I am really excited to open it tomorrow.

Another cool thing about the beginning of my summer was that I finally got a gold metallic fidget spinner, which looked like this:

 

My First blog

Hello,

This is my first blog

I will be updating my daily plans and activities on this awesome blog!