Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Dear Mr. Jefferson,

Dear Mr. Jefferson,
The journey was the Corps at its best. The journey was America at its best. America was at its best when we were creating friendships with many Indian tribes across the land. America was at its best when crossing the great mountains, persisting on getting to the other side. America was at its best when we had enough trust to have an Indian women with a baby help lead us from one ocean to the other. America was at its best when a black man and a women voted for the first time! I believe that America will grow so much because of this expedition. I am extremely excited to see what future has in store for us. We've already completed so much!
For my weekly labors, discoveries…for all my endeavors that have been brought to this journey, I believe that I should be paid the grade of an A-.

With much gratitude,
Mary Kujan

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

April 6, 2009

Today is the last day before Clark and I start our trek. I am filled with excitment and hope. I am relaxing here in Thomas Jefferson's sitting room with Seaman, enjoying some delectible english muffins and jam, a favorite here at Monticello. Here is the recipe:

2 1/2 cups bread flour
4 teaspoons active dry yeast
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1 1/2 cups warm milk or water
2 tablespoons melted butter or oil
1 cup whole wheat flour
Brown rice flour

Combine 1 1/2 cups of the bread flour, the yeast, salt, and sugar in a mixing bowl. Stir in the milk and butter and beat at low speed for about 1 minute. Beat for 2 minutes.

Add the remaining bread flour and the whole wheat flour to make a dough. Beat well for 3 to 5 minutes. If too stiff for the mixer, beat by hand with a wooden spoon, 5 to 7 minutes. Mix until smooth. The mixture will be too sticky to knead. Place in an oiled bowl and let rise until doubled, about 50 minutes.

Dust a greased baking sheet with brown rice flour. Shape the dough into 12 rounds, about 4 inches across and 3/4 inch thick. Cover with a clean dishtowel and let rise for 35 to 40 minutes, or until doubled in height. Muffins will lose their shape if they rise too long.

Bake the muffins in a heavy skillet or on a griddle over stove, 8 to 10 minutes on each side. Turn more than once if muffins appear to brown too fast.

Monday, April 6, 2009

March 8, 2009 Crew members:

Here are my crewmembers and how/why they can be helpful:

Marandah~

Firstly, she loves to cook and can cook very efficiently. This will come in handy because, while on the expedition, it is absolutely necessary to have a steady, reliable, and fast cook. Also, she has a lot of energy that she can channel to whatever necessary, which is important because she will not tire out quickly. Also, she is very optimistic, and can cheer up any crewmember. She is very good with children and has to ability to communicate with them effectively, which is a valuable skill.

Her endeavor is to find as many different fashion styles as possible and document them in a journal. She believes that she can tell a lot about people just from what there culture wears. Also, I hope to find as many recipes as possibly possible. I want to be able to come back from the expedition and share what I learned with all my friends and family in a way everyone will enjoy: food.

Christian~

He thinks that his brave attitude will be very encouraging and will encourage others to become brave. One time when he was playing a basketball game he was playing against this big tall kid who was literally 6 foot. Everyone was scared to guard him. So when people were calling out whom they were going to guard he called out the big guy. Even though he seems like the big brave guy, he also has a way with children. He has much experience with children and he can connect with them because he knows what it is like to be one. When he was baby sitting his little cousin who was 2 years old he started to cry, but then he remembered his mom telling him that when he was a baby he used to like a bottle of warm milk and it would put him right to sleep. So he gave his little cousin a bottle of warm milk and he fell asleep right in my arms.
He would want to endeavor many thing along the way. He really has an ear for music. He loves music, all kinds of music. So he would probably collect some music every were we stopped along the way. He is also very interested in animals, so it would be very cool to discover a grizzly bear along the way because he has never seen one before in real life just on T.V.



Dan~

He can be a good cook, if there is somebody hovering over him saying "stop cooking it" that's enough of that. If know one's doing that, he hopes you like your food a little bit over cooked. He's a tireless worker when he's not extremely tired. He would hope to discover new places, new weather, new foods, and more. He would collect all types. He would collect different types of things, like snow globes, knick-knacks, kuchina dolls, rocks, seashells, and other stuff.

Drew~

He is very good at magic. He is extremely good with children. He can play video games like no ones business. He wants to collect video games, children, and magic during our expedition!

Jonathan~

He will eat anything (especially donuts). He works really well with "little kids"; he is the oldest out of all of his extended family. He is an okay cook (pancakes, burgers, the easy stuff). He also likes to experiment with food: hot sauce on Oreos and milk, lime juice, hot sauce and other gross stuff like that. If his mom were writing this she would say that he has an excessive amount of sarcasm.

He hopes to discover recipes, food, and forms of currency, music and artwork.

Kendall~

I'm very into fashion. If anybody has any problems with their clothes (like their favorite shirt rips or their best pants get a hole in them) I'll be right there to fix them up and make their once-ripped clothes look better than ever. I would also be able to make entirely new outfits from scratch using fabrics I find or buy along the way or bring with me. That way, everyone would get a couple new things to wear every once and a while. I also think that along our long journey I will be able to become friends with just about everyone by keeping people laughing. Being funny is one of my best qualities, and it really comes in handy at times.


I also love photography- especially black and white photography. Along the way, I'd be sure to take pictures everywhere we went. For me, taking pictures is really fun, plus you can keep memories with you forever. And, like they say: A picture's worth a thousand words. Also, I'd love to see the different styles of clothing people where all the different places we'll travel. I think it'll be amazing to see the diversity of clothing throughout the different areas of the country

Sierra~

She is well suited for the upcoming journey because she has skills such as being good at communicating with new people, being good with young children, and having an interest in fashion. In the past, she has used these skills to do things such as making new friends, acquaintances, and contacts, babysitting and helping friends take care of their siblings, working at a high-end fashion boutique for a week, and giving others fashion advice.
Her hope for our trip is that she can meet new people, learn about their cultures, and perhaps learn new languages. She would also like to learn about different types of music and record new music. The last thing she would like to do is learn about different cultures fashion tastes, and bring some samples of their clothing/fashion back home.


Nick~

One of the talents that he will bring on the trip is keeping the team in shape (mentally). In other words he will be the one to start games, sing songs, and make jokes. That is because he loves messing around in boring situations. Basically he'd be the entertainer.

He hopes to collect their music, samples of their fashion and style, their religion and beliefs, their languages, and their survival techniques.

TJ~

Talents he will bring to the group include computer tech, video and film experience and creative building. He has a knack for building things that work for a very inexpensive price. Problem solving, fishing and cooking are also skills of his. He loves to cook and will always find a good reason to cook something for others, especially dessert.
His endeavor on the trip of the Corps of ReDiscovery is to collect drawings, and some observations and enjoy the wonders of architecture. He also hopes to collect some interesting films, drawings and photos of animals. He has a particular interest in marine animals.

Skylar~

I have many useful talents and skills, but I think those that would be most helpful on this adventure are my accuracy with a gun, my ability to successfully scavenge for medicinal herbs and plants, and my astronomy skills.

When he was very young, he and his dad would go hunting and ninety-five percent of the time, no matter how small or far away the prey, he would shoot my target in the eye for an instant kill. There were many times when he and his dad got separated and he was forced to live alone in the wild for multiple days.
While living in the wild, he gained great survival skills, such as scavenging for food. This allowed him to find food with his bare hands, no tools, nothing; also by doing this he found many edible plants. He has also learned about natural herbs and medicines from local Indian chiefs. He hopes to find new herbs that he will bring back home to use as new medicines. These new medicines will hopefully be able to help cure diseases and illnesses.
His dad also taught him astronomy. This proved to be helpful, when he was thirteen and was being chased by a pack of wolves at night. His hunting skills helped his take out the wolves and his understanding of the night skies helped him navigate his way safely home.


Sophie B. ~


She is talkative and in a positive mood most of the time so when we hit hardships in the journey she would lift the gloom out of the air. She can learn new languages quickly so she could help translate to others. She would hope to find journals of old tribes or jewelry from Indians.

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Febuary 25, 2009

Dear Capton John,
Here are some of my sills and talents that I think may be usefull to your ship. Something that I like to do (and do often) is to watch over little children. About a year ago I watched a two year old child twice a week for 8 months.I could baby sit some kids on your boat. I am also a musicianist, I play violen, piano, and guitar.I've been playing violen for about six and a half years, piano for about one year, and guitar one year.
During my travels, I would like to discover new foods, new animals and a variaty of different art medias.

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Introduction

Dear Mr. Jefferson...