Faces: People, Places, and Cultures articles from December 2007

Faces: People, Places, and Cultures archives from December 2007

Mystery photo.(Brief article)
December 1, 2007... Mmm... what is this? Answer to Mystery Photo on inside front cover: This is a close-up view of the skin of a panther chameleon, just one of the amazing animals found in Madagascar. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

High 5.
December 1, 2007... Follow me on a journey around the world from Australia to Zimbabwe. Learn about the thousands of clay warriors buried beneath the earth. Visit a Taiwanese teahouse to share stories over "bubble tea." Here are five fascinating facts to start you...

Koalas Kangaroos, and more.(CRITTER CORNER)
December 1, 2007... Australia has many amazing animals. Huge oceans separate the land "Down Under" from the other continents. Thus, until recently, its wildlife has had little competition from outside species. Hop to It! Australia has about 50 kinds of...

Bolivia: salt seeing.
December 1, 2007... Guests staying at the Salt Hotel in Bolivia may see a sign that reads... Please do not lick the walls The reason is that the hotel is made almost entirely of salt. More than one visitor has been caught taking a taste of the walls. ...

Cambodia: Angkor Wat.
December 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Located on a vast plain north of the Tonle Sap ("Great Lake") in northwestern Cambodia, the temple of Angkor Wat was once the center of the Khmer Empire. Its massive scale, balanced proportions, and intricate...

Denmark: The Little Mermaid.
December 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] When you think of Rome, you might picture the Colosseum. Think of New York City, and the Empire State Building comes to mind. When many people picture Copenhagen, the Little Mermaid is among their first images. "The...

El Salvador: Joya de Ceren.(Geographic overview)
December 1, 2007... The earth began to quiver. The earth continued to shake and rattle, and finally, with a big bang, El Salvador's Ilopango Volcano blew its top on a June night in A.D. 260 (creating the world's largest crater lake, with a shoreline of about 50...

France: the Eiffel Tower.
December 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The Eiffel Tower was built by French engineer Alexandre-Gustave Eiffel for the 1889 International Exposition, which was held in Paris. Constructed of about 6,945 tons of wrought iron, it was the tallest structure in...

Greece: Athens then and now.(City overview)
December 1, 2007... Imagine you are a citizen of Athens, enjoying a warm Mediterranean night in the Theater of Herodes Atticus. You are wearing jeans and a T-shirt, listening to a great concert. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Now rewind this picture 1,845 years....

Hongkong from the inside out.(Geographic overview)(Brief article)
December 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Fresh fish for sale! Fish is a favorite food for people in Hong Kong--some eat it as four times a week. Are you visiting Hong Kong? Most tourists stay on y a few days, There is a lot of Hong Kong you can...

Iceland: Vatnajokull Glacier.(Country overview)
December 1, 2007... Vatnajokull (VAT-na-yer-kull) Glacier in Iceland, the largest glacier in Europe, sits atop an upland plateau, a high area with a flat top. The eastern part of Iceland, known as Oraefasveit (ER-ay-va-svate), is the most accessible part of...

Jerusalem: a walk through the holy city.(City overview)
December 1, 2007... A walk through Jerusalem is like a walk through time. The skyline is made up of buildings and monuments built thousands of years ago. There are also newer, more modern structures. Put on your walking shoes and join the tour! [ILLUSTRATION...

Kauai, Hawaii: the rainiest place on earth.(Geographic overview)
December 1, 2007... Is there a pot of gold at the end of this rainbow? Well, if you go hunting for it, bring your umbrella because on this island about 38 feet of rain falls each year--so you might get wet without one. A monster volcano erupted up from the...

One square mile: the historic city of London.(City overview)
December 1, 2007... Within Greater London, the onequare-mile area known as "the City" sits atop the remains of both Roman and medieval towns. Besides containing many of Great Britain's oldest buildings, the City is packed with color and fascinating stories. ...

Madagascar: the unique island.(Country overview)
December 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATIONS OMITTED] On the map you will find Madagascar lying most 300 miles off the southeastern coast of Africa. Even beside the continent looks large, and at a thousand miles long (as far as from New York City to Minneapolis or from...

Nepal: the roof of the world.(Geographic overview)
December 1, 2007... Mount Everest lies in the eastern Himalaya, the world's greatest mountain chain. The Himalaya stretch about 1,500 miles east to west along the border of Nepal and Tibet. Laid down on the continental United States, the Himalaya would cover a...

Ontario: the play's the thing.(City overview)
December 1, 2007... What's in a name? For the small southern Ontario city of Stratford, its name may well have decreed its destiny. Although it cannot claim William Shakespeare as its own, as does its namesake (Stratford-uponAvon) in England, it can boast one of...

Touring Poland's Skansens.(Country overview)
December 1, 2007... The best way to experience the way of life of the Polish people and to see how they lived in the past is to visit one of Poland's many skansens--the Swedish word for northern Europe's open-air cultural museums. No matter what area of Poland you...

Quebec: to Montreal!(City overview)
December 1, 2007... Montreal, the urban center of the province of Quebec, is an exciting place where North American culture and French culture--not to mention many other cultures--mingle freely. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Across the Canadian border, signs in...

Russia: Lake Baikal: Siberia's vast treasure.(Geographic overview)
December 1, 2007... The ice on this lake is so thick during winter that, in its rush to complete a railroad during a 1904 war with Japan, Russia thought it could build the railroad right on top of it. What lake is this? Lake Baikal (buy-KALL), found in...

South Africa: Cape Town.(City overview)
December 1, 2007... The city of Cape Town, South Africa, has been a melting pot of many people m from Africa, Asia, and Europe. Cape-Town is one of the world's most South Africa's second largest city, and home to South Africa's parliament. With its...

Taiwan: a visit to a Taiwanese Teahouse.(Country overview)
December 1, 2007... The air is thick with mosquitoes tonight. Sitting at a table outside the teahouse, an elderly man swats absent-mindedly at his legs in between sips of tea. Across the table, his friend ignores the mosquitoes and the tea completely, so intent is...

Ukraine: Vacationing in the Crimea.(Geographic overview)
December 1, 2007... The Crimea, called Krym (krim) in Russian, is a peninsula thrusting into the Black Sea on the southern coast of the Ukraine. It connects to the mainland by an isthmus, a very narrow strip of land, between the Black Sea to the west and the Sea...

Vatican City today.(Country overview)
December 1, 2007... Stato della Citta del Vaticano (the State of Vatican City) is one-eighth the size of New York City's Central Park, one-fourth the size of Monaco, and smaller than the average 400-home suburban neighborhood. Vatican guides report that most...

Washington, D.C.: let's tour the White House.(Landmark overview)
December 1, 2007... A bit of history before we begin... President John Adams moved into the White House on November 1, 1800. Back when the Adamses moved in, the building was called the President's House. It was the largest house in America. Abigail Adams said...

Ask faces!
December 1, 2007... Here is your chance to send us your questions about people, places, and cultures from all over the world. Each month, our experts will answer several questions from readers like you. Want to know where the world's highest mountain is located?...

Around the world.(Brief article)
December 1, 2007... Word Search Can you find the names of places around the world hidden in the grid? Look up, down, across, backward, and diagonally. Angkor Wat Athens Australia Copenhagen El Salvador Everest Hawaii Hong Kong Iceland Jerusalem London...

Face facts.(Brief article)
December 1, 2007... New York's Times Square, which receives an estimated 35 million visitors a year, is considered the world's most frequented tourist attraction. NEI HO! KONNICHIWA! BONJOURNO! HEJ! SHALOM! CIAO! HOLA! ...

Xian, China: Shi Huang-ti's tomb.
December 1, 2007... Chinese peasants digging a we near Xi'an in the central province of Shaanxi in March of 1974 found some unusual pottery fragments. Then, deeper down at 11 feet, they unearthed a head made of terracotta (baked earth or clay). They notified the...

Yucatan: the ancient city of Tulum.(City overview)(Brief article)
December 1, 2007... Have you ever wondered where people worshipped long ago? Today, on the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico, you can visit the ruins of one of these ancient places. It is Tulum, a sacred city of the Maya Indians. Built in the 1200s, it is a place where...

Zimbabwe: untombinde and the haunted pool.(Play)
December 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Cast of Characters: Narrator, Untombinde, King, Queen, Maiden 1, Maiden 2, Maiden 3, Monster Narrator: Long ago, near the boundaries of the great kingdom, a monster lived in the depths of a haunted pool. Though...

Airport art.(Art Connection)(Brief article)
December 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] You may not think of art when you think of airports, but many airports around the world exhibit art, including sculptures and movie posters. Below left is airport artwork that celebrates the historic culture of...

101 Places You Gotta See Before You're 12.(Brief article)(Children's review)(Book review)
December 1, 2007... 101 Places You Gotta See Before You're 12 by Joanne O'Sullivan Sadly, I am not 12 anymore, and there are a lot of things that I would have loved to have done before my 13th birthday. One of those things would have been to read 101 Places...

Say what?(Brief article)
December 1, 2007... from May FACES: China [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] "Na, na, na, na. na. You can't catch me!" --skatergirl, via e-mail "This is the 15th time my tongue has swollen up after I've eaten those berries... could I be allergic?" ...

Say what?(One Last Face)
December 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Fill in the speech bubble for this photograph. The best entries will be published in an upcoming issue! Send your captions to facesmag@yahoo.com.

Picture (im)perfect.(Brief article)
December 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATIONS OMITTED] Our shutterbug tourist loves to take pictures, but sometimes he doesn't always get the best shpt. Can you figure out what landmark or animal he has captured on film and then match it up with the country he took the...