Powerful Words From a Brave Young Girl

Tonight we watched the movie, The Diary of Anne Frank as a family. We've been reading this story for a few months now (usually at bedtime) and I just have to say how moving and emotional it has been for all of us. At first we weren't sure if Jada (only 7) would be ready for such a serious theme (The Holocaust and WWII) but after talking to my mom and getting some ideas to help prepare the kids, we knew we should go ahead with it anyways. In preparation for the Amsterdam portion of our trip, we knew we needed to read this so we could better understand when we visit the annex. My mom taught this novel in school for many years (she was a teacher), so she had a variety of ideas to share. She suggested we go to the library and check out the book, The Sneetches, by Dr. Seuss. If you don't know, this book is basically about how a group of people think they are better than another group of people and how they mark them as inferior to this supposed "superior" group. We read this as sort of an introductory, then talked to Alia and Jada more specifically about WWII. We explained how Hitler led a group of people who strongly opposed Jews and other groups of people and how they violently persecuted them even to the point of death.

When we began the book, The Diary of Anne Frank, Jada struggled a bit. She had a TON of questions and needed a lot of clarification. We did our best to explain things on her level and she surprisingly did well and understood more than we thought she would. As we continued to read, we found ourselves more and more engrossed and feeling as though we were part of the Frank family hiding right along with them. Anne was about 12-14 years of age during their hiding, so Alia (being 12) had a more unique perspective than the rest of us. This girl was just about her age. We talked about how it might feel to have to leave all that you know, including your home, friends, school and possessions to go into hiding not knowing when or if you would make it out alive. This family was just like any other family. They had their good and their bad days, and being stashed away from the outdoors and life as they knew it, couldn't have been easy. I don't want to spoil it for any that haven't read it, but this is a POWERFUL book. It is truly unique in that it is told through a young teenager's eyes, but the message is raw and real. I definitely recommend this book to anyone that is looking for a powerful story of endurance, courage and faith.

My favorite part is Anne's resounding last few words in her diary. Despite it all, she says, " It's difficult in times like these: ideals, dreams and cherished hopes rise within us, only to be crushed by grim reality. It's a wonder I haven't abandoned all my ideals, they seem so absurd and impractical. Yet I cling to them because I still believe, in spite of everything, that people are truly good at heart." Powerful words from a brave young girl.

Practice Makes Perfect

Many people have asked us what we are doing to prepare for all the different languages we will be encountering while in Europe. Well, we haven't been as dedicated as we need to be, but some of the language apps that we have used have been super helpful. Duolingo is one I highly recommend. It's basically a language learning app that gives you multiple languages to choose from. We started out a few months ago trying to learn German as a family. Duolingo has a great reward system using points and medals when you master a certain level. We started by each practicing about 10 minutes a day (You can set it for any amount of time you want and they will email you daily with practice reminders). Jason and Alia got super competitive for a while, waking up each day eager to get their minutes in, trying to stay just a few points in front of the other. ;) Meanwhile, Jada and I hung back in last place, but we got a kick out of watching Dad and Alia compete. Anyhow, it's a free app and I definitely recommend it in case you ever want to learn a new language or even brush up on some rusty high school Espanol.

Another thing we've done is checked out CD's and books from our local library on various countries/languages. We figure the more we know going into this, the better. It's been really fun exploring and learning about different cultures, languages and customs and it gets us super pumped for what lies ahead. On a side note... Our French is terrible, but we are trying!

A few Sundays ago, I was even motivated to create this little Language Collage. I had the girls each draw a picture of the French and German flags and we hung them on our back door (making it easier to see and use). We chose some of the most commonly used words and phrases to create a master list for learning and we've been plugging away with high hopes to be able to communicate. The real test begins when we get there, but we figured we better start practicing now. Anyhow, wish us luck! We're gonna need it. :)