Upaya Zen Center

This past summer I had the good fortune to spend almost a week at the Upaya Zen Center in Santa Fe, NM, first as a guest practitioner and then as a participant in a weekend retreat entitled Transforming Suffering: A Five Energies Approach to Service and Social Change.  As a guest practitioner, I lived, worked, and meditated with the residents and Buddhist priests. We practiced mindfulness as we ate, cleaned, and worked on the grounds, and much of the time was spent in silence. The experience was essentially one of service to the common good as well as an opportunity to deepen our own spiritual practice. The weekend class, led by Buddhist teacher and social activist Fleet Maull, was tailored for people working as caregivers and included chaplains, hospice workers, therapists, doctors, and teachers. Through experiential exercises, reflection, and discussion we explored how to use our wisdom, compassion, courage, clarity, and resilience (the five pillars of Buddhism) to help others cope with their pain and suffering. This training and practice in mindfulness, being fully present with others, and compassionate care-giving will strengthen my ability to be a compassionate and effective teacher and colleague.

ICIE Conference in Paris

I was so fortunate to spend three days this July attending the International Centre for Innovation in Education (ICIE) Conference in Paris. At this conference, a range of speakers from across the globe addressed the topics of creativity, innovation, and excellence in education.

Through the readings, lectures, and conversations shared with other participants, I was able to deeply consider the evolving role of an educator in the 21st century. The world in which we live has changed vastly in recent years. While the vitally important task of educators remains the same - to instruct and mentor students in order to help them develop into engaged, productive, educated citizens of our world - the means of doing so must adapt to meet the demands of our changing world. Skills crucial to success in the 21st century include critical thinking, problem solving, collaboration, creativity, and use of technology. Teachers must create opportunities for students to practice and develop these skills. I am better prepared to do so after attending talks on what these skills are and how to foster and assess them in order to move students from potential to realized talent.

Paris also served as a classroom as I explored this vibrant, beautiful city for the first time. I spent every free moment perusing the Louvre, climbing to the top of the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, and Sacré-Cœur, wandering along the Seine, and exploring historic neighborhoods. I arrived speaking very little French and often felt pushed outside of my comfort zone. I recalled that students studying new concepts can feel as though they've entered foreign territory, and it served as a reminder to always approach these situations with patience and kindness.

Finally, the conference allowed me to visit with former SSSAS teacher turned Dublin literacy consultant, Mollie Cura. Mollie spoke at the conference about conducting Writing Workshop using an inquiry-based model. It was wonderful to reconnect and share ideas with another Saint overseas.

I am incredibly grateful for the Holden Summer Study Grant that made this thought-provoking and unforgettable trip possible. I look forward to sharing what I've learned with my students and fellow teachers this fall.

Former SSSAS teacher Mollie Cura and I

Sunset over the Seine on the Pont des Arts

View from the Notre Dame towers

Notre Dame Cathedral

Louvre Museum

Sacré-Cœur Basilica

Eiffel Tower light display

Education for Sustainability

The Farm Barn, Shelburne Farms

At the end of July I was delighted to head up to Shelburne Farms in scenic Vermont to attend the Summer Institute on Education for Sustainability. For four days I examined the third grade social studies curriculum through the lens of sustainability. I adapted lessons and projects to investigate how "natural and human communities together make up one's place." In small groups comprised of educators from all over the country, we challenged each other to think simpler, to plan more time outside, to use culminating projects to also positively affect our school communities. Local experts discussed outdoor classrooms, emerging Maker Spaces in Vermont, and cooking with children. We made butter by shaking up heavy cream in a jar. We visited farm animals and discussed concepts of interdependence and systems. We played a version of hide-and-go-seek in the vegetable garden. Upon reflecting on the experience I realized that being in such a beautiful and simple place had the biggest impact on me. I returned to Virginia encouraged to foster a deeper understanding of our places, how our environment impacts us and how we impact our environments. 

The Coach Barn, home to the Institute

Fresh cheese and flowers from the Market Garden

I helped shake and make butter!

In the outdoor maker space, we turned these materials...

...into a stove ideal for marshmallow roasting! 

My workspace

Chickens!

Sheep!

Piglets! They were less than one day old. 

Sunset on Lake Champlain

Arctic Ecosystems

This July I was fortunate to travel to and around the Svalbard region of Norway. This is a small archipelago located entirely north of the Arctic Circle; as a result, the area experiences 24-hour daylight in the summer months. The largest town, Longyearbyen (population of roughly 2,000), is located on the island of Spitsbergen at 78° north latitude, roughly halfway between mainland Norway and the North Pole. Here, I boarded a ship that would be my home for the next 11 days. With plenty of warm clothes and a hopeful spirit, we set out to circumnavigate the islands and explore the unknown.

Over the duration of the trip, we hiked on glaciers and tundra, ventured into the pack ice in search of polar bears, witnessed a feeding frenzy with several fin whales and hundreds of kittiwakes, encountered walruses on land and at sea, and walked on pack ice. We also had excellent sightings of blue, sperm, and humpback whales, arctic foxes and reindeer, and sea birds such as puffins. Each day the naturalists on board offered lectures on the local flora and fauna, ice forms, and regional environmental pressures. These sessions were a wonderful chance for me to become a student again as I attempted to write down and soak up every bit of information our guides had to offer.

Although my time in the Arctic was limited, I am confident my memories will last a lifetime. I am deeply grateful for receiving a Holden Summer Study Grant to help me pursue this unforgettable experience. I look forward to sharing my photos, personal experiences, and new-found knowledge of this fragile ecosystem with my 7th grade life science classes.

Pulling our zodiac onto an ice floe.

Excited to see a polar bear up close!

A pod of walrus on a small ice floe.

Feeding frenzy with fin whales, white-beaked dolphins, and kittiwake sea birds.

Heading into the sea ice on a foggy morning.

A polar bear investigates our ship.

 

Presenting at the AATSP Conference in Panamá

Last summer, through the Joan Holden Fellowship, I had the great opportunity to present at a conference in Panama. This annual event, organized by the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese, gathers educators from all corners of Latin America. Thus, it is a wonderful venue to interchange ideas, network and learn from others.

I presented on an innovative instructional model I am developing together with my husband, a fellow passionate educator. It is called F.A.C.E.S, which stands for the five crucial elements we believe have to exist in order to engage students in the classroom. These elements are: FUN, AFFIRMATION, CHALLENGE, EXPRESSION, and SUCCESS. By experiencing these, students can see themselves as the center of the learning process and therefore, experience success.

This presentation allowed me to share my thoughts and experience with others. My ideas were welcomed and I received very good feedback. Once again, I start a new academic year inspired and eager to learn with my students. I am forever grateful to the St. Stephen´s and St. Agnes community for their support and trust. As a proud Saint, I feel blessed to work with wonderful human beings who believe in true and life-long education.

Saints Visual Artist in Bali

ART IN BALI

Every artist is in search of new and creative material and experiences that will inform their own individual creative expression. This kind of exposure undoubtedly impacts classroom instruction.

This, my second APT summer travel grant experience (the first was ten years ago/2004 when I traveled to LaMerridana International Ceramics School in Certaldo, Italy) has taken me to Ubud-pronounced OooBooD, Bali the artist cultural capital of Indonesia.

For the past week I have attended a silversmithing class at Studio Perak-Courses in jewelry Making Fresh Design in Silver in the heart of Bali.

At Studio Perak (Perak means Silver) the owner Pak Ketut personally instructs each three-hour course for approximately six students working at individual stations each equipped with its own set of tools.

The workshop is designed to introduce the novice to traditional Balinese jewelry making techniques. The process requires the use of traditional hand tools (file, drill, pliers of varying sizes, and tweezers) to facilitate individual creative expression.

Two main silversmithing approaches are offered and vary between cutting directly into a silver slab of metal with a hand saw to wrapping silver wire, around a form. Each student is encouraged to create an original design or to use one of Ketut’s as a point of departure. Either way, everyone is afforded the option of enhancing their design by stamping or carving a surface texture into the metal or incorporating semi-precious stones to accentuate their creation.

Polishing and sanding the final piece of jewelry were the only required tasks that demanded electricity; otherwise, hard work and effort determined the outcome of each day. In all I created one ring, a pair of earrings, one pendants, a bracelet and a broach, not bad for a beginner as this is my very first experience making jewelry and working with silver.

This series of silver jewelry is taken from a design motif I created to use as a signature for my ceramic work. There are three major components: head, upper and lower torso. The beads symbolize hair and in totality represent a happy girl. I was challenged to work with plat or otherwise linear material that requires assemblage-torching with a blowpipe. I also had to figure out a way to encase the design for functionality.

Physical Science Tour of Copenhagen and Stockholm

Niels Bohr, Hans Christian Oersted, Svante Arrhenius, Alfred Nobel…..these are a few of the famous scientists I learned about on my trip to Scandinavia this summer.  After reading an article titled “Periodic Table Is New Touchstone of Geek Chic” and learning about the seven different elements discovered near Stockholm, I wanted to learn more about the history of chemistry and physics in Scandinavia.  Turns out there are many famous and not so famous scientists from this region.  Thanks to a grant from the APT, I was able to visit Copenhagen and Stockholm this summer and follow in the footsteps of some of these scientists.  I visited universities, birthplaces, gravesites, parks, courtyards and museums.  I have been teaching about them for years, but standing in Niels Bohr’s office or looking at the actual thermometer made by Celsius reminds me that these are not just names in a textbook but real people who accomplished amazing things.  It also reminds me how new and developing the science I teach is.  The modern atomic theory we take for granted in class is largely a development of the 20^th century.  Looking at the incredible progress of science in that relatively short time makes me excited to see what discoveries the 21^st century will bring.  I am very grateful to the APT for giving me this opportunity and hope that my experiences will help me teach my students how exciting science is.

Sarah Oakes by statue of chemist Carl Wilhelm Scheele in Stockholm

The Advanced iPad Classroom

In June, I attended a workshop for two days at UC Berkeley.  The workshop, appropriately named The Advanced iPad Classroom, was presented by instructors at EdTechTeacher.org, a leading organization focusing on the successful and efficient integration of technology into school curriculums.  The group of educators in my class included school administrators and teachers representing pre-kindergarten through twelfth grades.  The central focus of the workshop was to teach educators how to use the iPad as a powerful tool for creation and to enhance lessons by allowing students to be creators of their own content.  During the workshop, we spent time covering many apps, but we worked primarily with a core group of apps that should be used together to take lessons to new heights of greatness.  The activity is widely-known as App Smashing, or moving a lesson or piece of media back and forth between several different apps to enhance a project in a way the previous app could not.  The video above is an example of a simple app smash that my group worked on during the workshop.  We used a free stop-motion app called Koma Koma to produce a short 'How To' video (we decided on how to play Rock, Paper, Scissors).  Then we pulled the animation into the iMovie app to add audio effects.  We had twenty minutes to plan, produce and complete the project.  No pressure :)

Most of the workshop operated this way.  We would learn about an app, be given an assignment and a short window of time, then we had to produce something quickly.  The workshop was a fast-paced and hands-on approach to learning.  As attendees, we had to step outside our comfort zones and create in a very short period of time, but these "pressure" situations were very beneficial to the group.  We bonded quickly and became happy colleagues for two days.  We were all focused on producing the results we wanted and we helped each other to reach our goals.  The workshop was very well-structured and planned.  There were times we worked in small groups and times we flew solo.  Sometimes we shared our creations with the entire class and other times we partnered-up with one or two other people for peer-to-peer discussions.  Aside from App Smashing, we spent time focusing on App Fluency, The SAMR Model, The TPACK Framework, The Technology Integration Matrix, and a variety of ideas and iPad apps.

My experience was very inspirational and I am grateful to have attended the workshop.  I highly recommend everyone explore EdTechTeacher.org as you consider your upcoming professional development opportunities.

Democratic Republic of Congo

In June I spent a week in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo in and around the cities of Goma and Bukavu along gorgeous Lake Kivu.  I traveled with a group from the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia to listen, learn, and support the work of the Anglican Church in the region. In addition, I was able to visit with friends I have made over the years as I have endeavored to learn about Congo’s complex history and to support the work of Congolese who are rebuilding their communities and working towards lasting peace.

My first full day in Congo was Pentecost Sunday.  We attended church in an area called Ngangi in Goma with Mount Nyiragongo not far in the distance.  This active volcano last erupted in 2002 and coated Ngangi and much of Goma with lava. Words cannot express the thrill I felt as I worshipped in a place so very far from home, so close to my heart, and prayed and danced on the cooled lava flow that formed the floor of the church.  

After the service, Fr. Moses showed us the school next door to the church.  During the middle school locker clean out at the end of the year, I collected unused school supplies knowing they would find a good home in Congo.  I carried a duffle bag full of notebooks, paper, pencils, pens, and colored pencils and gave them to Fr. Moses.  The items were laid on the altar and prayers of thanks were offered.

The joyous spirit of Pentecost that I felt my first day in Goma was just the beginning of what would be a heartbreakingly beautiful trip to a part of the world that is so misunderstood, so much in need, and so full of hope.  I am grateful for receiving a Holden Summer Study Grant that helped make this trip possible.   I look forward to sharing my experiences with my students as I strive to build empathy, to model faith in action for my students, and to be an authentic voice for social justice.

The path to the church and school in Ngangi with Mount Nyiragongo in the distance.

My new friend, Zawadi, a teenager at the church.  Her names means "gift" in Swahili.

The school run by the Anglican church in Ngangi.  Notice the huge rocks that form the floor.

Father Moses and his wife.  She and other women at the church prepared a feast for us after the service.

The Reading and Writing Project

This summer I was lucky enough to receive a grant to participate in a week long institute on teaching writing. The Reading and Writing Project was created and developed at Columbia University by the well-respected Lucy Calkins. Her Units of Study are used throughout the Lower School to guide teachers' curriculum. It was an amazing experience to be surrounded by so many enthusiastic teachers. I learned so much that I plan on applying in my classroom and sharing with my colleagues. I attended the Beginners Institute and hope to attend the Advanced Institute in the future. I left feeling fulfilled and excited to start the year. I am so grateful to the APT and Administration for this experience.

Budding Yogis: Kids Yoga & Mindfulness Teacher Certification

This summer I participated in a 20-hour certification course for Kids Yoga and Mindfulness.  The benefits of both in a child's life are extremely valuable.

Mindfulness is simply the act of paying attention to your thoughts, feelings, and actions. Practicing this helps children create a larger picture of who they are as a person and how they feel about themselves. This is particularly important in a society where children start to face the same demands on their time as adults.

Yoga is an excellent opportunity for children to be active without the stress of a competitive benchmark with their peers. With yoga, there is no being good at it or bad at it.  The kids just do it, and in doing it they gain confidence, fitness and have an abundant amount of fun.

I am so grateful to the APT and the Administration for this inspiring opportunity -- thank you very much. I plan to use what I am learning from this experience in my classroom, as well as in our after-school program at the Lower School.

Differentiating Mathematics in Genoa, Italy

I was extremely fortunate to receive a grant from SSSAS's APT this summer to attend a differentiating Mathematics conference in Genoa, Italy.  There were teachers from all over the world which led to great discussions about teaching math and how best to engage students.  I gained some terrific resources to share with my students at SSSAS.  We were able to spend an extra week traveling to Cinque Terre, Florence and Milan. It was an amazing experience!

Saints in the Bahamas: Snapshot Reef, French Bay Picnic, Lindsay's Reef and Dinner in Town

Day 6 - Last Day on San Salvador

Our last day was definitely one of our best days on the trip.  We finally caught a break with the winds and things settled down.  We first went to Snapshot Reef where we had amazing views of many of the fish that inhabit the waters off the island.

Lucas says: "I think my (favorite) moment was when we were able to go so far in Snapshot beach.  The freedom we were given made me feel more responsibility for my actions and beach buddies.  The beauty of the beach and the beauty of the fish was breathtaking.

Michon, Yukt and Frankie at the beginning of their snorkel in Snapshot Reef.

We had lunch at French Bay where we had one of our best snorkels at the beginning of the week.  The water was too choppy today, but we ate and played in the tidal pools.  Frankie says: "Another really enjoyable part of the trip was when I walked down the tidal pool and saw all the cool sea-life like Gobi fish and sea urchins (and anemones)."

We then went to our second study site, Lindsay's Reef.  It is a highly degraded reef.  It has amazing coral pillars and mazes to swim through, but they have very little living coral left.  We got to see some more beautiful fish.

Chris dives at Lindsay's Reef with Will Coward behind him.

At the end of the day we finished off with a group dinner at a local restaurant.  The kids were able to try conch fritters and Nassau grouper, which is all local cuisine.  They all seemed to enjoy the new dishes.

Tonight we pack up and get ready to start our trip home tomorrow.  It has been a wonderful experience for all of us.  We will leave you with a few words from our kids about their experience:

Yukt - "I enjoyed going to Snapshot beach and catcing a glimpse of underwater life.  I also enjoyed going through the underwater cave and the many truck rides were fun and scenic."

Adrienne - "My favorite part of the trip was swimming through the coral today at Lindsay's Reef.  I got to see great fish that I had only seen in pictures and never imagined I would get the opportunity to see in real life.  It was mesmerizing to be surrounded by the picturesque coral and sea creatures, almost like I was in another world.

Saints in Limbo (...er, France, that is)

Well, we should be arriving home in another hour or so.  Only we aren't.  We are here in the Campanile Hotel near Charles de Gaulle Airport, courtesy of Air France.  Due to a problem with the aircraft, AF had to bump 200 passengers so as to fit into a smaller aircraft, and so we spent most of the day in the airport making alternate arrangements for 20 people.  The AF attendants were incredibly helpful and pleasant, despite their own frustrations with the situation itself, further complicated by a computer system in mid-upgrade.  I think we all can imagine what that must be like for them!  After pulling every string they could to try to bump 20 other travelers in order to get us onto our flight, they finally had to give up, and they found us a direct flight to Dulles tomorrow morning, arriving around 2:15 in the afternoon.  By the time we got to the hotel, it was too late to try to go into Paris, so we planned on a trip to a nearby mall.  That, too, fell through, when the bus schedule proved to be somewhat misleading.  So we stayed in the hotel for a leisurely evening and a very large (and free) buffet dinner. 

Starting with an emotional departure from their host families at 6:00 this morning, this whole day was a bit of a blow to the students, as one might imagine, but they have been almost entirely positive and making the best of everything.  I am very proud of them.

I have no pictures to illustrate this particular posting, but I will share a quotation that has been going through my mind all day.  My grandmother had this in her house, and I find it to be particularly apropos:

"Why were the saints saints? Because they were cheerful when it was difficult to be cheerful, patient when it was difficult to be patient; and because they pushed on when they wanted to stand still, and kept silent when they wanted to talk, and were agreeable when they wanted to be disagreeable.  That was all.  It was quite simple and it always will be."  -- Source Unknown

Saints in Greece: Marathon, Lake Vougliameni, and Cape Sounio

March 29th

After sleeping in until 8am and enjoying a leisurely breakfast, we took a bus to Marathon to see the site of the ancient battle.  A museum, timed perfectly with the heavy rainfall, allowed students a chance to see a few more artifacts.  We enjoyed a wonderful lunch at Alonia, at which a plate full of assorted, grilled meats was served to each person.  We went to Lake Vougliameni where all the kids swam and enjoyed snap-chatting photos as they were nibbled on by fish. Cape Sounio, the southern-most point of Attica and possibly continental Greece, was our last visit of the day and of our trip.  We quite literally watched the sun set on our trip to Greece; we will be leaving tomorrow morning before the sun rises.  What an incredible trip this has been!   The kids are quite aware of how great it has been.  Here are more thoughts about the trip.

My favorite experience or what I liked best...

One of the things that struck me most about this trip is the fact that every place we went and every ruin we saw was once a thriving place full of life. In a place where nothing but rocks were left, once was a place where people gathered together to converse and worship. It's hard to imagine sometimes that in the places where I stood so did famous people who I've only read about in history books. It was also nice to see where a lot of our culture and politics originated from.

-Sarah Wilton

This trip has given a great deal of perspective for all of the history that I have learned over the years. I finally got the chance to see all the things that we have discussed in either history or Latin class. I keep wanting to pinch myself overlooking the views from high hills because of the intense beauty of the landscape. Exploring the towns is a valuable experience, a chance to explore the modern Greek culture, and we have plenty of time to roam and explore around town. I think because of this everyone has found their home away from home, a restaurant or cafe that will drive them to come back. The food and culinary culture is delicious and organic. We got the chance to visit an orange grove and see how a Greek farmer actually goes through the growing process which is a unique, fascinating experience and is exemplary of the inherent community kindness in Greece. 

-Dokken Shapero 

This trip has been an amazing experience and was definitely the best trip I could have gone in for my first time in Europe. It is amazing to think that every place we visited, although now ruins were once thriving with life. The views on the drives to all of the different locations never bored me and every mountain and site truly amazed me. I am so glad to be able to spend time with my friends, get to know people better, and meet new people as well. I can't wait to come back and visit Greece again someday.

-Julia DeVico 

During our trip to Greece, the birthplace of democracy, we have visited countless sites that contain a plethora of information concerning not only the Greek culture but also our own culture that is heavily influenced by the Greeks. No matter where we visited, the Parthenon, Acrocorinth, or Delphi (just to name a few) we have been exposed to a culture rich with ancient myths and history that has captivated the minds and hearts of our entire group.

-Zachary Tilch 

From the imposing Urban sprawl of Athens to the very small and quiet town of Delphi, this trip has been fantastic. We saw the ruins of great ancient cities buried beneath the structures of the new modern age. The ruins ranged from the enormous Parthenon to the wild flower adorned hill of the Athenian tumulus at marathon. While I learned a great deal from these places and I was amazed at being in the cradle of western civilization, my favorite part of this trip has been wandering around the three cities in which we stayed. I've always felt that one of the best ways to really understand a place is to just get a little bit lost and try to find your way back. In doing this you can truly get a feeling for the atmosphere and culture of an area. I did my best to lose myself in Greece's rich culture and history and I feel like I have learned a whole lot not only about about the country, but also my friends and myself.

-Rice Tyler

Greece is unlike any place I have been before. The cities contain both modern and ancient architecture, which is integrated into the lives of its people. In Athens the people try to maintain as much of their ancient traditions as possible. The construction of modern-looking buildings is frowned upon and nothing can exceed the height of the Acropolis, the sacred crown of the city. The cities in Greece are also interesting in that they stretch for as far as the eye can see. Even from the Acropolis in Athens, I could not see an end to the city limits. The sea of buildings just kept going. However, we did not confine ourselves to the urban areas for the entirety of the trip. We traveled a long way to Delphi, a small town in the mountains. The views were breathtaking. However, the views in Delphi paled in comparison to those of Acrocorinth. The ancient acropolis of Corinth sat on a tall mountain. From the top, it seemed as though we could see all of Greece. From the snow-capped mountains to the Peloponnesus and the cities in between, that view was truly extraordinary. The birthplace of Western Civilization has provided me with experiences that I will never forget.  

-Matthew Ray

This entire trip has been amazing. The cities we've visited and things we have seen have all been wonderful. But if I had to pick the thing that has been my favorite it would be Ares' rock. It's a huge rock that is located by the acropolis in Athens and at night when you go up on it the view is just breath taking. I've been up there every single night we've been in Athens. I found a natural slide that is so much fun. (Don't worry it's not by the edge.) I will always remember the rock (except I'm not supposed to call it the rock because Dr. Grissom said it would upset Ares.)  I love it up there and always will. 

-Cleo Potter

I love so much in Greece, and I find the country absolutely amazing, whether we are eating the delicious food or seeing the stunning views. But what I appreciate the most is seeing the sights, ruins, and pieces of art we have studied in art history. We spend so much time talking about these extremely influential works, from the Parthenon to a classical sculpture by Polykleitos, that having the pieces in front of me was overwhelming. 

-Maggie Hughes

Wow this trip has flown by! It feels like just yesterday we got off the plane to arrive here in Greece. From hiking up 895 steps to reach the Palamedes or simply exploring the shops of Athens, I have been amazed at all Greece has to offer. Personally I have enjoyed the picnic we had at the top of Acrocorinth. After a steep hike up the mountain we were rewarded with a amazing view and a picnic of traditional Greek food. Everything we have done on this trip has made for one amazing trip that I know I will never forget!

-Katie Henshaw

Students in front of the Temple of Poseidon at Cape Sounio before a final sunset on the Greece Trip

Temple of Poseidon at Cape Sounio

Sunset at Cape Sounio

Students in front of the Temple of Poseidon

Seniors at Lake Vougliameni

Enjoying the fleeting sun at Lake Vougliameni

Fish nibbling toes at Lake Vougliameni

Alex can't handle the fish!

Marathon museum

Marathon in front of the tumulus, a mound containing the burial of the dead soldiers

Cape Sounio from a distance (photo taken from the moving bus)