Our Other Website

Hey everyone! We just want to tell you that we now have a FaceBook page! Hopefully and probably we will post more stories and more pictures because it is much easier and more user friendly.

Just so you all know; you DO NOT need a Facebook account to view our pictures and stories. It is not required. However, if you want to write something to us or comment on a picture or video, you will need an account. You will also receive updates if you have an account.


Our new site is:

https://www.facebook.com/TheBauhausFamily

My Mexican Teachers By Karina

       Since we are going to this school for two months here in Mexico, I thought I should get to know everyone. I already told you about the students so now I will describe the teachers.

        First I will name all of them. Then I will describe them. There are eleven teachers in all.

        There is the biology teacher, Pablo. The English teacher, Zairy. The geography and orientation teacher, Isaias. The Spanish teacher, Claudia. The Mathematics teacher, Adriana. The art teacher, Adrian. The Acclimate Education teacher, Jose. The P.E.teacher, Angel. The technology teacher, Victor. The Human Formation teacher, Randy. The State Allocation teacher and Principal, Blanca.

        The English teacher speaks English well but pronounces lots of words wrong. The math teacher is also very good at speaking English and she is very pretty, and my favorite teacher. The P.E. teacher is very nice and has a very cute little boy that he brings in to class every once in a while. 

         The art teacher is very passionate, doesn't pay as much attention to us kids but always makes sure that there is classical music playing. The Spanish teacher is very nice and pretty, yet strict sometimes.

         The Principal and State Allocation teacher is pretty and very strict but smiles and laughs with the class when there is a funny moment in the room. The Human Formation teacher is very handsome and kind. The technology teacher, well I think he is fun like Cam from modern family.. 

         The geography and orientation teacher kind of reminds me of a cute nice manatee. And last but not least the Acclimate Education teacher, uh, I don’t quite remember what he looks like and I don't really remember him because we only have class with him once at the end of the day for fifty minutes on Friday.

         I'm glad I met all of these teachers, because they have certainly helped me somewhat in life. I thank them for all the help they have given us in the past two weeks.

Me -by Karina

 I don't have anything specific to write about now that Zoe says we are not gonna sing anymore, so I thought that I would just write all about me.

      First off, you should know what my hobbies are; I love to sing, I love to draw, I love to act and I love to cook specific foods.

      Second, when I grow up I wish to be a singer, an artist, a famous actress, or a supermodel.

      Next, you should know my favorites.

• My favorite colors are white like snowflakes and hot pink.
• My favorite foods are coconut rice, risotto, and egg drop soup.
• My favorite candies are toffee, salt water taffy, musketeers, meringues, marshmallows and Twix.
• My favorite place on earth is San Carlos, CA
• My favorite animal is a Pomeranian puppy.

One important thing you should know about me is that I miss my home and old friends dearly, but I am willing to try new things that my parents suggest for me. And so far trying this new thing has been more than I ever imagined and I am thankful that my parents could make this happen even when I was pushing away this wonderful chance. 

Thanks mom and papa! : )

Un Buen Amigo by Karina

Un Buen Amigo

By: Karina Bauhaus

          Un buen amigo es amable. Él o ella nunca te mentiría. Un buen amigo es siempre allí para usted cuando algo va mal. 

           Un buen amigo nunca haría daño a sus sentimientos. Ellos te dicen la verdad. Ellos pasar el rato con ustedes, porque ellos quería, no porque ellos que obtendrían dinero por por ser su amigo. 

          Hay normal amigos y hay los mejores amigos. Los mejores amigos nunca va lejos de ti, hasta que sea absolutamente necesario. Una normal amigo es solo una persona que te gusta. 

          Los dos si te gusta de alguna manera. Más amigos realmente buenos deben, compartir, ser amable, como tú, ser sincero con usted, divertirse con usted, ayudarle, le mantiene en contacto. 

Eso quiere decir que soy un buen amigo. ¿No?

Erick's Birthday by Karina

       First we got to school, did P.E., English class, then math. Thirty minutes until break time and our class was already excused. Except we were not out for recess. We were excused because there was a cake to be eaten.

        It was Erick's birthday! When we got downstairs everyone was talking very loudly again and then someone suggested a picture. That's when the other class came down, and got in the picture too. After the pictures, the teacher got one picture of Erick pretending to take a bite of the cake. 

        The fun started when a random kid pushed his head in to the cake. Then his face covered with cake and some of the students took the cake off of his face and wiped it off on other kids' faces. I did not participate in this cakey act.  

         After everyone had their "cake fight" we lined up for breakfast. Breakfast was tacos with beans and pork. And cake, if we wanted to have any, after all that.

My Mexican Classmates By: Karina Bauhaus

        Here at this Mexican school there are not very many kids in each class, but they sure do make a lot more noise than all of my classmates back home make all together. 

        Anyways, that's not what matters. What matters is that I know all of my classmates. So I will name and partly describe them.

        Starting with the boys: Marco-highly annoying and loud, Fabian-annoying, weird, and painful, Enrique-helpful and smart, Vladimir-quiet at times and smart, Jose-also quiet at times and seems smart. As you can tell most of the boys are obnoxious.

        Now for the girls: Patty-loud yet quiet in class, Ambar-helpful and nice, Maria-nice and tall, Pamela-friendly and quiet, Gabby-smart, helpful, and loud, Sinai-helpful and friendly, Alejandra-friendly, loud, nice, funny, pretty, and smart.

        Lots of them are loud or annoying, in fact they are screaming and playing around right now. Okay now they're walking out the door. Now they are downstairs doing who knows what. Anyway I'm glad I know my twelve classmates now, at least I'm not in a school where there are only five kids in each class. Including Annika we are fourteen in the seventh grade.

Back to school....Mexican style

What that means is waking at 5:45, leaving the boat on a dinghy to school by 6:30, and even wearing a uniform!  And we thought getting to school on time at 8:20 was hard. Hah!  The kids are seemingly getting much more interested in speaking Spanish, asking every evening about what this or that means. It's fun to hear their stories about how strict or funny their teachers are.  It's also good to hear the complaints...about how hard the chairs are, how loud the fan is or how there is not a real lunch hour.  Makes me hopeful that they will be more respectful and grateful for school in back home in California.

We are still loving Isla Mujeres.  It is a peaceful, safe, beautiful island with whale sharks, octopus, gelato, clear shallow water, great restaurants, insanely interesting expats, other boat families, perfect sand beaches, internet, fresh guava, hibiscus and coconut juice and the kids can ride bikes anywhere or walk to a friend's place in 10 minutes.  We are so close (20 minute ferry) to Cancun where if we must we can see movies in the nicest (by far) movie theater, at the nicest malls I've seen or even shop at Costco.  Speaking of Costco, I'm off mass consumption and Costco shopping.   Now-a-days I would rather go without than stuff my cabinets with jumbo sized cardboard packaging of everything we never needed.  Crackers, chips, cookies, juice, and peanut butter for the year, or enough grapes to feed 5 families for a week.  I never would've noticed whether we really needed or used all that if I didn't have to live in, on, under and with it...literally packed into every nook of our little house (boat).  Nope, no more Costco, just fish from the fishermen next door, mangos from the market and daily tortillas, and just at the very moment, or on the very day we feel like it........mmmm I think we'll have fish tacos tonight now that I think of it..................!

Decided

We plan to stay and wait out the hurricane season for 2 more months until October 30 in Isla Mujeras.  Not an easy decision because our habit is to take the risk and move along.  However our professional boat captain neighbors here at the marina have recommended we stay put here where we have the best chance for serious protection.  It's still hard though because Hurricane Ernesto passed just 80 miles south of us last week and was "a breeze" so to speak.  There are no hurricane "holes" in Belize and it's a slow trip up wind and current, so looks like we're locked-in.  Not a bad place to be mind you.......just not what we we're planning.

Mikai is ALWAYS ready to be First Mate 

     So with this shift comes new possibilities.  The kids will start school here in Mexico on Monday for a bit of language and culture-- if all the paperwork comes through.  That's neat.  However school starts here at 7:00am.  That's not so neat.  It's all good.  Change is good.....and sometimes it takes a breakdown or a hurricane to make us try something new.

Chicken Pizza- by Nikolas

     I've been in Isla Mujeres for about a month now and  it's pretty dang boring. Obviously and especially it had to boring with my fun but pushy moms friend visiting. Anyway about four days ago me and my family went to a place called Chicken Pizza (Chichen Itza) and it was hot and miserable because it was all looking not touching. There was a Mayan pyramid that you used to be able to climb up but now can't.             

A big day of stories at Chichen Itza about sacrificing the most beautiful 15 year old virgins in March, the winning ball game captains in June, and the discovery of chocolate by the Mayans.   It was a hard, hot and interesting day.

     As a souvenir I bought an onyx and quarts chess set. This was my happy and miserable meter, 1% happy, 99% miserable. When we got back it was 10 o'clock at night and when we left it was 6:30am. It was maybe 40% fun 60% not fun. 

The Trip

By: Karina Bauhaus

        So far this trip is going well. Well at least it's not worse than I expected. It seems like everyone else is enjoying it here. My dad doesn't get to say whether he likes living here or not because he hasn't stayed here for the whole six months that us kids have.😒😠😡👿

          I say it's not fair because my mom and dad have gone back home and to New York while we were here, and they got to have higher quality, fancier stuff than we have. Plus, going to New York is like a dream come true for me.😍😰😖😁

         I am grateful that we are able to come here, to a beautiful place and have the experience of a lifetime of living in the Caribbean. I am so grateful that we could come here with our dog, stuff from home, Internet, and a way to do school so that we can go back into the right grade. 😌

        What I am not grateful for is the mosquitos, humidity, heat, size of the boat and that none of our friends can visit us. 😁😰

Karina "hanging out" coping with the heat in Chitchen Itza.  She wasn't impressed.

        Now the most important things to me...the stuff I miss and hope to see when I get back are holidays, my friends, school, school days, making crepes with the crepe maker and eating the crepes and berries and cantaloupe with prosciutto and listening to Renaissance music on Saturdays and Sundays at home, snow, Truckee, sports at home(theatre), and electricity, drinkable water from the faucet, gas for the stove, warm water, two awesome cars, quiet air conditioners (the air conditioners in the boat are as loud as a car driving around!), and a cozy bed all the time. 

The Trip- by Annika

The Trip

                      Right now I'm at El Milagro Marina, in Isla Mujeres, Cancun. 

       Here there is a movie theater where Mikai sets up movies and the Olympics. There is also a kitchen here that everyone can use. Down at the little beach that they have here there is water sports, like kayaks and paddle boards.    

     One day I went paddle boarding and I brought my dog on it with me. Now I do that all the time and he is a great balancer which helps me a lot. Right now there is a lot of construction here and it's quite loud during the day. 

     Occasionally Nikolas and I fish. We only catch little fish here and they are all only under the dock. The dogs are always running around and trying to catch fish at the beach. 

     I don't like writing about what I'm doing.  I'd much rather be doing it.

Life or Bait by Karina

Life or Bait

By: Karina Bauhaus

          There we were strolling along the huge waves with our fishing lines out. They are known as the deep sea fishing poles. Then all of a sudden...What's that? Nikolas caught a fish?! We all run to the back of the boat while Mikai slows way down.

            Wow, he's a big one. After Nikolas pulls him in, I realize that we should not eat that fish. Why? Hm, I don't know actually??? Maybe he would be really tasty, except for the fact that it has razor sharp teeth, is really ugly, more than five pounds, AND HE'S REALLY THIN!!!

           HE'S A BARRACUDA FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!!! BARRACUDAS HAVE CIGARETTE POISON IF THEY ARE OVER FIVE POUNDS! But other than that, BARRACUDAS IN GENERAL ARE DISGUSTING!!!

           First my dad tries to yank the hook out of the barracudas' mouth. Nothing. Then he tries again. Now he's furious. He yanks and yanks trying hard to be careful but also get the hook out. My dad is brave. I totally would have given up by now. 

            Uh, papa? How are we gonna put him back in the water if the hook is in his mouth AND HIS MOUTH IS JUST A GIANT HOLE OF DEATHLY SHARP TEETH!?!?! 

            He yanks one last, hard time. PLOP! PLOP! PLOP! SPLASSSHHH! HURRAY, THE BEAST IS GONE!!! He floats at the top for a while. Hardly twitching. We thought he was dead at first. But then my mom assured us it was just shock. Then he squirmed away knowing what to choose next time.

Life or bait. 

        Once again we put out our fishing lines and not once but five more times we caught another nasty barracuda. They were not so wise, because they obviously chose the wrong thing. Bait instead of life. And I'm sure they'll know what to choose next time.

Life or bait.

Living with Siblings 7/31

I just have to say, living out here is not the greatest lifestyle... Living as the role-model and oldest of the 4 of us in a crammed and small boat, takes extra extra extra effort. Anyone who has ever had 2 twin sisters and a little brother know what I mean. Working with and working around these people is like working around air, THEY ARE EVERYWHERE.

When the time comes, I get to escape to my place on the boat. The place I am best known for. The helm is my place on our boat. I will never know why, but when I am at the helm I am never bothered by anyone.

But then there is school... I am STILL doing school. I started in April because I was doing so much on the boat. I have a bit of catching up to do...


Living out here is NOT the greatest lifestyle. Living out here IS the greatest lifestyle. Everyday is different, and everyday brings new surprises.

Where have you been?

Far far away in a place with no trash........

singing all day without internet..............

A place we wont name................

in case the authorities complain...............

but let it suffice....it is special, and WAY nice, for a very low price.

Nikolas exploring shells and giant sea turtle carcases on the Cays showing out of the blue water  in the middle of no where!

Depth matters and we can count on Mikai to take the lead.

"You've got to be kidding"  we said very often in these crystal waters.

Annika in her element all day at the turtle sanctuary.

Even tech Kai was delighted to touch the smooth rubbery shells.

We were always left with a gorgeous sunset and lightning shows as Mikai played his guitar.  Then we would count the stars.

Our new home base in Isla Mujeras Mexico.  We love it here.

Valeria visits for lunch.

Annika and the other kids could practice their Spanish with confidence with such great little kids to play with and help take care of.

Next door to Paradise... 5/21

Today we discovered and explored Las Terranas! A lively Dominican town on the North East edge of DR. After being in a bay muddied by the rivers by the daily storms, it is so nice to see the turquoise-blue water once again.

In contrast with the high-end marinas, it is great to be among the Dominicans and Dominican culture again. Tomorrow the kids go to a local school to experience education in the third world—and learn a bit of spanish too!

More later..

Ever heard of Samana? 5/19

Neither had we, until now... Apparently this is a place is the birthing grounds for whales! I am typing what my parents are telling me to write as they bicker about what to write, so I am writing for them.

We are in Puerto Bahia (Bay Port) dodging a storm among many others. We went to Cayo Levantado today with Grandma and we anchored off the point. We went for a swim at the beach and got there just before the storm. On the way back, we got to use our fine, full, new sail which carried us fast as the wind (3 BIG knots).

Now we are back in the fantastic new Marina-Resort!

Who knew that Dominican Republic is so nice!

Presidential Elections tomorrow.

Thunder and Lightning Right now!

This was taken 45min ago and it is still thundering and lightninging!!

Latest Photos!

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New Feature!

We added some music. It is me (Mikai) playing my guitar with some other software intruments. Click here or listen on the blog (the music will start playing automagically) to hear the song I wrote.


From Shawna:

We've been enjoying the Dominican Republic for almost two weeks now.  To say we are enjoying it isn't quite the right word.  Extreme luxury is what we are finding in the marina's here including movie theaters,  private beaches, the best customer service I've ever had and of course swimming pools. We have to make real effort to get out into the wilder side of the country.  It isn't what we were expecting, nor what we came for, but we are adjusting well to the pools, restaurants and buffet breakfasts.  We did take a 2 hour drive into Santo Domingo one rainy afternoon.  It was ok, but it was too far a drive, and the city too unorganized to really appreciate it.  We visited the oldest church dating back to the early 1500's but he kids liked the torrential downpour, the pigions and the hot chocolate break the most.
Tomorrow we'll visit Manati park for a swim with the dolphins for the girls 12th birthday.  Pictures to follow.  For now enjoy the music Mikai's written!

During a long Crossing...