Can you imagine having to adjust at a school where you don’t even speak the language? Well Francisco manages to do that by being kind, even when the person he was being kind to, had been mean to him. One example of when he was kind is in the end, which is when Francisco sees Curtis likes a picture he made, and gives it to him as a gesture of forgiveness. That is a very compassionate thing to do especially because Curtis had been really malicious to him by beating him up at recess. Francisco teaches you a lifelong lesson which is to always be kind to people even when they are nasty to you.

Have you ever flown across the gigantic Atlantic Ocean to sunny Spain? Well I have. I went to nine breathtaking cities called Malaga, Marbella, Cordoba, Barcelona, Madrid, Bilbao, Ronda, Seville, and Granada. When I traveled to Spain, I found that it was a bustling, humid country with different foods, clothing, people, and of course a different language. All of the cities were different, but you can still tell they’re all in the same country.

Malaga is a city in the south with an old fortress and a beautiful beach. When I went there, we hiked on the crumbling fortress and walked along the seashore. In Marbella, also in the south, we went to Puerto Banus, an area of Marbella, which is along the water. All the wealthy people journey there so we saw more than one Ferrari and Lamborghini. Next was Cordoba which was the birth city of Rabbi Moses Ben Maimon and one of the only cities with an ancient, spectacular synagogue in it.

After that, we went to Madrid which is the capitol city of Spain, so obviously there were a lot of people there. Once there, we went to the royal palace, and we were able to go inside of it! It was so amazing, my jaw dropped to my feet in awe. Barcelona was the most thrilling city of all because there was a pedestrianized street there, with lots of street performers, and all you had to was to turn your head and you would see someone juggling (not with their hands) a soccer ball. Seville was where we saw Flamenco dancers for the first time. A Flamenco dancer is where a woman dances in a frilly costume and uses her hands a lot.

Granada was where the Alhambra is, which is the palace where Christopher Columbus received permission to explore the west from the King and Queen of Spain. I still cannot believe I saw where Christopher Columbus got permission to travel to the west! Ronda was amazing because the city is located in the mountains, so the whole time I was trying to make sure I would not fall off! The last city I went to was called Bilbao. In Bilbao there is a very famous museum called the Guggenheim which is shaped like a ship.

All in all, I had a trip I will never forget. Next time you want to travel across the gigantic Atlantic Ocean to explore the east, I hope you will choose to travel to unforgettable Spain.

The tittle of the book is Shutting Out the Sky. ; Shutting Out the Sky is about a Boy named Marcus who went to America to live with his relatives. ; The story is about a boy named Marcus aged 16 and he’s an immigrant from Romania. ; Before he left, his mother told him to bring his winter coat but he didn’t think he’d need it so he did not bring it. ; Advice means a helpful piece of information. ;When Marcus came to the “Big Apple” it was cold and he had no coat. ; His parents had given him a piece of paper in his pocket with the address of his relatives. ; Marcus was going to stay at the Segal’s (his relatives) house to sleep and eat there. ; People that stay with other people are called boarders. ; Marcus was a boarder at his relatives house with lots of other people. ; To be a boarder, you have to pay the person to live at their house. ; You call the owners of the house you live in the landlady or landlord. ; Marcus thought his relatives were rich because they cleaned the floor with soap instead of sand like his mother. ; Mrs. Segal made Marcus pay 50 cents to stay with her after 3 days without paying.