Scituate - Getxo Student Exchange

If an image is worth more than a thousand words, here is the image of the student exchange for 15 days in Scituate (MA) USA.

Student Exchange Getxo - Scituate 2012 from J. Carlos Martínez

Our words may sound strange in our changing world; but, everything, everything was perfect: the students, the friends, the teachers, the chaperones,  the American families,  the experience, even the weather.

 Congratulations to everybody!

The Last Party: Coming back home

After visiting Harvard, 

 our students spent their last day shopping in an extraordinary shopping center where not being a shopaholic or even being a non-shopper, nobody dares not buy anything.

Throughout our visit, all host families have been incredibly gracious. On the last evening, one of these extraordinary families offered our students a Farewell Party. In the warmest atmosphere, on a beautiful late summer evening, they gave us another unforgetable party where memories, good feelings, and plans for the future were the leiv motiv of the party.

The ending of the exchange has come. Lots of memories remain there in Scituate...

...and lots of them have come back  home with them 

Salem, a City of Witches

After the first class period, on their seventh day, the students went to Salem. Everybody has heard of Salem, but not everybody knows the authentic story.

In Salem Witch Museum they saw and listened to different scenes of the tragic events that happened in 1692 where a lot of people, mainly women, were accused of witchery.
A very interesting visit where they could read about the fears of the 'witches of our times' in America  on a wall of the museum at the end of it. Later, they visited the house of the judge who condemned them to death.

 Finally, they strolled along that beautiful city which offered them so many good views and streets...

..and they had fun.

The Big Apple

Surprising, amazing, shocking, lovable, emotive, exhausting, irritating, unique... all the adjectives of any dictionary describe the singularity of this global city, New York.

Nobody  remains indifferent before her skyline, her skyscrapers, her parks, museums, restaurants... because they make a difference. 

All languages come together in this new Babel where a language is an instrument of communication, not of misunderstanding and separation; and that is especially true at the  UN (United Nations).

There, two excellent guides, one from Peru and the other one from the Ukraine, led our students through the presentation of human problems among nations and the search for global solutions.

The Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island and the  Museum of  Immigration, The Metropolitan, Central Park,  Wall Street,  5th Avenue, Times Square, Top of the Rock at Rockefeller Center and the New York skyline from New Jersey at night... are not mythical names for our students any more.

Everyone of them keeps a personal memory of every moment in that wonderful city.These memories will endure and last a lifetime.

More than learning a language

Our students' experience in America is not only learning and speaking English. It's true that they spend some time at school in formal classes; but their lives with their American families, brothers and sisters, is more important. Besides, they  often go on trips to discover in situ the American history.

In this picture we can see the new pilgrims from Getxo arrive at Plimoth, a symbol in the American colonization,  in tthe famous ship The Mayflower.

Here we see our pilgrims  live real history in Plimoth Plantation talking to some of the characters from the past:

 

 Once in Boston, after visiting the State House and the Aquarium...

they followed the Freedom Trail, the most important places, monuments and names to remember  the American revolution (Old North Church, Faneuil Hall -the Craddle of Liberty-, Paul Revere...) before becoming independent.

Welcome Party at Scituate

On Monday 3rd September our American friends and families offered a Welcome Party at one of the students' detached houses.

They played games (baseball, handball, basketball...), had a wonderful barbecue, the school band played during the party and everybody enjoyed their time in such a wonderful atmosphere. 

And the weather was perfect!

Julio Caro Baroja Students in Scituate (USA)

Time has passed. Our new school year student exchange projects are starting. Our students have flown across The Atlantic to live their particular American dream in a small town called Scituate (MA),  near Boston. They departed from Bilbao on September 1st and commuted to Boston from Madrid.

After nearly 8 hours' flight they landed at Boston's Logan Airport, went through Customs, got on the classical school bus and met their American families.

A new life and adventure have just started for them.