Best of the School Exchange in Scituate, September 2014

Best of Scituate, 2014 from J. Carlos Martínez

Drama Workshop -1-ESO-1

Drama Workshop has already started.

These are the new actors that will enjoy the  drama classes with lots of activities.

Drama Workshop 2014 from J. Carlos Martínez

They will learn about the elements of a dramatic play to feel confident on the stage. They will study about the characters, the plot, the theme, the stagecraft, etc.

Scituate - Getxo Student Exchange in the Newspapers

Our last day in Scituate, by Eneko N. and Aitor J.

The last day in Scituate was the saddest day of the exchange. Some of us awoke at 5.30 am and went to the beach to see the breaking Dawn. Later, we went to have breakfast at a café near the harbour. At 11.00 o'clock we went to a baseball field and we were playing together lacrosse, baseball, football, etc.
Then, we went to have lunch. Some people went home and others to a restaurant to eat pizza and to buy the last presents.

At 3 o'clock all the Basque and American students went to Logan Airport, Boston, to be together one last moment. At the airport, a lot of people cried when we kissed and hugged one another. We felt very happy about the exchange experience, but unhappy about leaving.

 We arrived in Madrid at 7:30 a.m. and at one o’clock in the afternoon we arrived in Bilbao. Once there, at Loiu Airport, we took the last photo with all the Basque students from the exchange, our new family.

Our Last Day in Scituate from J. Carlos Martínez

Farewell Party, by Vanessa and Joana

We woke up at 6:30 am to go to school with our partners. As usual, we only went to class for the first period.

We all felt excited after school as we were going  to the outlets. From the  high school to the shopping center there are about  2 hours drive.

During the trip we were singing and dancing in the bus. We were so happy because all of us love shopping. We spent 3 hours in the shops and had lunch there. All the people bought  a lot of outfits. We got home at 3:30 pm.

At 4:30 we had the last party of our trip: Farewell party. Our teachers came too.

We took a lot of photos playing games, singing and dancing. We had dinner all together and then we all went to a rugby game. We had a lot of fun. We supported Scituate High School Rugby Team and our cheerleaders by shouting and jumping. After that, we went back to the party again and we continued singing, dancing, taking pictures...

Our last day in the USA was… perfect!

Farewell Party from J. Carlos Martínez

Harvard, by Xabier de V. and Markel



Today, 11th of September, is the anniversary of the fall of the Twin Towers. We have started the class at Scituate High School at 07:45 and we have had a fire drill.

Then, we have gone to Cambridge. First, we took the school bus and afterwards the subway.

A former student at Scituate H.S. who is studying at Harvard University now, talked to us about the town and the university (Harvard Square, etc).

We also visited the Natural History Museum. I think that most of us especially liked the animals’ section, although there were other very interesting rooms, such us the glass butterflies room, the American room, The Azteca  room, etc.

We went back to school at 5 p.m.  Half an hour later, we went to Zac’s house to celebrate the Fawewell party from 6 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.  We talked to friends, played games, swam  in the pool and had some food that our American  parents had prepared.

Many of us went to see a baseball game between Scituate High School and Cohasset. After that, we went back to the party. Some even saw the sun rising in the morning.

Harvard (Cambridge)

New York 3, by Miren, Michelle and Maria

Ellis Island:

This island was the first Federal Station of immigration in the USA open in 1829. France presented the new nation with the Statue of Liberty. This monument means the liberty and democracy of the nation.

Wall Street:

Wall Street is kind of the heart of the financial district in New York. This street is so famous for a lot of films that feature it, like "The Wolf of Wall Street". The bull that appears in this street means optimism, aggression, and financial prosperity. 

China Town:

It is the biggest neighbourhood and the most dangerous place to buy because they can cheat you, as many of the items are fake. There are a lot of Chinese shops too in the street selling, for instance, souvenirs, wallet phone cases, vegetables, sea food, etc.

09/11 Memorial (never forget):

The attack to the Twin Towers happened on the eleventh of September, 2001. Over 3000 people died. A memorial has been built on the same place. It is like a really big waterfall surrounded by the names of the people who died on that day written on iron steel plates.

Many people died. It is true, but others didn’t, as they missed, for example, the train to get there on time, or changed their minds and didn’t go there on that day.

New York, Day 3 from J. Carlos Martínez

New York 2, by Ander S. and Inigo O.

 

We started the morning with a deluxe continental breakfast. At 8:00 we took the bus to go to the UN. We arrived there at about 9:00. We were told that the UN was created in 1945, after the World War II. We were also informed that the UN was built to facilitate international cooperation on issues such as international law, peace and security, humanitarian affairs and human rights. The current Secretary General is Ban Ki-moon, from South Korea. After visiting the UN, we walked  to the Grand Central Station to have lunch.

At 15:00 we took a bus ride around the city with a stop at the Brooklyn Bridge, where we took wonderful pictures of Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridge. The guide talked about the different communities living in the area. It was most interesting.

 At about 16:00 pm we got off the bus at the fascinating Times Square. We were free for an hour, so we took some pictures there and went shopping.

At 17:00 we had dinner at Bubba-Gump. It was very nice. A waiter asked questions about the film and some of us won some prizes.

 At 19:00 we took the bus to the world famous Yankee stadium and watched a baseball game: The Yankees v The Rays. The game lasted about three hours.

Finally, at 22:00 our bus driver picked us up and took us to the hotel.

New York ~ Day 2

 

New York 1, by Gaizka y Xabier F.

 

We met at 5:45 at school to take the bus to New York. We were very tired because we hadn’t slept at all the day before. After four hours in the bus, we had a short stop. When we arrived in New York, everyone was tired but happy and we all started taking pictures.

The first thing we did was meeting Sherry, our language assistant, and Rose, our guide, in the Metropolitan Museum. Our guide was a very nice woman with an amusing personality. In the Metropolitan Museum, we saw lots of works of art: Egyptian, Chinese, etc. After that, we visited Central Park and we had free time to eat lunch. Before we got on the bus, we visited the place where John Lennon was killed. Just there, there was a man playing the guitar, and some of us started singing with him "Hey Jude". Then, we took the bus to the harbour and sailed the Hudson river to see the wonderful skyline of New York.

 In the afternoon, we went to the 5^th Avenue. There, most of us went shopping:  to the NBA store, Lego store, Hollister, etc. We met again at seven to go up “the Top of the Rock”, which is on the 50^th floor of the Rockefeller Center. From there, we took beautiful photos of New York at dusk.

Finally, the bus took us to the hotel. It was a wonderful day, although we were really exhausted. This was just our first day in this beautiful city.

New York ~ Day 1

A busy weekend, by Delia and Haize

 

 

Saturday morning some of us went to an amusement park. The water rides were great fun but scary at the same time. Some others went karts and played golf. It was the first time for some of us. In the afternoon, everybody went to Zack's and Ander's house for a pool party. It was incredible! We stayed in the pool and the jacuzzi all afternoon.

On Sunday morning we all went paintball except for Molly and Aitziber, who went to see a Red Sox game.  When we finished some people went to Maria's and Jurdan's house and the other ones stayed with their families having dinner or watching a film.

 

In Maria's house we played volleyball and we ate delicious ice cream. At night we played menhunt

 

News from the press: The Patriot Ledger

 The Patriot Ledge and Scituate~Getxo Student Exchange

Publish at Calameo

City of Salem, by Izar and Jurdan

 

Salem Witch Museum experience:

The village of Salem is an old place with a lot of witchcraft traditions. Today we went to the Salem Witch Museum, which is a great way to find out more about the history of this village, especially about many people who were accused of witchcraft. 

 

In this museum there's a huge room, like a theatre. In the middle of this room you will find a big circle on the floor with the names of some of the witches who were accused. Also, it is surrounded by figures that represent people who were involved in the story.  

 

The story starts with a group of women who were not able to express themselves, so they started to meet together. That would be named coven in the future. One of the women who was in the coven was possessed by a demon. That's how witch hunting started. People were frightened, so the leader of the coven was accused of witchcraft, and she was found guilty. After that, a lot of people got arrested, even killed (John Goodwin Jr., 1 year old, for example). After killing more than 18 people, the city government asked for forgiveness. Nowadays the practice and belief of witchcraft is legal. 

 

In the second part of the exhibition, we went to another room with examples of witchcraft throughout  history (paintings, books, TV series, etc.) The most remarkable thing was the cannibalism, which appeared in a painting by Goya, representing one of his nightmares. In the painting we can see a witch holding a basket full of human arms.

This museum made me think about something I already knew.  The history of this museum and the village in general prove how we, humans, have been doing such horrible things just because of our ignorance, and this has been happening along history for so many years now. It was a great and interesting village with a lot of history, from which we can learn a lot. 
(To read more about it, click here)
 

City of Salem

 

 

Boston: The Freedom Trail and the Aquarium, by Inigo S. and Julio

  

We arrived at the High School like every morning and an hour later we took the bus to Boston. It was a really hot day, but we had an amazing time in the Aquarium watching penguins and over a hundred different fish species.

Afterwards, we walked around the city and we went shopping in Quincy Market. All the people spent lots of money there!  Although we had a really active day, we had time to visit the most important places where the revolution for independence started such as the Old State House, Old North Church or Paul Revere's House (key in the foundation of the USA).
In the afternoon we saw a soccer match. The sailors won! Then we had dinner in a Mexican grill called Chipotle. Next, we drove to Lindsay’s house where we had a calm night eating marshmallows in a bonfire. The day was really tiring so when we arrived home we slept all night long.

 

Boston: Freedom Trail and Aquarium

State House and Museum of Science (Boston), by Aitor and Ander

Yesterday we went to Boston to the State House and to the Museum of Science. We took the bus at 9.00am and we went to a subway station, where we took the subway to get to the State House. There we visited such an interesting building. We saw the most important rooms and we took a lot of photos. They explained and showed us interesting things such as the old and new Assembly of Representatives, where we met Mr. James Cantwell, the representative of Scituate in the State House. He was very friendly to us and explained the working at the assembly. We also had fun because we took some selfies with the statues of the governors of Massachusets. Finally, we took a photo of the group with Mr. Cantwell and we went to the Museum of Science.

What a wonderful museum! At the beginning, we went to animal habitats. Very interesting indeed. We could even smell animal skins. After that, we went to the first floor and played with some gadgets such as gravity games or perspective games. So interesting!

 

At 2:00pm we went to see a lightning show. It was amazing!
At 3:30pm we returned to Scituate.

In the afternoon, some students went to a pasta party. A pasta party is a typical party before a soccer match. In that party we ate pasta and salad to get energy. The party finished in the swimming pool. After the pasta party, some students went to another party.
Later at night, we went to Julia’s house, Gaizka’s American sister, and we hung out with a lot of people. We ate marshmellows and they taught us how to dance Cotton Eye Joe, a typical country song from America. Finally, we taught them some Basque dances and we chilled out until we went home.

It was a wonderful day!

State house and Museum of Science

 

Day 4: Plimouth Plantation, by Iratxe and Itsasne

We went to school at 7:30 a.m. Everyone of us went  to class with their American brother or sister. Students didn’t have much work to do, as it was the first day of the school year.

At 9 a.m. we took the yellow school bus to Plimouth Plantation , where we visited the Wampanoag homesite and the pilgrims’ village. Native American people and actors answered our questions about their way of living when the pilgrims arrived in America in the seventeenth century. We found it very interesting.

Later, we visited the town, Plymouth. There, we saw the rock where the pilgrims landed and the Mayflower, the ship in which they travelled from England. We also had time to go shopping.

In the afternoon we did some activities with our partners. Some of us went to the swimming pool, others went partying.

We had a lovely time.

Plimouth Plantation, day 4 

 

Welcome Party, by Aitziber and Alba

We met in the airport of Loiu at 11 o'clock. We were so excited because we were going to Boston. We went on the first airplane at 1:20 The flight was short. We took a train to a different terminal in Madrid. Two hours later, we boarded the plane and flew to Boston. The flight was long but felt short. On the plane we watched Spider Man and read books. We arrived in Boston at 6:15 and we were really happy. Then, we got on a big yellow school bus and drove to Scituate, the town we are staying in. 

We were very nervous about meeting our exchange partners, but when we met them we were so happy. We all went to the homes we are staying at and then a lot of us went to an ice cream shop in Scituate. It was delicious! Then, we drove around Scituate, but it was so dark out that we could not see anything. We visited the lighthouse and tried to walk on a jetty, but it was so cold that we did not want to stay long. We all went to Bridget's house, who is Alba's partner. There was a fire there and we all hung out and had a lot of fun.

 The next day, we woke up early and had breakfast. It was delicious, but there was so much food! We were very full! Then, some of us went to a large supermarket named Target. They had so much stuff there! There were so many more options and they sold iphones for only ninety nine dollars. In the afternoon, we went to a beach called Nantasket. It was beautiful but the water was very cold. We also went on a carousel,which was interesting. That night we watched a scary movie and we screamed during most of the movie. It was scary but good! Then we went to a girl's house whose name is Taylor. There were a lot of kids. It was very hot in the basement, but we played ping pong. 

On Monday, after being at Kate's house, we went shopping to a store named Office Max, which has school supplies, to a store called Walmart, which the American kids called "sketchy". Then we went back to Kate's house and helped them with their Spanish summer homework. In the afternoon we had a wonderful Welcome Party with a lot of food at the Harrington's (Inigo's  house)There, we played some games called spikeball and corn hole. 

That was the end of our first weekend in the USA.

Welcome Party by Aitziber and Alba

Scituate ~ Getxo Student Exchange

Here we are once again!
Our school is already taking part in the student exchange with Scituate High School. Last Saturday we arrived at Boston Airport where Virginia Lima and Kate Ciulla, the teachers from Scituate, welcomed us. We got on the yellow school bus and after 40 minutes, we were hugged by all the families. We are sure the same scene took place 30 years ago when our two schools started this marvelous exchange program.  We will learn English and American Culture as well as live the American life. We will, of course, have great fun until our return to Getxo on September 14^th!

Writers: Elena, Maria Jesus and Kate

IT Director: Carlos

IT Consultant: Mary Struzziero

Thanks to Virginia for her PC…and to Phil for his patience!

Scituate Getxo Student Exchange 2014 from J. Carlos Martínez