Day 15: Friday, September 14th 2018

PLIMOTH PLANTATION / GOOD BYE SCITUATE

by Maialen & Oihane

Today was our last day in Scituate, so we got up earlier to finish our suitcases. After that, we went to our last class in SHS. We were there for an hour with our exchange partners.

When the bell rang, we took the bus and went to Plimoth Plantation. The first thing we did when we arrived there was to see a short film about life in the 17th century in this town. Later, we visited the place where there were actors dressed like the Indians who lived there in that century.  One of them explained to us what he was cooking, it smelt so good! Near there, there was another village, the English village, where the people were dressed like many centuries ago.We saw and entered their homes and we also learnt about their jobs. There were animals and they were so cute! We sang with two girls who lived there, it was fantastic! 

On our way back to Scituate we were supposed to visit the 'MAYFLOWER” ship, but they are repairing it, so we couldn’t see it. To finish, we arrived at SHS where our partners were waiting for us. We took our suitcases and we said goodbye to them. This was the end of our trip!

Day 14: Thursday, September 13th 2018

WRENTHAN OUTLETS and FAREWELL PARTY

by Iker and Diego

Hi, we are Iker and Diego and today we are going to talk to you about our last full day in Scituate. 

As the day before, we stayed for an hour in the high school having the first lesson with the Scituate students. 

Then we got ready to go to the shopping center called Wrentham Outlets by2 bus. We stayed there until approximately two o'clock and then we left the school in search of our partners.
Mayla and Oihane did something different in the morning. They helped a teacher give her Spanish lessons in a very small school. They talked to her students and tell them about their life in the Basque Country. It was a great experience!

As soon as we returned from the outlet, we came back to our partners' houses until the time of the farewell party. Once it was time for the party, we all got together and enjoyed an afternoon playing games, talking to each other, and jumping on the trampoline. 

Finally, each person went home and prepared the suitcase for the next day.

Day 13: Wednesday, September 12th 2018

OUR THIRD DAY IN NEW YORK

by Irene and Hegoa

Hi, we are Irene and Hegoa and we are going to explain our last day in New York.

First of all, after packing our luggage, we took the bus and got a ferry to visit Ellis Island and its museum, which was about the immigrants who arrived at that island and wanted to get into the USA.

Then, we took the ferry again for Liberty Island. There, we saw the Statue of Liberty and took a lot of pictures. It was huge and we were amazed!

After that, we walked around the financial district of Manhattan. While we were walking around Manhattan, we saw very interesting places like the Stock Exchange building, Abraham Lincoln's Statue, the Wall Street Bull...

Once we had lunch, all the group went to the waterfalls of the 9/11 memorial; as you know the anniversary was just the day before. These waterfalls were in the place where the towers of the World Trade Centre were before being destroyed. It was very impressive. Then, we entered the 9/11 Museum. Inside, we got surprised: we could see all the photos, testimonies, phrases, memories and recreations of the tragic day and we were absolutely touched. We didn't have time to visit all the museum, but we would have liked.

Finally, we had to say goodbye to New York and got into the bus. We were a little bit sad, because we didn't want to leave this amazing city.

Bye NY! 🗽🇺🇸💜

Ellis Island & Liberty Island

Wall Street & 9/11 Memorial

Day 12: Tuesday, September 11th 2018

SECOND DAY IN NEW YORK

by Mayla and Andrea

We are Andrea and Mayla and we are going to talk about our trip to the USA.

This is our second day in NY. Today, 11th of September, we woke up at 7:30 am and we had breakfast at the hotel's buffet. At 8.30 we went to the United Nations by bus and the guide gave us a tour.

Later we went to Grand Central Station and we ate there. Then we went to Rockefeller Center and we saw an incredible view of New York. After that, some of us went to Central Park and Times Square. The others only went to Times Square for shopping.

We had dinner at Dallas BBQ and then we went to see "The School of Rock" musical, it was amazing!!! We had a very good time👍👍

Our morning: The United Nations

Our afternoon and evening: Central Station, Top of the Rock, Central Park, Times Square and the musical School of Rock

Day 11: Monday, September 10th 2018

FIRST DAY IN NEW YORK

by Beatriz & Maider

Today we took a bus at 8:15 am. Five hours later we arrived in New York.

First we went to the Natural History Museum, we spent only 45 minutes at the museum because there was a lot of traffic and we arrived late.

Then we met the guide and we went to a cruise on the Hudson River. During the cruise we saw the Brooklyn Bridge and the Statue of Liberty.

After that we took the bus, we went to Times Square and we had dinner at Bubba Gump Restaurant, which is known for the Forrest Gump movie.

And finally we had free time until 9 pm to go shopping in Times Square.

Days 9 & 10: Saturday 8th & Sunday 9th September 2018

Family days

Students spent the whole weekend with their American families and friends.

Day 8: Friday, September 7th 2018

MUSEUM OF SCIENCES AND AQUARIUM, BOSTON

by Nagore, Lucia and Nerea

It’s been another funny long day. The first thing we noticed in the morning was that it wasn’t as hot as the last days, 20º instead of 30º, at last! As everyday, we went to the school and stayed there for an hour, some of us in class and the others in the library. 

Then, we took our loving yellow bus to the Boston Museum of Science. It was really interesting for some of us and a little bit boring for some others, but we all enjoyed the lightning show there, it was awesome!

After the museum we went to the aquarium. We saw penguins, seals and a lot of fishes. The most impressive thing was when we touched stingrays, which were very soft and gelatinous. The aquarium was beautiful, but it made us sad to see the animals inside the fishbowls because we think they should be free.

At 7pm most of us went to watch a football (American, of course) match in the school. It was awesome how people cheered their team! It looked like an American film. The environment was amazing: cheerleaders dancing and singing, a band playing music and, of course, everyone shouting "go Scituate!" The match ended and our team won, so we went back home with our families very happily.

This weekend we won’t write what we do on the blog because we are going to stay with our families and make different activities, however we will publish some photos. 

These are the pictures we took in the Museum of Sciences

And these are the ones we took in the Aquarium

Day 7: Thursday, September 6th 2018

SALEM

by Alain & Víctor

Hi, we are Víctor and Alain and we are going to talk about what we did on the 6th day.

This morning we went to the high school like yesterday. We stayed in the library playing cards for the first hour and then we took the bus to go to Salem. It was far, about two hours away. During the journey, we listened to music and communicated with other drivers from the back of the bus; we could do it because the traffic was really slow.

The day was sunny and hot, without a cloud in the sky. As soon as we reached Salem we entered the witch museum. Inside, it was cold and dark so it was a very comfortable place to be. We went into a big room where we took seats and they explained  how the witch hunting happened in the past. Then, we went to another room with more information about witches and, of course, to the souvenir store.

After all that, we had free time to have lunch, visit the town and relax for 2 hours. Later, we took the bus back to Scituate. Suddenly, when we were close to the high school a storm started, so we all went home to get energy for the next day.

Day 6: Wednesday, September 5th 2018

HARVARD UNIVERSITY

By Laura & Malen

Today was the first day of school, so we woke up early and at 8 am we arrived  at Scituate High School where all the students seemed to be excited. When the first lesson ended, we went out and the yellow bus was waiting to take us to Harvard Museum of Natural History. There, we saw different types of animals and minerals, it was really funny. Later, we went to Harvard University and Joseph, our chaperon, told us some interesting facts about theis university which is famous all around the world and we also took some cool photos. Before that, the teachers gave us some time to go shopping so we bought T-shirts and sweaters for our relatives and friends. Finally, we ate our lunch and returned to Scituate.

Day 5: Tuesday, September 4th 2018

STATE HOUSE, FREEDOM TRAIL, QUINCY MARKET and NORTH END

by Leire Cobo and Julene

Hello, we are Julene and Leire and we are going to tell you what we have done in our 4th day in Scituate, Boston.

Today it has been our first day visiting Boston. We met at 9 at the school and like everyday, we took the school bus. As soon as we arrived, we visited the State House, in which we made a very interesting tour about the United States’ Revolution.

After that, Virginia, the Spanish teacher of Scituate's High School, showed us many different things, such as: Boston Common which is a park, the cemetery (in which there are many famous people's tombs)...

Later, we visited Quincy Market, where we had two free hours to eat and go shopping. In this market there is a huge variety of food (Indian food, Chinese food, Italian food...) and there are plenty of clothes and souvenir shops nearby.

Finally, we saw the Italian neighbourhood. Here we tried the cannoli, which is one of the tastiest things we have ever tried!

Day 4: Monday, September 3rd 2018

PRUDENCE PLACE (MALL) and PAWTUCKET PAW SOX GAME

by Uxue and June

Today has been a great day! We met at the school at 9 am to start our day in Providence. Firstly, we arrived at a mall where we were shopping the whole morning. After eating delicious food there, we took the school bus to go to the baseball match. We spent a great time supporting the local team and having a little snack all together. When we were leaving the stadium, we found a big surprise... Flashes (popsicles) and chips for free!!!

When we returned, our families took us home to rest for a while and have dinner before going out. Some of us went to the beach to make a fire and play games and others went to celebrate June's birthday having a party and eating a sweet cake. 

Day 3: Sunday, September 2nd 2018

FAMILY DAY: JUST SOME PHOTOS

Day 2: Saturday, September 1st 2018

BEACH DAY AND WELCOME PARTY

By Leire & Malena

Today we woke up in our new house with our new family after a long trip.Then we had a great and delicious typical American breakfast with bacon, eggs, pancakes and other different things. After that, we prepared our backpacks to go to the beach all together and have a great time there. When it was time to have lunch we all went to a restaurant and when we finished we went back home to have a rest.

At 5:00PM we went to the Welcome Party, at Todd’s house. The first thing I noticed when I entered was the incredible amount of food. It looked as it was ready for an entire football team.

Then, I saw that the house was as big as the garden, a huge house! We stayed near the swimming pool, where some students were playing. The owners had a dog whose name was Dingle. It was so cute looking for food.

We talked to each other and when the sun started setting, we hanged out by the fireplace. By 8:30PM we went back home.

It was a nice day!

DAY 1: Friday, August 31st 2018

FROM GETXO TO SCITUATE

by Ethan & Oier

Dear Diary,

After spending some nice holidays some of the students and teachers at Julio Caro Baroja started their journey to Boston. Many of us almost couldn't sleep just because of the nerves. When we arrived at Loiu's airport, we checked in our luggage, as well as waving our families goodbye for the next two weeks, hoping to see them soon, but at the same time excited for the adventure we were about to get ourselves into.

We first had the flight that went from Bilbao to Madrid. It didn't even last an hour, for most of us time went flying (See what I did there?) but for some of us it felt like eternity. The latter didn't have the tiniest idea what was coming for them in the next hours...

Then we took the flight from Madrid to Boston, the one where many of us flew over the ocean for the first time ever. The trip took seven hours. In those hours people tried to escape boredom by talking with each other, sleeping, eating, playing...  After that, we finally arrived at Boston airport... Well, at least physically, because everyone was exhausted by that point. An incident that happened in the airport certainly didn't help with that... Nagore has temporarily lost her luggage, we say temporarily because at the airport they said that they would find it by the next day. And even after all of this happened, Nagore was able to walk out of that airport with a smile on her face.

Finally, after taking a classic American school bus we arrived at Scituate, where we were greeted by the American families. Then everyone went to their respective homes, where they met their American friends' families and had dinner. Many people hanged out after that or did other things. For example, Ethan went with his American partner Finn for a walk to see the lighthouse and a bit of the town. But many people just went to sleep as a response for the exhaustion they were feeling.

Although it's true that this day might seem uneventful, we believe that for a first day, it certainly promises. We spent most of the day talking to each other, and at the same time, deepening our bonds with each other... Or maybe we are just being cheesy... Yeah, that must be it...

                                 

Ethan and Oier              

P.S.: Stop questioning why the text starts by "Dear Diary:" but ends in two people signing it, implying that two people share the same diary. Just stop.