Boston

The last thursday before leaving Portland we went to Boston. After a trip in train we arrived to Boston and headed to Harvard by subway. The university is beautiful and big. It was raining and very cold. After that we had lunch in a very good and unusual "all you can eat" restaurant in Boston. In the evening we went downtown next to the historical area (Quincy Market). This place is amazing surrounded by old buildings that had been turned into stores.

After having a wonderful time there we went back to Portland where it was snowing really hard ...we expected another snowday for the next day but it didn`t happen :^( .

Washington!

After a long wait in the hotel lobby, we finally got our rooms.
We met there at 4:30, after a well deserved rest and talked about all the wonderful facilities our new hotel had: big bathrooms, comfortable big beds... everything with a true smile on our faces.
Next we had a city tour where we only saw a beautiful city, perfect, clean and full of parks.
We went to many places we never thought we would see, such as the Capitol, the Obelisc, the Arlington Cementery, the White house and many more.
We didn't have too many expectations about Washington, but everything turned to be a complete success and in the end we were all astonished by this beautiful and interesting city.

New York...New York!!!

April 15: We are so excited with the idea of getting to New York!!!!...the news keeps saying a big storm is coming!!!...(Weather Forecast hasn´t failed since we came here!!!...)The farewell party was incredible!!!... We want to stay...but we also know the rest of the trip will be so amazing!!!!...

April 16: The flight has been cancelled...we'll get to the airport anyway just in case Delta decides to fly anyway...after several calls they confirm our flight was "on time".... we rushed to the airport.
Some of the streets were closed...rain and wind ...


We are all at the airport trying to decide the best...Oh,oh!...Delta announced there won't be flights until thursday!!!...Is there any other way we can make it?...the bus....the bus?...yes, why not the bus!!!

April 16(11:00pm) We are finally here!!!! The Big Apple is waiting for us!!!!

Farewell Dessert

Wednesday, April 11, at night we had a farewell party for all the families whom we lived with here in portland.

Each family took a dessert and we shared a little pleasant while with all the people who were involved with this exchange.

In the end, the teachers of Chile, Dubi (McAuley), Jane Glass (Cheverus) and some of the Chilean students thanked to all for the affection, the concern for our wellbeing, and the time that was dedicated to us.

It was a very fun time to see all the Chileans with their families.

By Constanza and Sofía

TOURING PORTLAND

What a cold day for a field trip!!!...Smile!!!(please hurry up!!!!) OK, Freeze!!!....(bad idea we were all frozen already)...
Part of the group had given up and headed towards the purple bus... the lighthouse was certainly very impressive,but the freezing cold did its best....

Mm mm why don't we go to Old Port now!!!! ....Good idea!...(off we went)....

On our way to the market, we saw this big mural showing Old Port's life in its beginnings.

"Do you think the kids would like the idea of going to the Fish Market (Hanna's mother asked)...Well, I would certainly go there , Lobster is one of the most important sea products here ,right?

"well, we could actually see them ...alive!!!!!

BEAUTIES AT McAULEY

Monse is missing, because she was absent the day we took this picture...It's a pity,but we'll post others with the whole group soon....

Cheverus Experience (by Alvaro)

It's been three weeks so far, time goes really fast when you're having fun. The time we've been spending here in Portland has been great. The life at Cheverus is way too different from Chile (starting from the fact that classes are shorter, which is always a plus), some of us have had difficulties getting used to it at the beginning (and others still aren't used to it). Right now it's snowing hard, almost 8 inches of snow, and it's supposed to snow even more. In this 3 weeks we've done way too many things, we visited Augusta and saw the Congress while on progress, we went to Central Portland and visited Longfellow's house (he was a well known poet of Portland that might be compared to Pablo Neruda in Chile). Some of us have also gone skiing or snowboarding to different places, to make long story short: it's been real fun living this experience in Portland,ME.

Visit to Augusta

On Monday 27, we went to Augusta, the Capital of Maine. There we visited the House of Representatives and attended to a session where Democrats and Republicans applauded us, it was a very interesting experience.

Our Arrival

After taking 3 airplanes, showing our passports and boarding passes 20 thousand times, and sharing several interesting moments e.g. “don’t-take-pictures-in-the-international-area” (ejem: erase the picturee!) After many adventurous moments (trains inside the airports), after some interrogations (gangster Larry), after many yawns, laughs, good byes and memories we got to Portland, Maine.
We left parents, friends, sisters, boyfriends and girlfriends behind and prepared ourselves to face the first adventure we would have. We embarked on the trip of our lives!
We left at 21:30 from Santiago’s airport and arrived at 17:30 to Portland airport. The 24 hour trip was exhausting, but full of laughs and of all the cheer we Chileans are full of. They received us with the warmest welcome ever: signs, flowers, balloons, and smiles everywhere. Our luggage survived the trip without problems; therefore, we could relax and enjoy our first day.
Monday we truly relaxed and got situated with our new homes and families. On Tuesday, we all went to school. We were instantly emerged into the new environment – McAuley School!
Those were only the first couple of days, there are still many adventures ahead of us, and we are ready to face them all.

By: Jose Movillo and Jose Larrañaga

CPH students at Cheverus

"Miss Chechi this experience is wonderful..." "Miss can we speak Spanish now?" ...These are some of the question that are posed by our nice bunch of students from CPH at Cheverus...they are just starting but Teachers at lunch time talk positively about your kids...(My kids here!)...

I just wanted to share some pictures of them studying or checking things in the Internet, looking for bibliography,etc...

That's life at Cheverus...

Love, Miss Cecilia

2007 CPH - CJA Exchange Program

CpH - CjA High School Students are leaving for USA on march 17, 2007.
They will be having an interesting cultural exchange with american families in Portland, Maine.They will also attend classes in two different private catholic high schools there.
The students selected this year to attend McAuley High School are: Constanza Escobar Hayashi, Josefina Larrañaga Recart, Josefa Mendía Oliver, Sofía Mondragón Fischer, Monserrat Bao Quiero and Josefina Movillo Matta. All these students will be chaperoned by Miss María Elena Jünemann, our CJA Headmistress. CPH students: Alvaro Arriagada Elzo, Agustín Díaz Casanueva, Javier Marcos Espíndola, Tomás Ozzano Reyes, Jorge Yavar Hojas and Joaquín Sierralta will be attending Cheverus High School and their chaperone will be Miss Cecilia Gambino.
The group will be staying in Portland,ME for four weeks and then they will continue touring New York City , Washington DC and Miami for the following two weeks.

English as a Foreign Language...Full Immersion

The English language is in today's society one of the key codes to access knowledge, technology and culture. To that effect, the CPH and CJA schools apply a comprehensive academic program starting in nursery school. It becomes more intensive throughout the curriculum and is oriented to master the English tongue from its essence to all its various linguistic mechanisms.
Viewed within the cultural perspective from our own society's, this program actually intends to introduce the student into the social-cultural context of the many english speaking nations, seeking a better understanding of the process of globalization.
An innovative teaching methodology is also used by both schools through introducing creative communicative techniques and advanced software technology as keytools for the learning process, thus overcoming many of the common psychological barriers usually associated with foreign language learning.
In the international field the CPH and CJA schools work closely together with other institutions from overseas such as the Cheverus High School from Portland, Maine in the USA, developing diverse and articulated exchange programs in order to produce a more fluent, linguistic and cultural relationship with their communities.