An amazing experience!

One of the things that everyone is asking me is if I would like go again to this Exchange program.
And of course that I would like do again all the things that I have just done! The 6 weeks was a really incredible experience!... I am thinking about a month ago, and one of the things that I am most impressed with it’s how is the people in Portland. I am talking about my family, how they can be very generous and worried with a girl who they don’t know??... Since the first day in the airport of Portland that they are with me like if I was another daughter and another sister.
To explain a little more about how they are, I am going to talk about my Easter. We went to Massachusetts to the house of her grandparents, I was very nervous because I don’t know all her family and maybe I could be a little extra there! But all was complete different, her family can’t be more sweet!!. There they celebrated very different than in Chile, like a big party!, with big gifts (not only chocolates!!)… and with a big meal!. I made many things too: I cooked, I painted eggs, and I had to found my Easter basket! The most impressive thing is how they were with me, all the family gave to me many presents!!, all specially the grandparents were very worried about me… they said to me: I only want that you feel like in house!!!... And the grandparent when I was leaving his house, he gave to me a bill of 2 dollars with all the name of the family there, so with that I can remember them!. The Allyson’s family is amazing, I am going to miss them very much, especially Allyson she was a great person and “sister” with me.
Well, this weekend show how was the people in Portland, and in the School (McAuley) too, all the girls were very nice!.. they gave to us present’s when we leaved, and we still talking!!! We made a lot of real friends!! Really, this month in Portland was an amazing experience, where I lived and learned a lot of things!!
About the last 2 weeks: The 3 places were incredible, we saw many different things!... but one of the things that I am most happy is the group, I am only going to say that it was amazing. I am very happy with had know all the people that before we aren’t friends and now be closer with all of them!!.

I absolutely recommended trip!

Exchange 2008

This Exchange program was an amazing experience, I love the way that the program show us the live of a family who have another culture and it make us get, for a month, in the life of that family, an take other points of view, that’s make us grow and have personal opinion, we lived different experiences and with them we could realised that the way we live it’s not the only, and it’s make you to accept more the differences too.

We all were so nervous when we arrived to Portland, the moment to know your family had came. But when the time passed the relation with my family was so good, they were and still being, so nice with me, they are a really friendly family, all the time they were worried about me, they asked me if I was comfortable or if it was anything that I wanted to do.
We passed really good times together.

In the school all the girls were really nice with us; they wanted to know more about us, so most of them invited us to her classes, it was really cool. The school was different, the students had to choose her own schedules, and they had the same schedules in all the week, just the period of the classes changed, and also they had to move all the time to a different room; sometimes they could be in the same room with a senior or a junior, they are all mix together, so they know each other with all the students of the school. I like the school because most of the students were different and they did´t care.

The time passed so fast and the four weeks had end, we had to say good bye to our families and let our routine in Maine, it was really sad, because we know that we are not going to come back, and we were having so much fun in there, but the tour were coming!.

All the tour was very fun, but I think that Boston it’s the best city that we visited, I really like it.
New York it’s really fun you will never get bored in there, all the museums, the building were amazing, just walking you have fun because there are a lot of different people.
Washington it’s a quit city, really secure; the best thing that we saw in Washington was the museum of the Holocaust; it was amazing I can say that it’s the best museum that I had saw.

In general we had an amazing month and a half, all the time that we passed was really fun, the people that you know, the differences, the places, it’s a really good experience and I am very glad to have gone to this trip.

María Esperanza Grez

A life-changing experience

Going on this trip was one of the best decisions I could have ever made. We had such a great time, in Portland, Boston, Washington and New York that I don’t even know how to start describing it. Every time someone asks me about it, I start remembering and I can’t avoid the smile on my face.
We started as 16 boys and girls that barely know each other, and end it as friends with more than one story to tell. This is a life-changing experience, one that will make you grow and be more self sufficient than ever. You are all alone in the other half of the world, with a new family, making new friends, and just seeing all the different things this people do. I will never forget all those endless nights in Boston, New York or Washington just doing nothing with everyone; all those days at McAuley, where we made some really good friends, and had the most amazing time; or that month in Portland, were all the families where amazing, and all the days unique. So many experiences, so little time…You will never be able to imagine all the bonds we made there, all the experiences we lived, and just…the amazing time we had. I can’t wait to go back to Portland, and see everyone there.
I definitely recommend this program to everybody who has the guts to go.

Antonia Larrañaga

My days in New York

We arrived to new york on April 13th. That afternoon we went to "time square", time square it is a very illuminate street with some TVs.

The other day we went to the "Empire State Building" it is a very tall building, in this you can see all the city.

Broadway day!.. All the group unless Pita and Cata gone to seen "Mamma Mia", I liked it but maybe I think thats was going to be better.

Another day we went to Central Park... it is so big and beautiful park. There we played
Football.

We went to "Maaame Tussauds", the wax museum and there I was next to the wax people...I’m was a wax person too! that was a very cool day!

All the group went to the Statue of Liberty, that was a green a very big statue. Then we gone to the "cow of luck" and I taken many pictures!.

With this trip I met new friends and I hope they will be forever.

Agustin Fernandez.

Well on March 14th everyone was nervous about the experience that we were about to endure. The moment we arrived in Portland we were so excited because our families were waiting for us with some presents and things that they made. After that I went to my host family house (a very beautiful house) and I felt at home, because they were so generous and kind to me. The following weeks we spent time with a lot of friendly people in Waynflete School, we had an excellent time there. On the last day of our stay in Portland our friends from Waynflete threw us a farewell dinner with a very funny salsa dance included. The next day we went to Boston where we stayed for 3 days and visited different colleges. Then we went to New York, where we stayed 4 days and went shopping, visited some museums and saw a Broadway play. And finally we spent our last 4 days in Washington DC where we went to different museums and visited different monuments.

An unforgettable trip

When we arrived to Boston, we had to wait for the check in, meanwhile we went for a relaxing walk close to the Charles River. The next day we visited the Harvard university and we realized that is more like a city, besides that, Boston is a very relaxing city. New York, what can i say, now i understand why Frank Sinatra made a song about this city, what a fabulous city, full of places to visit,starting by the Madame Tussaud´s museum of wax, where you can take pictures with any famous character you want, starting by Albert Einstein and ending in Bob Marley; Also you ccant miss the MOMA, with tons of modern paintings, breaking with the tradition that boys dont like museums, this museum is waesome; also you will like to see the most beautiful architecture just by seeing the Empire State or the Chrysler Building, enough of New York. Washington D.C., last stop, thinking that it is the capitol of the USA, I thought it would be bigger, but not, once again I was wrong, this city is just an administrative city built only to control the country but not to cause great impression in the tourists, as Boston, is a very quiet city, with lots of good museums, part of the Smithsonian. Finally we went back to Chile with lots of pictures and more culture.

Exchange

What can I say about the Exchange Program? I think it's just too much content for a couple of paragraphs. You just don't get the meaning of the word "exchange" when you sign up for this program. At first I thought it was like a vacation, just another trip. We were suposed to go to New York, Washington and Boston, take some pictures and buy some presents for ourselfs and the family.

But in the moment that I got off the plane it had nothing to do with that. There I was with my new family, in the other side of the world, just by myself. We both were very curious, like if we were entering to a new world, that from outside seems so different.

At the beggining it was a bit weird, in a new country, with new people, another language and culture. It seemed so different, by example, say hello to the women with the hand and not with a kiss in the cheek, as it is used in my homeland. But the days went by, I knew more the people, and I realized that the thing isn't about where did you born or what is your language. It's about who you are, and how you relate to your enviroment. I realized that there is just one world and one raze, and even though we are so different in our way of seeing life, deep in our soul we are all human beings.

That's what I learnt from the exchange. I was lucky, that's true, I found such a warm place as waynflete in the middle of the snow. As soon as I got to the school I starting feeling in my home in a way. I'm sure that I will never forgett Maine and I just can't wait to come back again.

An awsome trip

We leave home in Santiago, Chile on March 14th around 5 pm. At the airport we were all really nervous but also looking forward to know our families and new homes.
We had a long fly, and in the way from Atlanta to Portland a thunderstorm affect our sleeping and a lot of people start throwing up and it was really nasty.
But finally we arrived Portland and it takes just 5 minutes between getting off the plane and knowing our families, so it was really quickly. A horrible weather was waiting for us…snow and clouds everywhere.
In the first week I had a few problems because Tanya and I were both really shy, so we didn’t speak too much. But after some days we start getting along very good!
In school all was perfect. All McAuley girls received us so good that it was great to go school every day. For the first time in my life I loved going school :). We made a lot of good friends that we will always remember.
At the end of our visit to Portland on April 12th we were all really close and we have had a lot of good and fun times together. So it was really sad to say bye to our families and friends.

Josefina Morel.

My experience

Well my experience was awsome, my familly, the Donelly's, they keep me to different places.
Ian is friend of Agustin Antoine and Fernandez and Octavio's host brothers so we meet frecuently, we do a lot of things like go to the cinema, made partyes, go to one house and watch movies, play soccer, watch a hockey game, etc.
The Cheverus students was very friendly's, we talk and made a lot of friends.
The Donelly's familly is a exellent familly, they talk, with me like a son, I meet the rest of the familly and they where very friendly's.
On the trip I meet the rest of the group, I had talk with them a couple of times and now we are friends.
We went to a lot of museums, we play rugby, we walk a lot, and do a lot of shopping.
Boston is an exellent place if you like to study there and love beautifull places.
New York city is the best place to buy things, you can found wathever you want, and you can see a lot of places that there are very famous because appears on movies or are caracteristic of USA.
And Washington DC is a pacific place and very beautifull with a lot of famous places like the white house, there is a lot of museums and the best is that in Washington all museums are free.
We have a lot of fun and I recomend the exchange program to everybody.

My experience

It’s difficult to summarize our trip in a few words, but I’ll try. We left Chile on March 14th all very nervous but anxious. The month in Portland was really good, everybody wanted to meet you and everything was new. My family was amazing; they did everything they could for me, and it was a lot! The school was so different and I think that that was the most fun thing. The last day finally came, we had to leave Portland. It was so sad, some of us cry, but it wasn’t the end! The tour started, the first city was Boston. It was wonderful, I loved the aquarium and we had a really good time. Then we went to NEW YORK CITY! We made so many things there, we had a blast. And finally we went to Washington, it was cool.

We went to many museums and it was the end. Everything was really fast, I know that I will never forget it.

Bye Portland!

My experience in Portland was good! I was a little nervous and sad to leave my Chilean friends and family but when I arrived there and I met Abby, my American sister, and my American family I forgot that I was sad and I had a very good time.
Ours hosts families and American teachers let us do many activities. For example, one weekend we went to ski at Sugarloaf and another on, Abby took me to go shopping to Freeport.
After staying a month in Portland, going to school, having fun with our hosts, speaking English, we had to say bye to our host families and leave Maine! So the last day, our English teachers, prepare us a breakfast at Cheverus. After that we went to the bus we said goodbye.

My travel

We got there on March 15th in Portland... When we arrived ours families was there with some present. My family gave me a teddy bear it was so cute! And candy.

When I got to my home Maura showed me our room, that was so pretty! Then Maura and I went out with Casey (her dog) and we went to eat some ice -cream.

My first day in the school was so good, the classes were very short and they had the same schedule but in different order. The school had a good cafeteria.
One Friday we went to skiing at sugarloaf, that was a cool day, it was so fun!
One day we gone to the bowling! I lost
Our last day was so sad Maura, me and the others girls cried! but we had to go.

Boston Tour

The Boston Tour started 2 days ago when we arrived to the Doubletree hotel near 2 o'clock. We only had one room to leave our luggage so we left in there and then we left to walk around Boston. That afternoon we walked through the Harvard sq. and then through Central sq.

On the next day we had a city tour of Boston at the downtown, after that tour we had lunch at the quincy market and after that we went to the Boston aquarium. We stayed almost all the afternoon at the aquarium and then we went to the science museum to watch a movie in a 180 degree screen that made a sensation of being part of the film.

Today we went to a town near Boston that was the first town founded by the english who came to North America. We went there to a museum that made a representation of how was the life in 1700 when the englishmen arrived. Tomorrow we are leaving at 10 am to NY, we are all very anxious to get there and to have a wonderful time.

Cheverus last week program

Last week in Portland: Cheverus program

Monday: Presentations, boring, but necessary, the teachers are going to put our mark

Tuesday: More Presentations

Wednesday: Habitat for Humanity Volunteer (all day), Cheverus and Waynflet

Thursday: Soup kitchen (all day), Cheverus and McCauley

Friday: Normal class day, dinner in Waynflet School and party in Octavio’s house after that.

Thuesday: We went to the Chocolate factory ( Havens) and we saw how they made the chocolates and candies

Wednesday: We went to Old Port ( downtown) and we visited the observatory

Thursday: Skii day!! We went to sugarloaf . We had a good time together!

Friday: We had tea in McAuley.. it's was so nice!

Saturday: Lobster! We ate lobster and then we went bowling afterwards.

Our second week of classes

Our second week of classes in Waynflete have been really good. Now we know where ours classes are in the different buildings and it is normal to see a classmate eating in classes or standing up to go to the bathroom without asking the teacher. Also, now we can speak in English and understand everyone!
Our classes are so different to the ones that we use to have in Chile. For example, I have Literature of Vietnam and History of Japan.

We have been in many activities. On Wednesday we have been in “pachanga” with the little kids. They sang different songs in Spanish, while some teachers and the director of the school played the guitar. Also we went to the Museum of Art with the others Chileans. We have a guide who tells us all about the pictures and their authors and then we go to Starbucks. We had a really good time!

All the girls slept in Liza Hall’s house and the boys in the Hallet’s house. We arrived on Friday and we have dinner at the Hallet’s house. On Saturday morning we woke up very early to go skiing and snowboarding. We had a break at 12 to have lunch and then we continued until 4. We had a really good time!