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.