Day 14: 06/26 - Last day :( Back where it all started: Philadelphia

It's Friday, we woke up not to early so everyone is in a good mood, having breakfast at the hotel by watching one of those very weird TV game where people have to wear very strange outfits and get crazy very quickly then a Breaking News interrupt the program, the law for the marriage equality has been passed so all of us can say that we were in the U.S. for that historic day! It's time to leave our hotel to go back to the city where we started our trip, Philadelphia. After a little while we arrived in the city and we walked in the direction of the biggest City Hall of the country (and "maybe" in the world) where we're gonna have a tour. We learned a bunch of facts about the building and the city of Philly in general. Then it's time to eat so food so we walked to an inside market where all type of food are sale. After that we all meet together to walk around the city and take some pictures at the LOVE sign, actually it was the best day ever in the "love history" to take a picture with that sign! Then back to the bus for one last stop, the "Rocky Stairs", then once again last group pictures of the trip, short fitness exercises and back to the bus to go to our hotel. Once arrived at the hotel, it's time to give the best of ourselves for the talent show, Japanese exercises, magic tricks (which are not that magical afterwards ;D), cups singers, jugglers and best dancers ever (with an extra synchronized swimming show for our fans). Then we had an hour to change and get ready for our goodbye surprise party, DJ, pizzas, soda and more importantly.. a bunch of friends with who to dance all night! Midnight arrived and the party's ending, it's time to sign each other flags, exchange our personal pins and cards and to say the first goodbyes but before to get back to our rooms, let's end up that amazing trip with an amazing cupcakes tops fight! 

That bus trip was just a blast! An amazing group of exchange students, 3 amazing chaperons, an amazing bus driver, so many amazing places/ cities and of course THE BEST COAST BECAUSE THE EAST COAST IS THE BEST COAST! 2 weeks full of life's memories that we will NEVER forget for sure! Thank you to Paul, Kirsten, Betsy and Bruna for those past 2 weeks

Robin - France 

Day 13: 06/25 Beach day!!

Today we had a relaxed morning and a lateish departure. We left the hotel around 10 and hit the road. After 1 and a half hours bus ride we arrived at the ocean. The beach was sandy  and not too badly crowded. We spent almost our whole afternoon there. Playing frisbee, football, soccer or just with the sand, or swimming we had a great time. The water was refreshing cool but not cold. The only "bummer" for me was that there were lifeguards and they didn't allow us to swim. So we couldn't go into chest deep water. That was a bit disappointing but it was still very fun. After we left, we went to an amusement park at the jersey shore. We ate a cheese steak and had a fun time there. 

Xaver - Austria 

Day 12: 06/24 - Last day in the city that never sleeps!

Today was my favorite day.

We started at the Rockefeller tower. The view from there was amazing we could see the skyline of New-York all around the building. I think the prettiest things were the view of Central Park from the top and the Empire State Building that was facing us. Then we had some free time, and we ended up shopping on fifth avenue. We were meeting at the St Joseph theater at 1:30 but with my group we kind of got lost so we had to run from 44th street to the theater and it was super hot,we were dying. Then we saw Something Rotten a broadway show that got 10 tony awards. It was so funny and I loved the fact that they had tap in it. Then we had more free time and we went to time square for more shopping. At 6:30 we met at sbarro for dinner and after dinner we got a surprise. Two limo pick us up for a two hours drive around New-York. It was amazing to have a party in a limo! After that we went a last time to time square to say goodbye to the wonderful New-York City.

Leandra - Belgium

Day 11: 06/23 -- In love with NYC!!

We woke up early to take a ferry at 9, to go see the Statue of Liberty. Even though it was only 9am the temperature was already in the high 80's. Everyone seemed tired in the bus and on the ferry, but as soon as we got to the statue everyone seemed to lighten up. This was a dream coming true for every one of us, seeing the Statue of Liberty, and now we were right in front of it. The statue was huge. There was lots of pictures taken and we got a great view of New York from the statue. After, we had lunch, and took the ferry back. During free time we got the chance to see more of New York, which included Wall Street and Brooklyn Bridge, for some of us. Later in the afternoon we went to the 9/11 memorial, the One World Trade Center. We took an elevator ride to the top, while watching a film on how the city evolved in the elevator. At the top we saw a short film about New York, ending with the screens coming up, and us getting an extraordinary view of New York City. We were all amazed, and spent a long time taking pictures afterwards. After this we went to China Town and Little Italy, where we had dinner. We all enjoyed the food and the souvenir shops. I think it's safe to say, that everyone here absolutely loves New York.
Maria - Denmark

Day 10: 6/22 - New York City!!

Yesterday we left Hartford, Connecticut for New York! On the way we went to Yale university, it was really interesting, old city, calm, it was relaxing to walk on the street and see the buildings. There we bought fresh fruits it was perfect! Sun, friends, relax, fresh fruits! After that we drove for 2 hours and the best moment of the trip happened, I saw New York for the first time, huge buildings for landscape, New York is amazing. We went to the United Nations, we learned a lot there, it was interesting, and easy to understand. We took the subway because we wanted to do a bike ride farther in the city and we saw the Grand Central Terminal which was awesome to see. We did a bike ride in Central Park and it was the coolest thing to do! This forest in the middle of the city was just amazing, we did exercise in the most beautiful place in New York it was super awesome. At the end of the day, we went in the supermarket, bought some fruits, orange juice and ate in the middle of New York. This trip is getting better and better, I just love it! Lorenz - Switzerland

Day 9: 06/21 - SIX FLAGS!!!

This first and only Sunday of the trip, we spent the whole day at Six Flags. We started the day with rain, which kinda scared me at first but the weather became better during the day. The amusement park was surprisingly and thankfully not crowded, no wait forever in the lines was probably the best thing ever! We've done almost all of the rides with my group and even got some picture with the characters like Robin and Bugs Bunny! I've never been to Six Flags before and it was a lot of fun, their rides are really scary, which I loooove. They also have a water park that we went to at the end. Today was a tons of fun!!! We ended up with a lot of sunburn though!

Jade - France 

Day 8: 06/20 - Boston

We woke up and we had breakfast, the cinnamon rolls were amazing, then we drove to Harvard in Boston, we explored the campus and it was really fun. We got to meet so many cool people and made a quick stop at the Harvard shop.  After that we had some free time, me and my friends walked around the neighborhood, found some souvenir shops and met with the group. We went to Zoe’s for lunch, the food was delicious and the plates were ginormous.

In the afternoon we went to the Science Museum, where we got on a “duck” and got to see some landmarks in the city of Boston. A duck is basically a bus that turns into a boat. Our driver was super funny and really enjoyed having us.

Later we went to Quincy Market, a really big public market full of all kinds of stores. Me and my friends found some nice restaurants in the area and had some sushi for dinner. We walked all around the market, went to the park and saw dancers over there.

Our day in Boston was perfect, I love traveling with my friends!

Ana - Brasil