Parsippany Students Exchange - Weekend in Washington

Last weekend in Washington DC was really awesome.

We set off at 6.00 am (!!)and got to Washington DC at about 11.00.
Once there, we visited Arlington Cemetery, United States soldiers' national cemetery. It was impressive to see all the graves lined up all over the fields. 

  Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

Our hotel was next to the Pentagon and we could have a good overview of the five-side building as we drove along. 
First thing next morning we went to visit all the important landmarks in Washington, conveniently situated along The Mall - the long avenue in downtown Washington where all the museums and memorials are. 

We visited The Capitol and the Library of Congress and had lunch at Union Station.

        Walking along The Mall


In the afternoon we visited two Smithsonian Museums: The Indian Americans and The Air and Space Museum. The African American Museum was being officially opened on that day by president Obama.

Believe it or not, this is Apollo 11, the first spacecraft to land on the Moon!!

Our driver Benny took us for a night tour

On Sunday morning we finished our walk along The Mall and ended up at Lincoln Memorial.

  

                 Washington Monument seen from Lincoln Memorial

 On the way back to Parsippany, we stopped for lunch in Baltimore, a seaport city in Maryland, with a superb inner harbour full of old ships.



Now we are back at school, ready to start our second week in Parsippany.

Parsippany Students Exchange - First Week

For 31 students and two teachers - Lurdes Asensio and Henar Marchesi -  at IES Jorge Manrique, the beginning of this course is being a little unusual. We are spending two weeks in Parsippany, New Jersey, where our students are attending regular classes at Parsippany High School and staying with local families. Not only are they practising their English everyday, but also they are experiencing the American culture from within.

The School buses

One of the classes at Parsippany High School

We had a school dinner with the families, the mayor and the education authorities.

This exchange between IES Jorge Manrique and Palencia has been going on for 20 years now. We think it's a wonderful opportunity for both schools, as they get to learn a new culture, so different from their own.

The mascot of PHS is the red hawk

The first day, Sunday September 18, our students spent the day with their families. Next morning they went to school with their American partners where they attended all the lessons and that's what they've been doing for all this week. They've had two special lessons for them - one on British/American English, and another on American music. 
Yesterday we went to New York, where we walked along Brooklyn bridge, visited the Stock Exchange and The Metropolitan Museum of Art, got emotional at Ground Zero, had lunch and went shopping in Chinatown and wandered in Central Park to finish with.

Crossing Brooklys Bridge

At Groung Zero

Tomorrow we're going to Washington for the weekend.