Spring Break Trip Anne de Mello (´16) As viagens culturais são uma iniciativa do Family Education & Wellness Dept. e que ocorrem todos os anos durante o Spring Break cujo objetivo é socializar, enriquecer o universo do aluno. Foi super legal e gratificante poder acompanhá-los nessa viagem pela história americana e ouvir os comentários de cada um deles sobre os monumentos, sobre a cultura, sobre a experiência de poder administrar, mesmo por uma semana, a sua liberdade... Todos os alunos, sem exceção, comportaram-se de forma madura, respeitaram as regras colocadas pela nossa guia e protegeram um ao outro. É lógico, que em um determinado momento, muitos estavam mais preocupados em fazer compras e levar as mil encomendas feitas por amigos e familiares, mas isso é normal. . . até eu estava!! Wilton Branco 1st day- On our first day in the United States we visited the Thomas Jefferson Memorial, the Martin Luther King memorial, Lincoln memorial and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in the National Mall in the heart of the nation’s capital, Washington, D.C. It was an amazing experience that brought alive some of the American history we learned in class. 2nd and 3rd days- We first made a short stop in Philadelphia, on our way to the Amish farms. Some of us were nervous and some were excited about going to explore a new culture. The Amish culture in Pennsylvania is really different, because they don’t use electricity of any kind. They are very religious and traditional. They believe that everything they use in their daily lives must have been cultivated by them; in other words, they don’t consume anything that is not naturally grown in their farms and Amish community. It was worth getting to know them and learn about their perspective upon life. 4th day- We said goodbye to Philadelphia and headed 2 hours East to New York City. Philadelphia was not the best place we went to, but it was worth the experience of getting to know the city that was so important in Early American History. I thought that Philadelphia was an obscure and sinister town, but it is full of historical places that were essential in American history. 5th day- Our last day was in NY. It was the best one, because we had the chance to shop and have a free day to ourselves. Everyone shopped and explored the city however they wanted. Later that day we had dinner together and discussed the trip. The following day we were returning to Rio, after a short but great Spring Break trip.