The following is partly written by Sam Archbell, Norfolk Academy student participant on the exchange:
This morning, I woke up bright and early at 7 am to go to school. I ate breakfast downstairs with my host brother, Dio, and his family. I had tostadas with strawberry jam and they were amazing. After that we headed to school, where they had a Catholic mass in the morning. Holy Trinity typically holds mass on the first Friday of every month, and this one was particularly special as it was the first of the academic year, and they were celebrating the 25th anniversary of the school. The mass was outside in the garden and all of the students attended. Although it was all in Spanish, it was still interesting to attend it because I had never been to church anywhere else other than where I live. 25 students were selected to present 25 flowers that each symbolized a different core value of the school, such as integrity, innovation, and solidarity. The songs were beautiful and were led by a chorus of teachers and students.
After mass, the American students went to shadow the classes at Holy Trinity College. The class I viewed was Chemistry. I was pretty good at Chemistry last year so I thought I would understand it. Wrong. I could recognize the things on the board but I never learned chemistry in Spanish so I was lost. We observed the class for 30 minutes and then headed out on an afternoon excursion to Honu Beach, south of the city. It is a private beach club that had a surf school directed by an Argentine national pro surfer, Martin Passeri, who happens to also be a parent of Holy Trinity students. We had a brief lesson on land to learn how to pop up and balance on the board, and then we donned wet suits and headed out in the cold south Atlantic water. One by one, the instructors grabbed us and flung us onto the waves. It was awesome and tiring! After a couple waves, I came out of the ocean to relax and reapply sunscreen. Everyone else stayed in for a little while longer to catch a few more waves. We had so much fun! Eventually everyone came back to the shore to eat lunch.
We enjoyed the warm sunshine on the beach for a couple hours, and then we headed back to Holy Trinity College, where we were reunited with our hosts.
This morning, I woke up bright and early at 7 am to go to school. I ate breakfast downstairs with my host brother, Dio, and his family. I had tostadas with strawberry jam and they were amazing. After that we headed to school, where they had a Catholic mass in the morning. Holy Trinity typically holds mass on the first Friday of every month, and this one was particularly special as it was the first of the academic year, and they were celebrating the 25th anniversary of the school. The mass was outside in the garden and all of the students attended. Although it was all in Spanish, it was still interesting to attend it because I had never been to church anywhere else other than where I live. 25 students were selected to present 25 flowers that each symbolized a different core value of the school, such as integrity, innovation, and solidarity. The songs were beautiful and were led by a chorus of teachers and students.
After mass, the American students went to shadow the classes at Holy Trinity College. The class I viewed was Chemistry. I was pretty good at Chemistry last year so I thought I would understand it. Wrong. I could recognize the things on the board but I never learned chemistry in Spanish so I was lost. We observed the class for 30 minutes and then headed out on an afternoon excursion to Honu Beach, south of the city. It is a private beach club that had a surf school directed by an Argentine national pro surfer, Martin Passeri, who happens to also be a parent of Holy Trinity students. We had a brief lesson on land to learn how to pop up and balance on the board, and then we donned wet suits and headed out in the cold south Atlantic water. One by one, the instructors grabbed us and flung us onto the waves. It was awesome and tiring! After a couple waves, I came out of the ocean to relax and reapply sunscreen. Everyone else stayed in for a little while longer to catch a few more waves. We had so much fun! Eventually everyone came back to the shore to eat lunch.
We enjoyed the warm sunshine on the beach for a couple hours, and then we headed back to Holy Trinity College, where we were reunited with our hosts.