ESA on the East Coast
Day Thirteen - Colleges
Alas, this is the final day of our epic East-Coast Trip, so what better way to end it then with something educational, right? Today, we visited two colleges, Brown and Amherst. Both were something else with their impressive campuses and top-notch facilities. While at Brown, we unfortunately didn’t get the full walking tour of the campus, but we did get a very nice lecture-type speech where one of the faculty from Brown outlined what Brown was like, how we would go about getting into Brown, and why it was such an awesome school. So, after that, we headed inland to the small town of Amherst to get a tour of the aptly named Amherst College. After slogging through all of the liberal hippies (no offense to those of you who are liberal), we got to see the very “small” school that is Amherst College. If anything, Amherst reminded me of our school size wise. Amherst only has 1,600 students in it as compared to the say, 50,000 of UCLA which gave it that very personal and cozy feeling that not many schools can pull off, so that was a plus. Anyways, today was a very informative day, so I’ll end this blog now in an attempt to get a few hours of sleep before we have to wake up at 2 AM to get on the plane back home.
Day Twelve - Boston
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…for those of us with sunburns today…well technically those of them with sunburns since I don’t have a sunburn. Friday was an awesome day filled with sun, however it made yesterday and today a little bit more difficult for many of us. This morning started out with some nice long hot showers for those who got up early enough and a few quick cold showers for those who value sleep more than warmth…tough decision, I agree. After a quick breakfast we all made the trek to Boston for our tour of the Freedom Trail. Arriving there we discovered that we had the wrong address…whoops!!! It was easily corrected and we didn’t even have to get back in the cars, we were only a few blocks away…wooohooo partay!!! Of course the tour didn’t start until exactly at 10 o’clock, and we had shockingly enough, arrived over fifteen minutes early. Our tour guide arrived dressed in 1750 circa clothes. They were pretty sweet…although according to her (Rachel Revere), she did get extremely hot in them, especially in this wonderful weather that we have down here. We went on a guided tour of historical Boston. I believe after today we have currently been through more graveyards on this trip than we have been to colleges, the score currently stands at graveyards three, colleges two; and we passed another graveyard on the way back to the beach houses today. Boston is such a historical town and there is so much to see that it may have taken all day to see it all, as it was we were only on the tour for a little less than two hours. The coolest part about Boston for me personally was being able to sit in the church where the lanterns were hung to alert the people that the Redcoats were coming by sea and not by land. The entire city of Boston was exciting and alive, with a lot to see and experience; we saw street performers, broken down balloon makers, and ate some really good food at the oldest restaurant in the entire country that is still running today….we thought our waitress is as old as the restaurant or close to. We also saw the monuments for Paul Revere, and John Hancock, and Samuel Adams who in reality wouldn’t be caught in a tavern unless for a secret meeting, and we saw James Otis, who is less famous than all the rest, but he’s the one who coined the majority of the famous phrases found in American History books today… “Taxation without representation.”…. and I’m sure many others that I can’t currently remember. The point is…celebrities it’s always the awesome ones who don’t get acknowledged. Whatever. I am sad to be leaving the Boston area after tomorrow…and in fact the trip is winding down here pretty quickly. Which is super exciting because OMG!!! GRADUATION!! SQUEE!!! This trip has been a blast for all of us with the majority of us having different favorite parts. Boston will live forever in my memory and in my firefighter t-shirts. Oh I forgot we ate some really awesome home made ice cream today at this place called Grays…it was great, very creamy, especially with the homemade waffle cone. We also got the speech today on checking ones self for ticks, which was an exciting experience for all; fortunately, no one has yet found one on their bodies, knock on wood, keep your fingers crossed. For now I am signing off with these final words, what happens in Boston stays in Boston, except the Boston beans which I wish I had had at lunch, because they looked like they tasted good.
Day Eleven - Massachusetts
Day Ten - RI
It was a nice surprise on Friday morning when we found out that we were spending the day at the beach house to enjoy the beautiful day. Before noon, we piled into the vans and headed for the beach. As we stepped out of the cars, we could smell the salty breeze and each of us could not wait to feel the sand between our toes. Soon enough, an array of colorful towels occupied a stretch of the beach and everyone was doing anything from jumping off rocks into the freezing ocean to building sand castles. Some people were even full-body buried in the sand. Despite the agonizing sunburns most people got from lack of sun block, it was a B.L.A.S.T!!!... at the beach. -Cassie, Ronnie and Diana
Day Nine - NYC to RI
Day Eight - NYC
I was up about 30 minutes before everyone was up; it had been a long and interesting day, we had visited Yankee stadium, and it was the highlight of the day--at least for me being a Yankee fan. Already exhausted, and not really wanting anything but rest, I heard Mr. Godoy say it was time for the play and we were off. He told me that we were going to see Monty Python and the Holy Grail . . . not excited really, just another boring play we had to sit through. The play began and there was instant music playing. Mr. Godoy taught us about the medieval times my sophomore year. The play was referring to the medieval times, and they began what I thought would be a “boring” play. Man was I wrong. The first joke was said, and it was instant laughter at least for me. I looked around, and everyone was laughing so I knew it was OK to laugh again. This was definitely one of the exciting and interesting days of the trip. Learning about the past times and how things worked from Babe Ruth being the king of baseball, and learning about the medieval times in a comical sense, really doesn’t get any better than that. -Leo
Day Seven - NYC
We haven’t checked in for a while because we haven’t had a good internet connection, but we have had some awesome days so far. Our group had a great time visiting Ellis Island. We saw how our country’s immigration was founded and how America was the most awesome place to be in the early 1900’s. We viewed-first hand how America invited these immigrants in with open arms. It was pretty amazing seeing how each and every immigrant at this time came through Ellis Island unsure, but ready to become an American. Becoming an American was a long hard process through Ellis Island, and like them we are also weary from our long journey to this far away land. This long journey so far has definitely made even our wonderful chaperones just as tired as the students. Actually after the long day visiting Liberty and Ellis Island we all had a nice nap on the extremely comfortable lawn in front of the museum! Nevertheless we made it through to New York and passed out in our hotel.
-Justin and Austin
Day Six
“New York, New York is everything they say and no place that we’d rather be. Thank goodness the only thing we will be doing at a quarter to three is sleeping!” -Huey Lewis (and Angie)
Day Five
I realize that this may be getting old but….it was yet another early morning, the earliest morning we have yet had, at 7:15 a.m. we were on our way to Mt. Vernon. Thanks to the careful guidance of Mr. Doug Northington and Ms. Tracy Newman we had time to spare before our 8:30 a.m. tour. Mt. Vernon was cool, the best part were the ducks and the Ms. Fields cookies down at the wharf. Seeing George Washington’s old gross dentures was definitely a learning experience, which made us realize how lucky we truly are for our orthodontists and dentists in today’s world. The Potomac River was beautiful and big and relaxing and made us all incredibly sleepy. Then we saw his house and the slave house, after this we took the scenic route through the countryside. We took the bridge into Washington D.C. refreshed and prepared for our walking tour of the monuments (including embarrassing pictures of everyone asleep in the car). We have figured that the one mile walk we were supposedly walking today easily turned into between eight and ten miles. On a more somber note, the World War II Memorial, the Korean War Memorial and the Vietnam War Memorial were all incredibly moving to all around, and made us realize the importance of honoring our veterans as well as the current soldiers who are defending our freedom still today. Out of the forty-three presidents we have had or currently have (W. Bush) only three, (or four if you count the Washington monument) have memorials solely dedicated to them. There is the Roosevelt Memorial which was MONSTROUS (lots of water), Jefferson’s would have been great had it not had cobwebs, or ink dripping off the most famous declaration quote EVER!!!! But all in all pretty cool, and Lincoln’s was larger then we thought it would be, quite frankly, however it was clean and incredibly moving with all of his talk about for the people by the people and of the people. It is now eleven o’clock at night and we have been informed that we need to be dressed, packed, and fed by eight o’clock tomorrow morning (or five o’clock your time), so with that we have to sign off and get our lazy butts to work. We look forward to returning to school to get some much needed rest. Happy Memorial Day!!!
-Kelsey, Angie, and Mireya
P.S….the juicy gossip of the day has to do with rear ends, fights (not physical), and varying degrees of attractiveness.
Day Four
We woke up (again at a very, very, very early hour) and after a hearty breakfast of eggs and ham at the hotel (maybe Swedish fish and Arizona iced tea for Reno.) We went to the Naval Academy where a humorous veteran tour guide explained the ups and downs of a military academy. We personally thought it was awesome, just one of there three gyms was about triple the size of our entire school. I don't know, maybe its because we're sheltered. Then we made made a stop by the place that were pretty sure starts with an "A" (can't you tell we're learning SO much?), and saw some great and important documents of American history, such as the Bill of Rights and the Declaration of Independence. Then we made a quick stop for a grossly over-priced lunch (except for Reno who again sat himself down to a meal of swedish fish and Arizona iced tea). We then proceeded to the Smithsonian museum where we got to see dinosaurs and some pre-human monkey creature (we later found that it was Roger, who had skipped out on his coffee that morning.) After being amused by the monkey creature we headed to the Capital to attend the National Memorial Day Concert (We actually knew what it was called.) We all thought the concert was a sensation to both eyes and ears, and we learned about the struggles of many wars and the veterans that survived them. then we came back to our room, and amid a tired haze of T.V. and ice cream, we began to write our blog. the end.... OR IS IT?
-Ivan, Matt, and that other dude who helped little.... Nate i think it was.... or maybe it was Barney... i can't remember, we're all tired.
-Matt, Ivan and Nate
Day Three
This magnificent day started us off with an early start.(WHAAAT..??) We woke up at about 8:00 am, got ready, and ate a full breakfast in the hotel. We got to the metro station and headed to the Pentagon where we each got carefully searched and then finally made it inside for the tour. Some people bought souvenirs from the Pentagon (not I). Later, we went to the capital, had a small tour, and half way through the tour we found out we couldn't use pens (haha). After, we walked with our chaperones around the national mall over to the supreme court and library of congress (fun times). We've been trying to figure out what to write and right now it's 12:30 so that's all for now. Wait…… most of everyone went to the movies except for some of us who wanted to be all anti and work on our reflection for the past two days. Well…..It's been exciting and fun so far. The best part of the trip is that we get to eat like 40 times a day.
-from the 1's and onl-E's: (Ashley, Anahy, Rebecca, and Sharrilynn)
Day Two
Today our sleep deprived and yet fairly excited crew took a trip to the Holocaust Museum. I learned a lot about the struggles and horrific treatment of the Jews and various others in concentration camps during the reign of Adolf Hitler. The museum really opened our eyes towards true hardship, and after that, the whole not sleeping for over 40 hours straight doesn't seem so bad. After the learning experience at the museum, we took a trip down to the White House. Though we were not paid a visit by President Bush, we did see a scary secret agent man on top of the White House. We are all glad to be finally be on the East Coast and to finally get some sleep.
-Reno
We're finally here. Yay! For all of the worried parents out there who didn't have their kid call them, we all made it safe and sound without a hitch. I suppose I should technically start at 12:50 A.M. this morning when we flew out from Las Vegas. After getting around one and a half hours of sleep, we finally arrived in Minneapolis at around 6 o'clock in the morning. Anyway, after a short 2 hour flight, we arrived in D.C. and headed out to the Holocost Museum. It was a sobering experience as we bore witness to the horrors of what these people had to endure under the oppression of the Nazi regime. After that, we headed off to the White House to try and get a good look at George W., but unfortunately we were detered by the man with the giant sniper rifle up on the roof of the White House staring down at us. So with day two all wrapped up, we are finally headed off to bed after staying up for nearly two days straight running solely off of Arizona Ice Teas and plenty of Swedish Fish.
-Andrew
Day One
Excursion Dance Party
The Prom
Photos from Ms. Taylor's Camera