Tuesday, October 23

First of all, we went to the Love Park where we saw the Robert Indiana's famous love sculpture. Then we went to the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia were we played some games related to Philadelphia's economy. After that, we went to Betsy Ross house. She was the creator of the first US flag with stars and stripes. This flag had 13 stripes and 13 stars because at that moment there were 13 colonies. Although Washington asked her to put the stars in lines, she put them in a circle because it represented union. After lunch at the mall, we went to a place where we saw a live representation of the history of the constitution. It was very interesting! When it finished we walk through the place, there were some interactive activities and sculptures of famous american people. Then, we went back to school, we met our hosts and every one went to his/her own house. Today we packed our things because tomorrow we are going to Washington DC. We had a great time here! It was an amazing! We are going to miss our hosting families a lot, we hope can see them again.

Love Park

Betsy Ross House

Philadelphia's oldest inhabited street

Camila Mindlin and Sofia Levin

First day of the week, last day of school

Today was our third day of school. We all went to classes with our hosts and their friends as we did on thursday and friday. However, today we also got a special class only for us (Tarbut students). It was an interesting drama class, in which we had a great time and laughed a lot. We played some games in there. For example, there was one in which each of us had to say a word to make a story. We also played another game in which there were different coloured balls, and each of them had a different pattern to make. The violete ball was the name one, so when we throw it to someone we had to called his name, and when everyone had received the ball once, the circle started again, so you had to remember who was the one that threw the ball to you and who did you threw it to. The game became more difficult as the drama teacher added more balls with different paterns to make at the same time! He told us it was a good exercise to get concentrated and also to work as a team, that is something actors must do. I think we were really good at this games! But the best of them was that we could have a great time toghether. Another thing we are really enjoying from the school are the food, drinks, and ice-cream machines that are really cool and quick. Actually, we are enjoying everything, and we are really excited to see what are we going to do tomorrow...

...ANDY MINDLIN AND MATI SUEZ AT SCHOOL...

...NICKY DORFMAN AND ANDY KARP (HER HOST GIRL)...

The first day in the weekend

Everyone was doing something different. I (Florencia Ini) met some of my host's friends in the city and I also met Cindy, Cami and Sofi who were also in town with their hosts. We went to a shop where they sell yogurt. We then went shopping and later on I went with my host to Nita's house where Cindy is staying. We got dressed and had a party. Her dad took us to the entertainmant and we all had a wonderful time altogether with the north american children. It was a long day and we had a nice day and evening together. We enjoyed ourselves a lot.

Sunday

Today I went to my host' brother soccer game, they won 5 to 1 to another Jewish school, when the game was over I went to a beautiful mall with Alex Langman and Andy Mindlin, there we have fun and ate. At 3 o'clock I went home and played playstation with my host. At 6 o'clock y went to eat sushi with some friends of my host family.

A Saturday in New York

Today it was a wonderful day! Maybe the best adjectives would be unforgetable, amazing, incredible, but I would probably finish tomorrow if I continued. Our day started at 9:00 am when we took a bus to New York. We listened to music for two hours until we finally arrived. Wow, there she was, the city that never sleeps, magnificent as it is in movies. Me, Ethan and his mother Julie took the subway up to ground zero. We saw the memorial to 9/11. It was really sad, and moving. Then we took a taxi up to China town, in which we ate wonderful noodles. Next We went to walk around the area and finally took a taxi to Nike town. There I bought some shoes, and finally walked up to Broadway. At 5:00pm we took our bus to Philly, and when we arrived we took a bath and went to a dance promoted by the school. By the way, in New York we met AL PACINO!!! What a piece of a day!!!

A friday at school

Today we had a great day at school. We had many subjects like hebrew, english, etc. It was pretty similar to argentinian clases. Everyone is very silent and really focused in the class, nobody talks or bothers during it. In our opinion their classes are less tough than in argentina, not to mention that they are a lot shorter, but they do a lot of homework. When classes ended, we stayed at school and played some basketball with some kids. We had a lot of fun. At night we have a shabat dinner, and then we have a weekend with our hosts. Until now we are having a great time!

First day at School

Today was the first day of School that we had. When we arrived at school with our hosts we followed them to every class they had. We had subjects like Spanish, English, and many types of Jewish Studies. in every hebrew class we had to wear a kipa. Some of the hosts had tests so whenever a host sits for a test we are free. The lessons were like in Argentina, however, here there is a lot of silence. After having lunch we had an Art class where we made mesuzot with clay. Something else that called our attention is that there are loud speakers that make announcements in every class room. When school finished, some of us went home with their hosts, while others stayed some more time in the school to watch the soccer match in wich the Cougars (Barracks) won 3-2 versus Mercy, another school in Philadelphia.

Third day at Philadelphia

Today, was a very long day, we did a lot of things which were really interesting. The day started at the Rocky steps, where we also saw his statue. Afterwards we went to the Ben Franklin Institute, a wonderful and attractive museum where we learnt curious facts. For lunch, we went to a kind of food court called the Reading Terminal Market, where we were able to eat any kind of food, there was a huge variety. When we finished eating we went to Penn University. We were really surprised, it was very different from universities in Buenos Aires, it had everything a student needs and even more. Later on we took the "Duck Tour", a very funny trip around the city of Philadelphia and Delta River(river which separates New Jersey and Philly). Finally we walked around South Street, a very nice place full of small stores and cafes, we had fun there. To finish this amazing day, we had dinner at a jewish restaurant where we ate typical israeli food. Although it was an exhausting day, we really enjoyed it.

Second Day

Today was a very interesting day. In the morning, when we met at school we shared the experiences we had with our hosting families. And then, we went to see the liberty bell, which is a very important symbol of the US independence. We learned that many people think it is call "the liberty bell" because it rang the 4th of July 1776, the independence day. But it's called like that because the abolitionist movement, who was fighting for the slavery abolition, rang the bell every time they had a meeting. They thought the bell was a representation of the US because it was a very good country but it had a flaw, which was the slavery. Like the bell, it was made of very good materials but it had a hole on it.

We learned more about the independence of the US at the independence hall. Then we had lunch in a mall. After that, we went to the National Liberty Museum, an art museum. There were many pieces of art that represented the liberty in the different ways. There was a "peace portal" made by a woman for her marriage. It was very colorful and full of drawings. The guide told us to look for a shape in the roof of this piece of art and not everyone saw the same things. It means that everyone can think different things and it is not wrong, we have to learn to see them in other perspective.

There was also a glass sculpture made by a famous artist who donated this piece of art to the museum when it opened. It is a flame of fire that represents liberty because sometimes making fire naturally can be difficult so you have to work for it, just as liberty. He wants to transmit us that not every time it's easy to have liberty, but it is not impossible. This sculpture has a gap because not everyone has it, but we have to continue fighting for it. Then we went back to school and each of us went with our hosting child.

It was an amazing day!

Sofia Levin and Camila Mindlin.

15/10/12

Our first day

After a long trip, which included connecting flights and almost no sleep, we arrived at Philladelphia on a rainy day, but the one we have been looking forward for many weeks. Feeling really nervous, excited, and trying to picture our hosts, we could finally meet them. They were very kind, nice and friendly with us, and some of them even joined us for lunch time. Afterwards, we went on a tour through the school: Jack Barrack Hebrew Academy. We learned that it is a very big, different and beautiful jewish school. Something that called our attention was the gym, that looked like a movie court. Everyone we met gave us a warm welcome and made us feel very well and comfortable. We enjoyed ourselves a lot today and we are very excited to see what will happen tomorrow...

This is the school bus that brought us from the airport to school.