Hi everyone what's up?? So Friday was our last day of the trip, and I must say I'm extremely sad :(( however, yesterday was an amazing day in D.C. 

We had breakfast from 7:00 to 8:00 at the hotel, and I was really tired at that time, but it was necessary to have energy for the day.  Then, we left the hotel and we went to the Capitol; one of the most amazing buildings I have ever seen, however we didn't get in, we just saw it from outside and took tons of pictures. 

Then we went to the Library of Congress, that was my favorite place in D.C,  it is an incredible building with a lot of culture, and the most important books of the world, it is really beautiful and is a "must visit" in D.C

After that we walked to the Supreme Court of justice, one of the most important buildings in D.C, but we couldn't see it really well because it was under construction.

Group shot at the Capitol

Nawa (Thailand), Rose (Thailand), and Fili (Italy)

After that we went to the most important place in the USA: the White House!! The security there was crazy, for all the things that happened in Boston, but we could have a really nice view of it, just like on T.V, and we also took a lot of pictures there.

Mohab (Egypt), Sarah (Switzerland), Marc (Switzerland) and Silvia (Romania)

Then we went to have lunch at union station,  we just had an hour there, but it is a really beautiful building, just like central station in New York, but a little smaller. After lunch we went to probably the most famous museums in the world, The Smithsonian’s.  The Smithsonian’s are 9 different museums located in an open space called the mall, and they have everything in there. I just went to the air and space one, and natural history, but they were seriously amazing, I just wished I wasn't that tired so I could have visited more museums and also I wish we have had some more time.

National Museum of Natural History

From the top left: Marie (Germany), Enzo (Chile), Silvia (Romania), Charlotte (Germany), Sophie (Germany),
Laura (Germany) and me (Colombia)

Enzo, Charlotte, me and Sophie on the National Mall

Marie and me on the National Mall

Then we went to Georgetown to go shopping for a little bit, but to be honest I didn't go shopping, I just sat in a Starbucks to have a break because I was really tired. After that we went to have dinner in a really American restaurant called "Old Glory." That's when we all started realizing that we just had a little time NEW YORK!! So that was kind of sad.

The bus ride back to the hotel was really fun, it was a party bus, and we were all dancing and singing. I still think we needed a real party at the hotel, but the bus party was fun anyway. When we arrived at the hotel we all hanged out in the lobby, and we signed some flags and t- shirts. That was really sad because it was the last time we were going to see each other in this trip. 

Having a blast in the hotel

Who knows!?

Last group photo!

In conclusion, not just yesterday, but the whole trip was amazing. I met amazing persons and had one of the best weeks of my life. I will always remember it. I wanna thank everybody from Belo USA, and all the people that were in this trip for being such nice persons. I will always keep you in my heart and now I know I'll travel all around the world and visit you guys.

Los amo!! (I love you all!)

Daniel Rodriguez, Colombia

Hello guys! I am João from Brazil and I’ll tell you a little bit about our day here in the nation’s capital- Washington DC. So, leaving the hotel and going through the town it is noticeable that it is very green and clean. It was raining hard before we got to the first stop, Lincoln Memorial, but it stopped for a moment, and we got to take some pictures in front of the Lincoln Monument see its awesome Greek architecture. Inside the memorial, you can see his statue and read his quotes while the tour guide told us the important facts of US History related to him. 

At the Lincoln Memorial

After the Lincoln Memorial, we walked to the Vietnam War Memorial. There, we saw the name of the 50,000 American soldiers that died fighting for the South Vietnamese government… Around the corner is the Korean War Memorial, and we could see some statues of the soldiers, nurses, drawings on the walls, and that kind of stuff (the same idea of the Vietnam Memorial). After visiting those three memorials, we caught the bus to the Thomas Jefferson memorial, a little bit smaller than Lincoln’s, where you can see the White House straight ahead, which is pretty cool. And inside the Thomas Jefferson memorial, there is Thomas Jefferson’s statue and some cool phrases that he made as one of the US founding fathers, which the tour guide tells us about. 

Mentari (Indonesia) at the Jefferson Memorial

Park of the Korean War Memorial

After that, we walked around the man-made lake and headed to the Roosevelt memorial, which is outside, and it has some representations about his lifestyle, his government issues and his achievements. The tour guide explained everything in case you had no idea who FDR was! And our last stop before lunch was on the MLK Jr. Memorial, the man that risked his life for the freedom of the African Americans who were treated terribly during and before the 1960s. If you enjoy history, you will definitely enjoy the tour, and even if you don’t, you will find at least 1 thing interesting (it could have been the architecture, engineering, or what those people who are being represented did in their lifetime). 

FDR Memorial

Now that it came at the noon time, it is my turn – Mentari from Indonesia to tell you what we were doing.As the clock showed 11.30, we waved goodbye to our DC tour guide. Hillary, and we all went straight to the mall, Pentagon Fashion Mall which is located right to Pentagon. Frankly, on this trip we cannot go to Pentagon because the security is so tight and apparently they have to give their background information to make sure that they are “safe” people for the Pentagon.Right after we saw the mall, Tici gave us details about when and where we got to meet later. We have about almost three hours to do our last shopping on this trip. (yay or nay?) I can’t really tell what people doing because we kind of separated once we enter the mall. But most of us had lunch on the food court, they have quite a lot of options; Italian, American, Chinese and of course I spotted McD (yes. ‘Mmmurica!)  Me, myself, I had Chinese food for lunch.
Finished my lunch, me and Peggy (Taiwan) went to Macy’s to met other people. But we ended up separated anyway. I haven’t been to Macy’s. We don’t have it in where I live in Jacksonville. But all I can say that Macy’s is huge! They have four floors. And they also have sale going on.Without me realizing, it almost 2.45, so I hurried myself to go to where we were earlier. I met some friends on my way there and we walked together. We were the couple first people that arrive on the bus, but no longer after that, other people started to coming and no one got left behind, and I don’t think they were in a serious deal of shopping, either. Maybe they are starting to run out of money ha….ha… (personal experience)
Our next destination is so exciting, it is Mount Vernon! For those who don’t know what Mt. Vernon is, it was the first president’s (George Washington) house. It is actually not in Washington DC, instead it is in Virginia. So guess what? We went out from Washington DC. Uhm, anyway, our hotel is also in Virginia. Anyway, it took quite some time to get there, about 40 minutes I guess, even though it wasn’t that long but it can take people to be bored and fall asleep. Which I did. Right when I was about fall into a deep sleep, I heard Tici’s voice through the speaker. The voice that I’m so sure we gonna miss, and the line is always be: “Wakie, wakie BELO! We almost here” So yeah, I delayed my nap for later.The first thing we did in Mt. Vernon was watching a video about George Washington. It was in the theater, a nice one. The movie ran about 30 minutes. After that we went to the actual house he was staying in. The interesting thing about the house is that we cannot take pictures inside the house because it’s considered as a nation’s property. We broke up into groups and each group has 10-12 people. And the way it run was we went to different room and in each room/area they have different tour guide.As we finish our tour in the house, we have free time until 6 PM (it was 5 PM) so we had approximately an hour. I was with Antoine (Belgium), Bastian (Belgium), Anna (Sweden), Rose (Thailand), and Nawa (Thailand) we were just walking to the farm, and we saw the sheep and chilling on the big yard. It really is a nice place, and it has a beautiful view.

Nawa (Thailand), Rose (Thailand), Bastian (Belgium) and
Antoine (Belgium/Thailand) at Mt. Vernon 

Right at 6 people already gathered in the gift shop, and we went to the restaurant which is just feet away. It was a fancy restaurant, we even had ordered the menu we gonna have since yesterday. I had turkey – and the feeling of thanksgiving come in my way! – and the other meal options are veggie lasagna, or ham. I was sitting with Tici this time, and I would tell you some funny conversation we had (this one is Jan’s (Germany) request)

Mentari:          Tici, where did you go to university?

Bastian:           University Of Swag

Jan:                  Majoring in YOLO

Well, appreciated you guys that think this one is funny.

Anyway, we went back at 8ish. And on the bus, we had a party going on. (I bet the bus driver annoyed) people just stand up on the isle, and we had music so loud, and put the lights on and off – you know what I mean, right? So yeah, that’s that. And right now, there is pool party going on. So, I might go there in a minute, as the story for today is almost done being written….

Getting crazy at the pool!

--- João, Brazil and Mentari, Indonesia

Today was a departure day for the people who didn't go to Philadelphia and Washington DC. This morning was a really sad day for us and more even sad for some people who left too early morning because we didn't say good bye to them but I know we will see each other again somewhere around the world, at least Facebook.

This is how we say Hi and Bye

Our hug to (some of) the Belo staff

 After we left the hotel and heading to Philly and had lunch at Terminal Market. There were everything over there.

Reading Terminal Market

After lunch went The National Constitution Center (NCC), it was a museum but it wasn’t boring at all because the presentations were so interesting and enjoyable. Then next to the a little bit long walking around Philly.

Warorose (Thailand) and Jan (Germany) at the Constitution Center

Having fun even long walk

Went to the Rocky Stairs!!!!!!!! Wooooo we ran to the top and took the group pictures.

Now we are in the bus heading to WASHINGTON DC!!!!! And I miss everyone who left already and I know everyone here does too… Hugs…

Warorose and Nawa, Thailand..TeeHee J

Tuesday - Last day

We started our last day in New York with an amazing boat ride around the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. We had a great tour guide who told us about the area.

After taking a group picture at Pier 17 with our matching Belo T-shirts, we went to Times Square where we had a couple of hours to shop and eat lunch. Some of us got to try the famous New York hot dog!!

When our stomachs were full we went on to visit the United Nations and for a while we weren't in the United States anymore but in 193 countries at once. It was really interesting and we all felt like we were back home again.

Next up was dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe which was delicious and entertaining. We got to see the Beatles' outfits back from the 60's and Paul McCartney's guitar.

Finally we ended the last night in the Big Apple with quite an experience: the Broadway show called Phantom of the Opera!!! It was AWESOME and the actors were really good and talented! An amazing way to round up our adventure in New York City!

Goodnight from Claudia, Italy, Charlotte, Germany, and Louise, Denmark.

Sup guys? New York City is AWESOME!!! After a short night’s sleep, we had a delicious breakfast at the hotel and we started our day visiting the EMPIRE STATE BUILDING and enjoyed the beautiful and iconic view of New York City. We spent about an hour on the windy 86^th floor of the building, taking some amazing pictures.

The view from the Empire State Building

After our first highlight of the day we headed to the Grand Central Station for lunch, but first we were amazed by the Whispering Room, in which we could hear each other whispering from different corners.

Whispering Room, Grand Central

Our next destination was the financial district. Our tour guide, Juan, showed us the most important buildings in the financial district, such as the Federal Hall, where George Washington gave his first inaugural speech; the Wall Street with the famous Stock Market and the Bull at Wall Street; and then we moved on to a park near Ground Zero, to learn about the new buildings, like the Freedom Tower and the Ground Zero Memorial. On our way to Brooklyn Bridge, we passed the oldest church in New York City. An hour later with great pictures and tired feet, we were in Brooklyn on the other side of the Hudson River. The view on the bridge was magnificent but we all were excited for SOHO, the big district for shopping.

At Federal Hall in front of GW (only half of our group)

Federal Hall

On our city tour

Rose (Thailand), Pablo (Chile), Max (Switzerland),  Daniela (Chile) on the Brooklyn Bridge

Silvia (Romania) and Marie (Germany) on the Brooklyn Bridge

 We divided in smaller groups and starting spending money buying souvenirs. (hint: SOHO is cheaper than 5^th Avenue or Times Square in terms of shopping.) We ended our day with some delicious food in China Town, where we tried to learn some words in different languages. Our favorite part of the day was definitely Empire State Building and Brooklyn bridge view.

So with this we leave you to another day, and we are very excited for the United Nation and the Hard Rock Café.

---Marie, Germany and Silvia, Romania

Hey there upper east (and world-) siders, the Gossip Girls are here. Your one and only source into the exciting and international life of the girls and boys from the Belo USA trip!

Spotted: a bunch of exchange students discovering New York City. It all started off with the a walk from the public library in NY which is the United States’ 3^rd biggest library.

Then, the groups’ tour guides Garret and Juan chased the teenagers through the Rockefeller Plaza, Central Park, showed them the Cathedral of St. John the Divine and saw an Israeli celebration at Columbia University. The buses took the groups through Harlem to Greenwhich village where the starving crowd got some delicious lunch.

Daniela (Chile), Anne (France), Lhorie (Belgium), Laura (Belgium), 
Julia (Germany), and Claudia (Italy) in Central Park

Julia (Germany) and Laura (Belgium) at the Israeli Celebration

After that they were spotted at the stairs of the Metropolitan Museum of Art for a crazy group picture and some cultural education. I heard someone saw the kids heading to the amazing lights of Times Square afterwards. Everybody’s breath was taken by the beautiful body of the naked cowboy playing guitar and spiderman hanging from the streetlight.

Louise (Denmark), Linda (Germany), Carl (Norway), Charlotte (Germany), Mohab (Egypt), Linus (Germany),
Paul (Austria) in Times Square

Dinnertime in an Italian atmosphere with singing, dancing, and more food than anyone could eat.

Instead of relaxing after this long day, two of Shakira’s background dancers showed them some cool hip hop dance moves, even though none of the exchange students were professional dancers.

After a fun bus ride back to the hotel, everybody went right to bed to get ready for the day tomorrow, cause I heard it’s gonna be a blast!

You know you love us, xoxo, 

The Gossip Girls (aka Julia, Germany and Linda, Germany)

(Reproduction of a Gossip Girl scene on the steps of the MET)

Finally it is here. The long-awaited trip to New York, we are feeling embodiment of the American dream very close. For every single student one of us, living in the US, Canada, Bahamas or the Bermuda could join our great experience. For some the flight was more or less close to our travel destination: Airport Newark in New Jersey. The first students arrived at 8am. New York time, the following members arrived spread over the day. Without any delay attained in the great airport, there was a good amount of time offered to enjoy the best things, USA can serve: Burger Doughnuts and Ice Cream. YUMMY!

In groups of six we have been driven then to the hotel. To spare time until the last exchange students came, we went to a known Sandwich store and had a great time to learn to know about each other closer. Also an alternative was to go and get coddled in the warm water of the pool. It was for free to go to have a nice workout after the gym later in the day. 

Rose (Thailand), Not (Thailand) and me (Switzerland) at the Welcome Dinner

Welcome Dinner with Belo USA!

Soon the day went by and a delicious dinner was served, from salad to chicken, from buns to delicious cookies. After that, we got well informed by our coordinator about how the trip will go. We are very excited for our New York City tomorrow!  

---Maximilian, Switzerland and Rose, Thailand