NEW YORK!!!!

Yesterday morning, we said good bye to the Sunshine State (that is Florida) and headed to the Empire State, NEW YORK!!! 

The flight went really smooth and well and we all rested a bit before starting these 3 final days in NYC... First thing we did was checking in the hotel and then we just jump on the streets and started walking

We'll leave some of the pics we did just to help you make an idea of how the day went... 

Sun 'N' Fun

Yesterday it was a very interesting and cool day. In the morning we headed to the College as everyday to attend our classes, which are reaching its end as today it's our last day here in Polk State College.

After them we had lunch at Subway and then we went to Lakeland to pick up Teresa, who was going to take us to Sun 'N' Fun, an air and space museum with a lot of cool, educational and interesting things.

Once we arrived, we were taken into the museum, where we were able to see some aircraft that had been part of the US Air History and play some games related to aviation, such as flight simulators or different tests that the pilots have to pass before getting into a plane. 

Then we went outdoors, where our guide Robb took us to an hangar where some of the students of different high schools gather around to create their own airplanes and drones. We also had the chance to go into and empty plane that they're turning into a classroom, so the future students will be able to attend flight lessons in an actual airplane. 

Finally, and as part of the tour, our guide gave us a gift... A book about aviation and some of the army planes that are part of the exhibit in Sun 'N' Fun. We want to thank them a lot because that was a GREAT present!!!!

In the cabin

Flight simulator

Trying to make it fly...

Bowling!!

Yesterday we had classes in the morning, as usual, and we played some Pictionary, which was very fun and we also practiced our songs, because we'll have our final showcase tomorrow morning.

At 12:30, after class, we went to McDonald's to have lunch and we had some cool and chilling time there, eating and telling jokes or chatting with friends.

Right after lunch, it was time to go Bowling, which we were very excited about it, as the last time was so funny and enjoyable... And it really was!!!! We had 2 hours to play three times and everybody seemed to have improved a lot since the last time, doing lots of strikes and spares and, even, throwing the ball at a quite high speed...

When we finished playing, we had some time left to play some games, such as basketball, or throwing a ball to some holes to get points, which they were turned into tickets that then we changed for some items (candies or toys).

Finally, we returned to Winter Haven and Lakeland to be with our host families, and the Lakeland group played some volleyball while waiting for the families to arrive.

It truly was a great day!!!

Dani, Albert & Andres

                                   

                                     With Ronald McDonald

                         

               The "Lakeland group" at Circle B Natural Reserve, while waiting for the families...

Sunday, funday!!

On Sunday, we had a party with all the american host families at Paula's family house, just to have a good time together and get to know each other better.

When we arrived, everyone left the food they had brought and started to enjoy the day by playing some pool (billiards) or playing football nearby the lake.

Then we all decided to take a dip in the swimming pool they have at their house and we were playing with some balls, chilling and enjoying the bathtub.

Right after, we had lunch... A very big buffet with all the food we had brought, which included burgers, cheeseburgers, hot dogs, mac & cheese, salad and even "pa amb tomaquet" that Maria & Anna had prepared. It was all delicious, even the dessert,  that included ice creams, brownie and fruit salads.

After lunch, we all got back to the swimming pool, until 4pm, when everybody decided to leave in order to make the most of the rest of the Sunday.

It was an amazing day!!! We had a lot of fun, we enjoyed the food and we had such a great time all together.

Maria & Andres

DISNEY WORLD!!!

Last Friday we went to Disney World, in Orlando. First thing we did when we arrived was taking a lot of pictures at Main Street, the long street that takes you to Cinderella's castle. Then we got lucky and we saw a parade, where we could take selfies with some of the most famous Disney characters such as Baloo, Stitch, Woody and King Louis.

After that we rode SPACE MOUNTAIN, which is an indoor roller coaster in the dark, with sudden drops and high speed. While we were queuing, we played some video games.

Our next ride was Buzz Lightyear Space Invaders, which is basically a laser shooting ride, very fun and beautiful.

Right after that, we moved from Tomorrowland from Adventureland, where we looked for Pirates of the Caribbean ride, but unfortunately it was closed due to some maintenance work. As we were getting very hungry, we stopped by to have lunch and we had some (more) burgers. By the time we finished, we rode Big Thunder Mountain, the typical mine train which was actually very cool.

Then we went to Haunted Mansion, because we wanted to get scared and we enjoyed the ride as it was a mixture between funny and scary.

After that, we decided to separate because everybody wanted to do so many different things or ride different rides. Some decided to go to the water ride (Splash Mountain) while others preferred to go shopping or have a drink.

Overall it was a GREAT DAY!!! We had a lot of fun and Disney was so cool!! Here you have some pictures of our incredible day...

Miriam & Irene

                                         Selfie with Stitch!!!

                                   "The boys" at Main Street USA

                                         Anna, Maria & Cristina at Main Street USA

                                               With Goofy!!!

                                  The girls with Mary Poppins

                                           Cinderella's Castle

                                           With the Castle at the background

                                   Trying hard to get Excalibur out

Ice Skating + An awesome lunch

Yesterday morning we went to the Polk State College to take our lessons. We read some chapters of "The House of Mango Street" and we also did a research of different topics, so we went to the library to use the computers.

At lunchtime, we went to the Golden Corral buffet, where we could eat EVERYTHING!!! Pasta, salad, pizza, chicken, fries, fish... But the best was the dessert... A chocolate fountain!!! It was all very yummy and we enjoyed eating that much!!

Once we finished lunch, and although we were full, we went ice skating. Some of us had never been to an ice rink before so, at first, it was hard for them, but the rest helped them a lot and they eventually improved.

At 4pm we had to leave, so we took our van and went to meet our families to spend the rest of the afternoon with them doing so many different things.

Cristina & Anna

                                       Enjoying our time at Golden Corral

                                 Strawberries covered in dark chocolate

                         The Lakeland Center, where the ice rink is located

                                                Here we go!!!!

Sports day at the College

Yesterday, we started the day by doing two debates in class, one about the Bullfighting in Spain and if we were in favor of it or against and the other one, a bit more controversial, about the independence of Catalonia and what were the reasons for being in favor or against. Despite being two hot and controversial topics, we had fun explaining our reasons and we learnt a lot about how to speak in public; after that, we did a reading about eco-communities and finally we prepared our songs for our little final showcase.

After the class we went to have lunch at Salem's where we ate chicken wings and burgers and we drank a lot of "weird" drinks, such as Cherry-Vanilla Coke or Lime Coke and some of us we even mixed all of them to create our own drink.

Right after lunch, we returned to Polk State College because it was sports afternoon and we had the amazing basketball court booked. There we played a bit of basketball and football (soccer for the American) and we had a lot of fun.

As you can see in the pics, the arena was huge and amazing and we had a lot of fun playing there because we felt like if we were playing in the NBA... So, overall, it was a fantastic day!!

MINIONS!!! (Banana!!)

Yesterday morning, we went to Polk State College as usual to have our lessons. It was a very cool morning because we played some games such as a game where we all had to stand on a sheet and flip it without anyone leaving the sheet. We also learnt a lot of different idiomatic expressions and new vocabulary.

During our break time, we were able to go to the amazing basketball court to play some basketball.

After class, we had lunch all together (with Teresa, father Nick and Edu) at a different and cool place: a Cuban restaurant!!! The food was amazing and we had some typical Cuban meals such as the Cuban Sandwich or the Bistec a Caballo.

Then we decided to go to the cinema to see the brand new MINIONS movie. Everybody enjoyed the film a lot because we felt as if we were children again and we laughed a lot with all the characters of the movie, specially Kevin, Bob and Stuart, who are the main ones.

And below, you can see how amazing was our lunch...

Renata & Paula

                               West Caribbean Cuban Restaurant

                           Cuban Sandwich