During the month of February, a group of enthusiastic ICA students visited the United States to improve their English levels. This cultural trip has been organized by the institute for the last 23 years. On this occasion, the lucky students were Victoria Zoppi, Federico Vicente, Victoria Carretero, Carla Di Nucci, Nicolás Gándara, Camila Cuadrado, Victoria Marcote, Martina Robetto, Pedro Zabala Roldán, Victoria García Iacovella and Melina Mateo and the teacher who traveled with them wasMarcelaLópez.

The city of Philadelphia
Having had the opportunity to visit the city before, it was a pleasure for me to accompany the group and show them around the sights of Philadelphia. I really appreciated and enjoyed with them its rich multicultural heritage. The name of the city literally means "the City of Brotherly Love" in Greek, though many people may think this is just a nickname. Tourists and media often informally call the city “Philly”. Philadelphia is a historic and cultural heaven. It is famous for being the birthplace of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”, and it holds several of the most treasured monuments celebrating American freedom. My students were thrilled to visit The Liberty Bell and Independence Hall, and the house where the first American flag was sewn.
Philadelphia is also home to some of the nation´s most prolific and diverse artwork, with a variety of pieces on display inside world-renowned museums and outside on the streets.

Saint Joseph´s University
Higher education in Philadelphia is very prestigious and traditional. Benjamin Franklin founded the University of Pennsylvania before the country became independent. We stayed at the dorms of Saint Joseph´s University which is a nationally recognized, private Jesuit university distinguished for its academic level. Staying on campus to experience college life was an unforgettable adventure that provided us all with plenty of opportunities to learn from a highly civilized community, where order, politeness and respect dominate the scene.
The banner seen all over Saint Joe´s reads: “With Faith and Strength to Dare”. It summarizes a great guiding principle for today´s youth. I think the stay at the campus helped the kids understand the true meaning of hard academic work and responsibility. Learning and knowing makes us stronger –strong enough to face any of today´s challenges.

Life at the dorms
The ELS Language Center at Saint Joseph´s University fosters people from all over the world who go to learn or practice English. We were very lucky to meet friendly teenagers with whom we could spend our free time and Share our customs. We learned about their foods and their taste in music and fashion. We even learned a bit of other languages!
Although we were mostly with South American students, we became acquainted with Arabians and Koreans who were really cool. Of course, we tried to talk to as many natives as we could to practice and learn some slang. Customs are really different in other cultures and they can even be shocking, but when you go on a trip like this one you must be open-minded and try to understand different ways of living and thinking.
When we arrived we were welcomed by the students who had been living in the dorms for some months. They included us in all their plans as if they had known us for a long time. We felt really comfortable! This experience taught us that no-matter
Where you come from, what your religious beliefs are, or what you look like, all teenagers have the same expectations and dreams in common.

Victoria García Iacovella

Trip to Washington DC:
On Saturday February 23rd we travelled to Washington DC. A bus went to pick us up at 10 am and we met a group of people from different parts of the world (Korea, Japan, Brazil, Chile, Venezuela and Italy) who were going to spend a whole weekend in the nation´s capital with us. We had a tour guide who explained to us the importance of every significant place we visited.
First, we drove along the avenue where the embassies of many important countries stand. After that we went to the White House. We stopped to take some photos and then we went for a walk round the square to see the Treasury Department and George Washington Monument. Then, during the afternoon we visited really amazing places such as Thomas Jefferson's and Abraham Lincoln's Memorials, the "Vietnam Wall" -where one can see the names of every soldier killed at that war- John Fitzgerald Kennedy Memorial Center and Franklin Delano Roosevelt's Memorial. Finally, we were taken to the HYATT hotel where we stayed for the night. The rooms were really luxurious! In the evening we strolled through Georgetown and we could appreciate the oldest part of the city which still retains its colonial charm with spotlessly well kept constructions.

On Sunday, we all got up early and had breakfast together at the hotel. Everything was delicious! At 9 am we left the hotel for our second tour day. We visited The Arlington Cemetery where “the bravest of the brave” are honored. John Fitzgerald Kennedy and his family are buried there and it was so touching to see the tomb of “the Unknown Soldier”. It was just like a city because it had streets and signposts everywhere. Later, we went to the amazing Smithsonian Museums. We could chose to visit the National Air and Space Museum, the National Museum of American History, the Museum of the Holocausts, the National Galleries of Modern and Antique Art, the Indian Museums and the Capitol of the U.S. We visited almost all of them but we were particularly spellbound with the building where the Constitution of the United States is, with the Capitol Building, and with the Natural Science Museum. In addition, we sauntered past the Supreme Court, the National Library and the FBI Buildings. It was just fascinating! At about 5 pm, we headed back to Philadelphia after an unforgettable experience.

Federico Vicente

Sports life
Yo fui uno de los afortunados en hacer ese viaje hermoso a Philadelphia. Con Federico, un compañero de viaje y amigo, una de las metas que teníamos, además de estudiar (por supuesto), era perfeccionar nuestras habilidades deportivas allá en el Campus. Luego de hacer las tareas, e ir al centro o realizar alguna actividad con nuestros compañeros, íbamos al "Sports Center" a practicar algún deporte o cumplir un programa en el Gimnasio. Cabe destacar que el Campus estaba totalmente equipado deportivamente (Canchas de Tenis, Basketball, Soccer, etc.) lo que facilitaba la actividad de cada uno. Los americanos le prestan mucha atención a la vida deportiva de los estudiantes, tanto secundarios como universitarios. La mayoría de los chicos en Saint Joseph's University,
practican Basketball y Lacrosse, se mantienen todo el día activos. Se dirigen a la cafetería a almorzar, a realizar tareas, van a la biblioteca a completar proyectos, y tienen muchísimas actividades sociales extra curriculares. Por ser un campus tan grande y por tener que movilizarse entre los edificios que están tan lejos unos de otros, el ejercicio en los estudiantes es continuo, también para los que no practican deportes. La actividad física es muy importante, ya que en USA se sufre de mucha obesidad. En fin, aquellos que puedan y tengan ganas de hacer ese viaje, no se lo pierdan que es increíble.

Pedro Zabala

Shopping
There were many good things to see and do in Philadelphia, but for us -one of the greatest experiences was going shopping! In this city, there is no sales tax on clothing or shoes, so here you can really shop till you drop!
There are a variety of major shopping centers. Franklin Mills and King of Prussia were our favorites! We bought a lot of things in these huge places, because everything was on sale since the winter was finishing there and heavy clothes were very cheap.
Also, we went down-town many times and we shopped at The Gallery and Liberty Square. At Macy´s -the world´s greatest department store- we bought many presents for friends and family. Another fabulous place was South Street, where we found the most unique accessories and garments.
We loved American prices and style!

Camila Cuadrado, Vicky Zoppi and Vitti Carretero

New York
New York is one of the best cities I’ve ever visited. It has beautiful buildings, amazing structures and many places for teenagers where they can have a lot of fun. What I liked most was the Empire State. It’s an incredible building that has more than 100 floors. Even though we went to the 84º floor (because going higher was quite expensive) we had a great view of the city.
Another thing I loved was “Planet Hollywood”. It’s a restaurant where you can see Hollywood movies while you are eating, and you can also see many costumes and things that were used to make those movies, like the aliens in the movie “Independence Day” or the lance used by a predator in “Predator 2”.
Finally, I enjoyed walking along 5th avenue and Broadway. I bought a lot of things on 5th avenue (It has everything you are looking for), and Broadway was just amazing, it has so many lights and advertisements that it looks like “Las Vegas”. It was very beautiful.
To sum up, we had a great time in New York with my friends from ICA and with my teacher Marcela, and I strongly recommend that everyone should go there.

Nicolás Gándara

sights: vistas, lugares de interés
heritage: herencia, patrimonio
nickname: sobrenombre, apodo
strolled: paseamos
spotlessly: impecablemente
spellbound: encantados, fascinados
sauntered: deambulamos, paseamos