Monday, August 4, 2008
Our last day together
Here we are already, facing the last post to finish off our California adventure. Today, the students have a few hours of free time to shop and explore the city. We will reconvene after lunch for a classic cable car ride, past the famously twisty Lombard Street, up to Coit Tower. From there, students should have good views of the Golden Gate Bridge, baring the fog that partially obscured the bridge yesterday. We will visit the North Beach area of San Francisco on our way to Chinatown. Upon our return to the hotel, students will have a bit of time to freshen up before we go to Mel’s Diner for our last dinner together. The students are feeling a mix of emotion, sadness to be leaving this experience behind, happiness to be returning to family and friends and we are sure there will be plenty of laughter and tears tonight and tomorrow at the airport.
Goodbye to Isla Vista, hello San Francisco
Sorry for the delay! Our internet connection has not been reliable of late and my posts keep getting cut off. To catch you up…
Friday: Our last day in Isla Vista. We were all a little sad on Friday morning as it was our last day in our “home”. To lift our mood, we went in to Santa Barbara and celebrated Fiesta with the locals. I think we would all agree that breaking the confetti filled eggs over each others heads was our favorite part of the festival.
Saturday: Bags packed, we were on the bus by 9 a.m., heading first to Santa Cruz’s famous boardwalk and then on to Stanford University before reaching our final destination: San Francisco. It had already been a long day so we opted for a quick dinner as a group in Union Square followed by ice cream and some time to relax in the hotels.
Sunday: Up early, we packed so much into one day; I am not sure how we managed it all! We started with a short walking tour of the areas around our hotels: Union Square, Market Street and the Embarcadero. There was a marathon in San Francisco Sunday morning and the streets were filled with runners, local merchants, music and more. We paused for a visit to the Ferry Building to pick up sandwiches for the day and then headed on to the ferry for Alcatraz.
The prison tour was powerful and, despite the frigid winds, the views of the city from the island were breathtaking. Disembarking from the ferry, we headed over to Pier 39 and Fisherman’s Wharf for a true tourist experience. As a special surprise for the students, Isabelle arranged for a limo to return us all to the hotels. Our tired feet were extremely grateful!
The students had dinner stipends and a couple of hours for downtime before we reconvened to head to the movies together. Some students saw the new Mummy movie while others watched Mama Mia. Both groups were extremely happy with their choice. Now, we are all back at the hotel, exhausted and ready for sleep before we get up and start another packed day, our last together, in San Francisco.
Friday: Our last day in Isla Vista. We were all a little sad on Friday morning as it was our last day in our “home”. To lift our mood, we went in to Santa Barbara and celebrated Fiesta with the locals. I think we would all agree that breaking the confetti filled eggs over each others heads was our favorite part of the festival.
Saturday: Bags packed, we were on the bus by 9 a.m., heading first to Santa Cruz’s famous boardwalk and then on to Stanford University before reaching our final destination: San Francisco. It had already been a long day so we opted for a quick dinner as a group in Union Square followed by ice cream and some time to relax in the hotels.
Sunday: Up early, we packed so much into one day; I am not sure how we managed it all! We started with a short walking tour of the areas around our hotels: Union Square, Market Street and the Embarcadero. There was a marathon in San Francisco Sunday morning and the streets were filled with runners, local merchants, music and more. We paused for a visit to the Ferry Building to pick up sandwiches for the day and then headed on to the ferry for Alcatraz.
The prison tour was powerful and, despite the frigid winds, the views of the city from the island were breathtaking. Disembarking from the ferry, we headed over to Pier 39 and Fisherman’s Wharf for a true tourist experience. As a special surprise for the students, Isabelle arranged for a limo to return us all to the hotels. Our tired feet were extremely grateful!
The students had dinner stipends and a couple of hours for downtime before we reconvened to head to the movies together. Some students saw the new Mummy movie while others watched Mama Mia. Both groups were extremely happy with their choice. Now, we are all back at the hotel, exhausted and ready for sleep before we get up and start another packed day, our last together, in San Francisco.
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Earthquake
Just a quick note this morning. I am sure some of you heard that there was an earthquake in California on Tuesday. While it was felt in Santa Barbara, we were in the middle of a dance class and did not feel the earthquake. We were all surprised to learn that one had even occurred. Everyone is safe and well!
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Nearing the end
Wow! I can’t believe we have so little time left on our trip! As always, we have been keeping busy this week. Monday, we went to the Ty Warner Sea Center in Santa Barbara for the afternoon. They have a “touching pool” and the students were able to handle different forms of sea life including a shark! Of course, it was a small shark but still…! Today, our lessons were in Santa Barbara instead of Isla Vista. A planned lesson on commands segued into an awesome activity on bad American dance moves. If the moves the students showed us were any indication, I think countries other than America might have some silly dances too! After we finished the lessons, Isabelle taught an amazing hip-hop class for us at a local dance studio. The students are amazing dancers and picked up the choreography very quickly. The routine looked FABULOUS when we put all the steps together to great music. Our dance theme continued tonight after our activity when the fashion show spontaneously turned into a wild dance party with lots of loud music, laughter and fun. Three more days in Isla Vista and then on to San Francisco!
Monday, July 28, 2008
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