Welcome to the Fulfilled Dream

Hey everyone: our awesome group, the Belo staff, our natural and host families, friends. This morning all of us – 95 representatives of 31 different countries, were really excited and more than happy to fulfill one special dream from our bucket lists – to come to the Big Apple! WELCOME TO NEW YORK CITY!

The first picture that popped up once we went through the Lincoln tunnel under the East River were skyscrapers, yellow cabs, crowds of people, always in a rush, so “New-Yorkish”! We were all extremely happy and started to scream really loud so that our natural parents could probably hear. Just kidding J

Firstly, we stopped at the public library, which had a very unique architecture. We were separated into two groups (since there are 95 of us) and at that place, near the library, we had met our amazing knowledgeable guides. The guides took us around the city, and even though we sometimes asked clumsy questions about New York, they were eager to help us and make our experience funny and fascinating. Then, we were led to the Rockefeller center, where (so many nations were represented). We had some time to take amazing pictures, so parents – no worries, we have time to take some nice shots of the world’s capital.

Group photo at the library

Sayaka (Japan), Luis (Peru), Eva (Czech Republic) and Lala (Azerbaijan) at Rockefeller Center

Then we went to the central park, which was very crowded because of the special event – half of the marathon, was held there. The thing that amazed us most about the park was that it seemed as if we were not in the city anymore. We visited the Strawberry fields, took an incredible picture of the imagine sign.Then, we drove to Saint John the Divine Church, which is an Episcopal church (a sister of Anglican one). The church has never been completely finished and, moreover, this extraordinary historical treasure united Gothic and classical style.  

Tribute to John Lennon

After that, we drove through the Harlem – one of New York’s neighborhoods. We also stopped at the heart of the Columbia campus, one of the Ivy League universities! We all enjoyed it a lot, and took a group picture with our flags. The lunch was Italian for the majority of us in Greenwich village, however some students went to some Mexican cuisine. We also visited the local Italian Pastry called Rocco’s – aww it was so good!

Group shot at Columbia University

The Metropolitan Museum of Art was next in our program, or, as we like to call it, the Metropolitan museum of Everything! We truly found all we could possibly want to see there, and it left a wonderful memory. We would like to mention the girl from Armenia found a Bible and cross from her country! Pretty incredible!

Group shot in front of the MET

Exploring in the MET

The next stop was at the famous dancing studio--Alvin Ailey--where we had the hip hop classes. It opened all of us and we became closer with each other. We are so different, but at the same time, we have so much in common. The dancing teachers were professionals and we would like to say “thank you!”

The most delicious part of our experience for today (except for the Italian pastry – what’s up Italy--) was the famous HARD ROCK CAFE!!! We waited in the line while they got our table ready, and the most awesome thing about it was that one waiter started to dance and sing which encouraged us to join him. It was wonderful – people from all over the world were singing in one language, all together. At that time we realized that we are all citizens of the world, we are free. Also, we would like to mention a sweet and energetic girl from Switzerland, who was not afraid to climb the stairs and dance with the waiter! It made it even more awesome!

Hard Rock Cafe!!!

TIME SQUARE – huge screens, famous people (just kidding – we haven’t seen the stars yet) and cool shops – all of it made an impression of us! We have always seen it from the pictures, or in the movies and seeing it with our eyes was truly unforgettable. We can still feel the butterflies in our stomachs…It was so bright, as we just woke up in the morning, even though we were really tired! Our AWESOME STUDENTS took a lot of pictures, including selfies, we bought some souvenirs and just enjoyed ourselves to our heart’s content. Yay!!!

Times Square!!!

That’s all for today, THANK YOU for reading and supporting us. Thank you BELO, you are awesome, thank you our group, from now we shall be and remain Best Friends Forever. If you are our parents, or friends at school, home – thank you for your support. Even though we can’t see you, we know you are there. Like the stars in the New York’s sky. 

-- Anastasia (Russia), Martina (Italy) and Lala (Azerbaijan)