United States, Virginia - Last day

LAST DAY

Today was an exhausting day! When I woke up I had to reorganize my baggage so that everything would fit in it. After that we ate at Chik for lunch. This a seafood restaurant in front of the bay, the view was beautiful and the food was yummy! Then we went on the airport and we finally had to say goodbye... This was an emotional moment and we were all so sad to leave... I'm going to miss thee muricans so much. But we all decided to enjoy this trip until the last minute, so we joked a little bit and our joy came back. 

On the plane, I think that we did even more mess than when we took the first one to Atlanta. We played music, we danced, we laughed so hard... It was amazing. We were so tired but we wouldn't sleep to enjoy the trip. 

Finally we found our family waiting for us at the airport of Marseille and we were really glad to see them all. We said goodbye to each other and promised to organize things for us during the holidays. And then we went home... 

It has been an incredible experience. I have met wonderful people, who are nice, welcoming and funny. I found friends in the American teenagers and I found a family in my hosts. I'm really happy that I shared this amazing adventure with 4 great people, my frenchies, and I hope that we'll see each other again after this trip. I would like to thank every person that has made this adventure possible. There's no word to tell how grateful I am. I discovered the United States and I lived the American way of life for 3 weeks, and it was incredible. I'll never forget the people that I met there and I'll never forget all these good moments shared together. These memories will be right there with me, in my heart. For the rest of my life.

United States, Virginia - Day 21

DAY 21 

Today we went on the beach with all the group. We made a picnic and we played in the sea. It was great, Yousra and I tried to drown Quentin and Doug, we had fun, even if we swallowed a lot of water! After that, we lay on the towels and tined all together. There was a huge slide and we used it several times. We were going on it 2 persons at the same time and it was really fun! 

After that we went to a pool party with Alli's friends. They are really nice and they really included me to their conversations so it was cool. We ate pizza and it was delicious. 

After that Alli's parents took us and we walked on the ocean border. First we took some pictures in front of the sea and we looked the articles in a few shops. Then we walked on the bord. It was amazing. The street follows the ocean and a lot of different people walk there. You can find a drunk yelling man with his skate on the road as a family with 3 children or young people who wanna have fun. 

We had a frozen yoghurt and it was really yummy, I was glad to do that again before I leave. There were plenty of street performers. We danced with Alli in front of a band, it was really funny! There were also a lot of magicians, a fire-eater and there were so passionate that you wanted to share their passion with them. I applauded so hard that my hands hurt!  I had a great night and it really makes me wanna go back in Virginia soon!

United States, Virginia - Day 20

DAY 20

Today I had to pack my bagage. It made me so sad.. Packing my things is admitting that this trip is over. And it was such a great experience... I've got memories in my head for the rest of my life. I met wonderful persons and I find some really good friends in them. I'll never forget this trip.

On the afternoon we went to the mermaid factory and we painted our own mermaid statue. We'll bring it to back in France. This is the symbol of the city. It was awesome to be all together doing a creative activity. We were all really proud of our mermaid, so that was really cool! On the evening we just hanged out with Alli and Doug and it was fun.

United States, Virginia - Day 19

DAY 19 

Today the frenchies and their mericans hosts came at Alli's house and we all hanged out together. It was really cool, we selected pictures to make a scrapbook from our trip, then we decided to cook a special meal for the mericans hosts. The boys made a salad for the first plate. Then we all made pasta with meat balls, vegetables and tomato sauce. It was really spicy and tasty, they all loved it! For the dessert me and Yousra baked little brownies and it was really yummy! We were glad because the mericans hosts really appreciated that we cooked for them.

In the evening, I asked to take a family picture for my scrapbook. The dog had to sit on an high chair so that we could see him, it was funny. After the family picture we just took really silly pictures with Doug and Alli and that was fun too! 

Then I showed them on the laptop the "tutos cupcakes" video from La Ferme Jerome and "superquenouille", they found it funny. They showed me a bunch of  videos, I found one of them hilarious, I challenge you to watch the entire video without laughing : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejM_1MJN4PY 

Anyway, it was a great day!

United States, Virginia - Day 18

DAY 18

Today was a busy day! In the morning we visited the Chrystler museum, it's a collection of paintings which is known in the area! We were with all the group and we had fun. The piece of arts were beautiful! They came from many different part of the world, and from different ages.

However we spent more time being silly than contemplating the piece of arts...

For lunch we ate at Doumars, apparently, this is the restaurant of the man who invented the cornetto. It was really yummy and typically American! Then we went shopping (again) in the mall.

After that we were introduced to a council woman of Norfolk. She explained us how works the political system of the city and asked us some questions about the life in France. Then the mayor of Norfolk greeted us and wished us a nice stay! We continued our day at the laser tag, we played 3 times and it was awesome! The first time I was so lame that my final score was -2! But we decided to make an alliance with Yousra so it was easier. On the third party I wasn't the last one and I was really proud of me!

United States, Virginia - Day 17

DAY 17

Today we went on busch garden which is a huge attraction park. We really had a great day, it had been a while since I last saw my frenchies and it was cool to spend some time with them again! Unfortunately Yousra and Quentin weren't there but I was with Alli, Mareen, Pete, Adrien and Maxime! We did all the roller coasters in the park and that was amazing! The attractions were huge and that felt great. I'm not used to roller coasters. I've been on attraction parks like maybe 5 times in my life (and every time in Magic World which is terrible) so I discovered a hole new world of sensations. And it was unbelievable! We laughed a lot, we yelled, we screamed rude things in French while we were waiting... This was definitely a great day!

United States, Virginia - Day 16

DAY 16

Today we visited the Holicaust Museum. It talks about the jewish genocid during the Second World War. This was a great and really emotional moment. The first chapter of the exposition treated the affirmation of the nazi ideology and how everyone underestimated this threat.

The second chapter treated the "Final Solution" and showed the conditions of life of Jewish people in the ghettos and in the concentration camps. It was really sad. We saw a lot of pictures, testimonies and rests of the camps. Finally the third chapter exposed the testimony of persons who tried to resist to the nazi expansion and helped the Jewish people. We also saw a movie where people escaped from the camps told their story.

If think that this kind of exposition is really hard to build because sometimes there's no word to express the horror and the suffering of the past. But this museum was impressive cause it tells only the truth. 

After that we went in the Jefferson's memorial which is really beautiful. I learnt more about this president because I didn't really know who he was, and in fact he was a really passionate and cultivate human. 

We ate in a Mediterranean restaurant for lunch, then we got home and that was the end of our DC trip!