Niagara Falls (Thursday and Friday) by Claudia

Yesterday, August 29th, and today, August 30th, we visited Niagara Falls. We left Sewickley Academy at 10 am and it was a four-hour drive. Halfway through the journey, we stopped at Wendy's for lunch. Finally, we reached Buffalo and visited the falls. We went on a ferry, which enabled us to get very close to the falls. We had to wear a raincoat, but we still got a little wet, because we were very close to the falls. We also got to see a documentary about the story of the falls. We learned about the Maid of the Mist (which is the name of the boat ride experience).  Maid of the Mist is a Native American myth and it's about a girl who lost her husband. She was so sad that she got in her canoe and  paddled into the river. She was caught  in the strong current and disappeared in the falls. In the evening, we went through the US border into Canada. We reached the hotel, unpacked our stuff and went out for dinner. We ate at Vinny's, and Italian-American restaurant and went for a walk. We got to see the falls from the Canadian side. The falls were lit because it was dark, it was amazing!
The following day, we visited the Cave of the Wind. Even though we were wearing a rain poncho, we got soaked!

After that, we took a quick visited to the Aquarium, had lunch, and jumped back into the car. We got back to Sewickley at 6pm.

Wednesday, 28 August by Alex

Today  I woke up at 10.30 am. I had breakfast and Max and I went out with some friends. I had lunch at subway in Sewickley and after that we went to Sewickley Academy to play basketball.  After the game, although it was late, we managed to play a soccer game in the soccer field.  Later, I had a shower and went to Pittsburgh to have dinner.  We ended up having dinner at Il Pizzeola. After dinner, we went to the Pirates stadium and watched the game with our families. The Pirates were playing against the Milwakee Brewers.  The game was great fun and we laughed and had a good time.  The game was very exciting because the Pirates were much better than the other team.  Suddenly, Mc Couchen made a home run, and then, because we all felt very euphoric, we all began jumping and shouting. The result of the match was 9-1 and we all had a lot of fun.

Tuesday, 27 August by Polina

Today is the second day of the 10th grade two-day retreat.  We went to a new restaurant located in the Strip District in Pittsburgh to learn  how to make our own food.  We prepared a salad with a delicious vinagrette, a mocktail (a mock cocktail that had lemon, organge, jazmin tea and mint), we made our own pasta with a pasta machine and we created our own dessert. To make our desserts we were given pieces of cantaloupe, raisins, cranberries, blackberries, wallnuts and whipped cream.

This restaurant buys the food directly to farmers because this way they help the local economy in Pittsburgh and you know where your food is coming from.

The name of the restaurant (in case you are in Pittsburgh) is Bar Marco.

Monday, 26 August by Miranda

Today is the first day of the 10th grade retreat and we went to visit a farm. The goal of this visit was to show us what a farmer's life is like, so we had the chance to be farmers for a day. We harvested beetroots and we got to meet some very nice Mexican farmers.


After that, we had lunch all together in a shady field next to a barn.  Mr. Collier, the science teacher, gave us a worksheet with questions that we discussed in group about a farmer's life and sustainabililty. Later, we went to a market where we learned about the channels food goes through before it gets to our table.  Finally we got back to school and we had dinner all together. It was a long day, but the visits were all very interesting and we had a chance to meet our future classmates.

First day by Julia

After a long journey from Barcelona, we finally landed in Pittsburgh. We were all feeling very nervous and excited about meeting our host families. It was very special when we saw them all waiting for us with big smiles on their faces. We all ran to our host siblings, as we had been in contact through social media tools, so it was very easy to recognize each other.



Today I woke up  at 9 am and I went downstairs to have breakfast with my family. We had pancakes with orange juice, it was delicious!  After showering, me and my host friend Jane went to a bar called Bruger's with Polina and her host friend Emily. After lunch, Alex and his host friend Jake came to see us and we hung out at Emily's place.  Then we went back to our house and spent time with Jane's family at the swimming pool. After that, we went to get ready to have dinner at Jake's house! We met everybody at Jake's house. It was a fun night. Now I'm going to bed because I haven't got used to the time difference.