By Lesya Magas, FLEX exchange student and Greenheart Trip Participant
The end of the exchange year in the USA for me and other 15 exchange students from 13 different countries was excelled by the trip to Washington DC and the New York City. Oh wait, let me correct myself, by the amazing, fascinating and tremendous trip to Washington DC and New York City. It was a total hurricane of new things, cool people, tons of emotions and impressions. So let me tell you more about it.
First few days our group was camping in the picturesque and charming forests of Virginia. You know, sometimes I ask myself why our trip was so fun and everybody was so close with each other? And here is the answer, we all did zip line and kayaking together, as well as a bunch of other team exercises like getting each other upon the high wall, walking through the forest blindfolded and walking on the rope. This all made us a great team. These activities taught us how to trust each other, be always there for everyone and overcome difficulties together. We also had workshops about Greenheart in general and its origin and parts. We both had fun role playing the situations and learned about fair trade and ways of saving the environment. Our long and exciting days were completed by relaxing yoga sessions, which taught us how to relax and clear our minds. We also went sightseeing in Washington DC in the National Mall, where we gained much more understanding of the US nowadays by learning about its past. Our group was lucky enough not only to visit Capitol as tourists,but also get in Illinois Senator Dick Durbin’s office and talk to the people that work for him. This was quite an experience! I must say, we held the conversation with two politicians pretty well.
After Washington everybody was just stoked to go to New York City. Even during the five-hour road trip we had a lot of fun singing songs about New York and playing different games. On our first day in New York we went sightseeing in the Harlem and it was quite interesting, taking into account that it is one of the oldest and very historical parts of the town. After sightseeing hungry exchange students went out to eat fried chicken. Oh it was yummy! The next few days were quite an adventure too! Oh how priceless it was to see Times Square for the first time! But without any doubt the high point of our trip was to Broadway. I personally am interested a lot in theater and acting, but even those who were not interested as much as me had a great time in Broadway enjoying a completely, perfectly done play “Kinky Boots”. This comedy still makes me smile whenever I remind myself about it. It wouldn’t be odd to say that seeing the Statue of Liberty was just amazing! Unfortunately we didn’t get to go up there due to construction, but even looking at it was cool! Honestly, Manhattan was one of my most favorite parts of NYC, so I was totally fascinated walking down those streets. I also enjoyed the tout around the museum in New York. Frankly speaking there were thousands of little things that made the trip just fantastic and I am so grateful for very minute of it– to everybody that made the dream of this Ukrainian girl come true.
Special thanks to Tax Back for providing a scholarship for Leysa to attend this unforgettable Greenheart Trip!
