How to visit Plymouth in 25 questions

Do you think it is possible to discover Plymouth by answering questions ? That is what we did.
In the morning of the fourth day of the European section’s trip to Cornwall, we visited Plymouth, but in a very special way : we walked in the streets of the city with a sheet of 25 questions and a pen in our hand. Indeed, we explored the historic centre while looking for the answers to the questions. How beautiful it was !

« I really enjoyed this activity because it was a great opportunity for us to discover the city and talk to people, we really met nice and lovely people. What struck me most was that everyone engaged with us and they knew much about their city and its history. » said one of the students.

KEEPING UP WITH THE DUPREEZ

Of course we loved everything we learned and visited during our trip, but the aspect we loved the most, was living together and with inhabitants of the country.
We were four girls with two rooms for ourselves and it was like having a sleepover everynight. Even before we left we came up with our private joke, about us being sisters and our family being our actual family.
On the first night we quickly realised that everything we had heard about food in England and in the hostess families was true. Saying that it was not tasty would be an understatment and we’re not picky eaters. The sandwiches were our everyday jokes and we spend a great amount of money on food. However the following dinner was a pleasant surprise following the first one and the picnic : we got chips and pizza. Yes, on the same meal.
I think the worst picnic we had was when she gave us bread with some cheese shavings and half a cherry tomato. That’s it. (see pictures below)
We had our own bathroom which was great and our beds were confortable. A funny anecdote about the shower time was when Emma was in the bathroom showering when suddenly, the mother came running up the stairs shouting « There’s water running down from the kitchen sealin ! » We weren’t doing anything special, the bath and house were just of poor constitution. It became our giggle of night. We had so many great laughs !
Everymorning she would call us the same way and with the same tone « Breakfast is ready giiiirls », « Dinner is ready giiirls », « Goodnight girls ». We’re nostalgic and really amused by that even many weeks after we came back.
The moral behind all of those anecdotes -and i can’t put everything here- is that, although it was not perfect, it’s those kind of events that we will reminice on and think about as good memories. Because we were together and everything was therefore fun and ok. I focused on when we were with our family but that moral applies for the whole trip and everything. There was more good thibgs and things that went well, and they’re great memories as well, for exemple the moments we spend with our teachers, but when we talk about the trip together, it’s those anecdotes we tell over and over again without getting tired of it.
We will remember it for the rest of our lives.

*XOXO the Dupreez sisters.

18 YEAR-OLD GETS REFUSED ALCOHOL IN A PUB

Yarel Younga, an eighteen year-old pupil who was on a school trip, had his request turned down by two barmaids of a Plymton pub.

On Thursday 20th of April, a class of French pupils entered a pub in order to get served. Only 4 of them were legally old enough to have a beer. However, once ordering his beverage, Younga realized he did not have his ID on him. Therefore, he could not prove he had the legal drinking age, despite his teachers’ confirmation. It led to the barmaids denying the young boy the liquid refreshment. Poor Younga was upset not to be able to enjoy the traditional and so popular British drink. « Serves you right » is what one of his classmates said to him right after being rejected in front of everyone in the pub. Now back in France, Younga numbs the pain thanks to music and sings about how his heart turned to stone.

Stuck in bushes with the bus !
We had been to Plymouth since 3 days. On our way to Tintagle Castle, the bus took a narrow road, so narrow that the bus got stuck in the brambles. The bus was forced to stop for a good ten minutes, the driver was trying to get help but nobody was answering, so he shouted up to the loud pupils because he couldn’t concentrate, he ended up losing his temper and telling us all to « Shut up ! ». At the end all the windows of the bus were striped. You could hear a pin drop. We finally had to make a U turn because we had blocked all the traffic. And we were able to turn the speaker back on to party on « Stone » of Ayler Gayuno.

4 students swallowed by mud
During a hiking trip, in Dartmoor, 4 students disappeared for a short period of time.

On a bright and sunny day, a group of French students, accompanied by their beloved teachers, went on a field trip. Their journey started wonderfully as the weather was harmonizing with our state of mind, our hope for this day. Unfortunately, it didn’t last long…

After 2 exhausting hours of hiking, without witnessing a single drop of rain, the sky darkened and clouds started forming. They thought it wouldn’t come to anything and kept on walking calmly. But destiny decided otherwise. Heavy pounds of rain started falling down, dragging us to the ground. Students started falling to the ground, disappearing one by one. As they got back on their feet, they had transformed into mud monsters. Only 4 of the total number of students had transformed, but around ten more were contaminated.
A fellow student bear witness as a former mud monster “I was trying to make sense of what the guide was telling us, but it was too late. I had already lost my balance, dragging my friends with me as I fell.”

In the end, only three quarters of adventurers survived. Their clothes might be clean but can we say the same about their mental health ?

Sarah Abouelfadel, Julia Motallebi, Julia Beaucart, Joanna Czaja

YOU WOULD NOT BELIEVE WHAT I SWAM BY IN NORMANY !!

– It was a pagure.
On the occasion of our one-day trip in Normandy we went to THE Omaha Beach, a world-known seashore recognized as the landing area of the Allied forces during the World War II D-Day invasion. We spent the whole afternoon there, having a pic-nic, playing games, and mostly enjoying the chilly breeze with a warm water. Some of us even went swimming !!! After our Atlantic ocean escapade, we continued our way through a long (30 mins !) walk before arriving at the American Cemetary of Normandy, where we spent our last couple of hours paying respect to the anonym soldiers. Around 11pm-ish, we were back to school.
Through leg pain, sunburnts and sweating stains, we still had the BEST day EVER !!
Sara, Shanna and Justine J

I MISS MY MOM !

Our host was the best mom you could ever have !

Before meeting Vicky we were worried about our host family because it was our first time traveling in the United kingdom and on top of being far away from our family we had to sleep at a stranger’s house. As it turned out we actually were the luckiest of our classmates. Our host, Vicky was the sweetest and most gentle soul you could ever meet.

“I want you to feel at home, comfortable and safe especially because as a mom I would like my daughter to be treated like I treat you”, said Vicky and in fact we were treated like princesses. As soon as we got off the bus she immediately proposed to treat us with McDonald’s and later on presented us to her husband and kids. But I think the most important thing she provided us with, was personal space. She was generous enough to let us have our own room, television and bathroom and she managed to make us feel at ease the whole stay.

We will never forget you, Vicky

Forever in our heart !