FAIPS STUDENTS TRIP TO USA – A memorable one

Little did we, the students of FAIPS, know that we could reach for the stars even before we imagined about it. We were eagerly waiting for 19^th March, 2014 as we were very excited about our journey to the US. These opportunities come very seldom and we were lucky enough to have one. When the D-DAY arrived the parents of all the 27 students came to see off their children at the airport.The students who were in the trip were Aarav, AdityaAnanya, Devansh, Dikshita,Pratheek, Richisha, Sandeepan, Sarah, Sharvari, Sharanya,Shruti,  Sooraj&Ziyadof class 8 and Adnan, Aman, Anushka,Dwaipayan, Kushagra, Mediha, Naina, Naman, Manu Hari, Nrupa, Rohan, Suruchi&Yagnaof class 9. All of us were extremely excited as the savoring chance had a lot for us in store. After a longish journey of about 5 hours from Kuwait to Frankfurt we had a wait of 6 hours in the world’s second largest airport. After this wait we embarked on a long and tedious journey of 11 hours, and we finally landed in Orlando- The city of Magic.

The first day of trip started off in Sea World, a popular water park there. It was a pleasant surprise, the day we were in Sea World as we came to know it was the 50^th anniversary, and so there were many events taking place such as dance, mime show etc. The next was the most mesmerizing experience ever, The Disney World. It was the most wondrous and magical thing we had ever seen, the Magic Kingdom. As soon as we entered the Magic Kingdom we saw an enchanting sight: The Disney Castle, which sent spurts of pleasure though our spine. The next was one of the best theme parks in the US and that was Universal Orlando. It is the second largest resort after the Walt Disney World. It has combined film production studio and theme park features and is composed of themed areas and attractions based on the film industry. The themes of Universal Studios are aimed at making guests feel like they are in a movie set with rides, shows and attractions inspired by popular films.

For the next three days, we had the NASA camp in which we had to build robots and we had to program them. The first two days, we built the robot and programmed it the way we were assigned to. The last day, we were taken around for a NASA tour in which we saw the launch pads from which many of the successful rockets were launched, the NASA headquarters, a small building but with big ideas blooming inside and then we were taken into a museum in which we saw Atlantis, modules of range rovers, The International Space Station and many more. After this wonderful journey in Orlando, we took a flight and landed in Washington- the Capital of the United States of America. It was a beautiful city. We visited the Lincoln memorial built in the honor of the 16th president of The United States- Abraham Lincoln. In the building, a huge statue of Abraham Lincoln magnanimously sitting on a chairbuilt in the memory of one of the greatest statesman the world has ever seen. We stood at the very spot on the steps of Lincoln memorial on which Martin Luther King stood and gave that thunderous, vibrant and unforgettable speech- ‘I have a dream’ that literally took the nation by storm and paved way for a new leaf to be turned in the history of US.  Then, we went to see the White House-The house of the President. It is a beautiful house of spotless white marble that shone bright in daylight. We also saw from outside the Smithsonian Museums built in a row. Due to paucity in time we could just squeeze in enough time to have a visit to the Air and Space Museum where in greats like Wright brothers cherished history, developments in space travel were all well exhibited.  After a short visit to Washington, we went to New York in a bus, the journey of which took about seven hours. We saw how the traffic on this busy town slowly built up to the peak as the evening neared. We stayedat a hotel in in China Town, one of the well-known areas there. The next day, we went to The Town of Brands- Times Square. It was lined with beautifully designed tall buildings of all the brands of the world. We visited the 9/11 memorial built in the memory of those who had lost their lives in the crash of the twin towers in New York. We also visited Manhattan. We were surrounded by tall buildings everywhere. We saw the duo of the two bridges- The Brooklyn Bridge and The Manhattan Bridge. Then we took a cruise to Liberty Island where the magnificent Statue of Liberty stands tall. The cruise went around the statue as we all watched the statue from the deck of the cruise with awe and wonder. After the hectic journey of New York, we left for Kuwait- not really an awaited moment.

It was the best trip of our lives so far and we will never forget the places, the people and most of all the people who accompanied us on this trip- Mr. Jagat Joshi, Mrs. Vandana– the teachers who were assigned to conduct the trip and set right the naughty students that we are when we make mischief and parents- Mr. Surya Prakash and Mrs. Ramani who chipped in with their share of reprimand for us children whenever required by the teachers. They were all very much concernedabout our safety.Without them our trip would have been incomplete. On the night of 31^st March, 2014, all of us went to our respective homes with only one thought in our mind- The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only one page of it.

Our sincere gratitude and heartfelt thanks to our Principal who encouraged us to embark on such trips, Mrs. Lucy Cherian the chief coordinator of the trip who worked tirelesslyplanning every minute detail along with our principal  to make our trip most comfortable and most memorable one.

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