San Diego

Hi there.

I'm not sure if you guys know that I work as a group leader on my vacations (sometimes in July, and almost always in January). My job is pretty much to make sure the trip runs smoothly and that students have an adult around to help them out should the need arise. Despite a few problems that crop up (and some always happen), it's usually a lot of fun, a great experience that we all take with us for the rest of our lives.

The first city I visited as a group leader was San Diego, in Southern California. That was some five or six years ago. I had been to California before, but not San Diego. On that trip, I took 18 teenage students and a few adults, who stayed there for a month. Most of them had host families; some stayed in hotels. The routine was basically classes in the morning, cultural activities in the afternoon and free time at night, during which everybody did their shopping. On weekends, we visited different attractions (famous spots in California) like Sea World, San Diego Zoo, Universal Studios, Disneyland, Six Flags, Hollywood, Beverly Hills and the famous Californian beaches.

Despite being one of the largest cities in the USA, San Diego is very pleasant, organized and safe. It's not very cold in the winter. Students say that it reminds them of winters in Petrópolis and other places in the mountains in Rio. There are several malls, good restaurants, and various attractions to suit everyone's tastes.

That was certainly one of my best trips. The city is gorgeous and the weather is wonderful!

I really hope you have the chance to visit San Diego someday.

Awesomedude