I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

It seems like 90% of my blog posts start with something like this:

"It has been a long day, but everything has been great!"

I suppose I am pretty fortunate to have such great travel experiences and this most recent trip to California has been no exception.  Unlike while we are in Europe, I am blogging the following morning.  The folks here are running us all around town and we are meeting everyone.  It has been more than surreal although that's the only word that comes to mind.  Hopefully, I'll do our day, yesterday, justice.

We left our hotel pretty early, about 8am, to head out for breakfast.  We decided to try a local place that the Superintedent of Schools said was okay, but is also a must-eat at, because of the situation.  We found the Original Saugus Cafe without any real problem and went in to eat.  The girls each had waffles and I tried the Saugus Special.  It was an omelette made with Swiss Cheese, Avocado, Sausage, Mushrooms, and Sour Cream.  It was pretty good and the girls seemed to like their waffles too.  The restaurant had some t-shirts and stuff on sale, but we didn't end up buying anything.  It was a cozy little place.

We left there and headed towards Saugus High School for our 9am arrival.  We were greeted in the main lobby by Jeremy Fannon, their ASB director.  ASB is something like student government but I have the feeling that they are a little more involved than what we are used too.  Jeremy took us to his classroom where we met with the ASB students.  After a brief business meeting, we introduced ourselves and began to make some new friends.  One young lady, whose name escapes me now, showed us a package that she had just received from Spartanburg, SC.  The teacher that she wrote a thank you note for had sent her a letter and t-shirt from Broome High School.  It was neat.  We eventually sat down and held a press conference for the ASB students.  It was cool and the girls did great at answering questions.  The local press was there covering the event too.

http://www.signalscv.com/section/36/article/96874/

We then began touring the rest of the school.  We met so many wonderful people and saw some really cool things.  Here are some shots I took.

Prepping for a news broadcast in their High School studio

Rehearsing their intros.

Nini, Gianna, Gillian, and Victoria.  Saugonians and new friends.
East Coast - West Coast

The girls posing by the "S"  It is 70ft in height.

After our tour, at lunch time, we met again in the ASB room.  Their school purchased In and Out Burgers for over 60 people and we all sat down for lunch.  While the Californians told us that the burgers are usually better, we enjoyed our first sampling of the West Coast fast food chain.  After lunch, we met with several other groups on campus including the Chorus.  They were in the middle of auditioning new members for next year, but they sang a song for us.  We met with the guidance department and a few other folks around campus before heading out for our tour of Santa Clarita.

Principal Bolde took us from Saugus High School to Shave-It, a shaved ice and ice cream store in the Valencia Town Center Mall.  It was delicious.  We then headed out to meet the Mayor of Santa Clarita; a city of over 200,000 people by the way.  This gentlemen entertained us and spent a good chunk of time talking with us asking about our impressions of his city.  Following the visit with the mayor, we headed towards the Old Saugus Railroad house.  It is located in a Hart Park.  This park has hiking trails, an old train, and the original Henry Newhall House.  It was cool to know that they guy who originally lived there also lived in Saugus, Ma.  It was also cool to see the railroad house.  Our Saugus formed along side a river which gave the community life.  Their Saugus formed along side a railroad which gave their community life.  This connection grew eerie as we moved towards the train.  It was an old locomotive; built in the early 1900s.  The model number of the train, painted in crisp white letters, was X1629.  I stopped, frozen in my tracks.  I could barely contain my excitement as I explained to Bill...and the girls, that our Saugus was originally settled in 1629.  I don't know if it is a strange coincidence or a forgotten connection to the east coast, but it definitely left an impression with me.  We ended our tour with a quick visit to the city hall for Santa Clarita.  The Mayor's information officer had a few gifts for us and offered us the opportunity to sit at the Council Meeting table.

It was back to SHS for us...we visited a banquet for their journalism class and shared some ideas for the future connections between our schools.  We then watched a bit of the Blue & White scrimmage for the varsity football game.  We then headed back to the mall for some late night shopping.  We were accompanied by six Saugus students.  It was an absolute blast.  We ended the night with a Chipotle Burrito and some good conversation.

I am amazed at how well this trip is going...it's not that I anticipated it being a waste of time or anything, but I cannot express in words how well our girls are adjusting to this culture and how quickly they are making friends.  It really seems as though all of these kids have been friends for years.  Nini and Victoria, especially, have made Gillian and Gianna feel at home and they are really becoming good friends.

While I am a little behind in blogging, I can tell you that Victoria went with us today to tour LA.  Nini and She are also planning on having a slumber party with the girls tonight.  I'll share more of what we did today when I blog next...but this whole trip, as I stated above, "It's been a long day, but everything has been great."

A Tale of Two Cities, part deux...

Just over a month ago, I posted a blog from Dublin, Ireland.  In that blog, I compared that city to Boston.  The two cities are very much different, but they share some commonality that I felt.  In many ways, I am going through those same sensations today.

This story starts early Thursday morning in a little town called Saugus, Massachusetts.  There, I awoke.  I met with two Saugus High School students at Boston's Logan Airport and we boarded our non-stop flight to LAX (By the way, the X does not have a meaning...they just needed a third letter for their airport designation).  The reason for our travel was highlighted earlier in this blog, but basically, we were invited our to witness the graduation of the Saugus High School Centurions from Saugus, California.  Gianna, Gillian, and I were excited, and a little nervous, when we first landed.  The girls picked out a nice Jeep for our rental car and we embarked on our journey.

The topography in southern California is very foreign to me, and while it looked really nice, we were stuck in our very first LA traffic jam.  It wasn't too bad and after about an hour, we made it to Valencia.

Here is a bit of a lesson:

Saugus, California is one of four municipalities that make up the City of Santa Clarita Valley. The oldest of these municipalities is Newhall.  It's named after Henry Newhall...a Saugonian from Massachusetts who traveled west and invested in purchasing land in the valley.  As his ranch grew, so did the population around him.  Two townships emerged, Newhall and Saugus.  As the population continued to grow two more townships emerged, Valencia and Canyon County.  These four townships, politically, are under the jurisdiction of Santa Clarita.  Traditionally, these towns have retained a sense of community.  The kids who go to Saugus High School in California are from Saugus.   Here endeth the lesson.

We met with Bill Bolde, the SHS principal, for lunch.  He brought with him several staff members and two members of their ASB.  The ASB is a form of Student School Government.  It's different that how we do things, but there are a lot of similarities.  While the adults and I enjoyed lunch and talked about what to expect at the graduation, the four girls began talking...and didn't stop.  It really seemed like they hit it off.

We left lunch and headed towards the College of the Canyons; it is a community college that hosts all of the graduations in the Santa Clarita Valley.  Bill explained where to park and what to expect later on.  The overall picture we had seen so far was very surreal.  There was a ton of Saugus stuff scattered about...but it was Blue and White.

After a brief rest at our hotel, we headed out for the graduation ceremony.  We met a ton of staff members who were all very friendly.  We joined the procession and led the graduates onto the field and we were provided seats of honor upon the staging.  Bill began the ceremony with some introductions and in his remarks he explained who we were...and why we were there.  He then informed the audience that he has never before invited dignitaries to share the podium with him during his introduction, and that we would be the first honorees to receive such an honor.  Bill presented us with the Order of Centurion Pride.  It is a 10 inch bust of a Roman Centurion and there is a wonderful inscription on it.  This symbol of friendship between our two schools will find a place of honor at Saugus High School in Saugus, Massachusetts.  After I said a few brief words of thanks, the graduation continued.  One of the highlights for us was when two graduating Centurions sang a powerful duet.  They were unbelievable!!!  After the students received their diplomas, and threw their caps into the air, the ceremony ended.  We met a few more staff members (including Kevin Millar's cousin) and were continuously impressed with how open and friendly they all were.

We headed back to the hotel, changed, and went out to explore just a little bit before bed.  We went to a convenience store and when I asked where we were, the clerk said, "Saugus."  It was really kind of cool.  We drove through Saugus, past their high school, and down there version of Route 1.  It was surreal.  That's the only word that truly explains it.

While I don't have pictures on this post, I hope to put some up later on tonight.  We are about to head out for breakfast at a place called the Saugus Cafe.  We are then headed to SHS for a tour and the opportunity to meet with students and staff.  It is our goal to build a stronger relationship between our two schools.

Mr. Lavoie, currently in Valencia, California...just a stone's throw away from Saugus.