Students listen to a presentation about the European Union (Photo: Patterson Press)

By Lisbeth Infante

On the 8th of December, World History students and other students from Patterson went on a field trip to Washington D.C.

First, we visited the U.S. Delegation of the European Union. We sat down in a room where a very nice lady gave a presentation about the history of the European Union, its member nations and how the organization works. We were each given a folder full of information about what she was talking about. The folder included a big map of all the places in Europe, pictures of the different flags of European nations and a brochure with all the statistics on immigrants and other people in Europe. The presentation taught me a lot because I had never learned so much about present-day Europe before. Europe must be a beautiful place to travel to.

After leaving the European Union building and eating lunch on the bus, we went to the Smithsonian Museum of the American Indian and learned a lot from it. We experienced the traditional culture of American Indians and saw different artifacts, including weapons, clothes and different kinds of food that American Indians used to eat. Another thing that we found very interesting is the music, which was performed live by a traditional American Indian singer. American Indians made their own musical instruments and their own weapons.

We had a lot of fun during this field trip.

Students arriving at the European Union building (Photo: Patterson Press)

A representative from the European Union U.S. delegation speaks to students (Photo: Patterson Press)

Ms. Olson, SGA President Muluberhan Bahre and a representative from the European Union (Photo: Patterson Press)

Arriving at the American Indian Museum (Photo: Patterson Press)

Outside the American Indian Museum - U.S. Capitol Building in background (Photo: Patterson Press)

Live performance of traditional American Indian music at the museum (Photo: Patterson Press)