 |
| Ambassador Arreaga (center) with Rebekka (left) and Adda (right) |
I had the pleasure of bidding farewell to Adda Guðrún Gylfadóttir and Rebekka Rún Rósudótir Mitra as Iceland’s representatives in the Benjamin Franklin Transatlantic Fellowship program. Adda and Rebekka Run will join a group of other European and American youth, between the ages of 16 and 18, in a forum that promotes mutual understanding, leadership, and team-building with the goal of highlighting the strong bonds between European and American young people. The fellowship is a 4 week intensive program that incorporates lecture style learning with interactive challenges and experiments. The participants learn about numerous aspects of the transatlantic relationship while at the same time learning about “everyday America” and teaching Americans about their own countries. One exciting aspect of the program are the “home stays” in which participants stay with an American family for a few days to experience real Americana. Rebekka will go to Wake Forrest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina and Adda will go to Purdue University in Indiana. Both will also travel to Philadelphia, PA, and Washington, D.C., for multi-day activities. We look forward to hearing from Adda and Rebekka upon their return about the new ideas they have learned on this program.
