Wareham High School's student and teacher Global Ambassadors are wrapping up their inaugural trip to Cape Verde, and on Thursday morning, they shared some of their impressions of the African island nation via a Skype session.

The group departed last Thursday, and will be back on American shores within a couple of days.

"I think I speak for the whole team when I say we were a little nervous," Wareham High School junior Mason Vasconcellos said from Cape Verde during a conference call at Wareham Middle School. He said that upon arriving, the students at the school in Santa Cruz performed a Brazilian martial arts dance, and they made the group from the states feel very welcome.

He and other students said they admired how much the Cape Verdean students were able to do despite having fewer resources than their American counterparts.

"They find different things to do with the limited resources they have," Vasconcellos observed.

Junior Stevy Baptiste said she was surprised to see some of the students tackling more advanced concepts than she and her fellow students have seen.

"I've noticed, walking into other classrooms, they were learning things we weren't," said Baptiste.She went on to compare the attitudes of the Cape Verdean students with those she sees in the states.

"It's amazing how little resources they have. ... They really want to learn here," said Baptiste. "It's a lot different at home where we have free education."

Seventeen-year-old Claudia, a student in Cape Verde, said she and some of the Wareham girls had forged a strong connection in a brief period of time.

"When they first came here, I was really, really nervous," said Claudia. Now she feels "like we've known each other since kindergarten."

Teacher Henry St. Julien, who spearheaded the trip, noted that the Cape Verdean students are very disciplined. They go to school six days a week, and they all wear uniforms.

"One of the traditions [is] whenever an adult enters the classroom, everyone stands up ," said St. Julien.  The students have an open campus, which means they can leave during the day for lunch if they so choose. He noted: "Really, we haven't seen any discipline problems."

The school has two sessions, one from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. and the other from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m.

"We see tons of children walking to and from school," said St. Julien. "If you live far away, you come to the morning session."

Wareham senior Malange DePina introduced 15-year-old Enrique during the Skype session, saying his words had a particular impact on her.

"One of the things he said to me," she recalled, "is 'we may not have a lot of money, but we have a lot of love.'"