There was more than just a flavor of Cape Verde at a potluck dinner at the VFW in Onset Sunday night. It was a celebration of the culture, customs, and, most of all, its people, as the dinner was held in honor of the eight Cape Verdean students who have spent the last 10 days visiting Wareham.

Last Friday, a group of eight female students and three chaperones from the Alfred Da Cruz Silva School in Santa Cruz, Cape Verde, arrived in Wareham for the educational experience of a lifetime.

"We went to Cape Verde two years ago and the plan was always for them to eventually come here," said Jessica Andrews, one of the Global Team advisors.

The trip was organized by the Wareham High School Global Education Team, a group organized in 2010 to help build relationships with students from around the world. In 2013, eight Wareham students and five Wareham Public Schools staff members visited Cape Verde.

The Cape Verdean students have been living with four host families and shadowing a group of students in the Wareham schools as well as taking trips in the area.

"It's been good. We've visited many places, Boston, Bridgewater State University, New Bedford, we've been enjoying it a lot," said Joao Ramos, one of the teacher chaperones from Cape Verde.

He said everyone was fascinated by the skyscrapers in Boston and all the people shopping and eating at Quincy Market.

Cape Verdean student Leisa Varela said her favorite part of the trip was visiting Bridgewater State University, because she wants to study medicine after high school.

The Cape Verdean girls said they had fun at the Gleason Family YMCA, taking a Zumba class, going rock climbing and marveling at the indoor pool. They all said they enjoyed the hamburgers and sodas at McDonalds, a first for the girls, many of whom had never traveled outside of Cape Verde before.

Isabela Correia said she enjoyed meeting the younger kids at the elementary schools.

"They were very sweet and beautiful," she said.

Ramos said he was impressed with the conditions of the high school

"All the classrooms are well equipped with electronics, and teachers can work closely with students," he said.

In Cape Verde, he said, class sizes can get up to 40 or 45 students and there isn't always power in the schools.

"Here, it's totally different than our reality," he added.

In addition to the potluck dinner and celebration at the VFW Sunday night, the Cape Verdeans rotated to a different host family's house for dinner each night.

"They're good families, they were so nice to us and they would do anything to make sure we felt at home," said Joelma Tavares.

The girls said they felt they not only got a taste of American culture, but that they gave some of the Cape Verdean culture to Wareham, in return.