Chapters 9 and 10

In chapters 9 and 10, Conroy talks about the trip to Washington, DC and how it all came about. "Throughout the week they [the children] played with the neighborhood children, spent the rest of their money buying candy and other trinkets at the large drugstore up the street, and rode bicycles for the first luxurious time in the lives down a paved hill."

The trip to Washington, DC was supposed to be educational and full of historical onlooking. But for Conroy's students, the most memorable moments were spent doing regular things in a neighborhood full of children. Playing with other boys and girls, and riding bikes. Riding a bike is something that so many of us take for granted, yet here were these children who had never ridden one before in their lives. It made me happy to see that they had enjoyed their trip to Washington, DC even if it was not the Lincoln Memorial or the Washington Monument that made them so happy.