ARLINGTON — For 11-year-olds Madison Elsner and Ally Peterson, seeing wild kangaroos, hearing heavy accents and abiding by strict schedules weren’t the biggest adjustments they made while traveling in Australia.

It was eating the food.

“We ate kangaroo, which actually tasted like beef,” said Madison, who, along with Ally, will begin sixth grade at Post Middle School in September. “We also ate Vegemite. It’s like peanut butter but much more disgusting.”

The two girls recently spent 15 days down under as part of the People to People Ambassador program. The educational travel program gives students, athletes, professionals and teachers a chance to travel the world and foster international friendships.

The girls were individually nominated by one of their previous teachers to take part in the program, which is part of a nonprofit that was launched by President Dwight Eisenhower in 1956.

After being sent letters to gauge their interest in the program, the girls applied last year and successfully interviewed with organizers for the Australia trip.

Once they were selected, they joined approximately 15 other students from the Northwest. Typically, the People to People program sends groups of 40 on individual trips, so those 15 from Washington joined other ambassadors from Idaho and Michigan.

“We’re trying to represent our country and be friendly,” Madison said. “We’re there to represent America in a good way.”

The Arlington girls, along with their fellow U.S. ambassadors, left for Brisbane, Australia on July 20. They arrived on July 22.

“We skipped a whole day without even traveling a full day,” Ally said.

Once they arrived, the group had an opportunity to check out Brisbane — Australia’s third largest city — before setting off for Yeppoon, a town situated on eastern Australia’s Capricorn Coast.

Students also snorkeled in the Great Barrier Reef, where they saw tropical fish, coral and other marine life.

“I want to be a marine biologist,” Madison said. “So it was cool to see all the colors of fish and sea animals. We saw parrot fish, sharks and coral.”

The group of students, along with their delegation leader, eventually arrived in Sydney, where they visited the Sydney Opera House, the Olympic Park Grounds and ANZ Stadium, and even spent time in an Australian private school.

The girls arrived back home on Aug. 3.

“I saw some physical growth in (Madison) when she got home,” said Madison’s mom, Suzy Elsner. “One of the first things she said was that when she’s done with college, she’s going back.”

Both girls said they enjoyed learning about Australian culture, adding that serving as ambassadors has made them more interested in traveling around the world.

“We realized that we have lots in common,” Madison said about the trip. “Just because we’re from different places doesn’t mean we’re different.”