IMPRESSIONS AFTER LATVIAN MEETING

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I never knew what to expect from Latvia. It has always been mysterious country to me. Situated in the North it seemed to have more in common with the Scandinavian countries than with us. When we got to Latvia I discovered (surprisingly) how similar to Poland it is. There were the times when  I felt like I didn’t leave home at all.

I am really thankful to our Latvian friends for warm and kind welcome. For all their hard work they did to make us feel warm, wanted and at home.

I loved slightly raw landscapes of Latvia, a bit grey, cold yet preparing to bloom. I really enjoyed Latvian food so similar to Polish cuisine (which I’m a great fan of). 

Although, I think I have eaten enough potato pancakes for the next few months. I loved that still there were things that were surprising for me.

by Izabela Marczak, teacher of English

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Many thanks and greetings for the whole Latvian team from the Polish team!

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Fourth Project Meeting in Latvia

The 4th meeting of the Project took place in Latvia.

One of the objectives of the meeting was to get to know the Customs and Etiquette, Social Norms in Public Spaces in each of the Partner´s countries. Students showed their presentations and had a good time getting acquainted.

Teachers and students had several cultural visits such as Mark Rotko Art Centre, Old Riga, Aglona Basilica and "Andrupenes Farm".

The last day was dedicated for distributing the meeting certificates with a beautiful farewell party at the school.  

A special thanks to the Latvian team for making this week a special one.

"The trip to Latvia was a unique and unforgettable experience. We learnt several things such as new cultures, new people since we were staying in Latvian families, which was were extremely comfortable and the people there welcomed us and treated us as true members of their families. We visited many places, characteristic of the region and we knew their stories."   Carolina Fernandes

PORTUGUESE TEAM

Third Project Meeting in Spain

Erasmus +

Our experience in Seville was amazing!! We had lots of fun and were given the opportunity to know new cultures and new people. The Portuguese team stayed in a hotel in the neighborhood of Macarena so we didn’t have the experience of staying with a host family, but we still had the time of our lives!!

We must congratulate all the participants, particularly the Spanish team that made us feel welcomed and did all they could so we had everything we needed.

The activities were extremely well organized and all the participants actively and enthusiastically engaged in all of them. There was a true spirit of companionship throughout the entire experience!

"Seville was a beautiful experience!

On this trip there was some nervousness but at the same time a lot of participation in the project.

We were able to experience a new adventure and make great friendships. " By Leandro Pinto.

Portuguese Team

THE THIRD MEETING IN SPAIN: Turkish Team

Erasmus+ KA2 Project

FLwICT

THE THIRD MEETING IN SPAIN

(from 14 to 20 February 2016)

(Turkish Team)

The third meeting of FLwICT project was held in Sevilla/SPAIN. The main subject at meeting was how to improve the students learning outcomes about “CULTURE” such as the traditional folk dances, the foods and the national heritage and the historical places of all countries.

At the first day of the meeting, after the official opening session, the students made a presentation about their own culture. 

At he workshop time, the students prepared questions for the Quiz: “Who wants to be a Millionaire?” And, next day the students realized that activity with their international groups. It was really exciting activity for our students. Because, they learned so many thing about other participant countries culture via this activity.

At the meeting, all participant countries (Spain, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, France, Italy, Portugal and Turkey) displayed their typical dances and the students danced at the farewell party.

We made an exhibition of our own countries traditional foods and then we tasted them together with our students.

 

In Spain meeting, the students learned how to cook “Gazpacho” soup, which is famous in Spain. It was shown in a class to international groups. 

We did cultural visits to the Old Town and Alcazar, to the river, Maria Luisa Park, Granada and Alhambra.

In Spain, our students were hosted by Spanish families. They tasted different kind of foods, belonging to Spain. They learned so many things about Spanish culture from hosting families. The Spanish families were sincere to our students. They felt like they were at their own home. So, we would love to thank to Spanish families because of their hospitality. 

Beside this, as the Turkish team, we would like to thank to the headmistress of IES Miguel De Cervantes for the organization of the third meeting in Spain. And, thanks to Mr. Jose Luiz Leon Gonzales  and to all staff of IES Miguel De Cervantes for their supports. Thank you very much.

TURKISH TEAM

                     The Third Project Meeting in Spain: Italian Team

The 3^rd meeting of the project was held in Seville, Spain. The partner countries are France, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Portugal, Spain and Turkey. The students were accompanied by their teachers.

One of the aims of the project is to get more involved in other cultures to break down prejudices. Students showed videos about their country’s history, traditional food and typical folk dances. One of the workshop arranged by Spanish team was “Overcome the prejudice”; each student had to join a group formed by students from other countries. They had to speak each other about their typical food, culture, festivities and folk dances. After that, they had to make a video drawing the conclusion about differences and similarities among the partner countries.

The last day, the Spanish team, arranged a Multicultural Farewell Party at the school. During the celebration, they gave out the meeting certificates.

A special thank is due to the Spanish team for having made ​​this possible. And a last thank to Maria and her family because they were so kind and polite to me. My Spanish family made me feel as if I were really at home. This experience has been very important and I’m sure it will be meaningful for my future; meeting other cultures has made my life richer.

Chiara Rebecchi (Italy)

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My experience in Spain was fantastic. Seville and the other cities like Alcazar and Granada are beautiful. People in Seville are friendly and the students from other countries are nice and friendly too.

The tour to the Alhambra was very interesting. I learnt a lot of important things about the Spanish culture. The trip to Granada was perfect!! Granada is a charming city and I enjoyed the journey with the other Italian girls. I liked everything about Spain...

The weather was cold and when we come back to Italy it was hot!! Bad luck!!

Seville is a big city, it's special and I couldn't believe I was there because it was my dream!

I'm so happy because I have never flown and I have never been abroad. It was a circle of new experience for me. I met a lot of students from other countries and I felt well with them as well as with my Spanish family.

For me the nice thing was the opportunity to meet students from my school, (everybody older than me). I got on well with them and I was very excited for this. I miss everybody and I hope to see them again in a trip to Italy or to another country. I have got my new friends' mobile numbers, so I can be aware of what is happening in their country.

My Spanish family was nice and hospitable, and their cuisine was delicious. I ate different types of Spanish food, like the Paella, the Tortilla and the Spanish Pizza.

The old buildings in Spain are attractive and full of history.

There aren't any negative aspects in this adventure but the organization was sometimes confused.

I danced a typical Latvian dance and a typical Polish dance... I was so embarrassed!!

I will never forget this meeting, I hope to participate to an other meeting in a different city because it is my only chance for travelling abroad!

Erasmus Plus gives important opportunity to students from Latvia, Lithuania, Portugal, Italy, Spain, Turkey, France and Poland and the schools are very lucky and grateful for this.

Aurora Oliveri (Italy)

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I’m sure the Erasmus+ experience will remain in my heart forever: starting from the journey there up to the one back.

The coordinator for the Italian team, Maria Rosaria Grasso and we took part in the third meeting held in Seville.

The project, conceived by the European Commission, provides different learning opportunities to European guys, like us. There were European partners from Spain, Turkey, Lithuania, Latvia, Portugal, France and of course from Italy.

The Italian girls involved in the project were: Aurora Oliveri, Alessandra Rossi, Chiara Rebecchi and I, Deborah Indaco.

 Before leaving for Seville, we were all thrilled by the idea of exploring new cultures and foods. We had already given hospitality to the partners during the second meeting held in Italy, and therefore we were “supposed to be prepared."

Everything was perfect: from our guest families to the workshops set up by the Spanish team.

When we got to Seville we all had a big smile on our lips and when we met our guest families we hugged each other. Then we went straight to our "new" house: that would be so for the next five days. My family was helpful, friendly, cheerful and happy. 

The workshops were very involving and helped us to know each other. We learned new Lithuanian, Latvian and Spanish... words. In the Workshop "Overcome the Prejudice" for example, we learned more about the festivities, the traditional food and folk dances of each partner country. At the weekend "ERASMUS +" party we all danced such funny folk dances.

Maria, my guest friend, was always kind and polite to me. She introduced me to all her friends as well as to her boyfriend, Roberto and to his Polish guest Philip. when we went to the "Spain Square," we bought some postcards; we hired a boat and we learned how to row; we laughed and tried not to fall into the small "river". Then we visited the surrounding parks, and I was enchanted by how green this city is in spite of all those buildings ... I really enjoyed that! :)

Deborah Indaco (Italy)

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I think that the Erasmus + project has been one of the best experiences of my life. In one week I met a lot of people from Spain, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Turkey, Portugal and France. I have had the opportunity to learn their traditions and some of these were very different from ours. We also learned a few words in Lithuanian, Polish and Spanish, has been difficult but so fun.

I will never forget all the laughs we had together, but in addition to fun times there were also sad moments, as the last day, or during the multicultural farewell party, because we cried a lot with the fear of not seeing each other anymore.

I would like to thank our teacher Maria Rosaria Grasso for having joined this project, then I would also like to thank the Spanish boys and girls for giving us the opportunity to visit the city.

I also want to thank the Spanish teachers for the organization of the workshops, through which it was possible to know each other, talk about our country, and above all have fun.

But the biggest thanks goes to the family that hosted me, they were really very friendly with me and Deborah.

Alessandra Rossi (Italy)