Our experience in Spain: the voices of the Italian team

This is the daily blog written by the Italian students...enjoy! 

Monday 18/02/2019

On Monday we were in Madrid. At 8am we had breakfast at the hotel and then my teachers, schoolmates and I went on a coach trip to visit the city centre and visited the main sights and museums, like Bernabeu Stadium, the Royal Palace and Puerta de Alcalà. At 2 pm we had lunch at a restaurant and at 3.30 pm we travelled to Montealegre del Castillo by coach. After 3 hours, when we arrived there we met Juan and my Spanish host family. I was really excited.

In the evening I had dinner with the family. Juan's mum prepared a lot of good food for me and then I had a shower and went to bed. 

It was a beautiful day for many reasons: I visited new places in a new city, I spent a lot of time with new friends and I met very nice people. 

Fabrizio

Tuesday 19/02/2019

We arrived at school at 9:00am and first we watched a dance and music show organised by some school students and teachers.

Then we did the “City Game” around Montealegre del Castillo where we scanned some QR Codes in the most important buildings and squares around the town and after that we meet the Major of Montealegre in his room.

After that we did our presentation about Carnival and the other countries did it too.

After lunch, we came back to school and we made the typical masks from all the 6 countries. When we finished, we went to a cafè to eat Churros, a typical dish in Montealegre, and we went to the main square.

Antonio  

Wednesday 20/02/2019
After having breakfast with our family, we met in the school courtyard, we entered the kitchen and each group was assigned to a typical dish. The Italian team cooked "Caponata". It's made with peppers, aubergines, onions, celery, pine nuts, raisins, olives and basil. It's called "Caponata" because in the past it was paired with a fish, called Capone. The fish was sobstituted with aubergines. I was in the Croatian team and I cooked "Fritule", a typical Croatian dish. It's made with eggs, sugar, flour, yogurt, vanilla and lemon zest. When the dough was ready, we made doughnuts and we fried them. Finally, they were covered with melted chocolate. They are very good!

Next, we presented the typical dishes and we wrote the recipes into the e-cookbook.

In the afternoon we walked along the "Green Way" and we arrived to a santuary. Around this, there was a big countryside area, where we had a snack. In the evening we went to a square for about 30 minutes. Finally, we went back home, tired but happy about this beautiful day.

Federica


Thursday 21/02/2019
On Thursday we went to visit Cuenca. It’s famous for the “hanging houses”. Before we started the tour, we were divided in two groups, “the lucky group” and “ the unlucky group”. Three of us were in the “lucky” group. Why lucky? Because we went up to the top of the mountain by  coach, while the other group went on foot next. We started the tour with the panoramic view from the top, where you could see some houses. We saw the two principal rivers, which flooded those houses on rainy days.

We went to the top and the landscape was amazing!! We started the guided tour with a quiz...whoever answered correctly would give one point to its team. We saw the wall of the old castle that was destroyed by the war. We crossed the bridge that in old times was made by wood. When we got inside the old city we saw the prison that was made with the ruins of the castle. We saw the “unlucky church” - it’s named like this because it was destroyed 10 times. We saw some of the hanging houses or some of the hanging bathrooms!

We met with the other group in front of the science museum, before that we went to a planetary where we saw the history of the Earth. After the planetary we saw the museum. My favorite things in the museum were the experiments that we tried out. After the museum, we went to a restaurant where we ate pasta and meat with potatoes.

After lunch, we had some free time where we socialised, had fun and bought some souvenirs. After the free time we went to visit the Cathedral of Cuenca.

The guide made another quiz for us - we had to find the three differences after the earthquake that destroyed the tower of the church. We came inside the church and it was awesome! But it was cold inside. There were some amazing statues and the window were painted with a lot of colours.

After we visited the church, we walked to the bridge of Cuenca, which is 5000 metres from the ground! In old times the bridge was made with different materials and one day it started to snow and the bridge collapsed. But then they make it with iron. We walked across the bridge and the ground was made by wood and some of the girls were afraid that one of the beams fall out. After that we got back to where the tour had started, we got inside on the coach and went back home.

It was an amazing experience, I was so happy to spend time with my friends!

Valeria 

 Friday 22/02/2019
At 9:00 a.m. we were all at school and, after the bell rang, all Erasmus + pupils and teachers went to the school gym.

We were divided into international teams and then we played typical Spanish games. The first game was "Prisoner Ball": there was a circle with two people at the outside and the other ones at the centre. The two ‘outsiders’ had to catch the ones at the center hitting them with a ball. If a person of the center was taken, he had to go outside and the one who caught the person went in.

The second game was Tulip: one pupil runs and tries to catch the other pupils, and the pupil who runs away, every time can  say “Tuli” and then is in a ‘Save-mood’ and can’t move. To unlock the person another person has to pass under the legs of the person who said ‘Tuli’, and then says ‘Pan’.
The third game was “The wall”: One person in the middle and the other pupils must go to the other side, but at the end for the last person it’s impossible to go through because there is a wall made of pupils.

The fourth game was “The Human Bowling”: 4 people are the pins and the other 4 are the ‘players’. The game is easy, it’s like bowling but instead of pins, there are people.
The fifth game was “Handkerchief”: a teacher was in the center and the team was divided into 2 teams, the team decides who is 1,2,3,4 and when the teacher says “...1!”, the number one must run to take the handkerchief and runs back to his place.

Last but not least was the “The Orchestra Director”: one pupil with their face to the wall, must try to understand who the group director is while the group is making a sound with hands or legs.
After the traditional Spanish games we had a break. Everyone signed the shirt, or a piece of paper or the backpack to remember this wonderful first Erasmus+ Project and the people we met. Then we had to work, we did questions and answers about Italian and Misterbianco geography and Italian Festivals (Carnival and Christmas) on the Twinspace. After these, we played a Kahoot game about Spain. The Italian team arrived third. Then we had to make our evaluation of the experience and give some tips for the next experiences.

After school all pupils went with their host families in the same restaurant, where we ate paella or slices of chicken with chips, and for dessert we had Oreo Ice-cream. Then we had a few minute break before going to the Culture House. At the Culture House we danced, sang, laughed and cried too...a lot! I will never forget how we all danced and sang together with one of the traditional Spanish dances. At the end of the party, one Spanish pupil started to cry and all the others together with him, like a chain, and then we hugged.Then, we went home where I watched the videos where we danced, sang, cried, hugged, laughed... And I cried a lot.

I will be forever grateful to my teachers because they gave me this opportunity to go to Spain, and not only to represent our school, but also to meet wonderful and unique people, who have become very important for me. This week was beautiful and I will never forget the beautiful moments we had together.

Alessia 


Saturday 23/02/2019

On Saturday we got up early, at about 4:00am. At 5:30am we took the coach to go to Madrid. We visited the Prado Museum, one of the most important art museums in the world. I loved it so much, especially the paintings of Francisco Goya for their colours.

 At the gift shop I bought the Museum guide book. After finding one of our schoolmate who had got lost into the museum (she liked it too much!), we went to the airport and flew to Rome. When we arrived there, after a short break,  we took the connecting flight to Catania. When we arrived there, I was happy to see my family again and tell them all about this new experience. 

Fabrizio 

Traditional masks

Take a look at our online exhibition with the topic - Traditional masks. 

Our e-cookbook

During our meeting in Spain, we work in international teams and cooked delicious traditional dishes from all the countries. 

Croatian - Fritule, Cypriot - Koupepia, Greek - Zucchini Fritters, Italian - Caponata, Polish - Lazanki and Spanish - Atascaburras. 

If you click on the picture you will find all the recipes in our e-cookbook.

Project Meeting in Spain Short-term exchange of groups of pupils: Bits and Pieces of Food and Festivals

Last week, from 18th to 22^nd February 2019 the 1st Primary School Virgen de Consolación hosted the first Short-term exchange of groups of pupils meeting of the Erasmus + KA2 project "Bits and Pieces of Culture" in Spain. 14 teachers and 30 students from 5 partner countries (Spain, Greece, Cyprus, Italy, and Poland), visited our school. The purpose of the visit was to held the first exchange of students staying with families. An scholarship at Primary Education School Virgen de Consolación, working in international student teams doing different workshops and taking part in cultural trips to Madrid and Cuenca.

Day 1 Madrid

The first day was spent on a one-day trip to Madrid. Our guests from partner countries visited the city and learned about the most important places, later on we had lunch in a typical restaurant in the city centre and afterwards we came back to Montealegre del Castillo where they meet with the host families.

Day 2

The second day of the project meeting started with a warm welcome of the project coordinator Mónica Marín, headmistress Elena Medina and the Student Erasmus + Club. The members of dancing group danced “Manchegas” which is a typical Spanish dance, some students also played a welcome song with instruments.

After this, the students played a City Game in order to get to know the host town better. They played the game in international teams and learn about the history and culture of the host town. They finished the City Game at the Main Square where they visited the mayor's office. Mr Sinforiano Montes, the Mayor of Montealegre del Castillo, welcomed them and commended the initiative of the teachers for the implementation of this and other projects and promised the City's support in carrying them out. He pointed out that European projects are the only option to advance the education system in a short period of time and to increase the current standard in education. Then we returned to school and the students made presentations about Carnival Customs in National Teams. Pupils presented their traditional and modern carnival customs. After the presentations they played a Kahoot quiz with questions about carnival customs of each partner country.

After the lunch and a short break, teachers returned to school and participated in a Mask Workshop in international teams and designed traditional masks from all the partners countries.  

Day 3

For the Cook Workshop, the students made a traditional dish from the different partner countries in international teams in the school dining room. Pupils brought their simple traditional recipes and by working in international teams they cooked the dishes, made photos of them and after that, they made a common e-Cookbook. Finally they presented both their traditional dishes and masks per countries to the rest of their partners and teachers.

Day 4

The fourth day we did a field trip to Cuenca as it is one of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites. We did a walking tour around Cuenca visiting the most important places such as the Hanging Houses and the Cathedral, after that, we had lunch in a restaurant where we could try some Spanish traditional dishes and finally, in the afternoon, we visited the Arts and Science Museum.

Day 5

The last day, pupils formed international teams and played traditional and modern playground games. They learned about traditional Spanish games in an interactive and fun way. Later they started to make a common Board Game with questions for the first challenge (Geography and Festivals).

After that all the pupils in national teams but the Spanish ones, played a Kahoot quiz with questions about Spain in order to check their knowledge of the visited country. Finally both teachers and students did an evaluation survey so to ask for their opinion of the meeting.

In the afternoon host families held a farewell party for teachers and pupils and they had a lot of fun. We can say that the exchange has been an incredible experience for the kids. Students´ host families made them feel very at home in their families. In general kids have gained so much knowledge about Spain and they will cherish all the amazing experiences they have had. Satisfied, full of positive impressions and ready to work on the next project activities, they happily returned to their homes, emphasizing that they will remember this meeting forever.