Friday, March 18, 2011

Meeting in Oviedo

While we had a typical harsh winter, something unusual happened. Three students and two teachers from a small town in Estonia set out for the meeting in Spain.

The destination was a Spanish province – Asturias (officially the Principality of Asturias) and its centre – Oviedo. Asturias is located in the Northern part of Spain along the bay of Biscay. We were hosted by the IES Llanera school’s students.

The travellers used several means of transport. At first we went to Stocholm by boat then they used a metro (Arlanda express) to get to the Arlanda airport. There was no direct flight to the destination, so we had to make a stopover in Madrid.

The first day in Spain started with  lessons at a small school.The corridors were narrow and walls made of red brick. There was a tiny cafe instead of a canteen. Students didn’t have to change clothes or footwear to enter the school. The breaks were bustling, but the pupils calmed down for their class.
After school we had a lovely walk in Oviedo. It  is an old and historical town. The most glorious cathedral – St Iglesia Cathedral is also a museum, where we were shown ’’The Victory Cross’’ (Cruz de la Victoria). Oviedo seemed to be very clean, colourful and groomed. At the end of the day students went shopping with their new mates.
On Tuesday everyone met in the school hall. Students from different countries had to make a presentation about recycling in their school and activities done after the last meeting in Turkey.

Our students told about their photo competition ’’Notice rubbish’’ and ’’Let’s do it’’ project in Estonia (2008). After the presentations we drove to Gijón and had an outing.

On Wednesday the students visited a local youth center and music school, which was a huge and beautiful house, equipped with the latest technology. Teachers held a meeting and had an excursion to a local social hall.

On Thursday morning we went on a hiking tour. Everyone, even the locals, had a wonderful time and were drawn to rivers and mountains. In the afternoon we visited the Parque de la cave Prehistoria (learning center) where we saw cave art from different places of Europe. Unfortunately, those were copies of the real ones. The guide spoke English, but generally there weren’t much people, who could speak in English.

Friday was a normal schoolday for students, but after that they went to a park and played basketball. The weather was sunny and it was almost 20o C outside. The students enjoyed spending time together: they sang some well-known English songs, swung and laughed until late night.

Many thanks to the families who hosted us!

Luise Risthein

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A little photogallery about wonderful week in Spain.

Gallery

Do You remember?

With Best Regards!

Estonian Team

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