Ralitsa's impressions of the sunny Spain!

On 15^th March 2012 we left Sofia Airport by plane early in the morning. During our staying in Rome we had the opportunity to enjoy the beautiful ancient views of the Coliseum, Roman Forum, Trajan’s Column and Plaza Venezia. We arrived at Barcelona Airport at 6.30p.m. local time. There a few Spanish students together with their teacher Rosanna welcomed us. We took the underground to Vilassar de Mar, where we met our hosts and then we went home.

Friday, 16^th March. We spent the whole day in Barcelona. We took a short walk on La Rambla Street after which we visited Barcelona Town Halls. After that we went to the church Sagrada Familia where our guide told us a lot of interesting facts about the building and its author Gaudi. It was incredible! At noon we had free time and at the afternoon Rosanna took us round the Roman part of Barcelona, showing us remains of that time and explaining us the story. We went back to Vilassar de Mar in the evening.

On the next day, 17^th March, we visited the Montserrat area, a cradle of the Catalan culture and language. The place is very beautiful, the monastery impressed me with everything about it, and I touched the statue of The Black Virgin which is in it. We had a guide there, too, who told us in great detail about the place as well as the monastery and the museum there. After we got home, the students played football at one of the town playgrounds.

Sunday was our free day so we, the students, spent it at the beach, and in the afternoon we played bowling in a near town.

Monday, 19^th March, was a day devoted to project activities. It was very interesting at the lesson of Catalan and Spanish language when we talked about themes of the daily round. During the technical drawing lesson we took part in the Spanish student’s tasks. After that every team of the project presented the video which it had prepared. We had a special lunch at the dining-room of the school, after which we all went to Barcelona. There a part of us went shopping, and the other one – sight-seeing.

On Tuesday morning we all met at Vilassar de Mar’s station and went to Barcelona Airport. We took our first flight to Rome, from where we arrived at Sofia around 5.30p.m.

Every day the weather in Spain was sunny and warm, very hospitable just like our hosts. Emma and her family who I stayed at were very kind to me and made me feel as I was at home so I’m extremely thankful to them.

I’m very happy I was part of this project because I took a first-hand look at the history, culture and language of another nation. I made friends for whole life. I’d love to popularize this type of projects among my peers.

by Ralitsa Mincheva :)

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Trip to Barcelona 2012 - Kristiyan

On 15.03.2012 – we took off on a plane from Terminal 2 of Sofia airport. We had a few hours in Rome, after that we went to Barcelona by a plane where we arrived at 18:30 local time. We were welcomed by the teacher Rosanna and a couple of Spanish students.After that we used the subway to Vilassar de Mar where I was a guest of Helena Gonzalez Campo and her family.

Friday, 16.03 – we went to Barcelona. We visited a couple of places with all the people from the project. First we went to street “La Rambla” and after that we visited Barcelona City Hall, where a woman told us all about the building. A few hours before lunch we saw Sagrada Familia with a tour guide, who told us all about it. In the afternoon we were guided by Rosanna in the Roman part of the city. We got back to Vilassar de Mar in the evening.

Saturday, 17.03. – again in the morning we travelled by bus to a near mountain site called – Montserrat. We were shown around the museum where we saw valuable paintings of Picasso and Dali. When we got back to Vilassar de Mar, we had free time.

Sunday, 18.03. – The whole day was somewhat of a free day, but still the Spanish students showed us more of the town we were in.

Monday, 19.03. – It was a day all about project activities. We attended a few classes, and after that every group showed the work they’ve done on the project. After lunch, we went to Barcelona and visited a couple of cultural sites.

Tuesday, 20.03. – In the morning we headed to the airport in Barcelona along with Rosanna and a couple of Spanish students. We arrived in Rome and after about an hour stay we caught our flight for Sofia.

It was an amazing experience, all the people were wonderful and I enjoyed every second of it!

by Kristiyan Iliev

Ivan's trip to Ireland

My name is Ivan. I’m student from Bulgaria. I was in group witch traveled to Ireland.  Third meeting on the project for minority languages ​​in Europe, Comenius project, took place in the town of Dungarvan, Ireland. 

Our journey began from Sofia airport. We changed the plane in Frankfurt, Germany. We were in Dublin at 18:00 p.m. Students and teachers from Norway, Spain and Ireland were waiting for us at the airport. 

Our first stop was in Kilkenny. In Kilkenny we stayed for first night in a hotel. On the next day we looked around the town. It was nice and clear. We walk around the town and we saw a lot of beautiful buildings and sites. We visited places like Shee Alms House, Grace's Castle, Black Abbey, Rothe House, Kilkenny caslte. Tha castle was a unique building with large gardens. It was completely preserved inside and outside. It was surrounded by a river which once stopped the enemy armies. Across the street was design centre of Kilkenny. It is place for handmade jewelry, pottery and other products.

 

After the interesting walk we headed for the town of Dungarvan.

We arrived at school’s yard in Dungarvan. There I met the family of Mikayla Hickey. Their house is located about 15 minutes from school. We had a dinner and had fun with her family.

Kayla's parents took me to her school on Saturday. Once we gathered all students, we headed to Lismore by bus. There we visited cathedral "St. Carthage ". Our last destination in Lismore was the impressive castle from 12th century. 

We headed towards Ardmore. We reached the cemetery and cathedral where are the remains of St. Declan. He is an accomplished Irish saint. After the long and entertaining walk we were hospitably greeted by Áine and her students in their school. We dine there and everything was prepared by the students. Áine taught us Irish dances. All of us had a lot of fun. 

After the breakfast on Sunday Kayla took me to place with friendly horses. From there we headed to the castle which was abandoned. It was overgrown with vegetation and it was very beautiful. We went down and we ended up on the shore of the Irish Sea. Keila's mother drove us to the hurling pitch (their national sport) after the walk. We were given instructions by the trainer and students how to play hurling. And we played a little hurling and a game close to baseball. 

On Monday we went to school. Our first class was cooking. They gave us an explanation of how to make Irish bread and Irish soup. They showed us the necessary equipment and products and we started a collective work.

 

We started to work on the project at 11:00 am. The norwagians were first. We, bulgarian group, were next. We were prepared three videos- ”Educational System in Bulgaria”, “Minorities and minority languages ​​in Bulgaria“ and “Art -a common language for all minorities”. The spanish were after us. The Irish students showed us a video with the history of the area around Dungarvan and historical sites associated with the Celts. Principal closed the project meeting by awarding to all guests with a certificate from the school and gifts. 

After the meeting we had time in which to enter in other classes. We had Irish classes. We learned first Celtic alphabet and wrote our names. They taught us of old Irish songs.  Then we had music class. Teacher gave us Bodhrans and we started with the lesson. Teacher liked us and he was impressed by our skills. And that is how ended our day in school.  Keila's family sent me to the school on Tuesday morning. We left by bus.

Norway in Ireland!

Hi, this is Maria from Norway.
I had a really good time in Ireland and I miss you all!
I found Ireland very interesting, because of the history and the culture.
I hope I can go back to Ireland one day, or even study there :)

I enjoyd staying with the family and the irish dancing made my heart warm because of all the joy.

With love ~ Maria Ellen Lyngmo Seppälä!

The trip to Ireland :)

When we came to Ireland, the weather was great and warm. We went on a trip to Knowth with the Spanish people. The trip itself wasn’t so very interesting, but the buildings there were extraordinary. Later that day, when we had picked up the Bulgarian people, we went to eat dinner. We got to know each other a bit better, which was fun! The day in Kilkenny was long and filled with a lot of history and many churches to see, but the town was nice, and I liked.... and I liked the free time where we got to shop and go to a café.

Grace’s family was really nice, and I really enjoyed the time with them. Grace and Emma (the Spanish girl that also stayed at Grace’s place) and I went on a walk to a “secret beach” which was very nice. We also got to see all of their animals; ducks, horses, donkeys and dogs.

Saturday was time for some more history lessons, this time in Ardmore and Lismore. When we came back, we stopped at the Irish language center for an half an hour, before we went to the school to eat dinner, dance and hear some really great Irish singing and music. The Celtic dancing was such a blast; we laughed, stamped on each other’s feet and tried our best, and in the end we felt like we managed it pretty well.

I really enjoyed my time in Ireland, and I hope to come back someday to meet all our new Irish friends J

- Kisses and hugs from Elisabet!

Kim's trip to Ireland

The trip to Ireland was really exiting. All the places we visited and the people we met were so nice and I felt really welcome over there. Also to be able to celebrate my birthday in Ireland were also really exiting. We ate much cake and sweets at the school, and home where I lived during the trip.

The things I will miss the most during the trip will be without doubt the people we met, especially the family whom I lived with. They took me into the family with open arms. I would never be hungry during the trip, because they always offered food, but I’d like to try all kinds of different food.

The trip was fun, and was a big success. I really want to travel back to Ireland and meet the family who took good care of me.