Second Expedition: Barcelona - Haparanda

Barcelona => Haparanda (2nd February to 13th February)

29/10/08 - Sitges under the rain and Farewell Party

The last day of the Swedish students in our country was in Sitges, a nice village located in the south coast of Catalonia. Unfortunately, it was raining all day and we had to go to a small gym in Escola Pia Sitges, but theoretically, we were supposed to go to the beach to do a sport circuit. So, in that aspect, we were a bit unlucky. There, in that school, we did a lot of activities and we played different games that we organized at once. It was very funny, and the Swedish students were very enthusiastic. There were musical instruments and we did a music game (the typical musical chairs but with shoes) with a piano, played by different people who knew some funny songs that matched with that game. The other activities were “limbo”, the “cow’s game”…

When we saw that it wasn’t raining heavily, we went to visit the village (we went to the beach, some nice streets…).

The same day, at eight o’clock in the evening, we did the farewell party with the Tornedalsskolan students and all the Catalan families. First, the Swedish students repeated their presentations of Sweden, and Karin, one of the exchange students, sang one of the typical songs of her country (the other students also collaborated singing with her). They had really impressive voices! After that, we had dinner (we ate a lot of tasty canapés), and everyone went home!

28/10/08 - Catalan food for everybody

In the morning everybody arrived at school and the Swedish had Catalan classes about transports and school with Jordi, Irene and Georgina. They had prepared a game in which you had to go around all the school looking for clues. The next hour they had more classes with Berta, Sofia and Marc about food and drink and with Paula and Monica about clothes.
At ten o’clock we were all together and talked about the different languages in our countries and we discussed our opinions.
After the break, the Swedish students went to Boqueria market, the most famous in Barcelona. They practised what they had learnt. They also bought some food to prepare the lunch.
After the visit to the market, we met in the "Cantina" and prepared lunch all together with the food they had just bought. We ate salad, “pa amb tomàquet” with ham and cheese and other Catalan cold meat and, for dessert, fruit “pinchitos” with caramel and coconut. Everybody liked the food and we enjoyed it very much.

In the afternoon the Swedish students was divided in two groups to make 2 different activities and later they swaped activities. A group went to the laboratory with Marta Segura and made a workshop about food chemistry. The other group stayed in the Comenius room and listened to the presentation about “castellers” (human towers typical from Catalonia). Amanda and Georgina made this presentation.
After these activities there was free time. Everyobody did what they wanted: go shopping, chat with friends or just go home and rest!

26/10/08 - Sunny day in a stressful Montserrat

Today, all the families and teachers went to Montserrat, the mountain that Catalan people have inside their heart. When we left home, we thought that it was going to be a sunny day, but we didn't know that, today, all Catalunya was in Montserrat. Bikes, motorbikes, cars, buses, lots of people, some Chinese taking photos... It was very stressful!

But we had to continue with the programme and two girls gave a speech to let us know some information about the monastery and the mountain. After that, we decided to take the funicular to have lunch not without a little excursion before.

During all day the sun was shining in the sky and you could feel joy and happiness wherever you looked. In the afternoon, we left Montserrat after a very nice day.

And tomorrow, another exciting experience!

24/10/08 - Camp Nou & Magic fountain

The day started at 8 o’clock with Catalan classes. The Swedish students learnt vocabulary referred to the family taught by Judit Casas, Laura Santafè, Amanda Ramajo and Berta Subirats, and also learned how to say the parts of the body taught by Paula Crespo and Monica Campillo.

After that, both, the Swedish and the Catalan group dedicated the following two hours to work in the project. Later, at 11.30 the Swedish group left the school in order to visit the Camp Nou (Futbol Club Barcelona’s Stadium, the biggest and the most important in the city). Eloi Mir, a student from Escola Pia Nostra Senyora, gave them an informative speech about the stadium and the team. The activity was over at 13:30.

Once the activity finished, the Swedish went to have lunch on their own and had all the afternoon free, this way they had spare time to do whatever they wanted.

Finally, at half past eight in the evening, the Swedish and Catalan students met at Plaça Espanya to see all together the magic fountains. We all saw a great show, the atmosphere was perfect, watching the fountain in colours and listening to good music. It was just amazing and everybody liked it so much, nobody wanted it to finish.

It was a really good day with enjoyable activities in a very good company! We are all expecting to see what is arranged for tomorrow!

23/10/08 - Walk & Visit, Visit & Walk

Swedish students are walking all around the city and visiting many buildings. We think that they are a little bit tired but they must stand it until the end of these days.

Today they have visited the Sagrada Familia and they really liked it. Our Maths teacher gave them an explanation on the geometrical shapes of the mythical building and exercised their minds with lots of hard mathemathical problems.

Tomorrow they will visit the stadium of F.C.Barcelona and in the evening they will attend a great sound and lights show of a famous fountain of the city.

The weather is becoming better and we think that tomorrow it will be really sunny.

Bye! :)

23/10/08 - Gaudi's spirit

It was an exciting day for all of us, especially for the Swedish students.
First of all, the Swedish students were divided in two groups. One half learnt the days of the week, months and seasons with Sònia and Judith. The other half learnt the different colours with Berta, Sofia and Marc. The Swedish group had a great time together and after a half an hour, they started to learn the other part.
Once the class finished, the rest of Catalan students came to the Comenius classroom and we started the Comenius project class. We spoke about the differences between the languages in Spain and in Sweden. It was interesting to know more about the country that we are going to visit.
During the rest of the morning the Swedish students did a workshop with our art teachers, and they worked a lot in their paintings.
At 15:30 they went to visit la Sagrada Familia and they did an activity with numbers with one of our mathematics teachers.

22/10/08 - Rainy day, shiny happy people laughing

The day was rainy but it doesn't matter if you have a nice time with your partners...

We started the day as we are used to, working on the project and getting to know our new mates better. After that, a Catalan student gave a presentation about Gaudí's life and he introduced him to the Swedish students.

It started raining hard in the morning but closer to lunchtime, it stopped pretty much, so we could take the subway and go to Parc Güell. We had lunch there and after visiting the park, we did some funny activities together and they were really nice.

Tomorrow they will visit Sagrada Familia and they will realise the real essence of Gaudí's architecture. We hope tomorrow will be less cloudy.

Good bye!

21/10/08 - First day, good sensations

The project started today and all of us think that it did in the right way.

It was a hard day for the Swedish students because they were coming and going during all the day. After listening to the headmaster's introduction and receiving a warm welcome from teachers and students, we began the ice-breakers.

This activity was very useful to get to know each other and now everybody's names are clear. Then, they divided in three groups and, guided by 3 Catalan students, they visited all the school. They saw the laboratories, the playground and the classes. At breaktime, many of them wanted to do something, but they didn't know what to do and where to go, so 2 students from the school guided them to Plaça Catalunya, the central square of Barcelona.

They also visited la Pedrera, a magnificient house designed by Gaudí and they finished the day activities with a visit to the old city of Barcelona (Barri Gòtic) with some of the Catalan students.

Tomorrow they will start receiving lessons of Catalan and also will visit Parc Güell, the great park also designed by Gaudí, Parc Güell.

Everything is wonderful and we hope we can continue in this line.

Bye!

20/10/08 - Here they are

The Swedish students are here! Finally we have them at home and everything is ready to start with the project.

Tomorrow all of us will do the first activities and the ice-brakers in the morning and, after lunch, we will visit Barcelona's old city, the Gothic Quarter.

The flights were fine and there were no problems with the bags, so everybody was happy. The bus that drove them to the school was a little bit late because of the traffic, but when they arrived we were waiting for them with a big smile in our faces and great expectations.

Then, everybody met his or her partner and finally moved to our homes.

After resting, we started the project the next morning at 8 A.M.

This has already started and we think that it will be a gorgeous experience! :)

Haparanda & Barcelona

This project is going to take place in these two cities; Barcelona and Haparanda.
Barcelona is the capital and most populous city of the Autonomous Community of Catalonia and the second largest city in Spain.

Barcelona is located on the northeast coast of the Iberian Peninsula, facing the Mediterranean Sea, on a plateau approximately 5 km wide limited by the mountain range of Collserola, the Llobregat river to the south-west and the Besós river to the north.
Barcelona is a major economic centre with one of Europe's principal Mediterranean ports. Barcelona International Airport is the second largest in Spain after Madrid-Barajas Airport.
Antoni Gaudí’s and Lluís Domènech i Montaner’s works have been designated UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

On the other hand, Haparanda (Finnish: Haaparanta, meaning aspen and river bank) is a town in Norrbotten, northern Sweden, and the seat of Haparanda Municipality, Norrbotten County. It is adjacent to Tornio, Finland. Haparanda has a population of approximately 4,800 (and an area 3,94 km²) of out of a municipal total of 10,200 inhabitants.
Haparanda is, despite its small population, for historical reasons often still referred to as a city. Statistics in Sweden, however, only counts localities with more than 10,000 inhabitants as cities.
The municipality itself, on the other hand, uses the term Haparanda stad (City of Haparanda) not only for the town itself, but for its whole territory (927 km²).

First expedition: Haparanda - Barcelona

Haparanda => Barcelona (20th October to 30th October)

Barcelona => Haparanda (2nd February to 13th February)