COMING BACK FROM WALES

In October 2018 we had our Erasmus+ meeting in Wales. We have two different partner schools from Wales: Ysgol Dyffrun Taf and Ysgol y Strade. The schools are about 40 kilometers away from each other. The students were staying in host families in these two cities and the teachers were staying in the city of Carmarthen that is located in the middle. The participating students from our school were Paula, Lorena, Antonio and Rafa from 2nd year of Bachillerato  and teachers Marta Fernández and Ana Carmona.

We started our trip early on Saturday morning and landed in Málaga. We had to wait in Málaga for a time until our flight to Bristol. When we arrived in Bristol,it was freezing cold. Then, a bus took us to the meeting point where the Welsh families would be picking up our students.


We spent the first two days at Dyffrun Taf School. First in the program we had the videos that every team had made about the equality issues in their cities or countries. We also heard songs performed by a talented choir and lectures for example about Growth Mindset and a speech by Keith Towler, Chair of United Nations Convention on Rights of the Child for Wales. Furthermore, the students had an art workshop where they created their own souvenirs and after that we visited the County Hall of Carmarthen together. A journalist from a local newspaper even wrote an article about our visit.

On Wednesdey we had a trip to St. David's which is the smallest city in UK. We explored the Cathedral of St. David's, which is a popular pilgrim destination, and visited the beautiful beach of Whitesand. Then the students went to do something scary: coasteering. It's about jumping to the sea from several meters high cliffs. Luckily the teachers didn't have to even see it.

Last two days we spent at the second school Ysgol y Strade where we had two talented speakers: a poet Mererid Hopwood and a Member of Parliament Tonia Antoniazzi. Hopwood is one of the principal movers behind the White Book of Peace which is an extraordinary peace movement project. She had the book with her and all the people over 16 years old had ability to sign under the title "By signing my name in the Llyfr Gwyn, I commit myself to work for peace in the world."

We also had a work shop of Welsh folkdances and made a trip to Kidwelly Castle that was beautiful even touht it was raining. On Thursday evening we had a consert at the school where the extremely talented students performed.

On Friday the students had a workshop with a BBC dj. They brought a song in their own language with them and togehter with the dj they made a radio program. You can listen the whole program here. In the evening we had a Farewell Party where all the participants got their certificates with huge applaudes. 

The week in Wales was really successfull. We learned new skills and ways to see things. We also made many new friends. Together we made the world a little bit better place to live.