The end...

This is the end.
After a fanstatic journey together, two last mobilities where we met and share so many things in Chester

 and finally in Cornella

it's time to say goodbye.

Thank you for everything, we are going to miss you all guys!

The COF Crew

All good things come to an end.................

Time flies...two whole years passed and we all experienced the last mobility.

Thursday 02/07/15
A delayed flight,lost luggage,lots of stress,lots of drama ...but around 10 p.m. we finally made it and reached Barcelona.Despite our exhaustion we decided to join everyone at EOI Cornella and even share the last dance of the party.Our beloved friends,their exhuberance really boosted our mood and compensated us for all that we had been through.

Friday 03/07/15

In the morning, we visited EOI Cornella and were given an introduction into the rich Catalan culture through a video presentation.Time to head outdoors!
First, we visited an industrial colony called colonia Guell built by Antoni Gaudi.Students from EOI Cornella, had prepared treasure hunt like activities and gave us a tour of the colony.We admired the impressive architecture and Gaudi's first work of art the Cripta Guell church.After our first visit we were sure..there were many adventures awaiting us.

The weather was boiling hot and we all wanted to cool down.How? by going to the beach! next stop Sitges.Long sandy beaches,palm trees, the exotic air of Sitges captivated us immediately.We had a picnic on the beach,swam and relaxed.Then divided into groups we self-explored the town .Back to Cornella for a tour in Cornella de Llobregat by the local students.

The tours were over and we were all looking forward to the white night party.Dressed in our total white outfits everyone was merry and excited.We tasted the Catalan delicacies that the students had prepared and then participated in the cultural quiz , which was about all the project partners.

After the quiz we watched a digital photo album with photos from all the mobilities.Watching our ''Communitek story '' unravel in front of us like that was very heart touching and we all got emotional.We exchanged unique gifts and gasped as the fireworks display started.A last surprise was yet to be revealed.Within walking distance we visited the rehearsal of the Castellers , a local human tower group.Strong traditional roots and an admirable technique, their show was very impressive.

Saturday 04/05/15

Tha day started with lessons.We and the Finns had Spanish for absolute beginners,taught by Laura.Laura was a very inspiring teacher and the lesson was entertaining,informative and qualitative.All the teachers gathered ideas on how to enhance our lessons.

The next lesson was a culinary one.With the guidance of Jose we cooked traditional dishes that we were going to eat later on.Traditional catalan dishes with a modern twist! Jose was a great teacher and everyone enjoyed the activity.By the end of the lesson the dishes looked delicious and we all exchanged traditional recipe ideas.Before lunch we all gathered at the schoolyard around a big tree and were taught how to dance ''sardana'' a traditional local dance.

After lunch we participated in the last activity , a Barcelona treasure hunt! Divided into groups and by being given clues we had the chance to walk all around Barcelona,see all the famous attractions and breathe in the beauty of the city.

The end of the treasure hunt was the Magic fountains of Montjuic! A magical end for a magical day and a magical program! Surrounded by the colourful and romantic lights of the fountains while listening to the serene music we cherished the moment.Our last dinner took place in a restaurant nearby where we all unwinded and exchanged farewell hugs.

Sunday 05/07/15

 

On Sunday ,since our flight was really late at night we visited the Barcelona stadium and explored the city centre even more.

We would like to thank very much Oriol and his colleagues for initiating and organising the program and for making the last mobility trully memorable.It was an honour and an absolute pleasure working with all of you!

May our bonds remain strong and may we meet again!

From cold and rainy Finland to hot and sunny Barcelona: our last Communitek mobility

 

We started our trip to Barcelona in the morning train to Helsinki airport, in high spirits. We were really looking forward to seeing all the people we had already met during the other mobilities, and everyone else joining this mobility. Besides, summer in Finland had been cold and rainy and the promise of hot, sunny weather was also a bit of an attraction for us from the North! It was fun to look at the preliminary task together and try to guess which place was which.

This time our flight started on time and we arrived in Barcelona as planned, on Thursday afternoon. We were truly lucky to have Eulàlia as our chauffeur all the time; she greeted us with her big smile and gave us a short sightseeing tour, and a lesson on how to drive in the crazy traffic of the city, before we arrived at the apartment, to leave our luggage there and to continue to Cornellà.

Warm welcome, warm weather, this was a good start. After a meal outside, all participating nationalities mixed, our hosts surprised us with a crazy dance. Wow, what next?

On Friday morning we found breakfast in a café near our apartment and Eulàlia drove us to Cornellá again. The Spanish teachers gave us a presentation of the region followed by a busy day: the whole project has been task oriented, and it was very fitting that our last meeting would be just that, too! We explored Colònia Guëll, learning about history, culture and architecture, and completing our tasks. We sang “Vamos à la Playa” together and had a swim and sandwiches at the beach of Sitges, before exploring again, completing task after task... in the midsummer heat. No complaints, we had been whining about cold weather all summer long.

Back at Cornellà, we had our meeting while some local students gave other participants a guided tour of the town. Marta from Chester and our headmistress Terhi had not been at our very first meeting at EOI Cornellá, and Oriol gave them a tour of the school, too. Dinner was fab, with everyone dressed in white and the local students having prepared their specialties for us all to taste, what a treat. Speeches were given, gifts exchanged, and everyone agreed that this project has been a success and given a lot to all the participants. Special thanks to Oriol and his team for starting and coordinating it.

At the very end of the evening, there was a surprise for all visitors: we were led to a nearby backyard, where we got to see how a group of local people trained for a traditional sport, building

human towers – something we had never seen before. What an eventful day!

Saturday morning we started with some lessons, ours was of course Spanish for absolute beginners. Bravo Laura for your great lesson, you rocked :) and gave us all a great moment! I am wondering if I should bring Twister in my classroom...

Then we had another fun lesson, this time learning to make some tapas with José. Which we then had for lunch: everyone had been preparing some, and we really enjoyed our self-made lunch.

We were divided into teams and got instructions to find the places on a given map, take photos to prove we were there, and answer some questions, too. The students who prepared the tasks both for Friday and Saturday had really done a great job. On foot and by metro we proceeded through Barcelona  - in the sun - finding one fabulous site after another, until... the heat had the better of us and we gave up, and so did everyone else, but the task had been almost completed and we had had a wonderful day, and seen more than we would have on our own. Bravo to the local students who guided the groups, you did a great job!

That last evening we all met up at the magic fountains of Montjuïc, a properly festive setting to finish off. After a bite to eat, we then had to say our goodbyes, but always with a promise to keep in touch, and to see what we could build up from this project also in the future. Thank you everyone involved in Communitek, you have friends in Finland, see you!

 

                           

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Final mobility: trip to Cornellà (Catalonia)

"All things come to an end" goes the saying, and it does indeed for our project "Communitek: melting distances".

Cornellà has been our last stop in this 2-year adventure our 5 European partners have dabbled in. It's only been 3 days, but what an intense stay! We've had a hectic activity programme (at 35 degrees in the shade!) involving a large party of people of up to 82 people counting students from all countries, school administrators & teachers.

Thursday July 2nd

The first delegation to arrive was the Belgian one, which started their programme, right after landing with, a treasure hunt around Barcelona guided by some of the Catalan French-speaking students.

The rest of the partners got to Barcelona at different times during the day but they all showed up on time for our first dinner together at EOI Cornellà. For the moment there appeared to be no clouds on the horizon until we got a message form Nicky: the Greek delegation had gotten stuck at an airport somewhere in the center of Europe and they wouldn't be able to make it. However, we all put on a brave face and moved on as planned: we sat outside on the school's playground, had our first meal together, used all possible languages to communicate with  our new friends from different parts of Europe... But right after dancing to the 'Time Warp', a cheerful choreography the Catalan delegation had prepared to welcome the European guests, and right before calling it a day, the Greeks showed up, dragging their luggage behind them, exhausted... but happy to join us in our last dance! The whole Communitek family, reunited - at last! 

Friday July 3rd

Day 2 started with a brief presentation of Catalonia by Laura, Eulàlia and Marc, who introduced European guests to the Catalan culture, its people, its customs and its language. 

At 9:45 we all got on a coach which took us to our fist cultural visit: la Colònia Güell, an industrial colony built in 1890 under the supervision of artist and architect Antoni Gaudí, where Montse and Mavi, two Catalan students who speak both English and French, prepared some activities for all of us to learn a bit about the Art Nouveau style in Catalonia and to discover one of Gaudí's very first yet impressive works of art: the Cripta Güell Church. 

Our second stop was in Sitges, a small charming fishermen's village where some of us dared take a refreshing dip in Mediterranean waters, had lunch on the beach and then ventured on a self-guided tour of the town divided into mixed-nationality groups.

We finished the cultural visits with a stroll in Cornellà de LLobregat, where local students took our visitors to their favourite places in town.

As soon as the sun set (and temperatures got a slightly benevolent after such a long flaming day), we all got dressed in white ready for our last dinner party. Local students had prepared some of the most typical Catalan dishes for foreigner to taste along with some good country whites and reds to enliven the evening. 

From then on, we had a cultural quiz the Belgian delegation had prepared to test how much project partners knew about each other. Later we watched a digital photo album with all the images we had put together from the very beginning of the Communitek project. Partners exchanged thank-yous, farewell hugs and presents and firework announced the last surprise the evening had been keeping in store: we went to see the rehearsal of a local Human Tower group which performed several Human Towers (or 'castles', as Catalans call them), delighting an excited and expectant audience.

Saturday July 4th

On Saturday morning we had both an language lesson (Catalan or Spanish for absolute beginners) and a cooking workshop, where we prepared some of the dishes we later on had for lunch.

Before tasting our own recipes, and in order to whet our appetite, we all gathered outside around the huge tree on the school playground to learn how to dance 'sardana' (a Catalan group dance) and 'sevillanas' (another popular dance from the south of Spain which Marta and M. Carmen improvisedly taught us).  

Later came lunch (that one we all prepared with our own hands!) and soon off we were on a treasure hunt that would take us all over downtown Barcelona  and require us to answer some general knowledge and cryptic questions about the city and its history, take photos of buildings and perform various  team tasks. 

The finish line? Right next to the magic fountains of Montjuic, a crowded attraction in Barcelona but also a refreshing end after such a marathon-like treasure hunt!

It was nearly 10 pm when we all got there. We took our final group picture with the lighted dancing fountains as our scene setting and we headed for a local place nearby to kick back and have a bite together to celebrate a fruitful visit, a successful international project and the prosperous bonds which have blossomed after these 2 years working and learning together.

We'll keep in touch, dear friends!