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!
