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!

And finally... Barcelona!

So. ..... At 7am we set off for Manchester airport with new adventures in store and old friends from Chester to meet and new friends from Barcelona, Finland , Belgium and Greece to meet. It's odd, it always feels like we should do the trips before the tasks so we know the people we will be working with....

We landed in Barcelona and could already feel the heat! Marta gave us our first adventure to get us from the airport to Barcelona by public transport! As most of our group are older and would normally grab a cab - using the train and metro proved challenging for some! Why couldn't we grab a cab? Where we going? What ticket did we need? .... What language were they speaking!?

We eventually arrived after a lovely serenade from a Saxophonist on the train which was enough to drive Grant insane. The hotel was a further 15 mins walk or so and boy we could feel the heat ....what a group we looked! Old and "younger" dragging cases through the streets of Barcelona....hit and tired before the weekend has started!

We met for a quick glass of wine and some tapas and chatted over the adventures to come. We didn't have a clue what was in store. We needn't have worried. Our friends looked after us superbly! We learnt how to speak Catalan! How to make Spanish food and watched the others playing twister!!..... At least there were no presentations to do (phew)!!!!

There were some real highlights.... The Colonia Guell, the architecture was amazing! The beach (we could have spent all day there!!!!!!!!) chatting in both languages in the sea! The dinner all in white was fun, the food was amazing! ...Marc had even made a front room in front of the tree outside. Nice Touch! Watching the human tower practice was incredible... I could go on! 

For me whilst the trip was amazing the best part is we have stayed in touch ...our "whatsapp " group "amigos" has created a legacy where we will remain in touch with each other's lives, things of interest , cultural differences and it brightens a wet and dreary English autumnal day to hear from our friends abroad!

Dave Furnival

Trip to Cornellà (Communitek's last mobility)

Cooking workshop

One of the activities we organized for all partners to get a taste of Catalan cuisine was a cooking workshop in which Eulàlia and Jose introduced some easy-to-make finger-licking dishes we later on had the chance to try at lunchtime.

Here are some of the recipes in Spanish and English for you to download: 

recipes in Spanish

recipes in English

Trip to Chester (by EOI de Cornellà students)

THE GROUP
The weekend of 23 to 26 April, a group of 30 students of the EOI Cornella and 4 teachers had the opportunity to travel to London and Chester, thanks to Communitek program. During the trip we met other students studying Spanish at the University of Chester. One evening they took us to dinner at a curious place in Liverpool. The place was very big. There we were served different foods and the music was loud. We couldn’t speak for the noisy. But, the teachers that are very intelligent… some wore earplugs!!!! It’s true!!!

Jennifer, our guide showed us the Soho.

Hello my friends; I’m writing to you a short article about our trip to England.

By Anna Flotats and Isabel Maldonado

BOROUGH MARKET

  

Borough Market is London’s most renowned food market; a source of exceptional British and international produce. It is a haven for anybody who cares about the quality and provenance of the food they eat - chefs, restaurateurs, passionate amateur cooks and people living just for eating and drinking.

But it’s not just the sheer quality of the food on offer that makes Borough Market special – it is also about the people and the place.

When we entered to the market, we felt surprised. It was crowded and full of colourful stalls. You can taste different types of food, some of them typical  from others countries. One of the most amazing things for us was blending flavors and smells.

You will easily feel comfortable there, even though we discovered that English people usually use to eat standing up.

If you go to London at any time,it´s a place not to be missed. Enjoy this charming Market!

Just at  the entrance, we could see pork roast, this stall offered "Roasted Pork Roll" for 5.50 pounds, it was an imposing election, pictures are shown bellow.

It is a very picturesque market.

                                                           By Ana Exposito and Montse Nualart

LONDON SOHO

Soho is a visit that you cannot miss on your stay in London. It’s a district situated in the heart of London’s West End. Soho is border by Oxford Street, Regent Street, Leicester Square and Charing Cross Road and it’s easy to explore by walk.

In Soho we can find places full of history, leisure time, culture and anecdotes that make this place unique in the world.

We know that for centuries many immigrants, as French or Chinese people were living here. We can find a street with Chinese inspiration.

In sixteen decade Jimmy Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Led Zeppelin or Paul Mc Carthy were famous in this city. The first pub where they played it was called “Admiral Duncan”.

Soho is famous for their night clubs, pubs and restaurants, is also the main gay neighborhood in London.

Nowadays, we can find theatres, cinemas, movie studios like Sony pictures or TV channels producers.

Well done, Jennifer, and thank you very much!

By Pepi Cortés and Montse Fuster

FREE TIME IN LONDON

It was an interesting, active, friendly, youthful, exhausting and fast trip.

We had time to meet London, Liverpool and Chester; its important buildings, its customs, its changing weather and some of its friendly people. At the same time, we could enjoy a bit of free time to do some things.

Judith, Alberto, Leandro and Sara went to Covent Garden. They saw a good singer that was singing opera. After that, they had dinner in the Meals market restaurant. They ate hamburgers and drank soda, the price was 10.50 each person.

Eli, Carme, Cristina and Lorena went to shopping in their free time. They bought presents for their families.

Later, they had dinner. All of them asked for a sandwich and water to drink.

For dessert some of them ordered yoghurt and the rest, bananas.

Next, almost all of us went to Lyceum Theatre to see the magnificent musical “The Lion King”.

By M. Jesús Petit and Andrea Riu

THE LION KING

London! What a wonderful place… We were a school party impeccably manned by EOI Cornella which had been waiting so long to Visit that cool city. There were people who had visited London many times, whereas, there were other people who hadn’t been in London before.

Despite the fact that we were all exhausted because of the long day we had had we were thrilled as well, we were about to see one of the most spectacular show in the world.

At seven pm everybody were opposite the London’s Lyceum Theatre after visiting the British Museum and having dinner. However, there was tiredness in our faces but curiosity too. We were about to see The Lion King the musical.

 

The show started in London on October 19 1999 and it is still running. The show is now celebrating its 16th anniversary. The Lion King is a musical based on the 1994 Disney film with the same name, with music by Elton John and lyrics by Tim Rice. The music is one of the strong points of the musical as well as the spectacular costumes. The scenes in the show take the spectator to Africa with all its colours, melodies and rhythms. It explains the story of Simba and his journey to become the King of the Pride lands.

The London’s Lyceum Theatre was packed. We had our tickets to seat in the royal circle.  Most of us thought that it would be difficult not to fall asleep, but just the opposite, time went by quickly and it was an outstanding experience, as our trip-mate Sonia says:  "I really enjoyed the musical even I was completely tired. Before going I thought I wouldn't be able to keep me awake all the show but the play wasn't hard to follow, mostly because I knew the story and that helped. I liked specially the way they represented the sunrise, and how they started with a lot of animals, full of colours and joy and the contrast they made to show the drought and the devastation of the bad times, I think they made a good work of setting, with a very few things they captured you to feel the story. I was happy to see this musical in London, a great experience."

 So, if you are planning to visit London you shouldn’t miss the chance to see The Lion King musical. We strongly recommend you that unforgettable experience that will lives in you forever. Hakuna Matata! What a wonderful phrase…

  By Mercè Parés and Carlos Hinojosa

LIVERPOOL

Before to visit Liverpool we thought that the city was more cultural and it had more old buildings. But when we arrived we realized that actually Liverpool is a modern city.

In spite of that, there are some places in Liverpool that you have to visit. One of them is the Royal Liver Building where there are the two liverbirds statues. This statues represent the city and protect it too.

Another beautiful place to visit in Liverpool is the Albert Dock near the river Mersey. One of the thing that surprised us during our walk was the sculpture called "Superlambanana". There are a lot of this sculpture around the city and it is one of the most important element of Liverpool.

It was a fun evening, the city is very musical and our partners, Grant and Jane, showed us many prominent sites in the city. One of this incredible sites was The Cavern Club a rock and roll club where The Beatles used to play.

To finish our trip in Liverpool we were all together to dinner at a local with music in the industrial area. It was a day to remember!

By Melania Pozo and Cristina Alarcón

FOOD IN ENGLAND

English cuisine encompasses the cooking styles, traditions and recipes associated with England. It has distinctive attributes of its own, but also shares much with wider British cuisine, partly through the importation of ingredients and ideas from North America, China, and India during the time of the British Empire and as a result of post-war immigration.

Traditional meals have ancient origins, such as bread and cheese, roasted and stewed meats, meat and game pies, boiled vegetables and broths, and freshwater and saltwater fish.

English cooking has been influenced by foreign ingredients and cooking styles since the Middle Ages. Curry was introduced from the Indian subcontinent and adapted to English tastes.

Traditional English dishes have had competition from other dishes over the years. England continues to absorb culinary ideas from all over the world. Roast beef, Fish and chips and Curry are currently the most popular dishes.

The first day, in London, we went to The Borough Market for having lunch.

There were a lot of stalls of food. I decided to buy a roast beef for my meal. It was prepared like a Mexican taco with lettuce and a sauce. There was also normal food and vegetarian and organic. One example of this vegetarian food was a peculiar dish. It was composed by noodles, lentil, rice, garbanzo, tomato sauce and species.

The second day we went to a bar in Liverpool. There were some food stalls there also. I decided to choose Curry nevertheless, I preferred it without hot sauce, because I don’t like the spicy food. It was delicious. For drinking, my decision was between beer and wine. I opted for drinking beer. There are many kinds of beer that there aren’t in Spain.

This was a typical breakfast that was eaten by us the last day of the trip…without cholesterol, very healthy.

And just to eat something different… it couldn’t miss the pizza!

To sum up all was very tasty and varied.

By Lorena and Núria