FINALLY ON THE MOVE!

After a long period without being able to participate in physical mobilities, we finally got on the move and visited the first partner school in our Erasmus+ project ONLINE. It was the first time for six Croatian students to experience such an exchange and what we all enjoyed most was to meet our peers from our partner countries. Here are the impressions of the students...

As part of the mobility “ONLINE” we got the opportunity to spend five days in a small town called Mezdra, Bulgaria in order to meet new people and cultures, as well as educate ourselves and each other about online safety. Each one of us was paired with a Bulgarian student so that we could spend dinner time at their place, try local dishes and get to know a typical Bulgarian family.

When we first got to Mezdra it was a little bit overwhelming as everyone was waiting for us in the hotel lobby because we were the last one to arrive, but as soon as we walked in our hotel room I knew that these five days were going to be awesome. We immediately went with our host to their place to have dinner and I had a great time. The next day each group from a different country got to introduce themselves, their school and the city that they came from. After the introductions we had a quick “field trip” and to be honest I wasn’t a hundred percent sure what we were looking at besides rocks, but the rocks were very nice. We had an opportunity to talk to other students a little bit more and in the evening it was time to go eat dinner with our host families once again. The next day our moods were a little disrupted because of the bad weather and the weather was probably the only thing that I didn’t like about this whole experience. That and the time when they made us climb hundreds of stairs while it was raining. However, the view was worth it, but it would probably be nicer on a sunny day. My favourite part of the mobility was presenting different cultures and traditions and the early disco night. It was really fun, but also sad because we knew we had to leave the next day, one day before everyone else. I didn’t expect much from Sofia, but the city really surprised me, in a good way. The scavenger hunt that we were supposed to play wasn’t the most fun experience because we didn’t get to participate as much as the Bulgarian students did, but our group won, so it’s fine. I had a great time these five days and I wish it had lasted a little bit longer so we could hang out with other students more, but hopefully I will get the chance to participate in other mobilities.

Ema Sarić

The "ONLINE" project allowed us to go to Mezdra, Bulgaria. We were there for five days with students from Italy, Portugal, Spain, Turkey and hosts from Bulgaria. Each of us was assigned to one of the Bulgarian students and we hung out and had dinner with them in our free time.

When we arrived in Mezdra we left our things at the hotel where we were greeted by our host families with whom we went to dinner to get to know each other. The next day we went to their school where each state presented itself, its city and school. After the presentation we went on a trip which was very nice and interesting. The next day we talked about online safety and I think we all learned something new and how to better protect ourselves online. Excursions were a better part of the trip because we could see how beautiful Bulgaria really is. We met other students with whom we quickly became friends. The fourth day we had an Early disco night where each state presented the culture of their state and after that we all danced together. We spent our last day in the capital city Sofia. There we split up into groups and played scavenger hunt. It wasn’t very interesting because we couldn’t participate as much as the Bulgarian students, but we still had fun. After the scavenger hunt we all said our goodbyes and we went home to Croatia.

These five days spent in Bulgaria were a very good experience and I had a very nice time. I hope we will be able to go on such mobility again very soon.

Lucija Milivojević

From the start of our little trip, I was not that excited because I didn’t know what to expect since this is the first time I’m participating in a project like this one. When we got there a lot of people were waiting for us and we started to introduce each other and we finally got to meet our hosts. Now that I already met some new people it became more interesting. Through these few days we actually had a better time than I expected, as you can see from my first sentence. Most interesting, and new part that I haven’t experienced yet is meeting my Bulgarian host family and staying in their home at dinner. It was fun communicating in a language mixture of Croatian, Bulgarian and English. Trips to different parts of Bulgaria were also very nice because we got to see beautiful nature creations. My favorite trip was one to Belogradchik rocks. The weather wasn’t great since it was rainy and foggy but the view we got after climbing up to hundreds of stairs was just amazing. The main part of this mobility was of course learning. I learned a lot about different cultures and traditions of countries our friends came from and of course, about internet safety. In fact, I won first place in a Kahoot quiz/game about internet safety the Turkish team has prepared for all of us. Last night we had an early disco party and we had an amazing time, and I think the teachers as well. We were dancing, singing, eating traditional food and having lots of fun all together. I wish this mobility was a little bit longer so we could get to know each other better and make stronger friendships but I guess we will have to wait until next mobility and hopefully, we will go and reunite with our friends we met in Bulgaria.

Ela Lončarević

I was participating in project named ONLINE. It was a project started by our english teacher. The project was in Mezdra, Bulgaria. The project was about safety on the internet. We were talking about how to be safe on net and what information to tell about ourselves on the social media and other platforms. So, the trip from Zagreb to Mezdra went well. After we came to the hotel, we left our suitcases and backpacks and went to our host’s houses. There i met Ivanina and, from the start, we got along so well. We were hanging out for about two hours and then i went back to the hotel. The next morning we went to school. It was really big building with a lot of classrooms. We had to present ourselves and our country in front of all five countries; including Bulgaria, Turkey, Portugal, Spain, and our teachers (Croatia). I liked presenting from all countries because every country had something different to present and it was interesting. After lunch our next plan was to visit Ritlite rock formations. It wasn’t that interesting as I expected. After visiting rock formations, we went to visit Cherepish Monastery in which we had to be quiet because it is a religious place. After visiting monastery, we visited Dyado Yotso monument. It’s a statue that represents Blugarian writer/poet. When we were back in Mezdra, we took some time to rest and then went to our host’s family houses. For dinner i had meat and vegetables. It tasted so good and after dinner i was full. But of course i had a muffin as dessert. After i got back to the hotel i went to sleep. The next day we went to school and had workshops about safety on the internet; we had quizzes and tasks to draw or write something. It was a lot of fun. I knew a lot of things before workshops but I also learned some new things. We went to visit Belogradchik rocks which are about one hour trip with bus from Mezdra. A movie we watched was interesting for me because i learned some history about Belogradchik rocks. As the other days, we were with our host’s families. I had so much fun hanging out with Ivanina and I’m glad i have a new friend now. The next day, we were in Vratsa. We had meeting in the Vratsa Software Community. It was kinda boring because he was talking about algorithms and i didn’t understand much of it. We had free time in Vratsa and I went to drink some coffee with my friends. After our free time, we visited Ledenika cave. For me, it was just like other caves I saw in Croatia, expect this cave had a small lake that was filled with clear water. We took some pictures there, as on the other trips, and then we went back to Mezdra. At evening, we had early disco night and we were presenting our countries dances and food. I ate well there and I barely could have danced but I still did. It was so nice and we all got closer as friends and hung out together. Next day was hard for me. It was hard because we were visiting Sofia and traveling back to Croatia. We had some tasks to do in Sofia, to get to know city through riddles and fun tasks. It was kind of fun because the tasks were in Bulgairan and I didn’t understand anything because it was hard for Bulgarian students to translate the tasks. After that we went to the big shopping center and I bought some new things, drank coffee and had my lunch. After that we went to the airport to get back to Croatia. It was again very nice trip and it wasn’t stressful at all, as it sometimes know to be. My whole opinion on project in Bulgaria is that i have learned something new and made new friends from around the world. It was so much fun working on project and visiting new things. I would like to repeat that experience again, but now, maybe in different country.

Anja Jakić

My school has been in many ERASMUS + projects, but for me it was the first time ever being in this kind of a project. My first experience in this project was amazing. On the first day when we arrived we met our hosts who were supposed to take us to have dinner every day at their house. At first, I didn’t know how will I get along with my host, but it turned out we were pretty similar and her family was so lovely and friendly. I felt like I was at my own home. The next day we went to school and had projects and presentations about us, our countries and schools. It was very exciting to learn about people and their cultures. We went to school for different projects almost every day, and then after that we would go to sightseeing. We visited some of the most beautiful sights in Bulgaria like Cherepish monastery, Belogradchik rocks, Ledenika cave and many more. I would have to say that my favorite sight was Ledenika cave, I love going to caves and I find them very beautiful and interesting so of course that was one of my favorite things. I also liked the Belogradchik rocks because we were climbing up to them and the view from there was just beautiful. On last day of our project, we had a party where we showed our culture, food and danced to traditional dances of each country. That was also one of my favorite things. I love this project because I saw some beautiful things in Bulgaria, learned about so many cultures but most importantly I met some of the nicest people ever. I hope that we all will meet again one day.

Viktoria Jelinić

I went to Bulgaria without excessive expectations. I liked Bulgaria because of the natural beauties and attractions we saw and I liked Sofia. The project was actually very interesting because we had workshops and the same amount of time we were on field trips and we had enough time to hang out with other mobility participants. My host family were great, very nice people. It took me a while to relax. The weather was not very beautiful for us, but we still saw everything we needed. Of all the things we saw, I liked Belogradchik rocks the most. The

place is simply magical as in some world of fairies and witches. I also really liked Sofia and I would like to visit Sofia again. I will remember this mobility as a very nice experience.

Arian Budimlija