Being a host by the Spainish students

 HISTORIC SCHOOL HOSTS ERASMUS+ MOBILITY FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER ON
THE TOPIC OF HERITAGE AND DIGITAL LEARNING

IES Vicente Espinel, Malaga (15 February 2022 - 18 February 2022)
HERITAGE AND DIGITAL LEARNING
BLOG POSTS BY SPANISH STUDENTS AND TEACHERS

Erasmus programme in IES Vicente Espinel, by teacher Ana López

My experience in the Erasmus programme this year in IES Vicente Espinel has shown me

how in just four days many amazing things were born.

The first thing that caught my attention was the connection between the students. The first

day that they met they were already working in teams, mingling and communicating in

different languages and laughing a lot. That is how the world should be, with no boundaries,

just people trying to communicate and have a good time with the experience.

The friendships that were forged in these few days will last forever because they have

discovered other cultures and other countries where they already have friends.

But not just the students had a great time, academically and personally talking, also the

teachers made connections, connections to broaden our professional abilities and to learn

from different perspectives. These connections are fundamental in our daily work because

we can collaborate in future mobilities, create IDUs together and share many materials.

In my particular case, this Project has encouraged me to do future mobilities with students in

different countries, to learn from others and to enjoy the diversity and richness of Europe.

My first Erasmus experience as a teacher, by teacher Laura Garví

Having the opportunity to participate in this Erasmus Project has been totally enriching. On

the first day, the visiting students and teachers learned about our school's rich heritage

thanks to a guided tour that the host students organized with love and care, what allowed us

to discover all the hidden spaces of Gaona's 18th century building.

I could also accompany them on the day-trip to Granada, which started with the visit to the

World Heritage monument of La Alhambra. We could travel back in time through its

architecture, gardens and patios, making this first part of the trip a unique experience for all

of us. Flamenco was also present thanks to the guided walk along the streets of

Sacromonte, a cave-studded neighborhood where all teachers and students could enjoy a

nice sunny afternoon learning about its history and traditions.

Finally, the icing of the cake came on Friday, when we could enjoy different performances

made by the Bulgarian and Spanish students. Sharing a last meal with the whole group

meant the perfect closure to a week full of activities, learning, and traveling that made this

experience really fulfilling.

Group photo at the Alhambra, just outside the Nazari Palace

Farewell event with our students holding the participation certificates

Historic school hosts Erasmus+ mobility for the first time ever, by Mr Cruz

It was a demanding but also rewarding experience to organize all the mobility activities

(activities in English related to our topic, cultural heritage, booking a program full of them and

worry over variety, accessibility and tickets), together with all the other things there were to

organize (asking hotels, offering several accommodation options; finding restaurants for sixty

people to have lunch; booking and paying for transport).

I want to focus on the team of teachers who helped, without whom the mobility could not

have taken place:

· Rafa Maldonado prepared a teacher training activity on Cultural Heritage, focusing on the

school heritage. Rafa was also training students with all the historic information of our school

for months before the mobility took place, and collaborated further on the creation and

printing of our banner.

· Together with Rafa, Laura Garví was also training students to do the guided tour of school

by translating and focusing on the language aspects; she took a lot of her own time to see

and advise students as they rehearsed the guided tour several times before the actual one

took place. She also participated in all of the Tuesday activities (guided tours, Cathedral) and

the day-trip on Thursday to the UNESCO World Heritage sites of the Alhambra and

Sacromonte.

· Iván Ruiz prepared a whole 2-session training event for students, where he explained

several different apps and software to create and edit the videos. He also helped design the

mobility banner and prepared a summary of his workshop which is available here:

https://view.genial.ly/62062dbf48b7690017018190/interactive-content-video-edition-worksho

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· Santiago Salazar prepared a treasure hunt with clues to find puzzle pieces which were

hidden all through the school; students had to find them and complete one of the three

puzzles with the aid of the school students. Santiago had even prepared several prizes for

the winners. He had the collaboration of Laura Garví and a team of 10th grade students who

guided the foreign guests.

· Julia del Pino is the headteacher and nothing of this would have been possible without her

- she is the first one who insisted that our school should participate in an Erasmus project.

She helped prepare the farewell dinner and also took her own time to invest in the project.

· Ana López prepared material for the Malaga mobility, helped organize activities, phoned

and emailed several hotels to get budgets and also devoted quite a lot of her own free time

to participate in activities - she came to the Botanic Garden and Wednesday afternoon

activities.

· Isabel Romero created and was the educator for the training on Beginner Spanish for our

foreign visitors, and helped with organizational duties like attendance lists. Quite a few more

colleagues have collaborated; Amaranta with the beautiful design of the certificates, as well

creating them; Carmen with the design of our accreditations, our concierges for printing

certificates and other materials, administrative and cleaning staff, as well as external staff

like the workers at Malaga City Hall or the supportive relatives

This project is also quite demanding for students, because on top of their duties towards all

the subjects they study, they are asked to contribute to it with leaflets, guided tours, videos,

podcasts, blog posts and other products focusing on the topic proposed. The team of

students was great, all of them contributing to the outcomes during the organization and

celebration of the mobility.

In all, many people made a huge effort for this mobility to take place, and I think it has been

worth it eventually.

Students led and explained a guided tour of IES Vicente Espinel.

We were welcomed at the City Hall of Malaga.

Mobility activities focused on cultural heritage and digital learning.

My Erasmus Experience, by Ernesto

I´m going to talk about a great experience.

It all started when our teacher Mister Cruz told us that he was organizing an Erasmus with

several high schools from different countries. This was last year. This year students came

from Portugal, Italy, Turkey and Croatia to learn more about heritage and digital learning. My

guest was Pedro Rodrigues, from Portugal. He had a great behavior from the first moment I

met him. His friends from his school, Fabio, Tomás, and José were also great people. The

first day I met them was Tuesday. Our ICT teacher explained to all the Erasmus students

that we had to make a video.

Then I was talking with several students from other countries, getting to know them and

talking about the things they like. Later we were in the avocado patio of our high school. We

were talking about us and getting to know each other better, until we went to have lunch at

the Mentidero. From there we went to have a guided tour to show the Erasmus students the

city center and then we went to the Cathedral of the Incarnation.

When we left the Cathedral, we left them in the hotel and then we showed them the

Malagueta beach. After this, Jose, Christian and I went to dinner with our guests. Then we

left him at the hotel and went home.

On the second day, students from other countries prepared powerpoints to teach things

about their countries.

Then we did a gymkana for the Erasmus students around the lower part of the high school.

My team finished second. Then we went on another guided tour of the Alcazaba, a great

monument in Malaga. Again, we went to lunch at the Mentidero. There were no more

activities that day. For reasons with my basketball team, I couldn't be with my guest and

some colleagues did me the favor of giving him dinner.

The next day we went very early to the Alhambra in Granada, one of the most beautiful

jewels of our land.The visit was good but we ended up very tired. Afterwards, some of us

from the high school went to dinner with our guests because since there were many of us,

we separated and some went to one place and others to another place. Friday was the last

day with them. We were making a video of the monument that each group had received.

Then we went to the Botanical Garden, a place with a great variety of plants. Then we went

back to Malaga and we walked with the Erasmus students.

The final event was at the institute where we showed the videos we made in the morning

and then some students danced and sang. There I said goodbye to Pedro and all the friends

I had made in this beautiful experience. I still miss it and would like to see them again one

day. This was my Erasmus experience.

By Sergio

My experience in this project was a great and funny experience. I made some friends from

other countries and know how different we are. In my opinion, this is a unique experience

that you can probably only do one time in your life, and if I was you, I would try it.

By Sol

Erasmus was an incredible experience. I learned different cultures and languages such as

Italian and Portuguese, and a few words of Croatian.This meant that cultural barriers did not

exist and we could communicate not only through words but also with gestures and feelings

in each shared moment.

I will never forget this experience that I had, and more to the people I was with, they were all

incredible and wonderful. I also gained more knowledge of different heritages that I did not

know, we visited the Cathedral, the Roman amphitheater, the Alcazaba; we also went to

Granada and visited The Alhambra and Sacromonte. And the last day we went to the

Botanic Garden. We were able to enjoy important places that Andalucia and Malaga have in

detail. Not to mention that our greatest fun point was the time on the beach enjoying

beautiful sunsets.

Apart from the guided visits to the different heritage, we also did projects in the school; We

divided into groups and each one had to make a video of some heritage and explain it.

In addition to that, each country made a presentation of the culture and heritage of their

country.

Receiving an unknown person in your house and within minutes you will be talking in

another language with your family and her as if she were part of it for a moment. Share and

tell about our traditions and ways, and then let her tell us how things are in her country and

the differences there are; It was wonderful.

In my case, I was hosting a Croatian, we didn't spend much time together, because we didn't

share many things in common, but I became good friends with all the Italians and the

Portuguese too, since with them I had more topics of conversation and more feelings. That's

why I would be very happy if I could go to one of those two countries and be with them

together because we made a very cute and fun group of friends.

Thank you very much for this great opportunity to meet new people and improve my English.

My Erasmus experience, by Gabriel

Hello, I am Gabriel and I am going to talk to you about my amazing erasmus experience. To

make it clear, I was the host of an Italian student whose name is Luca and was a wonderful

person, also like the other Italians (Valentina, Federica and Paolo). Well, my experience

hosting Luca was amazing, I made a good relationship with him, he is a very nice person, so

it was easy. I only gave him dinner but I wanted to make the most of it, so we hung out all

day with the entire group. We were all the Italians and all of their Spanish hosts. For the

Erasmus project we gave to each other a gift from our countries to remember the

experience.

In these days:

We did a guided tour to the guests, we visited monuments like the Alcazaba, the Gibralfaro

castle, or the Alhambra (which was the best). Between those activities, to recharge energy

and keep going, we ate in a restaurant, El Mentidero. In our free time, at least my group,

went hanging out all day every time we could, even we went to the beach twice.

It was a very cool experience, and I would repeat it without doubt. It saved me from my gray

life at least for a few days.

My unexpected experience of Erasmus, by Rurika

Erasmus project... this was something I had heard about since 2019, but the pandemic

happened so I thought this project would never happen.

So, I never felt this project is something real until I saw my guest and other students arriving.

I hosted a Croatian girl, called Lara. She was friendly and sweet, and I'm glad this project

came true, or else I wouldn't have met her. I've spent some time with Tea, another Croatian

girl. She was mature and joyful.

One day, all the students went to the beach, and meanwhile, Lara and Tea were listening to

Croatian music, that song, now it's one of my favorite songs!

I also got to know other students, such as Fabio, Valentina, Paolo...etc.

They're so funny and charming, and when it was time to leave, it was a hard time saying

goodbye to them. But I'm definitely going to try my best to visit them on some vacation!!!

I'm attaching a few pictures from that week!

Thank you,

Rurika

Blog about our week in Erasmus ❤️

Written by: Natalia and Sachenka <3

Erasmus is an exchange project where students from other European Union

countries travel to certain cities to get to know their culture and learn about

their heritage. Last week students from Portugal, Croatia, Bulgaria, Turkey

and Italy were visiting us.

On Tuesday: it was the welcome of the students, theygot to know the

institute and the cathedral of Málaga - La Manquita and finally we took a

walk through the center.

On Wednesday: our colleagues (Sergio, Sol, Matías and Gabriel) made a small

presentation about Malaga. The guests also made presentations. Then they

gave us a tour of the Alcabaza and the Roman theater.

On Thursday: We travelled to Granada, we visited the Alhambra and the

Sacromonte caves. Some of us walked through the center of Granada. We

climbed some stairs that had no end, but the experience was fun.

On Friday: they gave us a tour of the botanical garden,the students visited

the viewpoint and we took a group photo. Finally, the farewell, we were

given diplomas and some students performed, we ate and everyone went

home/ hotel.

Erasmus project - my experience, by Luis

Hi! My name is Luis and I was a Spanish host of the Turkish team in Malaga!

Last week was an incredible, exciting one. I met a lot of new people with different

personalities and cultures. That was very enriching for me because sometimes I can get

bored with my social environment, so I needed a change of scenery. Nevertheless, it wasn’t

easy for me when the experience was going to start.

On Monday, when I was at school, our teacher told us that the Turkish had arrived at the

hotel and they were waiting for us, so we left the school and we visited them. I was really,

really nervous, but finally they were very kind and warm. Then after this first meeting,

everything went very well! I could say many amazing things about my experience, but I

would be talking for hours! So to sum up, we visited beautiful places with a lot of history, we

laughed so much and we learnt a lot. Most of the international teams were very nice and we

felt very comfortable during the whole trip.

Finally, I have to say that I’m very thankful for having the opportunity to live this incredible

experience that made me feel a better person with more knowledge and memories to share

and carry for my whole life!

How I got to experience so many cultures in a single place, by Denisa

Hosting people from other countries was an amazing experience. I've got to talk to so many

people, learn so much from them and actually form some friendships that I bet will last for a

long time. The diversity of the people I spend time with made me realize how different and

how similar at the same time we all are. They all had different views on the world and

different goals from us the Spanish students. They made me want to visit their home

countries too!

The activities we did together in our school and on the trips we're very fun and tiring, but in

those we all got to spend time together, learn, see new things, sing and dance traditional

songs and dances.

We got to learn computer skills, how to do a presentation, how to animate it, how to piece it

up together and how to make a video. We've learned about Spanish history and customs

that even I, that I've been living here for so long, didn't know about.

In summary, it was A GREAT EXPERIENCE, I've learned so much about not only Spain but

also about the countries where my new friends come from. Learned computer skills. Got to

practice my English and saw so many things and met so many people, most importantly

made so many friends in such little time. I personally had so much fun!

My Experience, by Mauricio

I loved my Erasmus experience as it was something new for me and I also met a lot of nice

people from different countries. My guest was a kind and interesting person, we went to

many places in Malaga, Spain with them. It was a lot of fun, we laughed a lot and the time

with the foreigners was amazing. I hope to repeat an Erasmus+ project again as you

definitely learn a lot from everyone, cultures, customs, etc.

My Erasmus experience , by Jose

My experience in Erasmus was incredible, I met new people, I made good friends, I had new

and good experiences...

DAY 1

The week started at our highschool on Tuesday, there I met all the guests. They were good

people and very nice, but the best guest was mine: Fabio.

He is very nice, kind and a good person. We started to make a video about "La Alcazaba",

then we went to eat at "the mentidero". After this, we went to do a tour of Malaga and visited

the Cathedral of Malaga.

We end the day taking a walk on the beach and having dinner with our guests.

DAY 2

The next day, On Wednesday, we went to visit the Alcazaba of Malaga and the Roman

theater. We had to take photos of the Alcazaba to put in the video.

Then we went to eat at the Mentidero. After eating, we went to the beach, but I couldn't go

because I had football training.

After training, I met with Fabio and we went to eat at my house.

DAY 3

Thursday started very early, the bus was waiting for us at a quarter to 8 to go to Granada.

In Granada we visited the Alhambra, a very beautiful and historic place, then we ate in

Albaicin at "Puerta de los Tristes" and we went up to Sacromonte, it was a bit tiring but it was

worth it.

To end the day we had dinner at a burger joint near our highschool with other classmates.

DAY 4

On Friday, we finished the video of the Alcazaba, then we went to the botanical garden of

Malaga, there are many plants never seen before and a spectacular viewpoint.

We ate sandwiches there.

When we got back, we took a walk around the center of Malaga to kill time because at 5 we

had to be at highschool to watch the videos. After watching the videos, we had a party at the

highschool with food and music, we had a

great time, they also gave us the erasmus diplomas.

DAY 5

On Saturday, we all said goodbye, it was a beautiful moment but hard at the same time, I will

miss you.

To conclude, it is a unique experience, which I highly recommend, I have had a great time

and I have loved meeting these wonderful people.

Erasmus+, by Isa

Hi, I'm Isabel and I'm going to tell you about my experience of the week we were doing

activities and trips with the other Erasmus classmates. Students from Bulgaria, Turkey,

Croatia, Portugal and Italy came to Malaga.

Tuesday, February 15 was the day that we saw them for the first time when they arrived at

the institute and had a Spanish class to learn the basics, then we made a visit to the institute

so that they could learn about the history. They brought us churros for breakfast and then we

were starting a video that we had to deliver on the last day of Erasmus, then we went to eat

at a restaurant where we ate typical food from Malaga. When we finished eating we went on

a guide through the center of Malaga and then through the cathedral. We finished and went

to rest, then we all went to the beach to spend the rest of the afternoon.

On Wednesday, February 16, they returned to the institute, we continued making the video

and then they toured the institute looking for a series of pieces to make a puzzle in groups to

see who is the winner. Then we went to the Alcazaba, they made us a guide telling us all the

history and we went to eat at the same restaurant that on Tuesday we also ate typical food.

The teachers wanted to go up to Gibralfaro but the students all wanted to go to the beach so

we all decided to go and spend the afternoon there again. People bathed, we played

volleyball, we put on music and then each one went with their guest to dinner and the hotel.

On Thursday, February 17, we had to wake up much earlier because at 7:45 we had to

be in Plaza de la Merced to catch a bus to Granada, it took us about two hours to get

there and after a while we entered the Alhambra where we also They guided us through

the entire Alhambra and then we went down to eat, the food was quite good, after

eating we went to Sacromonte but the people who finished before eating could go for a

walk in Granada, at 4 o'clock the other guides arrived and we started to go up to

Sacromonte until we got to some caves there were 12 and we saw all of them, each one

had different things. When it was time to get back on the bus we went down

Sacromonte and had to go up to the top of the Alhambra where we took the bus, then

spent another two hours on the way to Malaga and when we arrived we went to dinner.

On Friday, February 18, we were finishing our videos and handing them in. They took

us to the botanical garden where we ate a sandwich and when we finished it was time

to go home and then return to the institute to see the finished videos. At 7 in the

afternoon we went back to school again to have a party because it was the last day and

the best I think, we were eating and watching performances and they gave us a

diploma. When it was over we went to the beach to spend some time at night and there

I finished that great week a little tired but I would repeat it many more times if I could.

By Barbara

Erasmus was the best thing that has happened to me in recent times. I was able to improve my

English while I was having fun. The last week of Erasmus gave me incredible people, friendships.

Everything that happened is inexplicable.

The people from the exchange and I were able to visit many important places, historical

monuments and we were able to learn a lot and never stop enjoying.

My host, Valentina, is a sweetheart. We hit it off and I was the luckiest person in my whole high

school. From the day I met her I knew I had a friend for life. My parents really liked her and were

delighted to host her.

I wish this Erasmus had lasted longer because 1 week was very short for us. In such a short time,

many things have happened. I lived that week like a little girl.