Basque Country mobility

Our Italian partners from Mattei in Caseta Italy arrived at Bilbao airport. The coordinator of the project welcomed them and all Elexalde students and parents were waiting for them . They lived with a Basque family so they got to know the Basque culture and they participated of all the activities orgnised for them and they also visited Bilbao and Gernika

Our Polish partners from Szkola Podstawowa in Warsaw Poland arrived at Bilbao airport. The headmistress of the school welcomed them and all Elexalde students and parents were waiting for them . They lived with a Basque family so they got in contact with the Basque culture and they took part in  all the activities orgnised for them and they also visited Bilbao and Gernika

Our German partners from Tesla Shule in Berlin Germany arrived at Bilbao airport. The Economics teacher of the high school welcomed them and all Elexalde students and parents werewaiting for them . They lived with Basque families so they earnt  about he Basque culture and they enjoyed  of all the activities orgnised for them and they also visited Bilbao and Gernika

All the Polish, German and Italian students were welcomed to the school and were honored with an aurrezku  danced by students of 4ESO .  After it we took a picture of the whole group  in the big mural of welcome to Elexalde which was created by he students of 1 BACHILLER. Then some students from 4 ESO who traveled to Berln and Warsaw guided them through the school.

Our students showed our partners  all the murals of the project. They also mentioned our three year years ago project DSYIM.  They also learnt about the activities we carried out related to the project 2022-1-ESO1-KA121-SCH-0-00059444 such as volunteering . Then an eco delegate explained to them how Elexalde deals with sustainability and the different actions done to improve the environment.

Some Basque students  said some words of welcome in all the languages of our partners. That is, in Polish, German and Italian. The coordinator of the project in Elexalde delivered an speech about the meaning of the word Erasmus and insisted on the imortance of keeping contacts and wished them an enjoyable staying in the Basque Country.

A Basque teacher from Elexalde school taught our partners some Basque songs so that they could understand the history of the Basque country and its language through these songs. Students also danced at the end . Before our visit to the mayor of Galdakao, students started a gymkana related to the topics worked in the project environment and democracy. They also saw a video of Gernika (see institutional video ) as they visited it.

All of us visited the mayor of Galdakao. We explained to him the project and the places the students were visiting. The mayor talked about the importance of the Basque culture and the language. He also mentioned the act of democracy done when Usansolo was voted to be separated from Galdakao. Some Polish students asked him wh what Galdakao did towards an eco friendly town.

Today was a day to visit the Basque Country countryside. The first stopped was Kortezubi. They walked around the marsh of the Biosphere of Urdaibai and although it was raining, they could observe its  landscape and its ecological and cultural value.  They stoppped here to have lunch and then they went to Gernika.

The Erasmus group visited Gernika. They started with a mosaic of titles  which despicts in puzzle from Picasso´s great work Gernika . The students learnt the importance of it as a political symbol  and an icon for peace.  We work the historical memory in our project so all students visited Gernika which  remembered us the fascist violence of that period of time.

In the afternoon the whole Erasmus group visited The Assembly House of Bizkaia, the most important  institutional organ of Bizkaia so students learnt how the Basque system of democracy works. They visited it inside and they finished their visit with  a picture in Gernika´s tree which  is the most  well known symbol for the Basques and they learnt that the investidure and the oath of the " lehendakari" are held there.

To finish their visit to Gernika, they continued exploring all the historical memory behind Gernika. They learnt about 26.4.1937 The bombing of Gernika and  they entered in an air-raid shelter built during the Civil War  when they heard  the sirens that warned the  people in Gernika  in that historical  horrible day to get to safety .  They also followed the explanations given by a guide on Astra weapons factory. 

The whole Erasmus group visited  Bilbao. They started with a tour around The Old Quarter of Bilbao . They learnt the story of this city  founded 700 years ago. They walked around the Seven Streets  Artecalle, Tendería, Belosticalle, Carnicería Vieja and Barrencalle. They also saw the Plaza Nueva and San Anton church the beginning of Bilbao.  Then they headed to The Arenal and The City Hall .

Then they continued through The Zuri Zuri bridge, learning the transformation of Bilbao through the river  and they finished  their visit in the Guggenheim museum. They took some pictuers from the outside and they also went inside. Our students and  partners  the Polish. German and Italian students and the teachers had lunch in the city .

Our school Elexalde organized a worksop to create acrostics on  democracy and  environment . All the Erasmus students  from all the different countries were organaized in multicultural groups to be creative and design them  Before starting the activity, students were given an explanation  about what an acrostic is and they saw the one done with the word Erasmus. 

Once the groups were organized the students started a braimstorming in order to find different definitions for the words given democracy and environment . The students produced very creative acrostics and learnt the importance of both words which they had been working during the project.  At the end of the workshop there was an exhibition and through students´votes, one was chosen.

During the preparation of Elexalde mobility the students of 3 ESO prepared a gymkana for our partners related to all the topics which were worked in the project;  the Erasmus plans, the recycling, democracy, the hitorical memory in Gernika, as they had already visited it.  They all participated in it and learnt a lot.

After the gymkana students enjoyed the different typical  Basque food cooked by our students´parents. It was also the last day for the Mattei High School so it was also a see you soon, as our next mobility was to Caserta Italy.  All the students danced typical Basque, Polish and German songs. 

All the Elexalde students participated in the celebration of the International Basque Day and the Polish and German students also took part in all the activities organised . They played traditional Basque sports and all of them with the rest of Elexalde students did a sokatira.

After practising these traditional sports , they danced typical Basque dances and also sang Basque songs.  It was a very good celebration and also an excellent way to understand the Basque culture ansd the importance of keeping them as part of a culture.

The end of Elexalde mobility. We said see you soon to all our partners, especially to Mattei school because in March 2024 we were going to visit them in their school and our students lived with their Italian families. It was a very fruitful and unique experience and  all the Polish, German , Basque and Italian students learnt a lot .