MOBILITY, November 2017
Programme in Pamplona-Iruña
November – programme in English
Monday, 6th of November 2017
Our trip began at Sunday night at 22.00 from our school. We went by bus to Helsinki-Vantaa Airport and our flight left at 6.05 to Munich Airport. From there we took a connection flight to Bilbao, Spain. We arrived to Bilbao at 11.20 where the Spanish students were waiting for us.
After our first meeting, we went to Bilbao city together and visited Ellacuria Centre. Two immigrants told us their immigration stories and we were told about the Centers activities and what they did there. Together with the Spanish students we discussed about immigration.
[MORE PICTURES AT ELLACURIA CENTRE]
After our visit in Ellacuria Centre we explored the beautiful city of Bilbao and went to some shops and kafeterias. Then we walked along the Nervion river to the Guggenheim Museum and watched the artworks outside the museum. Here is a group picture with Maman, the spider statue:
In the evening as the sun began to set, we took a bus ride to Pamplona/Navarra. There we met our host-families and were taken to our host-homes to eat and sleep.
– Sonja, Marjaana, Veera
Tuesday, 7th of November 2017
We woke up at 7 am and the day started at 8:15 at the school. At first we saw a dance show and after that we saw a video of the Eunate school where we were.
Then we did Let Me Know about Yourself activity. With our spanish partners we interviewed each others, asked about our family, education, likes and dislikes.
After that, at 10.00, Marta (teacher) introduced and told us about Gernika bombing. We watched a powerpoint-show and we interpreted Gernika (art work).
From school, we walked to Pamplonas center where we visited Pamplonas town hall. Beautiful historical building. We had a great professional guide with us, he showed us the town hall and told us lots of interesting facts about buildings history. We also took a group picture there which was for the newspaper.
After that we continued our day our day by sightseeing tour in Pamplona. Tour was guided by our Spanish friends. We went on foot and we saw lots of pretty narrow streets, some chickens and a beautiful mountain landscape.
On Tuesday afternoon we went to Spanish restaurant. There was so hard to make order because the menu it was in Spanish. No one knows what really ordered but everyone still likes food!
After eating we went to back to school. There was a man from Greece and he told about her volunteer work and it was so impressive. He spoke good English, so it was easy to understand the presentation. After that we went to take coffees and get to know better to each other. We had a really nice day!
Wednesday, 8th of November 2017 (Gernika and Gaztelugatxe)
On Wednesday we left from the school at 8 o’clock to drive towards Gernika which is an important Basque town near coast. It was raining when we arrived at Gernika and we went straight inside. The first place where we went was the assembly house of Gernika which is an important place for Basque people because they have been met there since Middle Ages. There we first saw a video about the house and then we had time to roam freely around the assembly house. There was a beautiful glass window and many other historical objects in one room. The assembly room itself was great and it is still used for General Assembly.
In front of the main entrance is an Oaktree which is the best-known symbol of the Basque people. People have held meetings and many ceremonies under the tree for centuries so that’s why it is important for Basque people. The oldest tree which has reached our times has planted around 1700, although there is evidence of even older ones. Nowadays its trunk is in the garden surrounded by columns.
After the assembly house we went to the museum where we learned about Gernika’s bombing. One of the best things in museum were the simulator where we heard a story telling about bombing. It was a little bit scary, but very interesting too. We walked around in the museum and for example saw various versions of Pablo Picasso’s Guernica painting.
We had some free time after the museum and we went to see Gernika. Some of us went shopping, some went to the café. The weather was rainy, but it was really nice to see Gernika.
We went to an islet named Gaztelugatxe where has been filmed scenes of Game of Thrones. Views were amazing, and waves looked very good because of the wind. The way on top of the island was difficult, because it was raining earlier that day and the road was muddy, but it was worth it. The views were so beautiful and breath taking that words cannot explain.
There also were a small church on top and it was pretty outside. It would have been nice to get inside, but we could not get in there.
The way back to the bus was rough and we were so grateful when we got back up. There is not any words which could explain how much we enjoyed that trip to Gatzelugatxe.
Thursday, 9th of November
In the morning we went by bus more than one hour to the place called Villa Javier. The place was very pretty. Villa Javier’s boss told us about the system and how does the company work. The boss told how the company would not be without other company’s help and volunteers. The company gives food to people that don’t have much money. The people who come to the place they can eat and spend time in there, they can also take Spanish lessons there.
In Villa Javier the food is not cooked there it’s just warm up. They get foods, freezers and fridges from company’s for free. The families get points and with the points they can buy food from the Villa Javier’s supermarket. For example, the milk is a 1 point. The place was really nice and it was interesting to hear about the company also the workers seemed very sweet and nice.
After the visit to Villa Javier we went to the Bardenas Reales, what is a Natural park and there we walked and watched all of those beautiful sights. There were amazing orange and light yellow colored mountains, also the beautiful blue sky and there flying birds. Sometimes it was a little bit hard to walk, because the rocks were really slippery, but we made it and after couple of kilometers we stopped to eat. While we were eating there was a Nato’s flying practice and it was interesting to look at that.
When we were done with our break, we continued walking and this time the road was decent, but we had to walk a long way back to the bus. When we got into the bus we went to take some pictures of our group. The bus ride back took about two hours back to school. The total amount of walking was about 8 kilometers.
After that we went back to home to eat something and then we left to back to school. And then we walked two kilometers to meet young people. We went to some place where young meet each other and play games. We played games together to get to know each other. That was amazing to play different games than in Finland. We were so tired because we were walking all day, but this wasn´t a problem to us.
When the games came to an end, we went to center of the Pamplona. We ate typical Spanish food and get to know each other better. The evening was perfect and we all enjoyed every second in there.
Friday, 10th of November
We had to be at school 8.15 o’clock and we were going to have some presentations there. The subjects of Finnish students’ propositions were for example social integration and social integration plan, associations and organizations working in immigration in Joensuu and statistics about immigration in Joensuu area. The Spanish students gave talks about Basque culture, the Spanish school system and the history of Basque country.
After that we had a Basque language lesson where we learnt some simple set phrases, words and the lyrics of a children’s song which is called Maite zaitut.
On friday day a few of the spanish students teached us different basque dances. We had so much fun! On first dance we had kind of pair dancing and after a few dances we continued as being on a circle at the end.
Later we learned to play some traditional basque games. Some other students at school and a pe teacher were with us.
First one was a team game, where we made two teams and we compete against each other.
We also had a tug of war competition and we tried to saw a large wood in pairs. At the end we played volleyball.
After playing all those fun games, we left the school and headed to one of the shopping centres in Pamplona. We went there by bus, which took about half an hour. At the shopping centre we spent a couple of hours, wandering around and of course shopping.
In the evening we had a nice early dinner with all the students, parents and teachers at the school. The food was very delicious and the atmosphere relaxed.
After the dinner we went to the city centre. There we just hung out and had fun, since it was the last evening of our amazing week in Pamplona.
By: Siiri, Ulrika and Elisa
Erasmus blog 