The trip to Hungary

Here I am again on a trip to Hungary for the second P&R meeting in Budapest from 06.03 to 09. 03. 2014. Mrs Stanka Dimitrova, the deputy head teacher, and Mrs Kalayddzhieva, our coordinator, are accompanying me. The flight to Budapest was short and pleasant.

The Three Corners Hotel Art turned out to be a wonderful location for exploring the beauty of Budapest. All Mascots except for the Turkish and the British ones were here and enjoyed meeting again and sharing what we have gone through during the First Semester.

Our Hungarian hosts took us all to Vajda Peter School, where they had prepared rather active and challenging sports games for the teachers, which helped them make very good teams. Unfortunately, my companions were too old to take part, but the games needed audience to watch and cheer, after all.

After the games the guests were treated with a Typical Hungarian dinner, cooked by the male teachers at the school. Believe me or not, but that was really delicious. I could notice that there is a lot in common between Bulgarian and Hungarian cuisine.

The next morning we were officially welcomed at the school. The impressive old building was once designed to be a school for boys and girls in two separate sections. The Vajda Peter students had prepared a short performance all in our honour. We were delighted to hear the talented boys and girls play the pipes and sing wonderful Hungarian folk songs.

Then we visited classes. My teachers chose to see Garth, the UK coordinator, teach English and a lesson of Hungarian language. I could notice that there were only fifteen pupils in class, much fewer than in our school, and discipline was good both during classes and breaks. During the Hungarian lesson there were two assistant teachers to help children with difficulties.

Sports at Vajda Peter School is a priority. We could see the wonderful handball playground, very conveniently situated next to the school and covered with a tent so that it can be used all the year round.

In the afternoon we , the Mascots had fee time, while the teachers  shared the presentations on the First Semester activities and the ten-minute films about the Partner schools.

Saturday, the 8^th of March, was a beautiful day. Our hosts took us on a trip to Skanzen, an open-air museum in the vicinity of Budapest. The sun and the nice company made the visit a wonderful experience of the 18^th and 19^th century life in a traditional Hungarian village. Of course, I was most impressed by the old Hungarian breeds of sheep and cattle.

The afternoon was busy for the teachers. They had to plan the activities for the next Semester and I hope there will be plenty of exciting things to do together.

Sunday was the day of departure. We all said goodbye and promised to meet again in Italy and the Czech Republic. 

Travel to Spain

Hello! I’m Lavcho – the mascot of Hristo Yassenov Secondary school for the Comenius project. This time we’ll travel to Spain. I’m accompanied by Mrs. Emiliya Tsvetkova and Mr. Ventsislav Valov. They are a little bit boring, but never mind.

So flew we over fields and over hills to distant lands. We passed over seven seas but I saw nothing as I kept my eyes closed because of the high turbulence. The plane crew met and saw us off with smiles.

We arrived at Madrid’s airport. While awaiting for the bus connection we read some press. Then we took the highway to Zaragoza. I myself tried a bit driving the bus. We arrived at dawn. We were accommodated  at Don Diego de Velazquez hotel – you know, named after the famous artist. The obliging hosts led us to the centre of the city with a population of 700 thousand people. We visited Plaza

Hispania, the Assembly of Aragon, the magnificent Nuestra Senora del Pilar baroque basilica (which was built for 100 years some three centuries ago), the City hall, the monument of the Earth and Water, erected for the World exhibition in 2008, the monument to the great artist Francisco Goya, the archbishop’s cathedral, the old market, the narrow streets in the historical centre, the Roman arch, river Ebro and so on.

In the morning we set off for the suburbs where Colegio Antonio Machado is

situated. It’s a private school, founded 30 years ago. Some twenty teachers teach more than 300 pupils aged 3 to 19. The classrooms are smaller than in Etropole, but they have fewer students in a class, too. The rooms are gaily-coloured, full of school equipment, books and materials. We were told that the funding is provided by the government. Parents pay for the transport to the outskirts, lunch (lessons start at 9 a.m. and finish at 5 in the afternoon) and – oh, God! – for the English language teaching. They study it every day from the age of 3, besides they do a second foreign language. And because they pay, parents take an active part in education.

Children get homework for the weekend: to describe their adventures with the lion cub named Sierzo and the Suso manikin. Mum and Dad help them: keep a diary, stick photos and illustrations, describe what they have done together.

They took us around the school – the three of us the Bulgarians and the two charming ladies from Budapest. We saw the well equipped language and computer labs, the studies for chemistry, biology, music, home economics, etc. There was a student punished in the corridor. I spotted stickers “No use of mobile phones”. The same as in our school right?

They were working hard in the classrooms. Students and teachers were preparing the 22-nd annual Culture week. This year it was dedicated to the 16 regions of Spain. Every class was to represent a different province with its landmarks, architecture, traditional costumes, crafts, cuisine, celebrities. They played various games in order to learn and present the province better. The school was decorated wonderfully by the pupils. There were castles, palaces, cathedrals, windmills, caves with dinosaurs, what else. The flags of the regions and students’ drawings were hanging on the walls. Elder children helped younger. We could attend a drama performance of Don Quixote de la Mancha with a real knight and his armour-bearer Sancho Panza, Dulcinea and other characters of the book.

On Friday at the school pitch the real feast began. It was a fairy-scene, a real delight for one’s eyes. There was everything – roman soldiers, kings and queens, medieval princes and princesses, fairies and witches, dinosaurs and monsters, spotted cows and sheep, grape clusters, fruits and vegetables, drummers, great artists like Salvador Dali and their paintings, singers and musicians, sportsmen and, of course, the tourist  industry: every year Spain is visited by over 40 million tourists. Naturally, the most impressive and varied was the group representing Aragon. The gorgeous performance lasted for several hours. It ended with a splendid flamenco in which parents and grandparents danced. And I took a photo of a real cardinal. At least they say so – he knows to read in Latin.

In the end we said goodbye to our hosts. We all were sad, but promised to meet again in some of the 10 countries participating in the project.

 On Saturday we were again at the enormous airport of Madrid. We took a picture for “So long”, the metro transported us from one terminal to the other one and we were again on board the plane of Bulgaria Air. We saw Barcelona from above – 11 thousand metres, I slept above the sea, and: “Hello, Sofia!” – “Welcome to Etropole”.

I’m looking forward to the next trip. Come with me!