Marmolejo 18 May - 22 May 2015 - Asutrian Students
25.05.2015 22:42
Monday, 18 May 2015
On Monday, we, the 9 Viennese students and two teachers got up in the
morning to attend the High School of Marmolejo. !
The IES VIRGEN DE LA CABEZA is a big school with approximately 600
students.
We were guided through the school and saw a lot of different animals like
pigs, sheep or chickens, as it shares its venues with a vocational agricultural
school. This was really impressive and unusual to see. Some of us (e.g.
Emmi) realized that she had put the wrong shoes on for the guided tour
through the school, as the soil was red and thus later also her newly bough
shoes.
Afterwards we were asked to hold our presentation about Austria which we
had prepared in advance. So did the others and we learned a lot about their
traditions, food and history.
After that we attended Biology class and Arts. In Biology we watched a film
about the Lynx which is native to Andalusia, of course in Spanish, and
listened to an interesting presentation by some Spanish students in Spanish
and English.
In Arts we painted a school wall with the flags of Slovakia, Spain, France and
Austria, which was great fun.
Afterwards we played several typical Spanish games to release tension and
to get to know each other better.
After school we got home and experienced a real “siesta“ in Spain for the first
time. All the shops were closed and whole Marmolejo seemed to be asleep. !!
However, in the evening we had a Flamenco workshop where we learned
how to dance Flamenco. We had lots of fun, and some of us were pretty good
at the end of the workshop.
Martin Mickl, 6C
Tuesday, 19 May 2015
We met eeach other in front of the school building to go on a trip to Córdoba
and an hour later arrived at the Alcázar de los Reyes Católicos. At first we
visited the gardens and took a lot of selfies. The gardens were full of lemon
trees and beautiful flowers.
Later we climbed on the highest tower of the castle and enjoyed the
impressive view. A lot of pictures again
After having finished, we went to the old part of the city to see the Mezquita.
This building is famous for its oriental architecture. Further we visited the
Synagoge of Córdoba. It was small but the patterns were worth seeing.
After that we were allowed to walk around the city with our Spanish host
partners. First we enjoyed our lunch which our host families had prepared for
us. The “bocadillos“ were delicious! Later we decided to go shopping. Some
of us bought souvenirs (beautiful leather bags and wallets) and at the same
time we had the possibility to see some interesting parts of the city.
Ada Rusowicz, Mark Travica, 6B!
Wednesday, 20 May 2015
Staying at Blanca’s house
We woke up at 7 o’clock and we left the house before 8 o’clock. Then we met
up with some other students and we went to school together.
Our first task at school was to make a short presentation with the people from
our own country. We had to think about immigrants and their cultural
influences in our country. We decided to do some research about the Turkish
siege, the coffee they brought to Austria and the resulting Viennese coffee
house culture which has become an important part of Austrian culture and
tradition.
The next lesson was Maths. There were a lot of students who had prepared
some puzzle games and we had to play them and we could collect stones.
(I’m actually not sure if they were nuts or stones). Some of them were quite
tricky and challenging to solve. Nevertheless, fun at the same time!!
!Afterwards we had a long break and we could meet the other students and
have a second breakfast. (“segundo desayuno“). Spaniards eat a lot, but their
food is always tasty.
Then we went to the biology room, where the teachers told us how to make a
“Herbarium“, and we all got a book mark with a dried plant.
Then Blanca and I left in order to drive to Sevilla with her parents. Blanca’s
sister, Maria, had her birthday, so we ate together for lunch and a tasty cake. !
Afterwards we made a tour to see all the important monuments. First, we
visited the “Plaza de España“, which was very beautiful with the boats and
the fences. The next stops were the University of Sevilla and the “Torre del
Oro“ which means “Golden Tower“ in English. The last sight was the Giralda
Cathedral, which was very impressive because of its height. I’m very thankful
for the possibility of this great trip with my host family, and I loved spending
time with these friendly and open-minded people.
Emmanuela Gabara, 6B
Thursday, 21 May 2015
In the morning we had to get up at about seven o’clock. We ate a small
breakfast which consisted of „“Magdalenas“ and „“ColaCao“ and left our
home to go to the IES Virgen de la Cabaza where the bus was waiting for us. !!
After about two and a half hours we arrived in Granada where we first visited
the Alhambra palace and gardens filled with a variety of colorful flowers and
good-smelling lemon trees and wonderful fountains.
The palaces were built in Arabic style decorated with many different patterns
because of the Arabic rulership in the past. So, the palaces made a majestic
impression.
During the visit we listened to a few presentations which had been prepared
by the Spanish students. We learned a lot a both the cultural history of the
Alhambra.
Later we got two hours of free time which we used to visit the town’s shops
and, of course, to eat something, because we weren’t allowed to eat during
the whole Alhambra visit. We had packed lunch from our host families. As
tasty and much food as always.
When we returned to Marmolejo we (Spanish, French, Slovakian and Austrian
students) decided to go for a walk to the Marmolejo Balneario which is a
bathhouse outside the village. It had already been dark when we arrived back
home because the trip lasted until twelve o’clock and we then ate dinner with
our host family. Supper was really delicious and I tried the famous
“Salmorejo“ for the first time.
All in all, it was an exciting and eventful day which left a big impression on me
and the other students.
Jakob Kalchmayr, 6B
Friday, 22 May 2015
We had to get up very early that day, because we had to be at the bus which
picked us up from school at 7.30 o’clock. That day was the last day in
Marmolejo and I could notice that everybody was a bit sad that the time
together would end soon.
After more or less 40 minutes we arrived at the foot of a mountain. It was a
great hiking tour because we could speak with all the other students and
enjoy the view of the impassive landscape. We hoped to see the famous lynx
but the odds were not in our favour. We needed about four hours to arrive at
the top of the mountain.
There, we ate our lunch and after a short break we continued our walk to the
cathedral and the impressive monument of the “Virgin de la cabeza“ at the
mountain’s highest point. As we went inside the cathedral we saw many
people crying. Inside the cathedral there was a special atmosphere. They told
us that it was usual that they think about deceased family members or
friends. People also deposit wishes to the Virgin. Nearly everybody cried, me
too. After that very emotional moments we drove back to Marmolejo by bus. !
I had to pack my baggage because the last night I had to sleep in Juanma’s
house because Jesús and his family had to travel to the north of Spain to a
communion. However, it wasn’t a problem for me, because I knew Juanma
and we had already become good friends. Then we had our last meal with my
family. It was very emotional and we took a lot of pictures to remember each
other.
I think we will never forget each other and we are all very happy that we got
the chance to go to Marmolejo. Meet so many nice people. Learn so much
about culture and language as well as making friends with people all around
Europe.
Lukas Neidinger, 6B
