Thursday, November 28, 2013

Comenius in Turkey (by Marta Espinosa)

This exchange has been an unforgettable experience. We've had a very good time in Turkey.
We went to a city away from Istanbul called Balikesir. We traveled by bus. We spent five days there with our partners.
My partner’s name is Hilal Begum. In Turkey, the people have two names and one surname. She’s 13 years old and her brother is 16. The first day they showed me their house and my bedroom. The house was very big, they had two living rooms, a kitchen, two bathrooms and 4 bedrooms. Before entering home, I had to take off my shoes. The floor was full of carpets and all was very clean.  
One of the hardest things about living with another family is the food and even more if they eat different food. I tried all the things that they gave to me.
The language was difficult too because the family spoke Turkish all the time and I didn’t understand anything. The only one who spoke a little of English was the girl and sometimes it was difficult to understand her. Despite these minor difficulties and differences, we did many fun activities. We went hiking to the mountain. It was a little bit tiring but then we had a reward. We did a barbecue near the river and we ate there. Another day we did a game of orientation. They gave us a map and we
had to follow the red points. We visited Balikesir too and the last day we stayed all the morning at school. The classes were like our classes and the subjects too. We had to explain things about Barcelona in front of all the class. I think all the girls liked us, they were always telling us how beautiful and nice we were. The farewell day was hard but we said that we would keep in touch.



My trip to Turkey (by Andrea Fernández)

The week in Turkey was an amazing experience . I liked the organization of the whole week . We kept on all day and that was fun. I 'm glad I had the opportunity to visit the country because it was beautiful.

When we arrived in Istanbul on the first day I thought it would be a normal city, but I was surprised by all the sights of the city. The mosques, towers, lighting, the bridge, the Grand Bazaar, the streets, the people, the restaurants... everything in the city seemed so nice I didn’t want to leave. The following day we visited Istanbul on our own (the Catalan Team). In the afternoon we went to the airport to look for the other partners, we boarded on the bus and began our way to Balikesir. When we stopped for dinner we were out of town, but as we were coming to Balikesir I started to feel the nerves in my body... nerves ended when the bus pulled up and I saw my partner, Elif Beyza, with her parents and sister smiling at me, that reassured me. I took the suitcase and the father drove us all the way home, when I saw the house I was astonished because it was very big. That night I went to sleep because we arrived very late and I was tired. The next day routine began: breakfasts, which prepared the mother, were very good; the father would drive us to school; there we met with teachers and other Comenius students; hiking, walking through the woods or in the mountains; every day we did something different. It was fun because it was a journey full of experiences. I learned a lot about the Muslim culture and traditions, I liked being able to get along with my partner because she spoke very good English and we could communicate without problems. She and her family treated me very well, looked after me very lovingly, and worried for me too. I'm glad to have a Turkish friend and we still talk, keep in touch and hope to continue doing so. Despite being two very different cultures, we understood each other and behave like good sisters. Thank you for everything!





Wednesday, November 27, 2013


Memories from Turkey
by Dawid Giersz

      I'd like to tell you something about my visit to Balikesir. At the beginning of our stay, a group from every country made a presentation about their homeland. After it, we had lunch. We tasted ayran. It’s a special Turkish drink, which is made in such a way as if someone put water and salt into yoghurt. Some people from other countries rather didn’t like it :). After lunch our hosts showed us the city. We walked through the beautiful Ataturk park to the museum.

      Next place we visited was the biggest mosque in the city. There were carpets everywhere on the floor and I observed small areas with stairs to climb up. In those areas were bookcases and men could go there to read. Later, we had a rest and drank Turkish tea in small glasses.

      In the end, we saw the train station in the city and went home with our Turkish 'siblings'. The house where I stayed was more European than traditional Turkish one. Before coming in everybody had to put their shoes next to the door. The family was very kind to me. I even played tennis with my Turkish friend. I’m extremely happy I went there. It was a great experience and it’s impossible to say everything by words.

Sunday, November 17, 2013

Slovak presentation

Catalan presentation

Bulgarian presentations






2nd meeting pictures (Turkey, October 2013)


Movement in protected areas


In protected areas, visitors - tourists  must respect  these instructions:
  • move only along marked trails
  • camp only in selected  areas
  • don´t  let the fire outside the marked spaces
  • don´t drive through forest roads by vehicles
  • don´t pollute rivers washing vehicles and garbage
  • don´t  harm the brand, information and orientation signs
  • don´t pick up plants or damage trees
  • don´t disturb animals or damage birds nest
  • don´t disturb other visitors and animals  by noise
  • don´t disturb wildlife by using  artificial lighting
  • don´t  harm cave spaces, and karst rock formations
  • night hikes must be communicated to the Mountain Rescue Service Station
  • climbing activities may be carried out at selected locations

National park: Rules for vistors

You must:
  • take your rubbish home;
  • camp only in tourist areas; 
  • keep on the trail; 
  • keep quiet. 

You must not: 
  • pick wild flowers; 
  • start a fire in the forest;
  • pollute the environment; 
  • pick berries. 


Wednesday, November 6, 2013

The Slovak slogans



SLOGANS FROM THE SLOVAK TEAM
  • Through hiking we know  the world best  (Lenka Letovancová)
  • Hiking joins our nations (Pavol Kriš)
  • We recognize our nations via  hiking (Andrej Krammer)
  • All different – all equal – hiking joins  us (Ivana Bednáriková)
  • Hiking makes our lives richer - join us to feel better (Kaja Fričová)
  • Hiking joins nations so  join us today (Niko Meršenko)
  • Hiking and trekking join nations so  join us today (Mário Habiňák)
  • Hiking prolongs our life. (Boris Jánoš)
  • Hiking is healthy, hiking is cool, so don´t be empty, try to be full. (Braňo Bihary)
  • Hiking is healthy, hiking is cool, join us with our "Comenius" schools (Monika Kubincová)
  • Hiking makes us happy (Romana Vajsochrová)
  • Hiking makes my life full (Paulína Verešová)
  • Hiking  +  Keep smiling ! (Laura Bezúchová)