PORTUGAL

During the previous months of our second mobility, the teachers and students at Vila de Cuba (Portugal) have been working very hard in order to prepare the second mobility, which will be the first mobility with students.

The students have met in the platform eTwinning and they have been working with topics related to our project: Character matters, values and virtues.

The students have been working with the words GRATITUDE and COMPASSION and they met in Portugal to know each other in person and continue working on this words related to our project Character matters: Values and Virtues.

This is the schedule of the week in Portugal that our collegues prepared:

Schedule for the Erasmus

Short-term exchanges of groups of pupils

28.04.2019 – 04.05.2019

CUBA, PORTUGAL

DATE	TIME	ACTIVITIES
SUNDAY 28-04	19:30	Arrival at Cuba all delegations
SUNDAY 28-04	20:30	Dinner at Lucas Restaurant
Monday 29-04	08:45	Meeting point at school: Welcoming all partners
	9:00	Presentation of the partner institutions, by students at school
	10:00	Coffee break
	10:30	Presentation of the book “26 Pictures, 26 looks - Water, Source of Life, at the Public Library of Cuba
	13:00	Lunch at Gil restaurant - Cuba
	13:00	Lunch at school canteen EBI Fialho de Almeida – Cuba Lunch at families
	14:30	Workshop1:*“Learn about Compassion”*, by Pedro Deodato and Maria Fresco Students and teachers
	14:30	Coordinators meeting
	15:30	Presentation of the results – Workshop 1
	16:30	Cuba Town Hall – Reception with the Mayor of Cuba Coordinators and Teachers
	16:30	Students: will go to the host families
	19:30	Dinner at Adega Da Lua
Tuesday 30-04	8:45	Meeting point at school
	9:00	Workshop 2 : *“Gratitude ...what is this”,* by Pedro Deodato and Maria Fresco Students and teachers
	11:00	Coffee break
	11:30	Presentation of the results – Workshop 2
	13:00	Lunch at Arrufa restaurant - Cuba
	13:00	Lunch at school canteen EBI Fialho de Almeida – Cuba Lunch at families
	14:15	Workshop 3 : *“Drawing and painting with passion”*, by Samuel Patrocinio and Miguel Azevedo Students and teachers
	15:45	Presentation of the results – Workshop 3
	16:30	Students: will go to the host families
	19:30	Dinner at Julião restaurant
Wednesday 01-05	8:45	Meeting point at school
	9:00	Trip to Évora
	10:15	Sightseeing tour around the old town of Évora /city center – *“Finding pure emotions with the new technologies - using mobile phone”*
	12:00	Trip to Monsaraz
	13:00	Lunch at “Forno Restaurant”
	13:00	Students: Picnic – prepared by the host school
	14:00	Sightseeing tour around the old town of Monsaraz - *“Finding pure emotions with the new technologies - using mobile phone”*
	15:15	Departure to Cuba
	16:30	Students: will go to the host families
	19:30	Dinner at Chave de Ouro restaurant
Thursday 02-05	8:45	Meeting point at school
	9:00	Trip to Mértola
	10:30	Meeting at the institution “Núcleo de voluntariado de Mértola”, by Fernanda Romba
	11:30	Sightseeing tour at Mértola,…. Castle and museums
	12:30	Lunch
	12:30	Students: Picnic – prepared by the host school
	14:00	*“Talking about gratitude and compassion in an informal way”*, on the banks of the Guadiana River –teachers and students – Sharing emotions
	15:00	Departure to Beja/Cuba
	16:30	Students: will go to the host families
	19:30	Dinner at Casa Monte Pedral restaurant
Friday 03-05	8:45	Meeting point at school
	9:00	Workshop 4: *“One minute to express yourself”*, by Miguel Azevedo, Ricardo Lourenço and Samuel Patrocinio ….Multimedia and audiovisual topic Students and teachers
	11:30	Presentation of the results – Workshop 4
	13:00	Students hosted at Beja, Ferreira and Serpa: Lunch at school canteen EBI Fialho de Almeida – Cuba Students Hosted at Cuba: Lunch at families
	13:00	Lunch at Lula Restaurant
	14:15	Guided Tour: Colon Square and museum, Mother Church of Cuba;
	16:30	Students: will go to the host families
	19:30	Farewell Party at school (sharing dinner) and Delivering of the certificates of attendance, with the Municipality; headmasters of school, Host families, students and teachers
Saturday 04-05		Departures

Description of the activities in Cuba, Portugal

Monday 29th May:

All the participants arrived on Sunday 28 from their long journeys. After meeting the families and the teachers we all went home to rest after such a long trip. Some of the students had some time to spend at Lisbon, where they took a touristic bus and enjoyed a 90 minute tour through the most interesting sightseeing spots.

On Monday 29 we arrived at school and we met all the teachers and participating students. The school was very nice decorated and the students were eager to get to know each other.

This is a picture of the teachers from Iceland, Germany, Spain and Portugal:

All the students met inside the school and they presented themselves. The class where the meeting took place was decorated with words and images related to the project:

As soon as the presentations took place, the students were asked to sit in groups and they started the 1st workshop: LEARN ABOUT COMPASSION, related to one of the words that we chose to work with.

Here are some pictures of the students workings in class:

After the workshop we went to the public library of the village Vila de Cuba to attend the Presentation of the book “26 Pictures, 26 looks - Water, Source of Life, in the presence of some public authorities such as the mayor.

This book is a compilation of 26 pictures that the students of Escola Profissional de Cuba took for their project at school related to the importance of water. The book contains quotes of important politicians and the presentation was a big event for the whole town.

Some of the students sang the typical songs of the region of Alentejo, where the village Vila de Cuba is located, and which are called Cante Alentejano:

The presenters of the event were the students themselves and there were also some artits that performed incredible pieces of music with the violin and the piano.

After the big event, the students and teachers went to have lunch and they met again in the afternoon to talk about the results of the first workshop.

In the meantime the coordinating teachers went to the town hall to meet the mayor, who expressed his gratitude to the teachers and school for organising such projects and bringing foreign students to the village. He also gave the teachers some gifts typical from the region and he received some gifts from us too:

After such amount of activities the students and teachers finally went home to rest a bit and prepare themselves for the following day.

Tuesday 30th May:

On Tuesday we met at 8:45 at school in order to start our second workshop “Gratitude ...what is this” .

The students were gathered at the same class as Monday and they were asked to work with the second word that we chose for our project: GRATITUDE.

They formed mixed groups with all the nationalities and they tried to define the meaning of Gratitude.

They had to fill up a jar with messages saying what are they grateful for and then they exchanged the jars with the rest of students.

Then they built a big heart made of stones in the playground. Each stone had a word related to values and virtues. While they were doing this activity a student filmed the moment with a drone and later on he showed the video to us. It was a very moving moment:

The students from Spain also presented a video that they had prepared at their school to the rest of the participating countries saying what are they grateful for and afterwards they went to have a typical lunch.

In the afternoon the students started their third workshop called "Drawing and Painting with passion".

In this activity they had to draw what Gratitute respresent for them and these are some pictures of the process:

Expressing GRATITUDE through Art

After the activity they presented their results in front of the rest of the students and teachers and finally they could go to have some refreshments all together (the temperature during these days was up to 29 degrees).

Wednesday 1st May:

On Wednesday 1st we had a cultural visit to Evora, one of the best tourist destinations of Alentejo, the region where our host school is located. We visited some of the fascinating historical monuments and ancient walls and we were able to walk along its beatiful streets full of tourists and students who attend one of the world´s oldest universities.

This city, which dates from the Roman era, was chosen by the kings of Portugal in the 15th century to serve as their residence, a fact that contributed to its development and cultural importance in the following centuries. It was due to Evora´s long history and its urban centre, typical of the 16th to 18th centuries, that has been preserved to our days that has lead UNESCO to classify the city as a World Heritage site.

Praça do Giraldo

Diana Roman Temple

Sé Catedral de Evora

Igreja de São Francisco- Capela dos Ossos

In the afternoon we continued our cultural trip towards Monsaraz, and from the bus we could enjoy the views of Alqueva dam, the largest artificial lake in Europe, a vast mass of water reaching as far as the eye can see, surrounded by a beautiful landscape. The dam is located on Guadiana River, one of the longest in the Iberian Peninsula, in Alentejo, Portugal.

Soon after we arrived in Monsaraz, a little village with a castle from where we took amazing photos of Alqueva lake. Inside the walls, several monuments of touristic interest rise. Among them, the following churches: Igreja Matriz de Nossa Senhora da Lagoa, Igreja da Misericórdia de Monsaraz and Igreja de Santiago.

Thursday, 2nd May

On Thursday the host school arranged a visit to Mértola, a beautiful and historic town located at the highest navigable point of the Guadiana River, surrounded by the splendid countryside of the Parque Natural Vale do Guardiana.

First we went to a volunteers centre and they explained to us all the charity things that they do in order to help the people of the town and then we went to the hospital, where they also do an important job with the most needed people of the region.

Mértola, like many other towns in the area of Alentejo, has a history of trade with Phoenicians and Carthaginians followed settlement by Roman and Moorish invaders.

The walls are Moorish when the town was known as Martulah and were built over the Roman originals. In the middle of the old town stands the remarkable parish church, the Igreja Matriz - a former mosque and now a National Monument built in the 12th century.

Mértola was retaken by the Christian King Dom Sancho II in 1238 but this church and a smaller one, the Capela de São Gens, just outside Serpa are the only two former mosques in Portugal that were converted to churches after the Reconquest. The Igreja Matriz retains the Moorish arched doorway and the mihrab - a niche pointing to Mecca.

After visiting the village and having lunch, we were taken to Mina de S. Domingos, a fluvial beach near from Mertola and very well known by all the Portuguese. The temperatures were up to 31 degrees, so the students could refresh themselves and they had a really good time together bathing and jumping from the piers.

Friday, 3rd May

Workshop 4:“One minute to express yourself”

On Friday we started the workshops again and the students were asked to work for the last day. The title of the last workshop was “One minute to express yourself”. In this workshop they created a one minute video-story about gratitude and compassion. They were organized into international groups and after discussing their ideas they created a storyboard in order to prepare their videos and gather props. After that they went to shoot their videos and edit them.

After the shooting they were gathered again in the same class and the coordinator of the project asked them some questions about the week:

-What activities did you like the most?

-Do you think it is important to teach character education at school?

-What have you learnt during the week?

The students evaluated the week in a very positive way and they were glad about having participated in such a project.

In the evening we met at school at 19:30h in order to celebrate a farewell party. We were very surprised to find out that the students and teachers had prepared a beatiful room decorated with pictures of the whole week, homemade food and deserts and bags with little presents for everyone.