March 28th
On our first day at school in Spain we were welcomed by our own German students. They invited us to join them for a private guided tour on our first evening, which we were pleased to accept.
The exchange turned out to be an exchange on many levels. Not only did we exchange ideas and impressions with colleagues and students, but our German students even invited us to change roles with them: for one evening they took the role of our personal guides and we were the ones who listened to them in a very nice walk through Logroño.
Our students have proved that they have learned a lot about their surroundings, historic events and important buildings and historic statues. They showed us the important museums, they know where to eat best and what to do in their free time. We felt inspired, confident and motivated to learn more about La Rioja, the second smallest region in Spain.
Thanks to our students’ expertise we saw the historic wall of Logroño, walked a few meters along the Camino de Santiago and landed in this very genuine pinchos bar, sourrounded by locals with lovely food and “mosto”, the traditional grape juice as a non-alcoholic alternative to the wine.
It was very inspiring to see you young people fully adapting to a whole different culture seemingly effortlessly and we can only say: you have all seized the opportunity to immerse yourselves completely in a different culture and have fulfilled what was offered to you with the ERASMUS PROGRAMME: an exchange of ideas, lives and roles beyond the borders of your own country.
As the expression already implies: an ex-change always brings about change. May you take home as many memories and as much experience as possible and show that it is worth opening yourself for the other parts of Europe!
Julia Dold und Cordula de Bloeme