Time to say goodby to Cartagena, Murcia, Spain. It was a hardworking, educational and welcoming week. We are waiting for you, our Spanish friends. It’s time to meet at No Bell!

Hot, sunny Saturday passed on jogging, walking, laying on the beach, shopping and eating tapas.

Mercedes told us about reading days at school and presented us with the reading projects. A month ago, No Bell opened a publishing house so I was very interested in it. I had the opportunity to review several interesting Spanish children’s books that perfectly fit our profile. If they are not available in the Polish market, maybe we should consider publishing them. On Friday we said goodbye to Alcatarilla and Murcia and left for Cartagena – port city and naval base in Murcia region. We left our backpacks in the lockers at the bus station and took a bus to La Manga. Thanks to the sea breeze it was easier…

Victoria, Inmaculada y Mercedes presented us school’s European projects. Then, digital coordinator Carmen Carrillo explained to us in detail the rules of purchasing and using iPads at school. At the beginning of the first year an iPad is given to the students. With appropriate software enabling students to work during classes and teachers to monitor their progress. iPads are bought by parents and insured. At the end of the day it was time for us to present our gamification, climate project and Edumapa – outdoor education project. After school we stayed in Alcantarilla to have lunch with Mercedes and Inma. They gave us some tips for our stay in Cartagena.

As every day we came by bus from Murcia. According to the schedule prepared by Victoria we started our job shadowing at 9.30. In Spain lessons take 50 minutes. Today we started with English with our mentor Victoria. Yes! Finally we met Victoria, who was away assisting during exams at the university. Victoria was our Good Ghost while planning our travel helping us to prepare everything in the most convenient way. The male part of our group attended language lesson with Imma. IES Francisco Salzillo is a digital and bilingual school. During English lesson we could observe how the students and teacher used iPad accompanied by handbooks. The teacher uses…

Imma and Mercedes were our guides today. We split into two groups. Me and Mirka participated in the meeting of the heads of departments. Heads of department meet every week. They have less lessons. June is the month to make plans for the next school year. The main problem which was discussed concerned the lack of motivation and engagement among passive students. Physical education teacher and geography teacher presented techniques and methods of motivating passive and unengaged students, like: “fitcoins”, gamification, google instruments, small investigations, manual works, dividing material into small parts, “el fuero” (medieval privileges) – the benefits for good work during the week. Then the principal started the…

Monday was our first day at school IES Francisco Salzillo. Well, it started later than it had been planned because of an unpleasant accident… Grzegorz was robbed at the bar where we had stopped to eat breakfast before leaving Murcia for school. He had left his backpack with some electrical stuff on the table and when ordering coffee a young man grabbed it and ran away. People at the bar reacted very helpfully. They called the guardia civil who came in 5 minutes. Maciek’s brilliant Spanish was priceless. It helped Grzegorz to pass smoothly through the bureaucracy at the Police station. Fortunately, the most important things like phone, money or…

Very simple breakfast at the local bar with local people was a good start to feel the climate of lazy Sunday morning. Just un cortado y una tostada. We left Alicante and went to Murcia by bus. According to Victoria’s suggestion to find accommodation here and go every day to Alcantarilla by bus, we booked an apartment close to the estacion de autobuses.

Anomalia pogodowa sprawia, że sobotni poranek jest chłodny i słoneczny. Na południu Hiszpanii będzie na pewno cieplej. Wsiadamy do samolotu – Mirka, Magda, Maciek i Grzesiek. Po ponad trzech godzinach lotu lądujemy na lotnisku w Alicante. Przyjemne zaskoczenie. Jest chłodniej niż się spodziewaliśmy. Wsiadamy do autobusu. Po drodze widzimy klasyczny krajobraz śródziemnomorski – zarośla sucholubne, gdzieniegdzie drzewa oliwne, aloesy w oddali nawadniane sady cytrusów. Dominują barwy zwietrzałych skał wapiennych. Po przesiadce, kierując się do lokum przyglądamy się miastu. Dominują deptaki, palmy i kwitnące na niebiesko jakarandy (oczywiście rozpoznajemy roślinę dzięki aplikacji Flora Incognita). Szybkie przepakowanie i wyruszamy na zwiedzanie miasta. Pora sjesty ujawnia się w całej okazałości. Mijamy kolejne zamknięte…

Wstaliśmy rano, żeby ze wszystkim zdążyć. Pożegnaliśmy nasze piękne mieszkanie w centrum Jerez, przy samym Alkazarze i pojechaliśmy do szkoły. Tam spędziliśmy jeszcze czas na ostatnich rozmowach z Alicią, zjedliśmy z nią śniadanie, wypiliśmy pyszną kawę i soki, wymieniliśmy się kontaktami, dostaliśmy również prezent. Oczywiście zaprosiliśmy ich do siebie, ustaliliśmy dogodne terminy i pełni dobrej energii postanowiliśmy, że kolejną kawę wypijemy razem w Warszawie. Pożegnaliśmy się z nauczycielami, podziękowaliśmy za wspaniałe przyjęcie, pokazanie tego, co w ich regionie najpiękniejsze, naładowani przyjemnymi emocjami wyruszyliśmy w podróż do Madrytu, żeby tam wsiąść do samolotu, którym wrócimy do Warszawy. Nos levantamos por la mañana para hacer todo a tiempo. Nos despedimos de nuestro…