The first foreign visit of our Erasmus+ program took place from 26 March to 1 April. Our delegation consisted of three pupils - Klaudia Antkowiak , Julia Bocheńska and Agnieszka Kowynia - and two teachers - Monika Bartos and Adam Jończyk. We spent the whole week in Riga and for some participants it was the first plane trip in their lives.

Riga greeted us with sunshine, cold air and the warm embrace of the Hosts who arrived at the airport and drove us to a beautiful and comfortable hotel. Olga hugged us at the airport and Sanita was there at the hotel. After dinner we had the first walk around the beautiful Riga old town and our first impressions – “How many trees, small and big bridges there are! How many ducks!”

On Monday there was the first visit to our Hosts’ school. A very old building, narrow corridors, bright spacious classes. We had a very warm welcome  from the Headmaster, the Teachers and the Students. We watched musical shows and exhibitions about our five partner countries. Then the time came to break the ice. We had activities with a professional trainer who had some ingenious ways to make us start talking and having fun together. Pigs and dogs won the animal competition. All the teams tried so hard! After dinner international teams competed in table hockey and then there was a visit to the TV tower from which we admired the panorama of the city. In the evening we could see the effects of the ice-breaking activities - the participants met in their hotel rooms and had a great time together. I could hear the music and laugher coming from the Polish students’ room till late at night.

The next two days, Tuesday and Wednesday, were devoted to really hard work in international groups. We needed to compare the processes of industrial restructuring of our cities on the basis of the films the delegations prepared in their schools. This was a very difficult task because the topic is not easy, but wonderful young people did great! The next point of the program was the presentation of the soft skills exercises brought by each delegation. Exercises were really interesting, but there were a lot of them, so we were very tired. Then there was a great workshop with another professional trainer with a lot of laughter and big applause at the end. Well done!

The work was finished, there were just more attractions waiting for us. One Polish student, Klaudia Antkowiak, celebrated her 18th birthday. We all sang "Happy Birthday", the Hosts brought candy, the Romanian and the Spanish teachers had prepared a beautiful birthday card which everyone signed. On Tuesday we visited the old town with a polyglot-guide (a teacher from our Hosting School) who told us a lot of legends, anecdotes and trivia. Do you know why the cat on the roof of one of the buildings in the old town raises its tail in a certain direction? No? Look up the information about the Riga Black Cat. On Wednesday we visited the museum at the Laima Chocolate Factory. Not only were we able to learn how to make chocolate, but also drink it, touch the chocolate grains and try them. We made funny pictures and videos and we bought a lot of sweets in the factory shop.

On Thursday there was a day trip. We took a coach to the South of Latvia, to Kurland, where the Palace of Rundale, the seventeenth-century property of the Duke of Kurland, is located. The huge garden was still pretty empty, but we were told that in the summer thousands of roses bloom there. The chambers in the palace are wonderful. We imagined what balls must have been like in these huge halls. Then we went back North and watch the medieval Bauska Castle. After delicius dinner we set out to the sea, to the resort of Jurmala. The town is beautiful, with wooden architecture and beautiful pedestrian streets. We went to the beach of course. The sand is extremely fine and white. The cold but sunny day was gorgeous, the air was brisk, probably with plenty of iodine, so there were plenty of walkers. We took pictures of numerous seagulls and we enjoyed a beautiful view. Then we walked to the city park where we climbed the stairs to the high panorama tower made of metal elements. It was a bit scary for me, as the tower swayed a little bit as people walked up and down. We saw the Riga Bay and, in the opposite direction, the high buildings of Riga. It was a pity we had to to go back to the coach but it was time to return.

On Friday there was the official closing of the visit - we went to the City Hall where we heard the farewell speech by the School Headmaster and everyone was presented with the certificate of participation. We also met a city clerk for youth and education, who told us about the Latvian schools and educational projects. We had to say goodbye at that moment because the delegations from Italy and Spain were flying away. There were hugs and tears. We and the team from Romania had more time to take a stroll around the city, take pictures and visit the art museum. On Saturday the Riga nature decided to wake up and we could see the first flowers. The parks started to look really beautiful. Unfortunately, we also had to say goodbye to our wonderful friends from Riga. The Romanian and Polish teams went to the airport together. We will meet again in October in Craiova.

Thank you Sanita, Olga and Aleksandra. Thank you Latvian Students!

Monika Bartos

a Polish teacher