Project Comenius IV: Italy

It was the fourth time, when we met with the other organizers and participants of the European project Comenius. In February 2015 the teachers and students from ZSS in Rewal went to Italy, to the lovely city called Livorno, which is placed by the Ligurian Sea.

The representatives from our school were four students : Olimpia Matysiak, Marta Kucharska, Karolina Ostapczuk and Katarzyna Godula. Our tasks to do for that meeting was writing a story, creating a book, illustrating it using different characters and plots from popular tales or children`s stories. The content of the book representing Poland was written by Kasia Godula and illustrations were created by all of the girls. We called that book “Zaślepiony Rozsądek”.

While being in this fascinating place of Livorno, we saw its biggest attractions and the Amerigo Vespucci School we were co-operating with. Karolina, describes Livorno in a few words. In her opinion people, who are living there are very kind and friendly, and that let us feel at home. Always when we had an opportunity or some free time, our friends from Italy showed us some beautiful places . One of them was Terrazza Mascagni, where we admired a wonderful view of sea. We had an opportunity to see more cities of Italy, for example Florence. We fell in love with this place, its interesting monuments, streets full of tourists and atmosphere. All of us enjoyed being there and are of the opinion that it was a well-spent time.

We also enjoyed the classes at school. They are quite different than ours. The school as a building looks very official to us. The teachers behave the same like Polish ones. One of the differences between our and Italian school is that students take notes by themselves. The teacher doesn’t tell them what they have to write.

Olimpia Matysiak told us something about Barsotti family, which she was living with from 21 to 28.02.2015. in Livorno. Their daughter was Olimpia`s guest last year. This time, when Olimpia went to Guendalina`s home, the family was very kind and hearty for our student. She had an opportunity to learn secrets of cooking Italian dishes. The family took her to see a basketball match, participate in a music concert and eat a dinner in their favourite restaurant. Sightseeing and walking to interesting places was a great way to spend free time there. Her favourite place was the promenade located in a perfect place to see sunsets in the evenings. Her family tried to talk in the English language, it was not easy for them. My Italian was much worse, but the family did their best to make me feel at home. Olimpia will absolutely remember the basketball match, that event was something new for her. It gave the student loads of positive emotions.

While being in Italy we saw a couple of more places, not only Livorno and Florence. Golden promenades, views from the bridge by the river Fiume Arno with beautiful and colorful S. Maria del Fiorre Cathedral were totally admirable. In our opinion Lucca was one of the most fantastic places there too. Marta told us what she thinks about Pisa. For her it was the best day of all the trips, because she always wanted to see that place and its main attractions. That’s why Marta was so happy to visit Pisa. She was fascinated by the history of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. The weather was sunny and warm, so it made that object much more towering and showed its perfection. There were loads of people from other countries falling in love with that place and the chapel placed next to the tower. All of the buildings in Pisa were beautiful, picturesque and unique. Another element which made that place unique were the plants. None of them was typical for our climate so we think that it was something beautiful. Marta fell in love with Pisa and hopes to come back there in the future.

We would like to greet everyone who participated in creating Project Comenius. It is a great chance for young, apt students from many countries of Europe to see new places and meet new, fascinating people. No one knows if we have an opportunity to see each other again but it was an exciting experience and we got to know loads of new, interesting things.

We want to thank every member of the hosting families and the Italian teachers for a warm welcome, a pleasant stay and long-lasting positive memories from the visit.

Katarzyna Godula, Rewal, Poland