CHoC in Pisa
Here is what our magnificent Poli team thought about the Erasmus+ project, CHoC, meeting in Pisa, Italy called from Brain to Bean
Friday:
We arrived at Pisa. Everyone was so happy we had to make some pictures, of course. I didn’t really do anything on this day I just talked to Alice and ate some pizza with her family for dinner. (And I realized that Italians are eating so much.)
Saturday:
So, on Saturday I had to go to school with Alice because she has school until 13:00 every day, even on Saturday. During her lessons we (with the Hungarian group) went to the market in Pisa and walked in the city. When she finished her school, we met some of her friends (they were so nice). After that we watched the sunset by the sea, it was soo beautiful. Then we went out to meet some other friends (she has so many friends).
Sunday:
We slept a lot on Sunday (we woke up at 11:30). Then we went to Firenze and walked there a lot (Alice and her friend Julianna bought some clothes. I just bought presents for my family). We saw a really big and beautiful church. In the evening we came back (we went by car, so it was easier).
Monday:
The programs started on Monday. We heard some (actually, a lot of) presentations and we had some exercises (we had to use English and our own language) in groups. During this, I had to make a test, but the place was nearby so I didn’t miss a lot. We made a little tour in the school guided by students. The morning went like this. After lunch, we had to listen one more presentation about a really famous painting and Keith Haring (this one was a more interesting than the other ones earlier). Then we walked in the city and a guide was talking about interesting buildings (even trees). I think she said so many information that were not really important, but she could have told us about more interesting things (like little stories or myths of a building).
Tuesday:
On Tuesday we didn’t go to the school, we had a chocolate master class instead. I enjoyed the part, when Giovanni Angiolini showed us how he makes chocolate. There was a short video too with some really good shots (and really really basic editing, almost nothing). I think these two things were pretty good. Giovanni Angiolini also told us about the making of chocolate (I mean from the beginning), I think it could have been interesting, but he didn’t speak English and the guy how translated it wore a mask, so I couldn’t really understand anything.
After that we said goodbye to Szonja and went to S. Rossore National Park. We had a guide here too, but he was waay better than the other one. I really enjoyed the walk in the park, it was so interesting (we also saw some deers).
Wednesday:
On Wednesday we had some experiments. I didn’t understand everything, but I think they were pretty interesting (maybe that’s because I like chemistry). It also turned out, that I’m a Mozzarellina (it means that my skin is not turning ‘bronze’ during the summer).
In the afternoon we said goodbye to Szonja again and we visited the Saint Anna school. There was a teacher who talked about another experiment with chocolate (I really tried), but I couldn’t pay attention (she had a bad Italian accent she said during like durin, and I don’t mean the dwarf lord(s) here). After those two students showed the school to us. It was nice to see their rooms, the library and the garden. I was so tired after this, but I really wanted to see Lucca. I went there with Alice and Juliana. It was quite dark, when we arrived, but I still liked the city. I also wanted to read a little bit of The Master and Margarita, but I’m too tired (so it can wait until tomorrow… or Friday).
Thursday was our last “full day”. We started the morning with presentations. They were about dramas, I think they were okay (there was too much text on the slides, but it was fine). Then some students made some scenes of those dramas. The first scene was ruined by laughing, the second one was pretty good. After that the groups had to make their own scenes about chocolate. Then we went to Marina di Pisa. We just watched the sea there for some hours. We got bored and I went to sightseeing with Szonja (we also ate ice cream). We went back and sat down, we finished our ice cream there. Then I heard Rob/Dagi’s voice. We went back and the qoP (the Italian teacher) told us, that we will eat ice cream now, so we didn’t eat another one we just waited. And waited. And waited for an hour (or something like this). But during this time, it turned out that we are a family. 🙂
So, after the waiting everyone could go. We wanted to eat dinner together (the hosts and the Hungarians), but there was some drama, so I ate dinner with the family, and I started to pack my things.
The parents also gave some presents to me and my family. I really like this family. They are so nice.
Friday:
Friday was our last day. In the morning I finished the packing and then I said goodbye to the family. They were so sweet (they told me that they hope we can meet again). In the school we had to present our works (like PowerPoints, the chocolate scenes). And then we were done. The teachers had a last meeting, so we had like 2 hours to talk a little bit more and to say goodbye (it was really really bad). After that, the Hungarians went to the airport together and then we came home.
I really enjoyed the time we spent there I met some nice people. But it was good to come home. 🙂
K. Csenge
Erasmus + “Culture & History of Cacao”
Pisa, Italy meeting – Lynn Sondhi
Last week I got the opportunity to travel to Pisa, Italy and take part in an Erasmus+ project titled “Culture & History of Cacao”.
We arrived Friday night so right at the beginning I had the chance to spend time with my host family, as the project activities only started on Monday. I got a brief background knowledge about the Italian culture and the city of Pisa.
Monday started off with welcome and greetings, we listened to the national anthems of each county who are part of the project. It was nice to hear them all after one another and experience their differences. Then we got to see interesting presentations on the history of Pisa and the art of chocolate, both the italian student prepared for us. Later that day we went on guided tour of Pisa and got to connect the facts in the presentations with the city itself. For example, the famous Romanesque and Gothic churches built in the 12th and 13th century.
Second day was a good combination of learning about a fair-trade chocolate maker and also relaxing in the San Rossore National Park. Angolini, Il Sublime del Cacao is a family business where they hand make chocolate. We got to see the journey of the cocoa beans to chocolate bar and also got to taste the product. It was an incredible experience. Later we had the whole afternoon to discover the San Rossore National Park near Pisa, famous for its pine tree forests and the swamp birds such as white ibis and herons. We crossed paths with fallow deers of the park.
Next day we spent in the science labs of Liceo Scientifico Ulisse Dini, as the Italian students prepared for us and explained some interesting scientific facts about chocolate. That afternoon we visited the Scuola Superiore S. Anna, a university in Pisa. They gave a presentation on a chocolate project they’ve been working on for a while now. A cross-over experiment between Virgin Olive Oil and Apples Enriched-Dark Chocolate, which was new and fascinating to us all.
Thursday the Italian students played scenes from old Italian plays which included chocolate. It showed how in the past chocolate meant something very valuable and a product which only the wealthiest people could afford. It was amazing to learn about it and realise how much this has changed in today’s world. The afternoon we visited Marina di Pisa, meaning the seaside of Tuscany.
Last day us student had to present the work we did all week in transnational groups. Each group had different topics to work on, which gave the opportunity to learn a lot more about either the cities we come from, advertising chocolate, architecture of Pisa and many more. That Friday afternoon sadly we had to say goodbye to all the participants, the new friends we made and to the rich cultural history of both Pisa and Italy.
S. Lynn
Day 0:
We arrived at Pisa airport in the early evening on Friday, we haven’t had school until Monday, so we had the whole weekend free. Saturday our hosts had school, so the Hungarian team went sightseeing in Pisa. Then we spent the rest of the weekend with our hosts.
Day 1:
We met at the school in the morning and began the introductions and icebreaking period. We listened to all the nations Anthems and chatted with the other students.
Until the lunch break, we listened to some Presentation about various topics and the Italian student gave us a tour around the school. After lunch we headed out into the city. We visited Keith Haring’s art in Pisa and had a guide walk us around town. The rest of the afternoon was free, we spent that with our hosts or with some other exchange students. We had a coffee talked a bit then went home.
Day 2:
On Tuesday after a really short presentation, we went to a Chocolate masterclass which was cool, just to see the progress of making chocolate (with a brave Italian student translating, respect to him) and also, we tried some really delicious chocolates. In the afternoon we went to the S. Rossore National Park near Pisa. That was truly amazing. Beautiful Park with really interesting nature, and animals. Then me and my host went home early to chill at home.
I think this was the best day, great programs, and the park was wonderful.
It was really good weather that day, so I was a little sad that we spent half of our day inside the school. We had some presentations, and then had scientific experiments with chocolate. That part I think was a bit unnecessary and a little bit boring, we waited at least 40 minutes in the hallways for some reason, then we had some experiments that weren’t that interesting, the students/presenters tried to make it more fun, but for me it wasn’t as good as the walk in the park.
After lunch we went to one of the best Universities in Italy, that was interesting, fortunately we had time to talk with students from the Uni while they walked us around the school. It was good to get some experience about another country’s university and to get some inside information as well.
Day 4:
The first half of the day was, in my opinion poorly organized, we waited an hour for the Mayer to give us a 5-minute talk, we didn’t really do anything. But in the afternoon, we went to the beach, that was one of the best programs. It was just fun and simple. I really would have liked it, if we went to the beach earlier and not spend half of the day waiting, but it was still good.
Day 5:
The last day. Basically, the program for the day was to present all the work we did during the week. First of all, I think we had to many and to complex tasks, and we didn’t really had time to get them done. Maybe outside the schooltime, but honestly who’s gonna do that? Anyway, we spent the last day finishing the tasks, then presenting them. It kinda was sad for our last day, but at least we spent time together and that was fun. We also had an hour long free time/lunch break before we had to leave to the airport.
All in all, great Erasmus. I had a ton of fun on the way, but sometimes a bit boring and unnecessary.
T. Marci
Day 1
The first day was pretty interresting, before the program started we sang the national athem of all the countries who’s in the project. Then we played a little game, that helped us to get know each other. The next part of the day to get used to the school, some of the Italian students walked us around and showed us the important parts of the building. We saw some presentation about Pisa’s history, then the topic was Chocolate in Paintings. Finaly we visited the old town of Pisa.
Day 2
At the morning we had a presentation about making chocolate. Our presentator was a chocolate shef. So it would be pretty interresting is the translation wouldn’t be so poor, but the italian guy had a mask on so I could not understand a word. After that we had a train ride ont he road to a national park. We had lunch there, we eat what we brought from home and finaly we had a beautifou walk in the forest, which was made really interresting by our guide.
In the morning we went to the laborathory to see how the chocolate excatly works in the chemistry.
Then we went to have lunch with our hosts next to the school. Afterwards we visited the Saint Anna University. It was actually really funny bc whit one of my frends got lost on the corridors and we had a hard time to find the group.
Day 4
This day we also started int ha school whot some presentations. After that we went to visit the seaside which was awesome becouse it was a pretty hot day, so most of the brave kids could walk int he water without getting cold. Some students played vollyball and everyone had an incredible time. At around 4 pm we went home and Pietros mother taught me how to cook an original spagetti carbonara. so probably it was the best day in Italy.
Day 5
This was the last day of our trip, so in the morning all the hungarian students waved bye to the parents and we tried to have as much fun in the last day as in the first. All the groups had to make some presentations and a lilte play. So everyone went on stage and showed their own. Finaly we had a few hours with our hosts to just enjoy the sunshine. Than we walked to the airport and we flew.
Cs. Peti