THE MAST ARRIVES IN

LA PUEBLA DE CAZALLA, SPAIN

Creating our own school agenda, learning about cultural and artistic fusions and having a good time together.

Every school partner was given the task of designing some pages before the meeting. Personal illustrations and texts, photos, digital works and all kinds of texts and images from different sources were created.

All the pages previously produced were assessed by the teachers of the six schools during this mobility. In this reunion, the German partners presented the draft of the programme for the next mobility, which was going to be held in Lemgo in March.

Besides, once in Spain, the students created other pages in groups, which made them develop their skills in teambuilding and communication. The collaborative diary was fully edited by the Spanish team after the meeting.

Of course, regarding the aims of the meeting, the Spanish team also intended to improve the cultural and artistic knowledge of the students, emphasizing on all types of fusions and taking advantage of the historical encounters of Jews, Christians and Muslims, which has left such a rich monumental heritage in Andalusia.

During the visit to the “Foundation of the Three Cultures”, on the Isla de la Cartuja in Seville, the participants had the opportunity to learn more about this foundation’s work, which promotes understanding and peaceful coexistence between the three religions born in Mediterranean and other peoples of the world.

The visit included the splendid building itself, which was the Moroccan Pavilion during the Seville Expo in 1992, an exhibition “Paradises of the Ancient South” about the history of gardens in the Maghreb and Andalusia, a short lecture and Kahoot games with the theme of diversity, cultural fusions and a general view of Andalusia.

Not far from this foundation, we find the Monastery of La Cartuja, a magnificent building which, among its many uses throughout history, was a renowned ceramics factory and now the Andalusian Centre for Contemporary Art. It was a perfect place for another group photo.

A guided visit by the Spanish pupils took the visitors to the Square of Spain, an overwhelming semicircle of 200 metres in diameter and then, the huge building that houses the headquarters and some degrees of the Hispalense University, which used to be the Royal Tobacco Factory until the mid-20th century.

The visit, guided by the students, continued to the cathedral, which made it very clear to everyone how the temples of different religions overlap each other in history, since parts of a previous mosque remain in this cathedral, such as the bell tower, or Giralda, which is a singular mixture of an Almohad minaret topped with a Christian bell corps.

Seville and its best-known corners of the Jewish quarter, or Santa Cruz neighbourhood, left no one indifferent. Juan G. Moreno Catena, Art teacher and coordinator in Spain, explained the history and meaning of the Casa de Pilatos, a small palace that mixes the tradition of the Roman house, the Renaissance and the Mudejar Gothic art. They also came into the Baroque church of Santa María la Blanca, formerly a mosque and then, a synagogue.

Granada and its Alhambra were the perfect excuse to go back to the centuries when Andalusia was the Kingdom of Al-Andalus.

The Generalife, or Summer Palace, the Alcazaba, or Fortress and, above all, the impressive and unforgettable Nasrid Palaces of the last Muslim kings in Spain were explained with texts that the Spanish pupils had prepared before the meeting.

Córdoba was perhaps the most significant visit of the week. When you walk through its streets, its squares, a synagogue, or its famous patios, there are traces everywhere of a time of tolerance and the mixture of cultures in peace.

The Mosque of Córdoba could not miss out on these symbols, and during its visit we not only enjoyed an exuberant mosque, but also a cathedral with Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque elements which was built in the very centre of the Mosque.

However, La Puebla de Cazalla was a lovely surprise for many visitors: a white town full of Andalusian flavour and friendly people, which the visitors toured in a beautiful winter morning.

The Spanish partners prepared a welcome event presented by two students. During this event, the deputy mayor of the town and the headmistress of the IES Castillo de Luna, Mrs. Paula Díaz Pérez, greeted and addressed a few words to the guests.

The city museum allowed them to attend an Art lesson and enjoy an exhibition of works by the Japanese artist Kimika, who has created pictures and tapestries by using pieces of the Saharawi women’s clothes that she was given while she was living in their refugee camps. Her plastic creations tighten ties of that so fragile that we call solidarity.

Towards the end of the week, the meeting was officially closed in an event conducted by the students. There was a small show of Flamenco singing and dancing, the certificates were delivered and all pupils joined in dancing on stage. The event ended with a snack dinner whose food had been prepared by the families of the students and the students themselves.

There was great enthusiasm at this meeting from the organizers and visitors. As the Spanish partners admit, it was a difficult meeting to arrange for many different reasons, but, despite the obstacles, the Spanish team will always remember something said by a young visitor during the goodbyes: "I wish I could start the week again". Although everyone was quite tired, it was a satisfying conclusion.