FAREWELL

Saturday was a day with the families, and all of them had a wonderful time together. Parents, brothers and friends went to San Juan de Gaztelugatxe where they enjoyed the amazing landscape and Basque food.

Today was a sad day, time to say goodbye, but we are meeting again in March and we can feel very proud of our work and of this great experience.

Thank you to all the families for being such wonderful hosts.

LAST DAY AT SCHOOL

Friday: Presentations, Evaluation and Cultural Evening

In the morning we finished up  our work in the different workshops and by 11:30, after the break, we started giving our presentations.

First, the press group showed us the newspaper they had prepared and we all got a copy. In the newspaper we can read all the activities carried out during the week and some interviews.

Then the posters group explained the aspects that they had wanted to emphasize related to our topic. Youth unemployment means not having enough money, which leads to lack of independence from your parents and makes it really difficult to create your own family.

After that, we saw two different photo stories in which we could see the struggle of young people to find a job. Even though the job you find is not the one you had expected, our two stories had a positive ending!

The Comic group designed two comics. In one of them, the character has to improve his qualifications and soft skills to get a good job. The second comic showed The ¨Good¨ things about being unemployed - our students dealt with this problem using good humour and irony.

Finally, we watched the film created by 5 of our students, they were actors, directors, cameramen, editors…

We had two groups of students who had time to prepare a Cultural Quiz  and the Evaluation Questionnaire. After we played the quiz, we answered the Evaluation questionnaire and did a gallery walk with all our posters.

In the afternoon, we came back to school and we had time to have fun as you can see in the pictures!

THURSDAY WORKSHOPS

Today we started watching some videos with examples of how unemployment affects young people.

Then, it was time for us to carry out some creative work. There are 5 different workshops: designing posters and comics, making photo stories and films and, of course, the press group. The topic we are working on is the following one: personal and economic consequences of young unemployment.

Tomorrow we will carry on with our workshops and will give our final presentations.

Before finishing the day, we went to Tartanga Vocational Training School, where we had a great time. We learnt about the differrent courses that they offer there: audiovisuals, animation, games designing, 3D... They have all kinds of facilities and most of their studies are practical. As in all Vocational Training courses, working practice is part of their curriculum. The best part was to watch a live television contest with four of us as the contestants!

This afternoon we are going to have fun with a laser game in Bilbao.

VISITS ON WEDNESDAY

Today, Wednesday 16th, has been a busy day .First, we listened  to a really interesting talk from Lanbide. Mr Adolfo Alustiza, current General Director of Lanbide in Vitoria-Gasteiz  and Mrs Gotzone Sagarduy, the former Head of Action on Employment and currently Member of the Basque Parliament  came to our school and told us how this institution contributes  to fight youth unemployment.

Then, we went to Bilbao for our two visits related to our project. First, we visited EITB, where we learned about how to work for radio and television and how journalists get jobs after their internships.In the afternoon, we had a guided visit to the Guggenheim Museum, where our teacher Lexuri did her internship.

It has been a wonderful, sunny day  with a lot of information that we can use in our workshops on Thursday and Friday. Now, we are going to visit Bilbao and do some shopping.

In the following pictures you can see our happy faces!!

GETXO - BERGEN MEETING

Last Sunday all the families met at the airport. Everybody was very excited! The Norwegian friends arrived early and they all had time to go for a walk in Getxo.

On Monday we had a very busy day. The headmaster welcomed all the participants of the ERASMUS+ project, and after some ice breaking activities, we went to the Town Hall where Elena Larburu  from Getxolan presented some of the programmes that they organize for young unemployed people.

Back at school, we saw Imanol Landa, the Mayor of Getxo, who took part in the events organized for the 50th Anniversary of our school IES Julio Caro Baroja BHI.

After a break, we even had time to start working with the information that all the countries had uploaded on the e-Twinning platform.

Today, Tuesday, has been a busy day at school. We have finished our work and have given presentations. We have got three different speakers: Jose Luis Losada from Nicolás Larburu Vocational Training School, who has told us about the courses offered to young people, Lexuri Ayo, a teacher at school who did one year internship at the Guggenheim Museum and  Eduardo Berja, a young man who was a student at our school and got his degree in audiovisual studies in Tartanga Vocational Training School.

Finally, we have chosen the workshops we will be working in on Thursday and Friday and to finish up the day, all the students have gone on a Treasure Hunt in Getxo. Tomorrow, we will get their selfies!!!

ERASMUS + 2016-2017

Hello again. It has been a few months since our last post!

This school year we are also taking part in our Erasmus+ project. We have new students, all of them studying 4º ESO, who want to go on working in the project we started last year about Youth Employment in Europe.

In September two of our teachers travelled to Wrzesnia in Poland where they met their colleagues in the project and prepared the work for this second year in detail.

In October, the new students prepared their profiles to be sent to their partners in Norway and wrote their expectations for this project year, then, the teachers showed them our blog and the e-Twinning platform where they can get all the information they need about our project.

After learning about the reasons of youth unemployment from the work carried out  by our students last year, our new students started doing their research about how  we fight youth unemployment in the Basque Country. Some students from 2º Bachillerato answered the questions prepared by the teachers about their hopes and fears for their future. We will use all this data in our meetings that are taking place next week in France, Hungary, Greece and here, in Getxo.

On Sunday a group of 15 students and two teachers from Norway are coming to Getxo for our first meeting.They will be spending a week with their partners taking part in a lot of activities and workshops at school.

All the families and students are looking forward to this new experience in their lives.

Plymouth Plantation and Back Home

Plymouth Plantation and Back Home

by Asier and Isabel

Today was our last day in America, so to start this important and special day, I woke up very sleepy and I went upstairs to have breakfast.

When I finished, I had shower, brushed my teeth and my face, and combed my hair. Then, I finished doing my bag. I said goodbye to the whole family, and I went to school by car with Alex and David (his younger brother).

There, our first lesson was astronomy. I found it interesting because I like most issues dealing with the universe.

Then, an hour later, all the exchange students went to the library. We were there for about ten minutes until the bus arrived.

Later, we took the bus, and headed to a museum of ancient Native American pioneers and pilgrims who came to America from Europe.

I liked it, because it seemed very interesting to see how they lived, what they did, how they dressed and spoke...

Next, we took the bus and went to see a replica of the "Mayflower", one of the first ships that arrived from Europe to America full of pilgrims. The truth is that I didn´t like it too much, because we only had twenty minutes to see it.

We went back to school by bus at 2:00 p.m. more or less. There, we had about twenty minutes to say goodbye to all our American friends. It was very exciting and also sad, because we all knew that we wouldn't see one another again until after seven long months.

Finally, we headed to Boston airport by bus, where we took a plane at 5:40 pm. After six long hours, we landed in Madrid, where we took another one that took us direct to Bilbao. We returned home very exhausted and both, happy and sad.

ASIER

Day 15 - Plimoth Plantation ande Back Home from J. Carlos Martínez

DAY 14 - New York 3

Ellis Island, Statue of Liberty...

by  Alazne and Iker

Waking up in New York is only exciting in the films. After sleeping on the floor, having a shower and a full breakfast, I was late for the bus. Luckily, I've very lazy partners so I wasn't the last one. A quick trip of 15 minutes left us ready to take a ferry to the Statue of Liberty. There we met Nancy, our extraordinary guide for our whole stay in New York, and after having time for taking some photos the ferry left us in Ellis Island.

At 13 pm we were crossing Battery Park, and the Bull's balls guided us to Wall Street. Once there we had enough time to buy some food and continue the way.
Our last stop in New York was going to be the September 11th  Memorial Museum. Inside the building, the respect was the only thing you could hear. Everyone was quiet, astounded, trying to assimilate the tragedy that had happened there 15 years ago. Outside the building two fountains in memory of the victims were breaking the silence.

The 5 minutes turn to the bus was too fast comparing with the "short" journey of 6 hours and a half coming to Scituate again. Enough time to relax, reflect, and relax again.Arriving at the school was like a mirage. We greeted our partners, and without having enough movement during the day, some of us we went to have an ice cream somewhere near. Aware of the day of tomorrow I came back home after 3 days. Home, sweet home, but I needed to pack.

IKER

Day 14 - New York 3

Nobody likes waking up at 6:30a.m. Unluckily, we had to wake up at that time today. We had breakfast at 7:00a.m. as we should take the coach to NYC at 8:00a.m.
Once in the city, we took a ferry to see the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. It was so hot that some people had to drink a cold lemonade.
After visiting these beautiful places, we went to Wall Street and we took pictures with the famous bull. At 1:30 p.m. we had lunch in a square. Some of us ate pizza and some others ate hamburgers or nuggets from the Burger King.

When we finished our lunch, after buying some water, we visited the Museum of the Twin Towers (National September 11 Memorial & Museum). We all were moved about what happened 15 years ago.
At 3:30p.m. after visiting a building designed by Calatrava, we took the coach which took us to SHS. At 7:00p.m. approximately, we stopped to have dinner.
At last. After 7-hours drive we arrived at Scituate at 10:30 p.m. Our American friends were waiting for us at the high school.
We drove back home and we made the suitcase.
It's been a very tiring day!

Alazne Lopategui

DAY 13 - New York 2

UNO... Aladdin

By June and Jon Mikel

This morning we went to the United Nations. Our guide was a Chinese girl. She gave us a lot of interesting information. She showed us the General Assembly and other important rooms. She also explained to us some paintings about Human Rights and War Affairs in our world.

Later we went to the Gran Central Station and we had lunch there (Asier ordered fried chicken that  he couldn’t finish. Ibon and I ordered a hot dog). Afterwards, we visited the Fifth Avenue. We didn’t buy anything because all the shops were too expensive. Then, we went to China Town. The gifts there were much cheaper. If you come to New York you should buy the gifts in China Town. If you buy your gifts in Times Square you will spend a lot of money. After China town we went to Times Square again and there we had dinner at Dallas BBQ. We ate chicken, ribs and fries. It was delicious.

Finally, we went to watch the musical "Aladdin" in Broadway. We all enjoyed it very much because everything (actors, wardrobe, set design, tricks, etc.) was fabulous. Awesome! The actors sang very well and the music was fantastic. It was well worth. To finish the day, we took the bus and we went all together to sleep to the hotel

Day 13 - New York 2

DAY 12 - New York 1

Boat Trip, Top of the Rock...

By Laura and Ane

We met at school at 7:45 to take the coach. Our destination was NEW YORK. We arrived in NY around 12:45 am and we went to the Museum of Natural History. As Everybody knows, “Night at the Museum” was filmed there. After that, we went across Central Park . We took a picture at Strawberry Fields at the memorial to John Lennon “Imagine”, Alice in Wonderland, etc. Later, around 2:15 pm we met our guide on 5th avenue in front of the museum and we enjoyed the Mid Town Tour and the Circle Line Landmark Sightseeing River Cruise. AWESOME!

LAURA  M

In the afternoon we went to Times Square for a self guide visit. There, we had dinner at Bubba Gump’s restaurant. It was inspired by Forrest Gump film. The whole restaurant had images, items and games based on the movie. When we finished dinner, we walked to Rockefeller Center. From Top of the Rock we watched amazing views, we could see all New York, all the big skyscrapers like The Empire State Building, The Chrysler Building... lighting up the city. It was awesome. Finally we arrived at the hotel in New Jersey to be ready for the next day.

ANA S.J.

Day 12 - New York 1

DAY 11: Farewell Party

by Leire and Ane E.

This morning I woke up at 10 am and after that, Gretchen and Alazne picked up Izzie and me, and we all  went  to have breakfast with Sam, Maitane, Jon Mikel and Julia. 

After having breakfast, they drove us to play laser tag all together. It was so funny! We wanted to go karting  but the road was wet, so we couldn't go.

Then, they took us to buy some fish for their homes and we named their fish. We called them "Txema 1" and "Txema 2". 

After playing  laser tag, we were so hungry that we ate some hamburgers at Mcdonald's. 

Gretchen and Alazne left us at home to take our swimming clothes.15 minutes later we were ready to go for a swim to Gretchen's house. After having a good time in the swimming pool, we had a shower and we got ready for the Farewell Party.

LEIRE

After playing  laser tag, we were so hungry that we ate some hamburgers at Mcdonald's. 

Gretchen and Alazne left us at home to take our swimming clothes.15 minutes later we were ready to go for a swim to Gretchen's house. After having a good time in the swimming pool, we had a shower and we got ready for the Farewell Party.

LEIRE

In the afternoon, we all went to the Hassetts’ house to the goodbye party with most of our American parents. We played some games like volleyball, some typical games from here and there was a little castle where we could jump inside and we ate food like pizza, salad and so on. We had a great time, and after that, we went all back home and we left everything ready for  tomorrow’s trip: New York

ANE  E. 

Day 11 Farewell Party

DAY 10: Family Life

by Amaia and Maitane

In the morning I went to Nantasket Beach with Leah and we had a great time there. Then, some other people from the exchange came with us and we rode a carousel; it was funny. We took the cars and we went to a place with really good sea views. We took some pictures there and we went back home to have lunch. It was my host father's birthday, so all the family had lunch together while we were watching America's got Talent. After that, we went to a party and had  a really good time dancing and playing different games.

AMAIA

Today, Saturday, the 10th of September was a free day. This means that everybody had to go with their American families. The weather was very good. I was really nervous in the morning because we were going to sail from Scituate harbour.  It was fun as there were a lot of waves!  My friend Jon Mikel came with us.

In the afternoon, all of us went to an American house and we stayed there for a long time. It was like a party! There was music, games, food... Finally, to finish the day we had dinner at a restaurant. The food was really good!

MAITANE

Day 10 Saturday

DAY 9: Wrentham Village

by Ana

Today we went shopping to Wrentham Outlets.

First of all, the Spanish students went to the first class with their partner. For example, I had the math class with my American partner and some of the Spanish boys and girls. Then, we took the bus to go shopping. When we arrived there, we started visiting the shops, such as Levi’s, UGG, American Eagle, Nike, etc.

 At 2:30 p.m. we started eating some food because at 3 we had to go back home. At 4 pm we were already at home and we took a shower because at 7 all of us were going to see an American football game.

ANECDOTE:

While I was eating, one of my friends missed her phone. Suddenly she realized that she'd left in the bathroom. Here people are so nice!!!  Someone had left it at the Information Office. 

Day 9 Shopping

DAY 8: Aquarium, Freedom Trail and Quincy Market

 Aquarium, Freedom Trail and Quincy Market

by Gaizka and Alex

Today, Thursday the 8th of September, we have been to the Aquarium of Boston.

This aquarium doesn' t have big sharks as the ones in San Sebastian, but it is really good. One of the parts that I enjoyed most was the animal exhibitions. I also liked seeing the penguins swimming, because it was so funny. But  the best part for me was when I touched stingrays.

So it was amazing, but that is not all, because in the afternoon we went  to a market called Quincy Market, where they offered us a lot of food, like pizza or hamburgers, and clothes. Finally, our teachers gave us some extra time to do whatever we wanted,  like having a drink,  eating something or buying  something.  And thats all.

GAIZKA

Today was a great day. I enjoyed a lot going to the Freedom Trail, the aquarium and Quincy Market.

The day started like every day: I got up at 6:30, I had a shower and after that, I had breakfast. Then, Genna took me to high school and I went to her English class. It was like my philosophy class in Spain, a bit boring. Finally, we went to the library and waited for the bus to come.

We travelled for an hour and arrived at the Aquarium. After we left the aquarium we walked the Freedom Trail. It was amazing. We saw Paul Revere's house which nowadays is a museum and it's the oldest house in Boston. Next to the house there is a red line made of bricks which shows the places and landmarfks of the freedom revolution. Then, we arrived at Feneuil Hall,which is next to Quincy Market.The revolutionaries met there to discuss their political ideas. 

After that, the teachers gave us free time and we went to Quincy Market to have something to eat. Quincy Market reminds me of Covent Garden in London. I took a chicken teriyaki, which was delicious, and after that I played chess with Alex, Gaizka and Asier, who is a very good player. 

At 5 p.m., we took the bus and went to the high school to meet our American brothers and sisters to go home. When I got home I stayed there for a couple of minutes and went out for dinner. I went to Feng Shui, which is a Chinese restaurant and I had roasted beef. Finally, I got back home, I brushed my teeth and I went to bed.

ALEX

Day 8 Aquarium; Freedom Trail and Quincy Market

DAY 7: State House and Museum of Science

State House and Museum of Science

by Oihana and Asier

I woke up at 6 o'clock, I had my everyday's  breakfast and we had to go to school. We had 1 lesson and then, we went to the State House of Massachusetts. After that, we walked fast because we were late for the Science Museum. It was INCREDIBLE!!! We had a lot of fun and we learnt so much! The thing  I liked best was the frog exhibits. There were a lot of different types of frogs and some of them were poisonous. There were a lot of funny things, but there were some other frightening things like bees and spiders...What shocked me most was seeing the birth of a chick while we were there. 

At 3 o'clock we took the bus and we returned to school. Some people went to watch a football match. Scituate Sailors won the match. It was so exciting!! At 7 o'clock some people went to a restaurant to have some hamburgers and finally at 8:30 we went home to sleep. 

It has been a very busy day!!
OIHANA

Day 7 State House and Science Museum

We arrived at school, and Alex's first lesson was "AP US Government". It was a very complicated subject, but it was interesting in some aspects.
Later, when the lesson finished, we went to the school library. We were there for about 10 minutes, and then, we took the school bus to Boston. When we arrived, we first went to the State House. There, a volunteer called Mary explained to us some history of the United States: some old presidents, the civil war, battles in Europe...etc. It was a little boring, but not bad at all...
After that, we went to the Science Museum. It was fantastic! There, we saw a lot of animals, new technology, robots...for two and a half hours. I really loved it.
Then, the bus picked us up and we came back to Scituate. There, at Scituate High School, we all watched a female soccer game while Alex was training American Football.  Scituate girls won 4-0, and gave us a very good soccer lesson.
Later, we went to have dinner all together to a restaurant whose name was "TKO Malley's". I ordered some chicken fingers and French fries. They were very tasty, and also very cheap. It was a great restaurant...
Then, to finish this day, we went to an ice cream shop and we bought some.
Finally, we came back home and as we were tired, we went to sleep in a few minutes.
That's all.
ASIER

Day 6: Harvard

Day 6: Harvard, 

by Isabel and Gaizka

The first day of school started too early in the morning. In fact, by 7am all the Spanish students were already awake. I went to high school by car and when Chris and I arrived, hundreds of students were gathered at the entrance.  The American students seemed really excited to have some Spanish students walking around. I got to know some of them, as they were Chris's friends. We had homeroom as the first lesson of the school year. I was lucky  because I was with Irati, so I wasn't alone. By 9am the other Spanish Students and I left the high school in one of those yellow school buses. We were heading Harvard University. Once we were there, we got to know Ben, our tour guide, who had studied at Scituate High School. He told us the number of grades the university has, the different ways to apply and the importance of having excellent marks. He even showed us a classroom and explained to us how the lectures work there. By 3pm the visit had finished and the school bus came and picked us up. Once back at school, Avery's mother picked me and some students up and took us to Nathan's house, where we had dinner and spent a nice evening. Megan took me home around 9pm and I went to bed, hoping the following days would be as nice as today was.

GAIZKA 

Day 6 Harvard

Day 5: Pawtacket Paw Sox Game

Day 5: Pawtacket Paw Sox Game

by Ibon e Iker

"Today I woke up at 9 and then I had breakfast. After having breakfast, Nathan took me to high school There, there was a bus that took us to the baseball stadium. The match was a little boring but there were very funny moments, for example, when we shouted at a player named Jiménez and he waved at us.The match finished and the Paw Socks won. At the end, the players threw baseball balls at the bleachers, but I didn't get any balls.

Then we went back to the bus and we arrived home at 5:30 p.m. I had dinner and I went to an American student’s house. Finally I went back home and went to bed. "          

IBON

Day 5 Pawtucket Red Sox 

"Today Monday I started the week in the worst way: I overslept , so I had to get  myself ready very fast to take the car to the school on time. Sleepy, I arrived  with Julianne, my partner, and met all the group there, in the hall of the high school. We took the school bus to Paw Sox's Stadium at 11:30. The trip lasted a whole hour. 

Then, once we got the tickets, we sat on our seats and started to watch how the match was going on. We began the game relaxed, but eventually we started to cheer up,  scream and sing. It was really fun. At the end of the game, the local Paw Sox won but it wasn't  the most important point for us.

I got slept going back home, but I wasn't the only one, as I could see afterwards in some pictures.

Once back at school, I went to Avery's (Ana's partner) house with some other friends. There, we had a great time eating, speaking and laughing together. We didn't go home till 11pm.
After watching TV with my host family, I finally went to sleep. Such a long day!"

IKER