24th March 2025 - After the warm welcome received yesterday by the host families, today it was time to start with the program activities.

We have started with a beautiful Welcome Ceremony with great musical performances and information about Lodz and the school. We have also walked round the school to get to know the place we will be staying during this week.

We've had a great time with the ice breaking activities. We have played a few games to get to know each other better. It was fun because some games were unexpected and funny.

After the games we’ve had a delicious meal at school, with chicken, salad, and rice.

In the afternoon, we've learned some urban dance routines in a dance workshop. It has been a bit difficult to get coordinated and get all the movements right, but it has been great fun. After the workshop, we have gone home with our host families.

25th March 2025 - Today we feel we have worked really hard. And at the end of today's programme activities, we have a great sense of achievement. 

We've started with a political activity. In 6 international groups of 4, We've had to create our political party, with the poster, slogan, and programme of ideas. We have presented our political parties to the rest of the group, and we have voted for the best political proposition. Then, we've been given a set of issues that our parties had to discuss with the aim to come up with actionable solutions. We have also voted these propositions.

After a delicious traditional snack, the second part of the workshops has started. Three of the groups (half of the participants) have taken part in a theatre workshop focusing on body expression. The other three groups have written a short story about democracy in our day-to-day life, with the difficulty of have to add some random given words. The teachers have voted for the best story.

Today we've tried fantastic Polish specialities for lunch. It was very tasty. After eating, we have learned the results of the morning activities, what group had the best party to face the challenges of present times, and the group that wrote the best story.  After that, we've had a photography Challenge. In international groups, we've had to create a Photo Alphabet Album with 24-26 photos corresponding to different words related to democracy such as: Election, Freedom, Participation, Negotiation, etc. It's been great fun because we've enjoyed a lovely sunny afternoon taking cool photos.

26th March 2025 - Today it has been a very intense day. We've met at Lodz Central Train Station to go to Warsaw. The train journey has been very pleasant.

Once in Warsaw, we've walked towards the building of the “Europe Experience” a place dedicated to disseminating the importance of the EU for all European Citizens. After a breve introduction and a visit to the digital exhibition about the three institutions: European Parliament, Council of Europe and the European Commission, we were ready to start the activity.

In the role-playing game, we've all been Elected European Parliament representatives divided in 4 political parties. We have to research, debate and agree on two propositions: One about the importance of saving water, and another one about the possible implementation of personal identification chips.

It'has been fascinating to learn about the decision-making process in the EU and how agreements and laws are passed. The game has been really interactive and very engaging. 

After the game, we've had lunch and then a tour around Warsaw's town centre. We've stopped in some of the most important landmarks and our hosts have told us about them. We've also visited the Royal Palace, and we've enjoyed walking around its beautiful art exhibition.

We've also had time to wander around and buy some souvenirs to take home. In the evening, we've headed towards the train station, and we've returned to Lodz.

27th March 2025 - We hadn't really explored Lodz yet, so today it was time to do so.

In 4 international groups of 6 we have played an exploration game that has taken us to many interesting sites in Lodz. Most of them in the famous Piotrkowska Street. We've had to follow a set of instructions to accomplish different tasks relating to democratic values in each site, and take a picture. It has been a fun way to learn about Lodz and its heritage.  

We've all finished in Manufaktura, a very big shopping area which was once a huge textile industry and that still today it preserves the beauty of its original industrial architecture. We've all met at the bowling alley, and we've had a great time bowling.

After the game, we've all had something to eat in the wide selection of different food choices offered in Manufaktura.  After lunch, we've had some time to look around the shops.

28th March 2025 - Sadly, we have reached the end of this Erasmus + mobility. Today it has been a beautiful spring day, very sunny and warm. We've met in the centre of town to go to the Centre for Comics and Interactive Narrative. A brand-new facility in Lodz to explain the history and evolution of Comics. It has been really nice to try, learn and understand more about the culture of comics and video games. The exhibition is really interactive, and we've been able to try games, drawing techniques, computer illustrated effects, etc.

For lunch, we've all gone home to our host families, and we've prepared ourselves for the farewell party, which has started at the school at 16:00. First, we've all watched the videos of all the accomplishments and achievements of this week's work. Then we've learned to dance a traditional Polish dance routine. It's been a bit hard to get all coordinated at the start, we've soon got the hang of it. After the dance, we all got our certificates. We've had a nice buffet of lots of different pizzas for dinner. Many to chose from. We've danced for quite a while until we got a nice surprise. A Delicious cake, with the Erasmus Logo on it!

After enjoying the cake all together, it has been time to say goodbye to all the friends we've made.  Tomorrow morning we will have to say goodbye to our hist families. We know it will be hard.