TENERIFE – student’s review
We flew to Tenerife via Manchester, UK with Ryanair. Our whole journey took us more than 14 hours because apart from the two flights we had to take a city bus from the airport to Santa Cruz de Tenerife, where we finally got at about 9 p.m. After a 15 min walk we came to our nice hotel, left luggage and rushed out for a delicious pizza. Our Polish team spent great evening – it was more than +20 degrees C outside, whereas in Poland there was only +5.
We met teams from other countries (Romania, Spain, Turkey, Norway) only on the next day. The hosts organized city sightseeing for all of us. Santa Cruz is a major city, capital of the island of Tenerife. The varied architecture of the city stands out, highlighting the Auditorio de Tenerife (Auditorium of Tenerife), which is considered one of the greatest exponents of contemporary architecture. After breathtaking city tour we were invited for a flavorsome dinner with the whole Erasmus group. Until that moment we all were well integrated.
The second day was a little bit busier. The first thing in the morning was very official. We took part in a meeting with the mayor of La Laguna in the city hall, after that there were some interviews conducted for local TV. I talked about the Erasmus+ program and its benefits in front of TV camera. Afterwards a very nice women walked us around La Laguna. In the early afternoon we were playing a very important role – we became farmers and we have planted some trees, so now each of us can make a very true statement “I have my own tree on Tenerife”
On Wednesday the Group hiked up “Pico del Teide”, a mount Teide that is 3718m high above sea level. Actually it’s a sleeping volcano, unfortunately we did not get up to its top but still the view was outstanding!
Later this day there was a surprise for us – activities in a rope park where everybody had a lot of fun although it was raining a bit. In the afternoon we had a chance to attend the festival of crosses which is a famous Spanish celebration that shows special respect for the cross upon which Jesus was crucified.
The forth day was all about visiting the San Matias school, among different school activities we were also learning how to communicate by whistling. There was another TV show where our Erasmus+ Group was presented. An interesting point of this day was also to go and see black beach (playa el medano, playa de la nea).
On our fifth day we were driven to the recycling center “PIRS Tenerife” to learn about main recycling rules. The presentations were very practical and very enjoyable! In the afternoon we went to a beach with Spanish students. Majority of “white skinned” quickly turned to “red skinned”
The last day jumped out from the calendar so quickly, that no one noticed it. Obviously it was the saddest day - we had to say ‘goodbye’ to everyone, there were tears and a very emotional farewell. However, before that Polish teachers planned a superb surprise to our group - Loro Parquet - ZOO which houses an extensive and diverse reserve of animal and plant species. For me it was a dream coming true, to see the orcas and dolphins with my own eyes! After that we enjoyed sea food and hugged our friends for the last time.
By Magdalena Curyło
