SOCRATES
Comenius 1.2

Countries of Silk and Linen : Ethnocultural Dialogue



March 26

	Italians got acquainted with the school and Siauliai. Italians were having lunch in our school canteen.

March 27

In the morning, we all met in front of the school. All Italians and Lithuanians had 5 lessons. The first lesson was English. The second lesson was Chemistry. The third and the fourth ones were English. And the last lesson was Physical Education. After the lessons, at 1 p.m. we ate lunch at school. At 5 p.m. at school there was held ‘Welcome party’ to our guests from Italy. First, Kamile and Vilius presented our project “The countries of silk and linen: ethnocultural dialogue“ to our parents and the administration of the school.

March 28

	On that day project participants decided to have a rest and visited the capital of Latvia – Riga. They walked around Riga’s Old Town, visited old churches and tasted Latvian food. Project participants touched the statue of Bremen Musicians – it is believed that this action will bring luck. On the way to Siauliai, students visited the Rundale Palace Museum which was very impressive.

March 29

Everybody got to school at 8 o‘clock in the morning. We had two first lessons: English and mathematics. In the English lesson we and Italians were discussing about conflicts and their solutions, doing the test „How assertive are you?“. Also Italians met our other classmates. In 10 o‘clock we went to international ecological conference. We had a lot of guests from other schools, also from Latvia and, of course, from Italy. Italian presenter, Mrs. Anania, told us about the pollution of their country and their town, called Catanzaro. Then we had lunch at school and at 2 o‘clock in the afternoon we had a visit to the Municipality. There we met the Mayor of the city, Vytautas Juškus.

March 30

	At 8 o’clock in the morning all Italian and Lithuanian students met at school. We went to the auditorium. There everybody watched the film about linen. After the lessons we organized an international volleyball and football matches. All the matches were won by Italian students. After the sport matches we had free time, so we met at the park and had a wonderful time there.

March 31

On March 31st we visited Trakai and our capital - Vilnius. Italians were charmed when they saw our ancient castle; they also liked the landscape of Trakai. Then we visited Vilnius, particularly the Gediminas Castle, our cathedral and other places of interest. Finally, we all walked around the old city and went to “Akropolis” where Italians bought some gifts for friends and families. We came back home late and we all were tired.

April 1

On Sunday, on the 1st of April at the 11o’clock, Lithuanians and Italians with their families met in the abbey near the Hill of Crosses. We participated in the mass. After the mess, the entire group went to the Hill of Crosses. It is a unique place where you can see so many crosses. Lithuanians wanted to show Italians this place and to tell them the story of the hill.Italians were very happy to have an opportunity to see the Hill of Crosses.

April 2

	At eight o‘clock we started our excursion to Panevėžys. The way wasn‘t very long, so after about 1.5h we were in Panevėžys. First of all, we visited glass factory, called „Glass Remis“.After this we went to the flax museum which is near Panevėžys, in Upytė. We watched the exhibition, tried to make linen ourselves and then went back to Panevėžys.

April 3

	The aim of this day was to introduce our guests from Italy to Lithuanian ethnoculture, traditions and customs. They had a great opportunity to try it practically and to do our national crafts by themselves. We also saw the exhibition at “Ausra” Museum.The project participants tried to make a basket themselves and did it successfully. Italians also learned how to weave with wickers. Afterwards, the project participants tried to throw traditional Lithuanian pots. And it looked very particular for all of them. Easter was coming, so Italians got some information about the oldest traditions of decorating Easter eggs in Lithuania.

April 4

	On Wednesday we went to see the Baltic Sea. First of all, we arrived in Palanga and went to the bridge. The sand was soft, the sea was cold and it was very windy. After visiting the dunes, we went to see another town - Nida. It’s a small town with beautiful landscape and a lot of nice small houses. Then we returned to Klaipėda and had one hour to spend at the shopping center Akropolis. On the way home we had fun playing some games.

April 5

	This day was almost the last day of this exchange this visit. First of all, we had international presentations as a feedback of the visit made by the project participants. Those presentations were made in three languages: English, Italian and Lithuanian. Then all project participants sang together Italian and Lithuanian songs with the help of karaoke. Italians even danced a little bit. Later all the participants and the teachers played bowling. In the evening all the participants met in the park and had a good time.

April 6

	As this was the last day, we were able to have a half-day free. In the afternoon we all met at Pizzeria “Pas Pjera” and had a pizza to honour Italian traditions. Remembering all best moments and holding our tears, we wrote the most beautiful words to our new friends on cards. After the Farewell Party, we decided not to go home but to stay together for the last time. We will never forget those few days because they were almost the most beautiful and exciting ones in our lives.