First Transnational Learning and Teaching Activity in Portugal in April 2016

1. day Wed 20.4.


The Finnish group and our hosts at the Finnish embassy in Lisbon

We left from Kauhajoki to Portugal on tuesday evening 19.4 at 10p.m. a clock. After Simo's and Tuomas's sleepsong we all slept nicely (or not so nicely) till the Parkano's Shell, where Sanna get on the buss. After a short stop we kept going to Helsinki-Vantaa airport. We arrived to the airport about 3 a.m. almost two and half hours before the flight (as basic finnish people usually do). Flight was about half a hour late and take five hours.

We arrived to the Lisbon at 8 a.m. First we took our baggage and then we met portuguese teachers Jaime and Carla. We get some snack and after that we had a visit to Finnish Embassy. We heard useful information about Portugal as a country and portuguese people. After that we went to modern art museum called Berard Museum where we split in to the two groups and our guides told us interesting trivia about work of arts. Museum visit took about one our and after that we all were very hungry and didn't have any other choice than go to McDonald's.



After we had eaten our Big Macs and cokes we visited the Jeronimos monastery. It was amazing church with very beautiful ornaments. We sat there for a while and after that we went to the Monument of Discoveries. We took a group photo (surprise) and many other beautiful pictures there and used elevator to get up to the roof of this monument building. The sight from there was breath taking.
Then we left from Lisbon and started our way to Vidigueira and our host families. On the way we saw typical portuguese landscapes with cows, sheeps, horses, fields and trees in the straight lines. After about two hours journey we met our host families and our partners for the first time. We had a very warm reception and the end of this evening we spend in our new homes.



Jeronimos monastery.

At the top of the Monument of Discoveries, Lisbon.

2. day Thu 21.4.

  • At the beginning of the day we got ourselves to the AEVID school with our pairs. We went to the classes with our pairs for a moment. After that all the finnish students went to the auditorium of the school. They told us a bit of the school and Portugal. They showed us a 7-minute-long video about history of Portugal.

  • Then they showed us the school and the students and teachers here. We got to walk around and saw a lot of interesting things. Then we got to eat some portuguese foods and drinks.

  • After that we did group projects with our portuguese pairs about entrepreneurship. We also constructed a solar powered oven together.
  • We went to eat at the cafeteria of school. They served us a really nice pineapple jelly. After that some of us played football Finland vs. Portugal. Portugal won.
  • After that we went to the town hall of Vidigueira. We got to visit the museum also. There were a lot of old things and it was interesting. We also met a cute street dog who followed us during the whole evening. After taking couple of photos we went to wine association where we spent little time.
  • Then we went to the host families, got to eat and shower and then went to sleep.
text: Eppuli and Jenna


Working together on the theme of entrepreneurship.



Making solar owens together.



Almost the whole group in the center of Vidigueira with the statue of Vasco da Gama.

3. day Fri 22.4.

Today on a cloudy friday morning we arrived to the school of Vidigueira at 8.30. We left the school by bus to see the beautiful sights and beaches and rocks of Southwest Alentejo and Vincent Natural park. There we were forbidden to go to the steep rocks because "it´s very dangerous!!!" but our rebel teacher Simo ingrored the instructions...



After this we ate some snakcs and left happy towards the eco camping resort called Zmar. On our way we stopped to a SWIMMING beach but "we had no time to swim but lets see how it would be like :DD" but once again our rebellious finnish sisu-boys Juuso and Toni didn´t care about the rules and left their "winterfur" in the Atlantic ocean as our official supervisor Tuomas Yli-Kokko aka Tykki proudly took pictures.




After this we finally went to the Zmar eco camping resort. By the gate they gave us wristbands that "allows you to go anywhere you want" and credit cards where we could load money. Happily we drove to Zmar where we had the best lunch of the whole trip and very good desserts. After this we students were waiting enthusiasticly to get in the pool but first we had to go to a guided tour around the resort. In the beginning of the tour we heard about the ecological choices of the resort. The terrace, chairs and tables are made of recycled materials and there are solar panels in the roof of the buildings to warm up the water and create energy for the resort. After this we went to see the place for children. There kids can make some of the toys by theirselves. In the yard there were many fun activities and even thought they were made for smaller children we had very much fun trying them. (specially teacher simo). After this we walked to see the waste recycle center. The Zmar camp reuses all waste that is possible to recycle. Also the waste water is cleaned and reused in the wastewater treatment plant. We walked around in the resort and saw the enviromentally fiendly cottages of the Zmar.

An introduction to an example of sustainable entrepreneurship at Zmar camp.

4. day Sat 23.4.

Hydropower Plant of Alqueva

- Was finished in 2002 and is located in region of Beja
- Vanguished one town called Aldeia da Luz, which was moved to another location before the dam was ready.
- Hilltops formed many islands, when water started to get higher.
- Dam fertilized the land that became able to farm.
- Lake covers area of 250km2 and is 135-154m deep
- Produced tourism for the area.

More accurate description down below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TquGS-uK52g

Power produced:
- Hydropower has a potential energy of the height difference between pools.
E_{\text{pot}}=m\cdot g\cdot h, m=mass, g=gravity, h=height
- Hydropower has a kinetic energy when they gather energy from the movement of the water.E_k=\frac{1}{2}mv^2, m=mass, v=speed
- And work and force needed when moving the water from one place to another.
W = F \cdot s. W=work, F=force, s=distance

- Has 2 turbines which has a 240MW power
- Produces 269GWh of electricity per one year.

The hydropower dam of Alqueva.

Getting to know about sustainable tourism entrepreneurship on the artificial lake over the dam.

5.-6. day Sun-Mon 24.-25.4.

Students holiday

Sunday:

Eppuli, Milla, Jenna and Sami went to see the Villa Romana de S. Cucufate, Then they went to eat pizza and then they walked around the streets in Evora.

Toni won the medal from pingis tournament.

Erika, Emma and Mikko were in ovibeja.

Emilia and Nelli were cyckling in Vidigueira.

Mirko was at the beach and then he was visiting his familys mom´s sister.

Eero, Mikko, Erika and Juuso were watching football game Beja vs Vidigueira in Vidigueira.(at 16.00)

Hannele was in Lissabon with her hostfamily and they were shopping and walking around.

Jere was in Mertola and in Pulo do lobo.

Teachers travelled Sun-Mon to study the north of Portugal, city of Porto.


Views of Porto by the teachers.

Monday :

Milla, Eppuli, Sami and Jenna were in Spain. There they go to see the gave Grunta de Aracena. Then they walked around the city. They also went shopping.

Jemina was in Lissabon with her hostfamily and they were in shopping center.

Emma, Erika, Eero, Jere, Nelli, Emilia, Maija, Nea and Juuso were playing football.

Nea, Nelli, Eero, Maija, Juuso and Emilia were walking 10km.

Emma and Erika went to Amiera Marina to drink ice tea.

Mikko was with his host family in Monsaraz.

Noora was sitting in her host familys coffee shop and she visited her partner´s brother.

Jemina was in ovibeja in the afternoon.

Hannele was in Lissabon.

7. day Tue 26.4.

Today we went to visit a historical castle town of Monsaraz. We left at 9.30 am and we drove about an hour to get there. We had a little bit of free time there and we walked around the town and the old castle taking pictures and did some sunbathing.

Picture of Monsaraz (source: monsarazaereo.jpg)


In Monsaraz

At 11.45 am we headed back to Vidigueira and grabbed some lunch. Our teacher Tuomas had a birthday and we celebrated it with a nice cake! (though it was little too sweet..)

After lunch we drove to the winery Herdade Rocim. There we had a guided tour. When we came back form the winery we went to picnic with our friends.


Getting to konw about the sustainable entrepreneurship of a winery at Herdade Rocim.


text: Noora, Erika, Hannele

8. day Wed 27.4.


Today morning we visited a huge solar power plant, Central Fotovoltaica Amareleja. We heared an interesting lecture about the power plant and looked at the solar panels. In the afternoon we visited the schools of Amareleja and Pedrogao. There we met happy small students and their nice teachers.

In the evening we had a wonderfull intercultural evening with interesting program and a lot of good food.

At the Central Fotovoltaica Amareleja. One of the biggest solar power plants in Europe.


Visiting a small primary- and pre-school near Amareleja.


Intercultural evening at AEVID.

9. day, Thu 28.4.

This was the day when we had to leave Vidigueira and say goodbye to our host families and new friends. It was really sad to say goodbye and leave. We had a little problem to fit our luggage into the bus so we had to wait for another vehicle. Then we drove to Lisbon. When we finally found our hostel we left our luggage there and went to the downtown. We headed to Sintra to see Pena National Palace. The view was just amazing because the palace is on a hilltop. We took a visit in the palace and everyone could see what they want. When we left Sintra we stopped for a little break on the beach. Water was really wet. Then we arrived back to Lisbon and had a good lunch. In the evening we went to see the view of Lisbon and its lights in the dark. After that we went to our hostel and everyone went to their own rooms. It was time to say good night and prepare for the next and the last day.



Saying goodbye at AEVID.



The Sintra castle in Lisbon.




Some Atlantic waves.

10. day Fri 29 April

This was the last day.
We woke up at 7.30 and our group separated into two different groups and I was in the group which hit the nearby beach.
The beach was super-cool! The weather was super-warm almost like mid-summer in Finland, but unfortunately seawater was pretty cold.. :( I went to swim once and it was fun because the waves were big and strong.
After that we went to shopping for a bit and then came back to hostel and got ready for the flight.
The other group were shopping at the Vasco da Gama shopping center. Everybody spent almost all of their money.
We had to go to airport by subway because all taxis and buses were in strike. It was kind of messy but in the end it went well.
At the airport we made last-minute shoppings and then flight to home and tiring bus-ride to home.

- Erika, Jemina V.