Sunday, 15.04.18 We started our journey at 7 o'clock in the morning. While we were waiting for the train in Unterlüß, Mr Lamm (engl. lamb) told us a joke and put a “Heidschnucken” (regional lamb) Sticker on his suitcase to recognize it easier. We had to change trains twice before we reached Hamburg airport. There, we checked our bags and made our way to the security check. After that we had some time to look around the shops and buy some food for the flight. The teachers arrived a tour meeting point a bit late. On the plane we had to wait a few more minutes and finally we flew off with some delay. After our 3 hours flight we collected our baggage without a long wait and went straight tot he bus stop. Another bus brought us to Leiria. Fenja felt a bit sick on the bus ride but thanks to Mr Lamm’s funny princess stories she felt much better soon. In Leiria we had to walk a bit before our host families picked us up. At my Portuguese host family’s house I was warmly welcomed and I was shown everything. Later that night, after I had settled in, all relatives came by for pizza. Many of the adults could only speak English very poorly which made conversation a bit difficult. But I got on well with the cousins of my exchange student and there were two other exchange students with whom I could talk. So we had a lot of fun. Finja
Monday, 16.04.18 On Monday, we met at school at 9:30 am. There we had a tour around the school together with our exchange partners, and we also took part in a school lesson (German, History). The students here are much louder than we are in our classes. At 10:30 am we were welcomed by the principaö and some younger students, who sang a nice song (a lot of students were very loud while the others sang the song). After that we had some free time to look around the school. In this break we also learned about the "tradition" of walking around the school. They do this every free second they have. After that two of us had another lesson (History), and the others had a longer break. Then we ate lunch at the school cafeteria. At 2:00 pm we had the presentations about "Our Country, Culture and Tradition ", and the Portuguese students also prepared a video about “Fun Facts-Portugal“. In the end some students attended another lesson and some went home. The new relationships we made with the students from the other countries, and the differences in the school systems were interesting. In the evening we stayed at our host families. Jasmin
Tuesday, 17.04.18 I got up at 7:30 am and had breakfast. Then, we were taken to school by a friend and talked to some friends there. At approximately 9:30 we went to the bread factory "Panidor" by bus. Before we could go inside the bread factory, we had to wait for about 10-20 minutes. We used this time to take some pictures. Before we were finally able to walk in, we also talked to the employee who lived in Germany for a couple of years. Before we went inside, we received visitor badges. Inside, we were not allowed to eat, to take any pictures, to touch anything. Also, we had to tie up our hair and wear protective clothes for our hair, our body and shoes. First, we saw the production of the chocolate for the croissants. The employee told us how the butter gets in the dough and how long the croissants were cooled. After this, we went to the packing station and watched how they were packed in the box. Next, we went to the production station of the small cupcakes, then we went down a long hall and walked into two different kitchens: one for the sweet things such as “Berliner” and one for the salty things like filled cheese croissants. In another room, rolls were produced. When the buns were put in the oven, Finja and I were almost tempted to take one of the rolls because we were so hungry. After this the tour ended and we returned back to our starting point, and everyone was allowed to taste a chocolate croissant. We had to wait for about 30 minutes before we went back to school. We went back to school and had lunch (chicken and noodles) with our exchange students. At about two o'clock, we went to Leiria by bus. Another German girl who spent her school year in Portugal, also went with us. When we arrived in Leiria we visited the Town Hall first and met some representatives of the city. Next we walked to the marketplace, were our food exhibition was planned. Then we went to the great LEIRIA letters and took a few photos. Finally, it was time for some free time to buy some things like bubble tea or apple pie. Back at school we were greeted by our guest students. At my host family I could choose if I wanted to go to the beach or the mall. Of course, I chose the beach and we drove to a beach Monte Real. The beach was really nice and I noticed that the Atlantic has much more waves than the Baltic Sea or the North Sea. We ate some ice cream and went back home. At home weh ad a very delicious typical Portuguese fish casserole. Last but not least I went to bed after a long day. Fenja
Wednesday, 18.04.18 On Wednesday morning we all met at at school at 8:30 am and took a bus to Leiria. This day was, besides Monday, the only one with our exchange students. We were very sad about this fact because we weren´t able to do many things with them. In Leiria we visited a museum. The main aspect of it was the former paper and flour production. After this program we had a lot of free time which most of us used to eat in a pizzeria. Since we still had free time after dinner we did a tour through Leiria. Due to the perfect weather some of us ate some ice cream. At about 2 pm it was time to meet at the market to prepare our food exhibition called “International food exhibition “. At first we prepared our tables, then we decorated them with the flags and some other typical objects of the individual countries. But this evening wasn´t only about food – it was about the countries in general, too. For this some countries brought leaflets of their region or city to present themselves. The exhibition didn´t start until 6:30 pm, therefore we were allowed to do other things. Later, we all started to cook in a kitchen together. Every country prepared a traditional dinner: Italy for example did tomato with mozzarella and lasagna and we from Germany cooked “Schnitzel” and apple pie. When most of the food was gone, a musician played his guitar and one of the Italian teachers on the small stage sang. Paula
Thursday, 19.04.18 After a silent breakfast with cake and fruit, my exchange student, her sister and I were driven to school by my host mother as every morning. On the 10-minute drive my host mother tried to explain where she works, but that was not so easy to understand, because she did not speak English and my exchange student could not translate everything. When we arrived at the school, we went to the other students to greet them. Overall, the Portuguese students were very open-minded and friendly to us and we also had a good time. What I noticed was that some of them spoke English very well and others did not speak much, even though they are in the same class. So half an hour passed quickly and we got on the bus to pick up the teachers from Leiria. Unfortunately, the Portuguese students were not allowed to come, but had to stay at school. After about 45 minutes we arrived in Fatima. In Fatima is the Catholic sanctuary, which is an important sanctuary for many Portuguese and therefore many go there for pilgrimage. When we arrived in the big square between the basilicas, many people went to their knees and prayed. We got a tour guide who told us the story of Fatima, but it was very hard to understand as she spoke very quietly because he did not want to disturb the worship that was taking place right next to us. Then we had some free time to look around and buy some souvenirs. First, we visited the "Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary", which resembled the German churches. Then we went to the souvenir shops and bought some postcards and an ice cream. Later we went to the second basilica; the "Basilica of the Holy Trinity" was modern and had similarities with the German Bundestag. Here we stayed only very shortly, because a church service was held. After that, we sat down on a bench and ate our packed lunches while taking pictures and watching people, because we had some time left until we were to meet again with the others. When everyone was back together we went to the bus and drove to a restaurant, from which you had a nice view. The restaurant was a bit older but very comfortable and if the bus had not stood in the way, we would have had a very nice view outside. We sat with the Danish and an Italian woman at the table and got along very well. We had a lot of fun. The food was delicious too but the best was the dessert buffet with lots of different treats. After dinner we took the bus to the monastery of Batalha, which we all visited together. We admired the many columns and ornaments. After that we had free time and could go to the small shops that were scattered around the monastery. This time we went around with the two Danish girls because we became friends at lunch. After we had enough of the souvenir shops we went to the bus and drove back to school a little later. There our guest students, who had lessons until 5:20, already expected us. At home, I had to wait an hour, because my exchange student still had tutoring. Then we drove to Leiria and met with the others to go shopping. Once we arrived at the mall, we ate there and then went to the shops. At about 10 pm we made our way back to Monte Real. Finja
Friday, 20.04.18 On Friday we again met at school at 9:30 am. After we picked up the teachers in Leiria we went to Nazaré by bus. Nazaré is near a big beach. But first we saw the beach with the "worlds biggest waves" (we didn’t see these waves, but the beach). We had a very nice view and took some beautiful pictures. Then we had some free time at Nazaré. We visited many souvenir shops and of course also the beach. After that we had lunch in a restaurant by the beach, called ”St.Miguel“. There we had some food, some with fish. Many students didn't like that. After we ate we went to Obidos, a small medieval city. It was very beautiful, and we again had some free time to visit the shops in this city (mostly souvenir or sweet shops). Many shops also sold the typical liquor for this region. After this long but wonderful day, we went back to school and to our host families. Sadly the Portuguese students stayed at school the whole day. So we met them again in the evening. Some of us met with their Portuguese exchange partners in Leiria and some people from the other countries. We were in a cafe and walked a bit through Leiria. We also visited the stadium of Leiria. Jasmin
Saturday, 21.04.18 I woke up at 7:45, packed my bags and had breakfast. At about 8.30 we went to Leiria a little bit early because we stopped and bought cakes for my family and for our accompanying teachers. We were at the hotel at 09:30, because my exchange student had a basketball game. Our teachers still had breakfast. Therefore, we had to wait a bit and my host mother passed the gifts and we said our goodbyes. I waited in the next room with several sofas and some teachers already. The other students soon arrived and we talked a bit before we left for Porto with the Danish group at about 10:00 am. On the journey we talked, slept and listened to music. In Porto our check-in was not open yet and we had to wait for approximately one and a half hours. We ate something and talked. After check in and security we again had some time left. On the plane we watched a film, Paula wrote her report and Jasmin listened to music. In Hamburg, we were expected from Finja’s father and said goodbye to our teachers. Fenja