From the22nd to the26th of November 2021 we spent five days participating in the mobility with partner countries from the ERASMUS+ project “Knowing our organic food” in the host school from Italy. Each group consisted of two teachers and four students from Poland, Portugal, Spain and Romania. Italian teachers and students were the most numerous group as the hosts of the meeting.

We started our journey on 21st November. We took a plane to Katania and after that, we went by bus to Canicatti -the town, where we were staying with our host Italian families. We were welcomed by our hosts in the center of the town. Surely, all of us were a bit stressed out- then it got only better.

On Monday morning we all met at school. Italian students presented their country, region, town and school they attend. We were watching the presentations with real interest. Next, we went to the local organic farm (vineyard), where the owner told us a lot of interesting facts about how their grapes are grown ecologically and why the soil is so important for the grapes' growth. We could also see the packing processes and how to prepare grapes for export to other countries.

On the second day, we were shown a presentation about the economy of producing organic food and we had cooperative activities with other students. After lunch, we went to Agrigento (the historic city). We were visiting the town with a great interest. We could walk along typical, narrow streets and also we admired the architecture of the town and its monuments.

On the third day we had a full day trip to the capital of Sicily- Palermo. There we visited the oldest parliament in the world -Palazzo Reale with its impressive Cappella Palatina and also one of the landmarks- the cathedral- Cattedrale di Palermo. Everyone was very impressed with this monument. Later, we had some free time to eat lunch and enjoy local food or buy some souvenirs. After this exhausting but interesting day,we returned to our host families.

On our fourth day in Sicily, we had a meeting with a nutritionist. She told us what our daily diet should be like, what food we should eat rarely and what we can eat everyday to be healthy. Next, our task was to make a list of healthy and unhealthy food. It was done in mixed groups, so we had a possibility to expand our English vocabulary and improve our ability to cooperate with foreign students. After that, a selected group of people from each country went to the local supermarket and they carried out a survey with the citizens of Canicatti about organic food. In the afternoon, we went to the shopping mall.

On the fifth and the last day of our timetable, we were able to visit the Greek Valley in Agrigento. It was a really absorbing, guided tour. We learned a lot about the ancient times and civilization that lived there. It was impressing. In the evening we went to school, to take part in a farewell party with all the students and teachers. We were dancing to the rhythms of the music and we had great fun together.

Surely, everybody will remember this time spent in Sicily. All of these mentioned above activities were very interactive. Our meetings had a pleasant atmosphere. They were a huge opportunity to check and improve our language skills, but also to increase our social skills in teamwork with new friends. We met very interesting and valuable people. We all hope to keep in touch with one another after this project.finishes.We are grateful to every Italian student and teacher for organising the meeting and preparing such a great event, which was a magnificent experience for all of us.

The Polish team