Accompanying teacher and Erasmus coordinator Steve Szabó

We embarked on our first Erasmus group mobility on 15 October with 8 carefully selected AIC students from grade 11 and 12. It was going to be the very last trip for our 12 graders. Our photographer Mr Reza also accompanied us on this one week- long, very busy and rewarding, promising travel-and-study trip to the Green Heart of Italy, Umbria, to a little, green hilltop town Nocera Umbra.

On our arrival to Ciampino Airport we took a shuttle bus to the centre of Rome, from where we got on a train that took us into the region of Umbria to reach our destination Nocera Umbra. We were picked up at the station by our host Maurizio Morini who is also the Erasmus coordinator of the school at the Istituto Omnicomprensivo D. Alighieri of Nocera Umbra where we spent our mornings visiting classes.

We were placed in single, double and triple rooms at the Domus Ecclesiae which turned out to be a very cosy and comfortable hostel with an absolutely outstanding food selection and quality, our students didn’t believe their luck how well they were being looked after there.

The first day cut out for work was Monday when we joined IO. Aligheri for the first time. Our students made their presentations and were introduced to their peers at our partner school. They also took part in a project called the city of Leonia where they had to reassemble a whole city from household plastic waste. I have to admit that our students made a masterpiece of it, and it was also immortalised by Mr. Reza. In the afternoon we went to discover this tiny but exciting, very nature-close and friendly town that also has its hidden historical treasures and its true charm.

On Tuesday we had a full day outing to the nearby regional capital Perugia and to another beautiful Umbrian hilltop town, the world-famous Assisi. We had a rented minibus to take us to these 2 memorable towns. First, we went to the local university (Universitá per gli Stranieri) that prepares foreign students in Italian. The Management was kind enough to give us a guided tour inside this remarkably decorated historical palace. Having discovered Perugia and its city centre where we got by using the so-called mini metro, we went to Assisi to visit the UNESCO sites and the Basilica that is the centre of the Franciscan Order. Here, we also met our last year Italian students Luca, Arianna, Sophia who gave us an authentic guided tour of this marvellous city.

On Wednesday we had Physics experiments at the school, we built a basic model of a hydrogen powered engine coupled with a solar panel for an outside energy source. In the afternoon we went to Foligno, another beautiful town but this one is found in a valley for a change. Our last year participant loved the sites here, so they asked us to return to the joy of all of us. On Thursday we got up early to go to Rome for a full day trip, which proved to be memorable and one of a kind. We packed in the Colosseum, the Saint Peter’s square, the Spanish steps, Piazza del Popolo, the shopping district and one part of Imperial Rome with the Trevi and Pantheon. It was an action-packed day with 25 kms in our legs.

On Friday after school with a psychology class, philosophy debates and PE classes (including a walk in the forest) we had a rather relaxing afternoon as a railway strike threw a spanner in the works and we were forced to stay put, but our students didn’t mind it, Saleh and Harry went to a local gym to work out, the others explored the playground.

On Saturday we went to the Frasassi caves to visit one of Europe’s most breath-taking natural stalagmite and stalactite stones on a fully natural display with a constant 14 degrees Celsius and an almost 100% humidity. It was one of the most mesmerizing caves I have ever seen, our students also enjoyed the 1500 meters long kingdom in the belly of Earth. In the afternoon we went to Gubbio, another gem of Umbria to have lunch together with our last year’s Gubbio students who spent a month with us. They showed us the way to the cable car station that took us above the city, providing a mesmerizing view, before going back to the Domus.

On Sunday we left Nocera Umbra back to Rome where we had another few hours before taking the shuttle back to the Airport, so we could say a proper See You Later to the Eternal City, to this fantastic experience and all the joy and fun we managed to have in this Erasmus Group mobility that made us all the more richer, that connected students and schools, communities and lives together.

DISSEMINATION material shot at the host school in Nocera Umbra in October 2023:

 

This mobility was fully funded by The European Commission.

Written by: Steve Szabó

29. Oct. 2023.