Tenerife's trip

5th February - Day 1

Our day started at 9am at school, where we met the students from other countries. We were then divided into international groups and the treasure hunt began. 

 

The teams were divided by colour, I was in the red one. The hunt started at school with a clue hunt, from there we moved to the city to look for clues. The treasure was hidden on the beach, where we finally arrived. The red team found the last clue and thus won the treasure hunt. The prize was the right to use the beach toys the teachers had brought along. 

 

After collecting the prize, we had a picnic, followed by introductory games to get to know the other students better. Afterwards, we worked again in international groups. We were given the task of finding people on the beach and interviewing them about their trip to Tenerife. Once this task was completed, the Spanish students invited us to join them for lunch at a nearby fast-food restaurant, after which we went our own way for the rest of the day. 

 

 6th February - Day 2

At noon, we gathered in front of the hotel, from where we started our bus ride up into the mountains. Dario came to guide us and gave us a comprehensive overview of the area. 

 

The road from Los Cristianos to Teide passes through Vilaflor, the highest town in Spain, a full 1400 metres above sea level. However, Vilaflor is more like of a village than a town. In Vilaflor, we took a small tour. There we saw traditional handicrafts called rosettes. 

 

Vilaflor is home to one of the island's first churches, named after the first Canary Island saint, Hermano Pedro, who was born in Vilaflor - Iglesia de San Pedro Apostol. Vilaflor is also a place where old traditions are more honoured than anywhere else in Tenerife. This is where we witnessed the traditional washing of clothes. 

 

The name Vilaflor comes from an old tradition that a Castilian man came to the village of Chasna and saw a beautiful Guanche woman. She had later told her friends the following words: 'Vi la flor de Chasna' ('I saw a flower'). The small town of Chasna, which today is called Vilaflor. 

 

After Vilaflor, we continued along winding mountain roads up into the Teide National Park. Dario introduced us to the different volcanic rocks. We climbed to the top of the crater of one of the smaller volcanoes, from where we had a very beautiful and powerful view. We were at an altitude of about 2100 metres. From the top we had a closer look at Teide volcano, which is 3715 metres high. Teide is a dormant volcano that last erupted in 1909. The last eruption lasted three months. El Teide means the White Mountain in Tenerife. There are over 300 volcanoes on Tenerife.

 

 

After dinner we watched the sunset and had a picnic. Then, when it was already dark, our guide Dario gave us an in-depth briefing on astronomy. We were able to look at the Moon with binoculars and the stars with a telescope. Because there is no light pollution in the mountains, you can see the stars better than anywhere else. We also saw two satellites moving around in the sky. The evening was quite chilly in the mountains. It was a very enjoyable and meaningful day. 

 

 7th February - Day 3

The day started at 9am. We spent the day at the school IES Los Cristianos. When we got there, we were taken to the sports field where Tenerife students did a short performance and sang for us. After that, all the students were divided into international groups, and we were shown around the school. 

 

Around half past one, all the countries started to present their chosen themes. The presentation of the Estonian team was about European and Estonian religions. Once everyone had presented their work, we were given a quick break during which we had sandwiches and a variety of Tenerife snacks. 

 

When the break was over, we were again divided into international groups, and we all started working on a manifesto on zero discrimination. It took quite a long time to come up with all the ideas, but in the end all the students were happy with how it looked in the end. After writing and designing the manifesto, we had a lunch break which lasted for half an hour and all the students got to choose where they wanted to go for lunch. When we got back to school, everyone started to make one big poster with mandalas made by the students and the theme was "Equal Rights". 

 

The day ended with an exhibition where each school group had to show what solidarity activities their school is doing or has done. The whole school day was very long and quite tiring, but in the end, we were all glad to have done something like this.