Montserrat

MOUNTAIN

Montserrat is a mountain near Barcelona, in Catalonia. "Montserrat" literally means "jagged (serrated) mountain" in Catalan. It describes the peculiar aspect of the rock formation, which is visible from a great distance.

MONTSERRAT

The summit of Montserrat is called Sant Jeroni (Saint Jerome) and stands at 1,236 meters (4,055 feet) above sea-level. It is accessible by hiking trails which go from the top entrance to the Sant Joan funicular, the monastery, or the base of the mountain. The Virgin of Montserrat (the black virgin), is Catalonia's favourite virgin and it is located in the sanctuary of the “Mare de Deu de Montserrat”.

MONASTERY

The monastery in the mountain is called Santa María de Montserrat. It belongs to Catalan region of Bages, province of Barcelona. It is at 720 m up on the sea’s level. It’s a symbol for Catalonia and it is a point of pilgrimage for believers and a very important visit for tourists. The monastery is Catalonia's most important religious retreat and groups of young people from Barcelona and all over Catalonia make overnight hikes at least once in their lives to watch the sunrise from the heights of Montserrat.

THE LIBRARY OF MONASTERY

Historical summary There are records showing that the monastery has contained manuscripts ever since its founding in the XI century. Indeed, since the XII century, Montserrat has had its own scriptorium, which saw much activity during the XIV and XV centuries. The current Library as it stands today was founded towards the end of the XIX. In a matter of years, the Library’s collection grew from 15,000 volumes to approximately 150,000.

PLANTS AND TREES

The mountain of Montserrat is overall a mountain of oaks. The climate is Mediterranean, which means there are thicket forests, bushes and lianas. In Montserrat there are white pine trees because they have been planted by men.

ANIMALS

Its fauna is made up mainly of wild cat and wild boar in the forests of oaks, and predatory birds: the sparrow hawk, the eagle or the hawk pilgrim that they are located in the less accessible zones.

Presenting a science project in Galicia

Last November I went to Galicia. Two friends and I went there because we did a scientific project. We won and we had to go to Galicia to represent it. I was in Vigo, Santiago and we stayed in a hotel in Orense. Galicia is a fantastic place where there are a lot of things to see and I had the good opportunity of seeing the city. If I’m sincere, for me, the best places are hot springs.

It was really funny going to Galicia and meeting new people. It’s gratifying to do a good work and then have a reward. We have good friends there and new friends here, in Catalonia where they won a prize, too. I think that going there was one of my best experiences in my life, but, of course, the best experience in my life was Poland. I encourage you to work hard.

I recommend you to see Galicia.

Pocket-money

With the inquiries that we made to our classmates, we can see that most of them have got around 5 or 10€ per week or month as pocket-money. It depends on the parents.

The pocket-money that they receive is to be invested on their hobbies (games, to buy clothes…) and the parents think that this money has to cover their expenses.

In the case that the young people don’t have any money left, the parents give a little part of the next pocket-money.

In most of the inquiries people think that their pocket-money is enough and if you compare their pocket-money with that of the other people that don’t have any money, they think that they are lucky for it but unfortunately many people don’t agree with the amount of money they get.

Done by Maria and Núria.

"Niezła szopka"- Christmas crib

On 18th December in our school we witnessed our teachers' letting their hair down, as they transformed themselves into the characters from famous Polish poems for kids. As a result, we felt as if we were in a fairytale.

The discribed story was placed in a teachers' common room which was visited by such extraordinary creatures as the ladybird, Mr Toadstool, the duck and the hippo all of which of course were acted by the profs of our school.

We believe that the person who played the biggest role in the performance was the one who some of you have already got to know and some of you are going to meet during our exchange - it's of course our English teacher. The variety of the characters he played was appreciated by the audience.

The money, gathered during the sale of christmas cards and the tickets for the show bought both by students and their parents, was donated to the 12-yaer-old girl suffering from a serious illness called encephalopathy. We raised over 5000 PLN (about 1300 euro)

Not only did our school help the person in need but also we, as the students, were given the golden opportunity to see the more natural and down-to-earth face of our, normally strict and serious, teachers. The show turned out to be beneficial for everyone involved and we hope that in the future we will be able to see more such events. Since our winter holidays have already started we would like to wish you Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Made by: Agnieszka Paszkowska, Karolina Zając, Kamila Żmijewska

HTML LANGUAGE TO IMPROVE OUR POSTS

My hobbies

We could say that snowboarding is an extreme sport where you have to keep your balance while you slide.The development of snowboarding was inspired by surfing and skateboarding, and the sport shares superficial similarities with skiing. It became a winter olympic sport in 1998. To practise this sport you need a snowboard attached to the foot with a special boot. Every ski slopes has a colour that means the level of it. For example: Green -> Ver easy Blue -> Easy Red -> Medium Black -> Difficult I started practising these sports when I was 10. The bad thing of this sport is that you have to wait until winter. I always go to Andorra to practise them. Firstly I started to practise ski because it was the ‘’normal’’ thing, there was not many people doing snowboarding; but last year I learnt to ski and I wanted to try something new so that’s why I started practising it. In my family my sister and I are the only ones who do it because my dad and my mom are scared to fall and be hurt or something like that. As you can see , in the photo I’m wearing a helmet because a lot of people that don’t know how to do it go to ski slopes that aren’t appropriate for their level and then they can hurt you. When I’m skiing I can go to the black ski slopes but I’m scared because I think I’ll start to go down and I won’t be able to stop, so then the maximum ski slopes that I use is the red one. And when I’m snowboarding I can go to the black too but I just go to the blue and green ski slopes. Another important thing is the equipment because it changes depending on the kind of sport you practice. In ski people usually wear tight clothes, the typical clothes, but people that do snowboarding wear baggy trousers and baggy jackets( girls usually buy man trousers because they’re baggier than the women’s ones). As you can see in the pictures I wear tight trousers to ski, baggy ones for snowboarding, and I use the same jacket because it’s baggy.( and I always wear baggy clothes to do sports, because I think you have to enjoy it, not to show people how your clothes suit you). Usually people ask what’s easier, if skiing or snowboarding, and for me it’s quite difficult to answer this question because when you snowboard you have your feet together and with the skis you do not, so at this point it is easir with skis, but when you are learning how to snowboard and you learn how to stop, you can even go to the black ski run, but not with the skis because you’ll go down really fast since you don’t know enough things to go there.

Websites for meeting people

Websites for meeting people There are websites for meeting people via Internet. Some of them are: - http://www.fotolog.com/: This page is like a diary where you can upload a picture and write all that you want. Apart from this you can speak with people and you can post comments maximum 20 comments, but if you pay you become “gold” and you can have 200 and upload 6 pictures in one day. - http://www.myspace.com/: This page is the most famous website. You can upload pictures, music and videos and you can put a profile. If people want to meet you, they can post comments. - http://www.tuenti.com/ and www.facebook.com are like myspace but without some things. If you want to add a comment in all this websites you have to log in. What types of websites for meeting people do you use? By: Ainoa Planas,Vicky Muñoz, Montse Jiménez, Laura García.

MY HOBBY

My favourite hobby, among other things like basket or drawing, is the bike. But in this sport there are different modalities because it is very different going along the road or along a track. Of these modalities, I like and I practice Downhill (DH), Dirt Jump and four-cross(4X).

Downhill:

This modality consists of cycling down off-road trails, whether country back roads, fire roads, or single tracks in the shortest time possible. But not everything is competition, because you also do it without the need to win but to enjoy yourself and practise new jumps. This is Free ride. The bikes that we use have long travel suspension, both at the front and at the rear.

Dirt:

To practise jumping and make different figures in the air. These bikes are simpler than the previous modality.

4X:

The same as downhill but four bikers at the same time.

I don’t know in Poland, but these sports have become popular in Spain in the last years. They are very expensive sports because apart from a specialized bike,you need protections and they are not cheap.

Video: http://es.youtube.com/watch?v=ko3qyMT00jc

Xmas Greetings

Dear friends,

Our winter holidays are about to begin. I think we all need and deserve them, don’t you agree with me?

In spite of the grim images of the YouTube video I’ve chosen (I’m not very fond of the typical Xmas decorations and carols), I sincerely wish you MERRY CHISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR.

We have to recharge our batteries. Our students are already preparing your stay in Barcelona. In fact, in a month time you will be landing in Barcelona’s airport. Meanwhile, enjoy your winter rest.

Give our regards to all the people involved in the exchange and our best wishes for all the teachers, your head teacher and the staff who made our stay in your hometown a wonderful experience last April. We will never forget it!

Love,

Mònica

So this is Christmas
And what have you done
Another year over
And a new one just begun
Ans so this is Christmas
I hope you have fun
The near and the dear one
The old and the young

A very merry Christmas
And a happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one
Without any fear
And so this is Christmas
For weak and for strong
For rich and the poor ones
The world is so wrong
And so happy Christmas
For black and for white
For yellow and red ones
Let's stop all the fight
A very merry Christmas
And a happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one
Without any fear
And so this is Christmas
And what have we done
Another year over
And a new one just begun
Ans so this is Christmas
I hope you have fun
The near and the dear one
The old and the young
A very merry Christmas
And a happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one
Without any fear
War is over over
If you want it
War is over
Now...

We have no right to complain

A friend of mine sent it to me on the internet and I thought it was worth posting it on the blog...There are no words to describe some of the images.

We have no right to complain

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: social issues)

Marc's family

Hi everyone!

My name is Marc. I’m 13 years old and I live in a house with my family. We‘re 4 people in the house: my dad, my mum, my older sister and me.

My father’s name is Manuel and he works as a manager in a food company in Montcada i Reixac,a small village in Barcelona. My dad is a good person an a very intelligent person. He loves sleeping but he doesn’t sleep very much.

My mother’s name is Carmen and she works as asales assistant in a a shop of herbs, teas... She’s got a peculiar red short hair. She does most of the jobs in the house: cleaning, cooking, shopping…

My sister name is Andrea and she is 17 years old, she is very vain and a good student. She enjoys talking with her friends and with her boyfriend. She is lazy but it's a good person.

I’m a good student. I’m a bit of a hooligan but I’m a good boy. My favourite hobby is BMX because I love bicycles.

Thanks all for now, mates If anyone needs me, call me!!!!!!!

Sonia's family

Hello people! My name is Sonia. I’m 13 years old and I live in a flat with my family. We’re 4 people in the flat: my dad, my mum, my younger sister and me.

My father’s name is Javier and he works as a car mechanic in Nissan in Zona Franca. My dad is a good person but he is a pain in the neck. My father’s fat and tall.

My mother’s name is Esther. She’s a cook in a nursery. She isn’t patient.

My sister’s name is Sandra and she is 11 years old. Her school is CEIP Prosperitat. She is a good person but like all sisters we have our fights.

And I’m a bit lazy. I go to a high school called IES Sant Andreu I’m taking 2nd of ESO I have not very clear thoughts on what I'm going to be or what I'm going to do. I haven’t got very clear ideas about my future. I don’t know what I’m going to be when I grow old.

This is my family and ,although we have our problems, they are the most important thing in my life.

Luiza's profile

Luiza's family

Hi everyone! My name is Luiza. I’m 13 years old and I live in a flat with my family. We’re 4 people in the flat: my mum, my dad, my older sister and me.

My father’s name is Gregor he works as a bar owner in Alcalá de Henares, Madrid. My dad is a very good and funny person but he's quite lazy and doesn't help much at home. He only goes shopping and sometimes he cooks. He loves drinking juice. He's like Homer Simpson.

My mother's name is Elena and she's got black and smooth hair. She's a housewife but she used to be a Chemistry teacher in the past. My mum is a very good person. She does most of the jobs in the house: cooking, cleaning, polishing, ironing, and she's very patient. She's like Marge Simpson.

My sister's name is Knarik and she's a good student. She loves watching movies, reading interesting books and listening to music. She wants to be a graphic designer. She helps in the house.

I'm a good student, as my sister. I love dancing all types of music and I'm going to dancing three days a week. I help in house. I tidy my room, sometimes when my mother is not in the house, my sister and me clean the house and we prepare coffee for my mum.

That's all for now, friends! If anyone needs me, I'll be in my room!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sara's family

MY FAMILY

Hi everyone!! My name is Sara. I’m 13 years old and I live in a flat with my family. We’re 4 people in the flat: my dad, my mum, my younger sister and me.

My father’s name is Javier and he works as a bricklayer in a building in Cornellà. He isn’t very tall, his hair is black and short. His eyes are brown. My dad is a good person and helps my mum at home. He loves playing padel and going to the cinema to see action films.

My mother’s name is Maria José. She works as an administrative. She isn’t very tall, her hair is black and curly. Her hobbies are listening to music, reading and horse-riding. She is very patient. She does most of the household tasks.

My sister’s name is Raquel, so far she is a good student. She studies second grade of primary school in CEIP Víctor Català. Her hair is brown and curly. Generally she behaves well but, with me, she is a pain in the neck. She is always asking me things.

I’m a good student and I dance and I play the guitar. I like reading adventure books, horse-riding and going to the cinema with my friends. My eyes are brown, and my hair is blonde, long and sometimes curly and sometimes straight. I like to have clear ideas about things and I don’t like seeing things messy. I’m against injustice in the world.

This is my family That’s all for now.