This week (from 19th to 25th of November), our group of students are meeting their Erasmus partners and host families in the welcoming Turkey in order to share their knowledge on global warming

We will share our findings on the topic and delve into the matter to find some solutions. Let's bear in mind that change starts with ourselves!

First day, first impressions. Thanks to the warming welcome, we adapted pretty quickly to the time change. The Adhan (or the Islamic call to prayer) added some colourful music to our early start. Turkey was ready to kick off!

Ice breakers have been the excuse to get to know our partners better, with whom we've set out on a journey to tackle global warming.

Some pleasant and cultural stroll around Samsun and some of its highlights helped us become familiar with the city that is hosting us: The Statue of Honour introduced us to the influential big name of Atatürk; in the Panorama Museum, we learned a bit more about the founding father of Turkey, and we finished our walking tour in the Foreigners' Bazaar, where we came into contact with the cultural tradition of bargaining.

In our second day in Samsun, it was time to get in contact with nature and spend the morning wandering around the wilderness of Canik Forest. It looked like it was going to drizzle all day long, but soon, a hazy sunshine shyly broke through the clouds.

We finished our walk visiting the Canik Orman Okulu, a school that focuses on finding ways to mix the learning of sustainability with raising awareness about the need of taking care of mother nature. We enjoyed playing team building games and had a great time.

In the evening, our host families lavished all sorts of traditional Turkish dishes on us. They filled up both our hearts and stomachs!

The day started piecing together fragments of the fascinating story of the matriarchal society created by the Amazon warriors, who allegedly occupied this land and severed their breasts to fire arrows more easily.

Later, we had the chance to embark on a yacht tour that was cancelled yesterday because of the weather conditions. We finally sailed across the Black Sea, tasted the distinctive simit, felt the gusty wind, and got carried away, moving Turkishly to the sound of music while we wholeheartedly embraced the moment like the seagulls that glided over our heads.

We finished our walk tour where we started: literally at the foot of the statue of an empowered female warrior.

The day started with each team showing their presentations about global warming. To understand how this issue affects our daily lives, we all had previously conducted research in our countries. We also tried to share strategies on how we can address this issue.

After coming up with some ideas about what we could do, a contest was held to decide which was the best awareness campaign that we could bring to our schools so that we could be part of the solution and not part of the pollution.

We finished with the certification ceremony, held by the vice principal, that ended in front of the school's wall of fame, which bears the signature of every Erasmus student that is hosted.

We will share our findings on the topic and delve into the matter to find some solutions. Let's bear in mind that change starts with ourselves!

On our last day of work, students have created two posters: one to raise awareness about yesterday's chosen campaign (a challenge to promote reusing clothes by encouraging students to exchange theirs), and a second one about the issue at stake (global warming).

We have also celebrated Teacher's Day with the school staff and have built a domino run with the "Erasmus +" letters, which we also toppled.

After a week of sharing unforgettable moments, it has been time to exchange fond farewells and send our best wishes.

Our journey back home will start at 4 in the morning. We have already packed a handful of ideas to bring back to our countries with a view to rising to the major climate change challenge.

Some pleasant and cultural stroll around Samsun and some of its highlights helped us become familiar with the city that is hosting us: The Statue of Honour introduced us to the influential big name of Atatürk; in the Panorama Museum, we learned a bit more about the founding father of Turkey, and we finished our walking tour in the Foreigners' Bazaar, where we came into contact with the cultural tradition of bargaining.

Our students are back home!

We've already packed a handful of ideas to take back to our schools to rise to the big #ClimateChangeChallenge