Tuesday 6 March Inge, Dhamayanti, Astrid, Stan, Lieke, Michelle, Taddeo, Maureen, Marijn, Levi, Morris, Aya, Julia, Giordi, Vera, Pippa of H2a left for the exchange with the students of Alexandru Ceusianu in Reghin. Due to problems with Silvan’s travel document he could not fly with us. This caused a lot of disappointment and tears. On our arrival in Cluj-Napoca we were greeted by two teachers who took us to the school in Reghin by bus. Our hosts and teachers gave us a warm welcome with fruits, snacks and drinks. By now it was around eleven pm so we left school to spend the night at our guest families.
On Wednesday we started with a tour through the school. After that we visited the town hall and we had a meeting with the Mayor, Maria Precup. That afternoon we went to Toplita to swim at the Banffy Wellness Centre. The students had an extremely active, fun time.
Early on Thursday morning we took the bus and went to the salt mines in Turda. Some of us enjoyed rowing on the salt lake pretending to be the required 16. The walk through the botanical garden in Cluj was a bit of a disappoint as there were no flowers yet to be seen. After that we went to the shopping mall in Cluj which is really huge with all kinds of shops, both expensive and cheap. At half past seven we went to the airport where Silvan’s plain had just landed. There were cheers and hugs as Silvan arrived at the bus. We were glad that he was able to join us after all.
Friday we started with a lesson on traditional wood painting. At 11 we visited the string instruments factory owned by Mr. Gliga, who is also a representative at the Parliament. Next to the factory there was a dance school and we had the privilege to see some of their pupils perform several kinds of ballroom dances, which were very impressive. The afternoon we spent with our host families who arranged different activities.
Saturday the 10th of March we returned home.
We thank the Romanian students and their families, and the teachers for their friendliness, their hospitality and their warm welcome. We had an amazing time and we really look forward to their return visit at the end of May.
for pictures look here