Happy Easter!

I wish fine and peaceful holidays to you all!

Happy Easter!
Frohe Ostern!
Buona Pasqua!
¡Feliz Pascua!
Priecīgas Lieldienas!

Peter

Spring ...

Finally we got spring and I'm looking forward to the funny Easter egg hunting ...


Greetings from Austria
Peter

Dikli Tourism Path

Dikli is a quit rural village in the Northern part of Latvia. Dikli is well known as the birthplace of the Latvian theatre and Song Festivals.

Our tourism path starts from Dikli school.

1. Jura Neikena Dikli Elementary school.

The present school building was built in the year 1876 ( the oldest part of the school). There were grades from the 1st to 4th before 1929.

• In 1931. Budenbrok school was affiliated to Dikli school .
• In 1940. Dikli school had 7 grades and became an incomplete secondary school.
• In 1952. Dikli municipality council granted Dikli school a new building. It became a boarding school.
• In 1962 school had already 8 grades. From 1963 to 1967 the new annexe has built- gym hall.
• In 1989 school was given a new name – J. Neikena Dikli nine year school.
• In 1992 school was given a new name – J.Neikena Dikli primary school.
• In 2006 school celebrated 130 years anniversary.

2. Dikli Evangelic Lutheran Church

A small wooden church was built as a pile building back in 1722 which was transformed into a brick building in 1848. retaining its previous form. From 1857.-1867, the vicar of this church was Juris Neikens. The church is home to one of the most ornamental of baroque era church altars in Vidzeme. (built in 1698) and a pulpit ( built in 1699.) which was created by a sculptor from the Riga sculptor’s workshop.
J.Neikens ( 1826.-1868)- pastor, writer- worked at Dikli congregation (draudzē). 1864 Dikli was arranged for the first Latvian song festival.

3. Dikli Stage-platform (estrāde) – variety art

During the summer festival of 1864. not far from the Dikli Estate Park, the first ever song festival took place organised by clergyman and writer Juris Neikens.

4. Jura Neikena memorial stone.

Historical Monument is the first Latvian song festival venue on the Neikena hill.
There is set up a memorial stone .

5. Dikli palace-hotel.

(1896) - built in the neo-baroque style, now fully renovated as a luxurious hotel and events venue, but also open to visitors. There is beautiful interior detailing throughout, with splendid tiled fireplaces in many halls. The ground floor has been reconstructed as a cosy restaurant, billiard room and spa. The estate has numerous outbuildings and a landscaped park.It is an ideal place for recreation , seminars and celebrations. The hotel is located on a small cobble stone street, 100m from Dikli centre. The manor house was built in neo-baroque style in 1896. It offers a four star hotel, restaurant and recreation facilities. There are a great collection of old stones and fireplaces.
In 1818, Dikli Palace was the venue for a performance of Friedrich Schiller”s play. The robbers’ translated by a servant on the estate, Janis Peitans , in which the local farmers resident in the vicinity of Dikli took to the stage as actors.

Have a nice walk along the path!

DIKLI VISITS ADEJE

We, Vija and Gunta , teachers of Jura Neikena Dikli Elementary school, visited Tenerife, Collegio Costa Adeje school from 15.02.-20.02.09.. We had a wonderful welcome and we felt at home.
We must be very gratefull to all teachers and students of Adeje, specially to Nuria, Lola and Loly who organized our days in Adeje, stay and welfare in Adeje and in Santa Cruz .
First Nuria introduced us with her school and teachers.
The first activity - we presented Latvia, Valmiera and Dikli school to students and teachers.
Students had a lot of questions about our presentation. They wanted to know where is Latvia, about our flag, about our animals and where now are Russians.

We took several activities to share with teachers and students at Collegio Costa Adeje.
The second activity was an activity where we used authentic materials to integrate the Latvian culture into the English classroom.In this activity students had to identify some items related to the Latvian culture and tourism. Then they had to answer questions about Latvia.
We had two board games, too.

We attended English lessons and talked about school’s life. We talked about differences between private school and state school.
Gunta learned Latvian Folk songs and dances to students of Collegio Costa Adeje. They were excellent executors. They did it with pleasure.

We were on trip to Teide National park (Pargue Nacional Del Teide). It is situated at the centre of the island of Tenerife. The Teide National park offered us one of the most spectacular examples of volcanic and biological singularity , covering an area of 18.990 hectares , it is the major National park of the Canary Islands. It is wonderful place to visit. Beautiful nature and tourism together.
I had interview – one student wanted to know how lives together Nature and tourism. What I think about it. Is it possible to let tourists to visit this volcano and is it dangerous for Nature?
Then we visited La Orotava . The Oratova Valley-the garden of Teide, extends from the slopes of the great volcano to a coast of suggesting forms and sea flavours, offered us the wonderful sights.
In Santa Ursula we visited a museum of wine.
Next day we had the second presentation of Latvia to other students group.
We had interesting activities with students at school.
We had wonderful possibility to see their fantastic Carneval’s dress rehearsal and concert.(without masks). It was exciting.
We saw a beach with white sand -golden sand and with the European Blue Flag. It is 1000 metres long. It is suitable for all the family to enjoy the sea and the salted breeze of the Atlantic
After saying thanks and goodbye to teachers and headmaster we went to Santa Cruz by bus. It is located at the Northwest of the island and occupies an extension of 151 sq.km. It is a capital of Tenerife island.
The best way to encounter the city was on foot, in order to discover the many charming secrets the city holds.

We saw a beautiful park with colourful flowers springing from each corner. The city had temperature of 20°C, a pleasant climate to be enjoyed.
Later we had dinner with Nuria and her sister. It was interesting evening and the last in Tenerife.
Very pitty, but we must be at home.
Now we have good friends in Tenerife. We are proud.
Once more thanks to Nuria, Lola, Loly, Sergio ,Jorge and other teachers of Collegio Costa Adeje school.

Vija Skuja,
Coordinator of Comenius project.

Verona students on trip to Adeje

Verona partners: 12 students + 2 teachers spent unforgettable shiny days(8) in a students exchange in Tenerife, Spain. The flight took about 4-5 hours (depending on stops in Fuerteventura).

We must be very grateful to all teachers, students and parents of Adeje, but particularly to Nuria who wonderfully organized our days, stay and welfare in Adeje. The Veronese students attended classes with Spanish friends, they went on several interesting trips to Teide Volcano, Santa Cruz, La Laguna, La Orotava, played sports in Top Training swimming pools, swam in the ocean in Las Americas beach, sang, had fun in theme parks.
The hosting families were really very kind and open to foreigners.

We must be thankful also to Lola & Loli, to Jorge and Sergio.

While thinking about the Spanish visit in Verona around the last week of April we send a big hug

Claudio & C°.

Adeje visits Dikli

Loly and Lola, teachers at Costa Adeje School (Tenerife- Spain), visited Latvia last October. We had a wonderful welcome and we felt at home.









We took several activities to share with teachers and students at Dikli School.







Our first activity was a presentation of our islands, our second activity was a game in which maths skills and English were involved and our third activity was an activity in which we used authentic material to integrate the Spanish culture into the English classroom. In this activity students had to identify some items related to the Spanish and Canarian culture and tourism and then they had to answer some questions related to the items above mentioned.




We also made a Spanish omelette. We gave the students a recipe in English so they had to follow directions to be able to cook and enjoy a perfect Spanish omelette. The students set the table very nicely and we all ate it up in the afternoon.



On our last day students had a party at school. First of all they sang several songs, they had a riddle contest and some regional dance. Some students had the chance of showing their dancing skills, they even danced rock and roll for the whole school.
In the evening we visited Cesis with our host-teachers. Cesis is a lovely, medieval city near Valmiera, the town where we stayed.

We are very grateful for everything they did. We had a great time. They are all the best host-teachers ever! Thanks Vija! Thanks Dikli School!

Sea Turtles' Loose in Tenerife

The 4th ESO students of Colegio Costa Adeje have recently taken part in an activity called “Sea Turtles’ Loose” in Los Abades (a little beach in the south east of Tenerife). There is on Tenerife an association, Fundación Neotrópico, which takes care of sick sea turtles found in our coasts until they recover.

In the activity we were first introduced to the different types of sea turtles which live in our coasts:
- Kemp’s ridley (Tortuga golfina)
- Hawksbill (Tortuga Carey)
- Loggerhead turtle (Tortuga boba)
- Green turtle (Tortuga verde)
- Leatherback (Tortuga laúd)

Then we were told about the main threats for them:
- Ingestion of plastics, fish-hooks, abandoned nets and garbages.
- Destruction of nesting places. - Consumption of turtles eggs or meat.
- Souvenirs production.
- Impacts with boats.

We were also given some pieces of advice about what to do if we find a sick sea turtle. The most important fact is to call the emergency team (112) immediately, but while we are waiting for them and depending on its illness, we should:
- If it is oiled: Clear nostrils and mouth to let it breath.
- If it is got entangled: Cut the net or garbage to diminish pain and to restore blood flow.
- If it has swallowed fish-hooks or fish-lines: Do not pull the line, only cut it. The veterinarians will extract the hook with surgery.
- If it has a broken shell: Cover the wounds or broken shell with a towel moisten with water until the rescue team arrive.

After that we had a unique experience: a recovered sea turtle found some months ago, was released back into the sea. It was put on the sand in front of us while we were making a lot of noise until it found its way to the water by itself. It was really exciting! Have a look at the video!

At the end of the activity we were given a simple key to recognize the different kinds of sea turtles living near the Canary Islands. For further information about sea turtles, the association or others, have a look at: http://www.neotropico.org/ They also have some documents related to turtles in English and Spanish at: http://www.neotropico.org/spip.php?article (You only have to download a pdf document)