Many wonderful and interesting things happened to us on our
trip to Turin from September 19 to 23 and we would like to tell you about them.
We will start by saying that some of the participants have arrived in Turin the
day before and some others got up very early to get on the plane to Italy.
However , we all had in common our meeting in the Istituto dei Sordi of Torino
on Monday morning.
All the participants spent Monday and Tuesday and Thursday
in the facilities the Istituto has in Pianezza. They were the hosts of the
group of this Erasmus trip. As soon as we arrived we were welcomed by Florian
and Enrico. Florian accompanied us everyday interpreting for us in sign
language, helping us to discover the Istituto museum and the city of Torino as well.
On Monday, Gianluca was our guide so we followed him and
Florian to the basement floor because they wanted us to admire their wonderful
library with sign language dictionaries for the deaf in multiple languages and
an exhibition of ancient objects related to the history of the Istituto. Some
of the best moments we spent were in the cafeteria where the group had the
opportunity to talk and at the same time to taste the delicious Italian
coffees, sharing experiences of daily life in our respective countries and
getting to know each other better.
On Tuesday, the activity was really
challenging as we joined with Nicola and learnt the alphabet in sign language.
After having practiced the sign language letters each one introduced oneself to
the assistants to the event.
On Wednesday morning after breakfast and … under the rain!
all the participants met at 10 am to take part in a game that Florian had
prepared for us. The meeting was in the city center, we were divided into two
groups and the competition started. It wasn't easy as you know it was
raining... but nothing stopped us and I must say that both teams did great. It
was a very fun way to become real experts in the city of Torino and here I
leave a small sample so you can see it.
After lunch and a little rest, we went to the GAM (Gallery
of Modern and Contemporary Art). It is many years that the GAM Education
Department has pursued the goal of making art accessible through the Museum;
regular projects are organized for the social inclusion of people with
disabilities. This programme includes augmented perception activities and
ranges from the use of touch tour maps, modeling workshops, guided tours with
LIS (Italian sign language) interpretation, workshops with artists and special
projects.
On Thursday all the participants put on the aprons and Mariana Lucca explained to us
about the process of preparing a recipe of a delicious apple strudel. The aim
of this workshop was to eliminate barriers for deaf people who wish to receive
training in the field of cooking by making this task completely accessible.
There were photos showing the culinary process and also drawings of the
ingredients before making the recipes. All the participants were divided into 5
groups and we were helped by the nice cooks of the Istituto. At the end of the
workshop each group could be proud of having cooked an apple strudel we ate as
a desert later on.
On Friday when we thought that they could not surprise us
with anything better, Florian invited us
to an original visit: the Lavazza Museum. Here, we took part in an
immersive journey through the coffee culture as it is the largest center for
coffee studies in the world. In the museum we experienced a range of
educational activities and sensory activities focused on stimulating our
curiosity about the world of coffee. It was a sunny day and we all met in the
museum gardens to share our last meal together, took some pictures and wished
each other a good trip and see you soon in Prague!
