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When borders are closed, Italy opens its doors with the 6-T Accelerator
During the 30th and 31th of March this year the ESAA-project “6-T – Accelerator feel European” took place with over 170 participants: With the brilliant participation of Dante Alighieri School from Recanati, Andrea Filippini (member of garagErasmus) organised a virtual weekend for friends from all over the world to discover Italian culture, language and recipes.
How can we bring friends from all over the world to discover beautiful Italy during the lockdown, when all the borders of the Countries are closed and we are not, except few cases, neither allowed to leave our flats and houses? ESAA and its partner organisation garagErasmus 4 Ancona found the solution! Thanks to this ESAA-project more than 170 students were able to experience an intensive “Italian Weekend” (needless to say, in a virtual format), a full Italian experience for students and professionals that always wanted to discover more about “Lo Stivale”.
A perfect partner for this journey was needed and found in the Dante Alighieri School of Recanati (Marche), hometown of the poet Giacomo Leopardi. The school, thanks to the enthusiasm of the principal prof. Anna Poeti and the expertise of the prof. Valeria Savi and Angelo Liberati, coordinated a great weekend experience, with the participation of garagErasmus Director Carlo Bitetto. 6-T Accelerator was, therefore, developed for non-Italian students and professionals who have a particular interest towards Italy and want to deepen their knowledge of the country, its traditions, and culture.
The “Italian weekend” was organised as a virtual journey to Recanati in the Marche region in Italy, where the students experienced a warm, pleasant adventure in the local Italian style by getting to know different cultures and learning in an enjoyable way. The lectures were divided in sessions: each session was, in turn, divided into different topics to be covered, including Italian grammar, society (idioms, holidays, superstitions etc.) and cuisine where two traditional Italian live cooking recipes were prepared. This programme gave an opportunity for people to travel despite the latest restrictions, get to know different cultures and spend a weekend in one of the most symbolic cities of literacy in Italy.
Do you know the exact recipe of Pasta alla Carbonara? Is it correct to translate “It was raining” with “E’ piovuto” or “Ha piovuto”? What does the 25th of April mean for Italian people? Why is my partner saying that “she has UN DIAVOLO PER CAPELLO”? Why do Italians avoid walking under stairs or why do they feel unlucky if they see a black cat?
To answer to these and other questions, participants were entertained during the 12-hour school of the project “6-T Accelerator: Feel European!” that took place on the 30th and the 31st of May, 2020, and that saw its conclusions with a live quiz about the topics previously discussed. The Dante Alighieri School decided to award the winner, Pamela, from Asunciòn, Paraguay, inviting her to join a 2-week language course for free in Recanati next year, making her dream to visit Italy become true. As we said. garagErasmus met the perfect partner.
A wide mixture of cultures as people applied from 31 different countries including South American countries, Australia, Russia, South Africa, UK and many more. The participants were enthusiastic after the programme and garagErasmus received several requests with questions about a possible next chapter of the Accelerator.
For sure, even Giacomo Leopardi would be happy about this creative way that garagErasmus, ESAA and the Dante Alighieri School found, during the worst pandemic since 1920, to make live, anyway, a true Italian experience, to many friends whose dream is to visit or move to Italy.
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