The one that kept us wanting ‘jalla’ (more)
Lilac Route in Torino, 11/06 - 14/06
Ciao from the Lilac team!
On Thursday, we finally left Spain, making our way towards Italy. Already a long travel day, it was made even longer by the fact that our last train was cancelled. But luckily, we were still able to arrive in Torino that evening. Unfortunately, there were no free seats for us on the train. So while Ewa took refuge in the cafeteria coach, Dimitris spent the whole journey standing, and I constructed a makeshift seat in the bag racks. We tried to embrace the glamour of this journey, telling ourselves ‘it could be worse’. In reality, we were actually very lucky that this was our first travel mishap of Europe on Track. And, hopefully, it will be the last…
Finally having touched down in Italy, we were met by our host Lele from AEGEE-Torino. Lele’s enthusiasm for our arrival was quite literally radiating throughout the streets of Torino as he waved us down from metres away. He brought us to his beautiful apartment, which was a backpacker’s paradise, with its guaranteed use of the washing machine. After generally settling in and suddenly in the mood to shake off the misfortunes of our travel day, we headed to a pride party beside the River Po. We had a great time socialising, dancing, and trying our hand at the extreme sports of foosball and table tennis.
Perhaps it is also important to mention that at this point in our Europe on Track journey, all three of us lilac team ambassadors had become completely, utterly, and all-consumingly obsessed with the song ‘Jalla’ by British-Cypriot singer Antigoni. Therefore, throughout the entire party we were hoping ‘Jalla’ would play, but we had no success… That is until we went to a kebab shop after the party and, guess what; ‘Jalla’ started playing! The sense of euphoria that descended on the kebab shop in that moment was like nothing I had ever experienced before. For sure, Torino was already making a good impression on us.
On Friday morning, we headed to the Gioventù Federalista Europea (Young European Federalists) building in Torino, which would be the venue of our first workshop. We met Maicol from AEGEE-Torino, and Pavel from GFE, who both helped us to set up the workshop room and materials. Our first workshop, How to talk about climate (without preaching) went well. At the start of the workshop, participants were tasked with illustrating someone who doesn’t care about climate issues. The range of artistic abilities within the participant group had us all laughing, and eased us all into the workshop. During the roleplay activity, some of the participants questioned whether the scenario of asking your boss to implement a recycling system in your workplace was really a point for debate. In their minds, they couldn’t imagine an employer saying no to such an initiative. This was interesting feedback for us; as in the other cities we had visited, no one had questioned the roleplay scenario, while in an Italian context, it didn’t seem to make much sense.
After lunch and a quick stroll through the city centre, we arrived at L’Università di Torino (the University of Torino), the venue of our second workshop; Climate Emotions 101. Despite having a small number of participants, we did our best to keep the workshop going, whilst also having more time to chat, getting to know our participants and answering their questions about our journey. Before the workshop, we added a new section in which participants were tasked with measuring their carbon footprint and later mapping their responses to this on the climate emotions wheel. This new section was a good addition, as it gave the participants a tangible way to engage with their climate emotions. And while Ewa and I were hosting the workshop, Dimitris was conducting an interview with Dr Lasagna, Professor of Hydrology at the University of Torino, who talked about the importance of monitoring and preserving groundwater ecosystems. Overall, we felt that our workshops and interviews that day had been a big success.
After the workshops, we went to Monte dei Cappuccini, one of the most stunning viewpoints in all of Torino. Looking down at the city below, we ate the dinner that Maicol had so kindly prepared for us. The meal included both regular and vegetarian carbonaras – thanks Maicol! We later met Roberto who brought us on a tour of the city. As a really knowledgeable and humorous guide, we were interested in Roberto’s historical accounts yet we were also very sleepy, having been out and about all day long. One of the things that Roberto mentioned that I found very interesting was that the Mole Antonelliana (one of the main landmarks in Torino) was illuminated green to mark the 11th National Congress of the Italian Society of Tropical Medicine and Global Health. The green colour was meant to address health inequalities and promote global sustainability; something that seemed very in line with our Europe on Track journey.
The next morning, we got the chance to have a morning-in at Lele’s place. A good sleep, a hot shower, and a delicious breakfast on the balcony was all we needed to fuel the day ahead. And so, we went to CasArcobaleno for our third workshop of the stop, Storytelling: From fear to collective imagination. The venue, CasArcobaleno is a space that regularly hosts LGBTQIA+ and civil rights organisations. We immediately liked the venue when we stepped inside, with its rainbow decorations and poster-covered walls. The only thing we didn’t like was the lack of participants…
After some failed attempts at playing board games with Maicol, eventually some more people arrived and we were able to kick off the workshop. As it was a storytelling workshop, participants had the chance to get creative, but they also had the chance to get more goofy, and this certainly showed in some of their tasks. However, one interesting thing that came up was the topic of plastic bottle caps; and how attached bottle caps are merely surface-level climate actions. Our workshop participants felt that authorities need to do more than just these symbolic actions if they want to really tackle climate change.
Following these interesting conversations, and even more interesting drawings, we had some free time after the workshop. Ewa, Dimitris, and I went our separate ways to discover more of the culture (and coffee) of Torino. In the evening, we reunited at an AEGEE-Torino event; the European picnic. Indeed, we met many Europeans at the picnic and enjoyed both Italian and Polish snacks. We also met Simon from Krakow, who was living and working in Northern Italy. We talked about the ease and cheapness with which he can fly home from Torino to Krakow, and were shocked to discover that sometimes he finds flights for less than €10. This conversation reminded us of our Slow travel, slow living workshop, and how sustainable travel is often inaccessible when you have limited time and limited money.
Eventually, we went back to Lele’s apartment and packed our bags. We were really getting used to this life on the road. Though it was a shame to say goodbye to Lele (and his late night chats), we had much unfinished business in Torino and will make sure to return. We boarded the train with ‘Jalla’ still playing in our minds…
Written by: Sheenagh Rowland
(and the Lilac team)