File picture of children wearing pinocchio noses after an Italian storytelling session at Bakul children’s library in Bhubaneswarshilpi sampad

Bhubaneswar, Sept. 2: If you love all things Italian and are keen to know the country better, “Italian Fridays” are sure to be a worthwhile experience for you.

Starting September 14, six young volunteers from Italy will conduct special daylong classes every Friday at the Bakul Children’s Library here.

From storytelling and spoken Italian sessions to dance and cookery workshops, the foreigners, who are at present in Bhubaneswar for a year to do voluntary work, will offer a slice of Italy to people of different age groups over 12 weeks.

Besides, some of the popular Italian movies will also be screened in collaboration with the Film Society of Bhubaneswar. They are in touch with the Italian Cultural Centre, Delhi, for the DVDs of the films, said Sujit Mahapatra of Bakul Foundation, a youth-led organisation that mainly does voluntary work in the capital.

“Since these six youngsters from Italy are supposed to work with Bakul Foundation once a week, we thought why not plan a workshop to facilitate cultural exchange and exposure? We have had many foreign youths, including Italians, conducting storytelling sessions for children at our library. But this time, we have planned several activities so that there is something for everyone,” said Sujit.

The Italian group, comprising five girls and a boy, said they were thrilled to be in Bhubaneswar and were looking forward to the Italian Fridays.

“When you think of Italy, the first thing that comes to mind is the cuisine. We will be making pizzas, pastas, tiramisu, lasagne and many typical dishes. We want to introduce Odia people to our culture and traditions and learn a bit of theirs too,” said Sara Mazo, 29, from Sicily, a radio artiste by profession.

Ceccarili Mattia, 26, a student of languages from Florence, will impart lessons in dance and spoken Italian.

“The course will be amusing and informal. The methods of teaching will be based on the concept of inductive learning – that is learning by example or to induce a general rule from a set of observed instances. It will be focused on spoken Italian for giving to the participants the tools for maintaining a conversation,” said Mattia, who also speaks Hindi and Bengali.

The Italian Fridays will start with cookery classes in the afternoon, followed by parallel sessions in dance, language and storytelling. The day would end with Italian classics.

The registration will be done on a first-come-first-serve basis. While the entry fee for the cookery course is Rs 1,000, for language and dance classes, it is Rs 800 each.

There is no fee for participating in storytelling and film screenings. During breaks, the volunteers would serve aperitifs (cocktails) and snacks to the participants for a token amount of Rs 50.