Turin Day 1

Today we all met up bright and early to catch the train to Turin. It took about four hours to get there so we were all pretty tired today. After we got off the train, we checked into this adorable hostel called Tomato and ate lunch. Afterwards, we had a couple hours to relax and explore if we wanted to, so I took a walk to a close by park where there were a lot of people out running by the river.

After we met up, we got a tour of the neighborhood which included a lot of different religious buildings. We were really lucky and was able to go inside a large synagogue which is usually only open to the public one day out of the year. We also saw a large church and then a mosque. After walking around Turin, I have really noticed some differences from Rome. Turin feels a lot more welcoming and home-like, streets are clean and less crowded, and it seems quieter with less tourists.

After the tour we got aperitivo, where you buy a drink and get to eat a buffet, with some members of the Young Muslims group. They were fellow college students, most of which were second generation young adults, so it was really fun and nice to talk to them during dinner. We had some great conversations and got to get their input on what it was like to grow up as a second generation immigrant in Italy. I talked to one girl, Dalia, who was also a psychology major here and got to compare our education experiences and possible tracts for the future. It was a tiring, but really great day!