Oh my gosh..talking about learning ASL, it looks like every ASL students decided to hang out at the same place. From about 30-50 people seating at the food court area of the shopping mall, maybe 5 were really Deaf and another 5 maybe HOH, I know most people would say they are the same and belong to the same community, yes, I got this part, but the HOH people hanging at the mall all could talk, so there were no real reason to force us (learners) to use sign, so I will consider 5 Deaf to 40 people just o round the numbers her.
It was so many people, so many different conversations and so many different levels of ASL knowledge that was incredibly difficult to follow any of them. Again, I could give credit to practice perception of the signs and get use to see the signs being done fast as regular Deaf people would use.
Other than visual "training" that event is not made for the beginner, lost on ASL and no friend to talk to, but I need to give a HUGE credit to the Deaf people there who were the most amazing people and SOOOOO willing to help the students, teaching them and so patients to understand the ones who didn't sign much, like me. I was actually surprised that it is called Deaf Coffee when there are bearelly no Deaf people there in comparison with the amount of hearing people. I was always thinking it would be a bunch of Deaf people hanging out chatting and a few hearing ones, friendly talking and having "coffee", but instead I saw the opposite, which is why I came out with that great impression about the ones that were there. They weren't there to hang out with their Deaf friends ans socialize with other Deaf, they were there knowing that they would be meeting a lot of hearing students and teaching them, freely teaching them.
Funny thing, even though I am from another community and speak another language, I never heard of any kind of social event or hang out place where people would go to practice talking another language. Most people who are learning another language they just go to another country to practice. ASL, they don't have another country to go practice, but there are many schools where people can take a course and be immerse into the language, but instead, they just find places to gather some people who "talk" the language to practice with them. That is something incredible, it seems that the Deaf community is much more organized, willing and able to provide training and practice to those willing to learn ASL than any other community or language. KUDOS, for the organizers and the Deaf people who goes there and help, teach, practice and donate their time.
Saturday, December 6, 2014
Do you want to play Dingo?
When I first heard about Dingo it sounded like a very boring and old people thing. Well, I won't say it is not old people thing, I found out later that mostly older than me people are the ones that go play it, but it is actually quite fun. Most important, there almost no hearing people there.
This time I went late and as people were already sat down I was put into a group of all Deaf with only 1 person from a group next time mine that was HOH and could talk and she helped me interpreting a little when people from my group signed something and I couldn't understand. My first game and I made it to the 1st person to be on the finals. Although I didn't win any game, it was pretty exciting to see all those people in my group rooting for me. The most amazing feeling was that even though I had very little ASL knowledge and could barely communicate with them, I was one of the few hearing there, I could feel that all those Deaf people in my group were excited that me (an stranger, out of their community, out of their world and language) After one of the first experience where I was "shut down" from the group site where ONLY Deaf people can be in and/or are welcomed, there I was not just welcomed but also an equal and someone thy would be proud of just for running for the winning place.
The thing with Dingo is mostly, we don't really talk a lot with each other, or maybe because I was new and not good at signing, but during the game the focus is on the cards and not on each other's hands. Other than that, it was a great experience to practice seeing signing from the "host" while announcing things about the game and other events they were planning.
One thing I definitely learned was that, this community IS diversified and HUGE. At least just a few of them (in comparison with the amount of Deaf people around the country) are the ones against hearing people. Granted, they are not all arms wide opened, but most respect us hearings as people just like them and if we do the same, the mutual respect goes far as a great conversation, into something that can be even more.
This time I went late and as people were already sat down I was put into a group of all Deaf with only 1 person from a group next time mine that was HOH and could talk and she helped me interpreting a little when people from my group signed something and I couldn't understand. My first game and I made it to the 1st person to be on the finals. Although I didn't win any game, it was pretty exciting to see all those people in my group rooting for me. The most amazing feeling was that even though I had very little ASL knowledge and could barely communicate with them, I was one of the few hearing there, I could feel that all those Deaf people in my group were excited that me (an stranger, out of their community, out of their world and language) After one of the first experience where I was "shut down" from the group site where ONLY Deaf people can be in and/or are welcomed, there I was not just welcomed but also an equal and someone thy would be proud of just for running for the winning place.
The thing with Dingo is mostly, we don't really talk a lot with each other, or maybe because I was new and not good at signing, but during the game the focus is on the cards and not on each other's hands. Other than that, it was a great experience to practice seeing signing from the "host" while announcing things about the game and other events they were planning.
One thing I definitely learned was that, this community IS diversified and HUGE. At least just a few of them (in comparison with the amount of Deaf people around the country) are the ones against hearing people. Granted, they are not all arms wide opened, but most respect us hearings as people just like them and if we do the same, the mutual respect goes far as a great conversation, into something that can be even more.
A weekend of Deaf Expos (DeafNation NY & Deaf Fest NJ)
Call me crazy if you would like, but I did that, left at 7am from Newark,NJ airport to go to Rocherter NY on September 21, 2013 to attend the Deaf Nation Expo in RIT/NID. One of the best and worst place I went to. Well, it was great to see such an organized event and so full of cool entertainment, but worst for the part that, for a beginner, the dimension of the event and sudden knowledge of how huge the world is and the Deaf world is made me really scared and I felt like giving up.
Remembering that I started to learn and getting involved with ASL and Deaf culture on August 2013, so 1 month after being alone in an event of that dimension it was really overwhelming for me. One of the few Deaf personality I knew about was Joel Barrish, one of the founders of DeafNation, and leaving my fears away and the embarrassment of not knowing ASL, I was able to express myself to him and even took a picture. There, my trip was satisfying for that. I was understood by a Deaf person. That opened my shyness a little bit when on my way out I was also able to communicate with one of the vendors and bought 2 DVDs of movies made in ASL only. Yes, I saw both with subtitles, no way I could understand the dialogues with out it at that time.
So after the whole day walking around the expo and seeing only sign language, on my way back to NJ I met one of the sales associate from Purple ( a company that provide services such as VRS among other things). Now I felt more comfortable, it was one on one communication and we both had to wait for the plane anyway, so..there I was trying to talk to the guy and practice my ASL once again. I now feel bad for him, poor guy had a huge patience with me, I was really bad on ASL..come on, 1 month beginner. Turn out that the same person was going to NJ as well for the Deaf Fest event happening on the following day.
Well, on Sunday September 22, I was really tired from the 1 day in NY trip, but there I was in the NJ Deaf Fest. In comparison with the DeafNation Expo I was just in a day before, this event was very small, but huge for the NJ area. The entertainment was great and the technology for the non-ASL knowledgeable people was amazing with interpreter and a screen with the transcript of what was being said on stage, something that DeafNation Expo does not have. The amazing Douglas Ridloff was on stage when I got there, and it was a real treat to see him performing and understanding everything from the screen transcript. There were, however, fewer vendors and the food was only carts as street food, meaning, no option of purchasing with credit cards even though it was so expensive. But into the reason why I'm writing this, seen and meeting a few Deaf people around was really interesting again, but the very best was to pass by the NY Deaf Theatre booth that was there promoting their next production. One poor guy alone was giving out some flyers made of black and white copies and the note pad where we could sign up to receive emails updates. My life was done there. I got to find out that my past passion just met my new passion (theatre meets ASL) and even though I was mostly lost on the whole signing my hope was restored and my eager to keep learning moved me to the next stage.
Remembering that I started to learn and getting involved with ASL and Deaf culture on August 2013, so 1 month after being alone in an event of that dimension it was really overwhelming for me. One of the few Deaf personality I knew about was Joel Barrish, one of the founders of DeafNation, and leaving my fears away and the embarrassment of not knowing ASL, I was able to express myself to him and even took a picture. There, my trip was satisfying for that. I was understood by a Deaf person. That opened my shyness a little bit when on my way out I was also able to communicate with one of the vendors and bought 2 DVDs of movies made in ASL only. Yes, I saw both with subtitles, no way I could understand the dialogues with out it at that time.
So after the whole day walking around the expo and seeing only sign language, on my way back to NJ I met one of the sales associate from Purple ( a company that provide services such as VRS among other things). Now I felt more comfortable, it was one on one communication and we both had to wait for the plane anyway, so..there I was trying to talk to the guy and practice my ASL once again. I now feel bad for him, poor guy had a huge patience with me, I was really bad on ASL..come on, 1 month beginner. Turn out that the same person was going to NJ as well for the Deaf Fest event happening on the following day.
Well, on Sunday September 22, I was really tired from the 1 day in NY trip, but there I was in the NJ Deaf Fest. In comparison with the DeafNation Expo I was just in a day before, this event was very small, but huge for the NJ area. The entertainment was great and the technology for the non-ASL knowledgeable people was amazing with interpreter and a screen with the transcript of what was being said on stage, something that DeafNation Expo does not have. The amazing Douglas Ridloff was on stage when I got there, and it was a real treat to see him performing and understanding everything from the screen transcript. There were, however, fewer vendors and the food was only carts as street food, meaning, no option of purchasing with credit cards even though it was so expensive. But into the reason why I'm writing this, seen and meeting a few Deaf people around was really interesting again, but the very best was to pass by the NY Deaf Theatre booth that was there promoting their next production. One poor guy alone was giving out some flyers made of black and white copies and the note pad where we could sign up to receive emails updates. My life was done there. I got to find out that my past passion just met my new passion (theatre meets ASL) and even though I was mostly lost on the whole signing my hope was restored and my eager to keep learning moved me to the next stage.
Wednesday, November 12, 2014
Deaf West - Spring Awakening
What can I say? LA is always amazing me. This trip was not an exception in any way, to be more precise, I may have to say it was one of, if not THE best, trip ever.
I found myself in a very tight schedule and could ONLY go see the acclaimed play "Spring Awakening" on Sunday, Nov 2nd. On my first tentative schedule, I was ready to book my trip and I found out that the only performance was sold out. I tried even on Nov 1st, but also sold out. After a few tweets back on forth with the Deaf Awakening social media manager, I got an email 1 week later saying that there was a new show time added to the schedule , which was also Nov 2nd at night. The email was sent at 1am (eastern time) and by 11am the show was sold out again. There were some other days, but that was the only day available on my schedule to plan a trip to LA and see the show.
Luckily, when I saw the email I immediately opened the scheduled day, but since I was sleeping I didn't want to proceed with the whole purchase in view that, 1; I was in bed and in no way willing to get up to look for a credit card, 2; as awakened in the middle of the night my eyes could barely open and to read the phone screen was painful. However, even though I didn't proceed with it, somehow the site held a ticket as if the purchase was still in process. After I saw the show was sold out in about 10 hours, some light bulb light up in my head and I decided to try continuing the purchase on the phone from during the night, guess what, it worked..I got my ticket to the night show. Now it was time to get the trip planned to LA and enjoy the show. Again, as the schedule was tight, I decided to plan a very short trip which ended up to be a 1.5 days.
I arrived in LA on November 2 at 11 am (going back to NY on November 3rd at 10:40pm) but in that little time I got to see an amazing show, met 2 of my very favorite Deaf actors (one of the the reason I fell in love with ASL) plus the famous Deaf director and founder of DWIF, one of the lead actress of my fave show, one of the writers of my fave show, with whom I had a great time at lunch talking about all we never talked before and I got to get the picture I wanted and I wasn't able to on my last trip. So, to summarize, it was REALLY worth it and a very well spent time I had.
The Deaf West amazing show, "Spring Awakening" is every bit of greatness everyone and every media are saying. Flawless performance from every actor and actress, engaging, vibrant, passionate and very active. The only thing that bothered me a little was the amount of "explicit" sexual content, but that is just my taste, many may feel there is not enough of it. Even with that, it is an exceptional show and SOOOOO worth the flight if it was just that. The Deaf actors and voice actors are amazing, the choreography is stunning, music is phenomenal. Seeing the Deaf actors dance and signing at the same time in the rhythm of the music they are not hearing is the most beautiful thing and what drives me so much into the beauty of the ASL and Deaf culture. No wonder it has been sold out all the shows for a while now. It is definitely a must see.
Before the show started, while still on the line to get in, Vanessa Marano showed up with her friend Megan. I found out later that she had reserved seats, but while in line right behind me, I could not recognize her at all. She is so tiny, that what we see on TV seems to be pure visual effects, or the camera does put on 10lbs on people. I knew she was short since I saw one scene of her and Sean Berdy where she was with no heels and poor girl had to hug him and to do that she was basically standing on the tip of her toes. Talking about Sean, he was there too, but not to see the show, he saw the afternoon show and stayed after just visiting his fellow actors, but lucky for me, since he was showing up around the lobby area, I got to ask him for a picture. Pause here to say, Sean (as I mentioned on one of my posts before) is one of the main reason why I fell in love with sign language. His signing is so beautiful and his acting is the most amazing of the Deaf actors in the show (Switched at Birth) so seeing him was kind of a complete shock (in a good way) I was mesmerizing at his signing when talking with some of his friends that were on the line as well, but I was sooooooo disappointed when I asked him (in sign language and voice of course)to take a picture he was the most cutest and gentlest to say "Sure" with his voice but NO signing. OK, so I took the picture and I signed "thank you", and he answered back "no problem, bye" again, NO signing. Yes I love seeing Deaf people talking,, specially the ones that we don't get to see often because on screen Emmett barely talked 5 times in the entire 3 seasons (72 episodes so far), but honestly, my "love" for his signing is way too big to put his mouth before his hands..I WANTED TO SEE HIM SIGNING!!! Daniel Durant, on the other hand did not say a word with his voice, he is the sweetest guy I've ever met and took his time talking to me in sign language. I basically spent the whole time after the show talking to Daniel who gave me too much attention I'm not use to from a celebrity like him, especially. Simply amazing! As I always tell people, put a show where there are only Sean Berdy and Daniel Durant on it, I can watch it 24/7/365 days on the roll. Love them as actors either acting separated or together in a scene.
On the line I also had the great pleasure to meet Jules Dameron, the great Deaf director of many ASL videos. Jules talked and signed, and oh boy, what a patience she had with my millions ASL mistakes, but that was not a problem to her. As per her view, and (again, this writing is not just for my memory of the moments but my observation of the Deaf culture and behaviors) many other Deaf people I've met, they are happy we, hearing, are learning and they are happy to help teaching us. I learned the sign for "fired" from Jules and "shy" from Daniel. And once more, they are huggers. After 15 years living in this country, I learned that when you first meet someone you can shake hands, Brazilian culture you can kiss someone (on the cheek) twice (at least for girls), and apparently in the Deaf culture, you hug. Maybe that can explain why Sean Berdy is always hugging people when taking a picture (yes I noticed that). I grew up with the "Ricky Martin" way (he has been my idol for many years now) and he mix and match depending on the person, some pictures he is just close to the person, some he is shaking hands, some he is hugging, some he is kissing, but Sean, it doesn't matter who, as far as I could see, he is ALWAYS hugging. Anyway, back to Jules, she is amazing and also took a good time talking to me, explaining about deaf people and of course just chatting.
After the show, the cast had almost the entire audience waiting for them outside and we were basically being pushed out of the place when they were turning off all the lights. While there, the SAB reunion of Daniel and Anthony (who was also in the play) with Vanessa and her interpreter friend, Ashley took the center hall and took so many pictures with the cast of Spring Awakening, together and everyone related to any artistic media. That was when Daniel took the time to call attention to tell them about me. It was nice their reaction, but remember, I'm shy :-) Anyway, on the wave, I got to take a picture with Vanessa Marano, but the funny part was that, the whole time I was talking to her using signs as well. That until in the middle of a sentence I realized that I was signing to a hearing person and started to apologize, after all she was answering me because of what I said with my voice and not with my hands. That was embarrassing, but it seems like she was kind of use to it that she didn't even care.
The following day I had lunch with Michael Ross, ex-writer for Switched at Birth who told me all different things about his experience working with Daniel Durant, Anthony Natale and Sean Berdy, including that on set they are or act completely different from what I had experienced. Sean signs all the time and hardly uses his voice while Daniel is a talker and only sign with other Deaf people.
I just need to end this with one thing, amazing trip, amazing show, amazing people!!
I found myself in a very tight schedule and could ONLY go see the acclaimed play "Spring Awakening" on Sunday, Nov 2nd. On my first tentative schedule, I was ready to book my trip and I found out that the only performance was sold out. I tried even on Nov 1st, but also sold out. After a few tweets back on forth with the Deaf Awakening social media manager, I got an email 1 week later saying that there was a new show time added to the schedule , which was also Nov 2nd at night. The email was sent at 1am (eastern time) and by 11am the show was sold out again. There were some other days, but that was the only day available on my schedule to plan a trip to LA and see the show.
Luckily, when I saw the email I immediately opened the scheduled day, but since I was sleeping I didn't want to proceed with the whole purchase in view that, 1; I was in bed and in no way willing to get up to look for a credit card, 2; as awakened in the middle of the night my eyes could barely open and to read the phone screen was painful. However, even though I didn't proceed with it, somehow the site held a ticket as if the purchase was still in process. After I saw the show was sold out in about 10 hours, some light bulb light up in my head and I decided to try continuing the purchase on the phone from during the night, guess what, it worked..I got my ticket to the night show. Now it was time to get the trip planned to LA and enjoy the show. Again, as the schedule was tight, I decided to plan a very short trip which ended up to be a 1.5 days.
I arrived in LA on November 2 at 11 am (going back to NY on November 3rd at 10:40pm) but in that little time I got to see an amazing show, met 2 of my very favorite Deaf actors (one of the the reason I fell in love with ASL) plus the famous Deaf director and founder of DWIF, one of the lead actress of my fave show, one of the writers of my fave show, with whom I had a great time at lunch talking about all we never talked before and I got to get the picture I wanted and I wasn't able to on my last trip. So, to summarize, it was REALLY worth it and a very well spent time I had.
The Deaf West amazing show, "Spring Awakening" is every bit of greatness everyone and every media are saying. Flawless performance from every actor and actress, engaging, vibrant, passionate and very active. The only thing that bothered me a little was the amount of "explicit" sexual content, but that is just my taste, many may feel there is not enough of it. Even with that, it is an exceptional show and SOOOOO worth the flight if it was just that. The Deaf actors and voice actors are amazing, the choreography is stunning, music is phenomenal. Seeing the Deaf actors dance and signing at the same time in the rhythm of the music they are not hearing is the most beautiful thing and what drives me so much into the beauty of the ASL and Deaf culture. No wonder it has been sold out all the shows for a while now. It is definitely a must see.
Before the show started, while still on the line to get in, Vanessa Marano showed up with her friend Megan. I found out later that she had reserved seats, but while in line right behind me, I could not recognize her at all. She is so tiny, that what we see on TV seems to be pure visual effects, or the camera does put on 10lbs on people. I knew she was short since I saw one scene of her and Sean Berdy where she was with no heels and poor girl had to hug him and to do that she was basically standing on the tip of her toes. Talking about Sean, he was there too, but not to see the show, he saw the afternoon show and stayed after just visiting his fellow actors, but lucky for me, since he was showing up around the lobby area, I got to ask him for a picture. Pause here to say, Sean (as I mentioned on one of my posts before) is one of the main reason why I fell in love with sign language. His signing is so beautiful and his acting is the most amazing of the Deaf actors in the show (Switched at Birth) so seeing him was kind of a complete shock (in a good way) I was mesmerizing at his signing when talking with some of his friends that were on the line as well, but I was sooooooo disappointed when I asked him (in sign language and voice of course)to take a picture he was the most cutest and gentlest to say "Sure" with his voice but NO signing. OK, so I took the picture and I signed "thank you", and he answered back "no problem, bye" again, NO signing. Yes I love seeing Deaf people talking,, specially the ones that we don't get to see often because on screen Emmett barely talked 5 times in the entire 3 seasons (72 episodes so far), but honestly, my "love" for his signing is way too big to put his mouth before his hands..I WANTED TO SEE HIM SIGNING!!! Daniel Durant, on the other hand did not say a word with his voice, he is the sweetest guy I've ever met and took his time talking to me in sign language. I basically spent the whole time after the show talking to Daniel who gave me too much attention I'm not use to from a celebrity like him, especially. Simply amazing! As I always tell people, put a show where there are only Sean Berdy and Daniel Durant on it, I can watch it 24/7/365 days on the roll. Love them as actors either acting separated or together in a scene.
On the line I also had the great pleasure to meet Jules Dameron, the great Deaf director of many ASL videos. Jules talked and signed, and oh boy, what a patience she had with my millions ASL mistakes, but that was not a problem to her. As per her view, and (again, this writing is not just for my memory of the moments but my observation of the Deaf culture and behaviors) many other Deaf people I've met, they are happy we, hearing, are learning and they are happy to help teaching us. I learned the sign for "fired" from Jules and "shy" from Daniel. And once more, they are huggers. After 15 years living in this country, I learned that when you first meet someone you can shake hands, Brazilian culture you can kiss someone (on the cheek) twice (at least for girls), and apparently in the Deaf culture, you hug. Maybe that can explain why Sean Berdy is always hugging people when taking a picture (yes I noticed that). I grew up with the "Ricky Martin" way (he has been my idol for many years now) and he mix and match depending on the person, some pictures he is just close to the person, some he is shaking hands, some he is hugging, some he is kissing, but Sean, it doesn't matter who, as far as I could see, he is ALWAYS hugging. Anyway, back to Jules, she is amazing and also took a good time talking to me, explaining about deaf people and of course just chatting.
After the show, the cast had almost the entire audience waiting for them outside and we were basically being pushed out of the place when they were turning off all the lights. While there, the SAB reunion of Daniel and Anthony (who was also in the play) with Vanessa and her interpreter friend, Ashley took the center hall and took so many pictures with the cast of Spring Awakening, together and everyone related to any artistic media. That was when Daniel took the time to call attention to tell them about me. It was nice their reaction, but remember, I'm shy :-) Anyway, on the wave, I got to take a picture with Vanessa Marano, but the funny part was that, the whole time I was talking to her using signs as well. That until in the middle of a sentence I realized that I was signing to a hearing person and started to apologize, after all she was answering me because of what I said with my voice and not with my hands. That was embarrassing, but it seems like she was kind of use to it that she didn't even care.
The following day I had lunch with Michael Ross, ex-writer for Switched at Birth who told me all different things about his experience working with Daniel Durant, Anthony Natale and Sean Berdy, including that on set they are or act completely different from what I had experienced. Sean signs all the time and hardly uses his voice while Daniel is a talker and only sign with other Deaf people.
I just need to end this with one thing, amazing trip, amazing show, amazing people!!
Friday, October 17, 2014
Living the University Life at Gallaudet
I got to say that it was not a great experience to try to contact the visitor center and schedule a guided tour. I had tried using the online form and even email but I had no answer or confirmation, but since I found out about the open house for Graduate student and they had a tour schedule during the day I decided to go anyway and try to join in with the graduate tour. That, however was not needed, I was able to arrive early enough to join the regular visitor tour as a walk in when I arrived at the visitor center.
After a 30 min tour of a very few buildings I started to ask around for more info and did my own tour.
Every body on the information center or any department I went in to ask questions was super friendly even though my signing is still at a slow pace and many mistakes.
Starting from the security booth, to the Safety Dept Staff who gave me a free parking permit for being the first time visiting I started to get the feeling that the university spirit is really filed with good vibes.
At the food court, the so very patient server was so nice to wait for me and explain every thing about the food that was served, I ordered a (some king of) stuffed potato that was supposed to be served in two but I only asked for one and the cashier was confused on how to charge me..well, she made a way and all was fine.
The gift shop lady, also gave me a smiley face while our signed conversation was really brief but I was able to ask for a bag to carry the souvenirs around.
I stopped by the information desk twice, 1st to ask where the polics or governmental studies building was, however since I didn't know for sure the name of the program, the attendant, who seemed to be also an student took his time to ask questions and made sure that I understood his signing by also fingerspelling when he thought I didn't get what he was saying. All was well and I ended up checking out the building and the Library which was right in front of it. Big library, very intersting building and again with some cute artifacts from when the University first opened.
The second time I went to the information desk was to ask about the film program, which they told me there was none. Strange because I have seen twitter and facebook pages for the film department and I heard of some people who went to the art program specializing in film. Anyway, maybe it doesn't exist anymore or the person who I talked to at the information center doesn't know about it, but he did know about the theater department and showed me how to get there. The theater was closed of course, it is not a show time, but the person on the administration office was hearing and luckily I was able to talk to her with no mistakes saying that I was visiting the campus, she found a student who took 5 minutes to show me the theater..woohoo for me, I saw the theater history wall and going through back stage I also saw the construction room, lighting equip, brak area, wardrobe and ..let's just say..I was feeling at home.
The Visitor Center and the Museum was pure history about the university, the grand event of DPN and the evolution of technology that helps Deaf people to communicate with the haring world. Being a great admired of art and history, I just felt I was seeing the best of the university on those 3 building.
Moving to the rest of the university, it is amazing new building has most rooms and common spaces separated by glasses so people can communicate across the hall easily. The media room is extremely neat with so many computers and from what the tour guide mentioned, that is a private area where students can make a video of themselves signing, in case they have an assignment and they do not want to type in the computer, they can just sign on.
Also, many of the classrooms are equipped with computers and big screen tvs..the one we went in had at least 30 Mac machines and 2 70+ big screen tvs..I'm not even thinking how much that room alone cost on equipment.
One interesting fact the tour guide mentioned, every faculty needs to be fluent in ASL, when they apply for a position, they undergo a test with the ASL committee and if they find him/her not proficient enough they can still be hired and a interpreter would be provided to teach classes, but the new hired faculty member would have to become proficient withing 2 years, and contractually if he/she is not they would be let go. But honestly, living and breathing ASL in that place, one could be proficient in 6 months, I bet!!
Many building are historic and they are beautiful architectures but that is not the point of this journey, the point is, in Gallaudet, there is no communication barrier that would stop anybody there. Even not knowing ASL, or signing at all, they have the technology to overcome the barrier to understand each other, and the places where the technology is not available, they have staff and even the regular students who are much patient and understanding to take their time to make sure people understand them and vice versa. It may not be a true reality in the Deaf community outside the University ground, but in there I felt like an insider and would love to go back and maybe take a course and live that spirit more in deep. Go Bison!!
After a 30 min tour of a very few buildings I started to ask around for more info and did my own tour.
Every body on the information center or any department I went in to ask questions was super friendly even though my signing is still at a slow pace and many mistakes.
Starting from the security booth, to the Safety Dept Staff who gave me a free parking permit for being the first time visiting I started to get the feeling that the university spirit is really filed with good vibes.
At the food court, the so very patient server was so nice to wait for me and explain every thing about the food that was served, I ordered a (some king of) stuffed potato that was supposed to be served in two but I only asked for one and the cashier was confused on how to charge me..well, she made a way and all was fine.
The gift shop lady, also gave me a smiley face while our signed conversation was really brief but I was able to ask for a bag to carry the souvenirs around.
I stopped by the information desk twice, 1st to ask where the polics or governmental studies building was, however since I didn't know for sure the name of the program, the attendant, who seemed to be also an student took his time to ask questions and made sure that I understood his signing by also fingerspelling when he thought I didn't get what he was saying. All was well and I ended up checking out the building and the Library which was right in front of it. Big library, very intersting building and again with some cute artifacts from when the University first opened.
The second time I went to the information desk was to ask about the film program, which they told me there was none. Strange because I have seen twitter and facebook pages for the film department and I heard of some people who went to the art program specializing in film. Anyway, maybe it doesn't exist anymore or the person who I talked to at the information center doesn't know about it, but he did know about the theater department and showed me how to get there. The theater was closed of course, it is not a show time, but the person on the administration office was hearing and luckily I was able to talk to her with no mistakes saying that I was visiting the campus, she found a student who took 5 minutes to show me the theater..woohoo for me, I saw the theater history wall and going through back stage I also saw the construction room, lighting equip, brak area, wardrobe and ..let's just say..I was feeling at home.
The Visitor Center and the Museum was pure history about the university, the grand event of DPN and the evolution of technology that helps Deaf people to communicate with the haring world. Being a great admired of art and history, I just felt I was seeing the best of the university on those 3 building.
Moving to the rest of the university, it is amazing new building has most rooms and common spaces separated by glasses so people can communicate across the hall easily. The media room is extremely neat with so many computers and from what the tour guide mentioned, that is a private area where students can make a video of themselves signing, in case they have an assignment and they do not want to type in the computer, they can just sign on.
Also, many of the classrooms are equipped with computers and big screen tvs..the one we went in had at least 30 Mac machines and 2 70+ big screen tvs..I'm not even thinking how much that room alone cost on equipment.
One interesting fact the tour guide mentioned, every faculty needs to be fluent in ASL, when they apply for a position, they undergo a test with the ASL committee and if they find him/her not proficient enough they can still be hired and a interpreter would be provided to teach classes, but the new hired faculty member would have to become proficient withing 2 years, and contractually if he/she is not they would be let go. But honestly, living and breathing ASL in that place, one could be proficient in 6 months, I bet!!
Many building are historic and they are beautiful architectures but that is not the point of this journey, the point is, in Gallaudet, there is no communication barrier that would stop anybody there. Even not knowing ASL, or signing at all, they have the technology to overcome the barrier to understand each other, and the places where the technology is not available, they have staff and even the regular students who are much patient and understanding to take their time to make sure people understand them and vice versa. It may not be a true reality in the Deaf community outside the University ground, but in there I felt like an insider and would love to go back and maybe take a course and live that spirit more in deep. Go Bison!!
Friday, August 15, 2014
The 1st ASL Slam NYC Adventure
Loving so much the Deaf acting, I was so thrilled to find out about the ASL Slam nights in NY that showcase many different types of Deaf artists. Since the beginning of my "journey" I have been trying to make time to go see the performances they have every month, but first it was on friday's, which was almost impossible to leave early from work to be there on time, not to mention that even if I could, on a friday my head was already so out there that I could barely remember my name, let alone that I should be going to the city. Anyway, not the best excuse, but oh well..I really have been postponing this adventure until last week when I found out that the day has changed to saturday and the guest artist would be, the so nice, Braam Jordaan. Great cgi artist and movie maker. Some few familiar faces from my first time working on the NY Deaf Theater play were there briefly and, of course, the famous Douglas Ridloff with his family.
Unfortunately, I was too late for the happy hour and I was not able to do some major mingling, but I caught the whole presentation. Since I was alone in the city (my friend had an emergency and couldn't go) and I do not like alcoholic drinks, there was no point for me to stay at the bar after the presentation so I left right after it and again, could not mingle too much. As I felt the same way when I was on the fund raising of KODA West in CA, everyone seems to know each other and they talk among themselves, I'm still an outsider and I'm still unsecured about my ASL ability and proficiency. But next time I'll make sure I will be early enough.
I got to say that I loved the environment, even feeling an outsider, but there were some lack of "reasonable accommodation" (Haha, loved this quote from one of Braam's tweets) that made me a little frustrated with this experience. Seating in the middle of the audience, it was extremely hard to see the host and the guest speaker signing, even though the stage is a bit high. Suggestion, a tall bar stool on stage to make the guest and the host sit on a higher range so we could see from the back?? Also, as a hearing person, even though I could not see the signing on stage I could have had the info from the interpreters, BUT, and a big but here, the interpreters were not saying everything being signed, many times it was a long pause and lack of speech from them, and not to mention that even with the microphone, one of them spoke so low that I couldn't hear a word he was saying. Summarizing the experience, I didn't get all the information being given by Braam on that day, and the little bit I got was when I moved around a little and the people in front of me moved too and I could see him signing. That's when, again I totally agree with the quote: Access is having the information in the original language. And I know all about that. Being from Brazil, I always hated when I watched an american movie there that was dubbed to Portuguese, the expressions, the intonations of the words and even meanings changed so much that it seems like I was watching a movie and hearing another one. Interpreters just distract the focus from the signed message. I will remember next time to bring some ear-plugs, maybe it will help on that part.
One thing I did noticed again, and I'm hoping it is really a cultural and real value from the Deaf people. They always seem to like the fact that someone is learning sign language. MANY times I have this compliment from a Deaf person, they are proud of me for learning and being interested in their culture. To be honest, I don't understand why it is such a big deal for them, the crazy would be the people who does NOT want to learn, they are the one missing such a great thing, such a rich culture and most beautiful way to express words. The way I feel is, the Deaf people have a goldmine and they are superior than me, and I'm the one who needs their help or approval to reach the "gold" also, when and if I get there, then I can see people feeling proud of me for my accomplishment, but on the "journey" there, a simple "thank you" or "keep up" is enough of a compliment for those who are "not there yet". Anyway, thanks for the compliment!! It may take me some time to get use to receive it, but I'll get there :-)
Once more, it was a great pleasure meeting Braam Jordaan, although it was really fast, the whole experience was rewarding. Wish to have another opportunity to meet Braam again and talk more about his amazing work! I just need to polish even more on the SASL :-)
Unfortunately, I was too late for the happy hour and I was not able to do some major mingling, but I caught the whole presentation. Since I was alone in the city (my friend had an emergency and couldn't go) and I do not like alcoholic drinks, there was no point for me to stay at the bar after the presentation so I left right after it and again, could not mingle too much. As I felt the same way when I was on the fund raising of KODA West in CA, everyone seems to know each other and they talk among themselves, I'm still an outsider and I'm still unsecured about my ASL ability and proficiency. But next time I'll make sure I will be early enough.
I got to say that I loved the environment, even feeling an outsider, but there were some lack of "reasonable accommodation" (Haha, loved this quote from one of Braam's tweets) that made me a little frustrated with this experience. Seating in the middle of the audience, it was extremely hard to see the host and the guest speaker signing, even though the stage is a bit high. Suggestion, a tall bar stool on stage to make the guest and the host sit on a higher range so we could see from the back?? Also, as a hearing person, even though I could not see the signing on stage I could have had the info from the interpreters, BUT, and a big but here, the interpreters were not saying everything being signed, many times it was a long pause and lack of speech from them, and not to mention that even with the microphone, one of them spoke so low that I couldn't hear a word he was saying. Summarizing the experience, I didn't get all the information being given by Braam on that day, and the little bit I got was when I moved around a little and the people in front of me moved too and I could see him signing. That's when, again I totally agree with the quote: Access is having the information in the original language. And I know all about that. Being from Brazil, I always hated when I watched an american movie there that was dubbed to Portuguese, the expressions, the intonations of the words and even meanings changed so much that it seems like I was watching a movie and hearing another one. Interpreters just distract the focus from the signed message. I will remember next time to bring some ear-plugs, maybe it will help on that part.
One thing I did noticed again, and I'm hoping it is really a cultural and real value from the Deaf people. They always seem to like the fact that someone is learning sign language. MANY times I have this compliment from a Deaf person, they are proud of me for learning and being interested in their culture. To be honest, I don't understand why it is such a big deal for them, the crazy would be the people who does NOT want to learn, they are the one missing such a great thing, such a rich culture and most beautiful way to express words. The way I feel is, the Deaf people have a goldmine and they are superior than me, and I'm the one who needs their help or approval to reach the "gold" also, when and if I get there, then I can see people feeling proud of me for my accomplishment, but on the "journey" there, a simple "thank you" or "keep up" is enough of a compliment for those who are "not there yet". Anyway, thanks for the compliment!! It may take me some time to get use to receive it, but I'll get there :-)
Once more, it was a great pleasure meeting Braam Jordaan, although it was really fast, the whole experience was rewarding. Wish to have another opportunity to meet Braam again and talk more about his amazing work! I just need to polish even more on the SASL :-)
Thursday, August 14, 2014
Changing 1 person's view about Deaf people
One day I was trying to find out more about the famous Deaf actors I always hear about so I would be more in tune to the Deaf people I know from the Deaf Theater. I always get free help from interns coming from a local college, I ask the intern that was doing her hours at that time to do a research and write a report for me on Sean Berdy. He is one of the actors that inspired me to learn about the Deaf community, culture and language. He plays on Switched at Birth I already wrote about how things started for me. After him the intern did a report on Bernard Bragg and Deana Bray but this story is about the report done on Sean Berdy. While the intern was researching his career and past life she found some information about his girlfriend, Mary Harman. At the time of the research they had a lot of tweets and Instagram posts to each other and their relationship was open to the public (which at the time I'm writing this is not or they are not together anymore, again this is not about his personal life either, I'm just writing to have a better reference of the facts and situation in case I read this in the future..distant future) So looking around her tweets and IG posts the intern started to look more into what she wrote or what she does. She found out a bunch of sites and information about Mary, which believe it or not, I still haven't read the report on any of the actors to be honest, but the report is supposed to be about Sean, not Mary but since I didn't read yet, I'm still blind about who he is too beside he is a good actor, signer that works on Switched at Birth. The thing that amazed me and made me so proud was that the more she was looking for information the more she found out about Mary, the more she liked her. She became a fan of Mary, for her vibe, for her attitude and her thoughts that were all visible through her words on the social media.
The fact the Mary is so well spoken and has so much in depth thoughts about life, politics and philosophy changed her thought about Deaf people in general. She, like me before, always knew that Deaf people exist out there in the world, but never she thought they had such a rich culture and were so intelligent as most people. The usual old stereotype "deaf and dumb" was what she had in mind, but reading and learning about how much they can do and what they accomplished and seeing it all real on Mary's profiles and interviews, she opened her mind to a very different world she was living in and didn't even notice.
Regardless if she will continue searching and getting involved in the Deaf community, she is now with a new view and complete respect to Deaf people. She can see a new world around her and all thanks to Sean Berdy and Mary Harman (if he wasn't a famous actor I wouldn't have asked her to do a report about him, and if he wasn't dating Mary she wouldn't find out about her either and fell in love with her)
That whole process of discovering the Deaf world also made me feel super involved, every new discovery she would share with me all excited about it, of course most of the info she would share I would know already, but it was so good to see one more person so enthusiastic to learn more about them.
And just yesterday, I got a text message from her asking to know who is playing the CODA girl who was Natalie's girlfriend because she wanted to follow her on twitter. Here are the facts: 1 - she didn't have a twitter account, she must have created it just to follow Mary as this is what she said when she finished her hours as an intern, 2 - she had never seen Switched at Birth until I told her about the show, and of course introduced her to Sean Berdy and the deaf culture, 3 - Although, I did not appreciate a text at 11:41pm asking for something that could have waited until the following day, and another text at 12:23am saying she found the person it was nice to know she is still looking for more role models in the Deaf community such as Abby Walla (the person she was looking for). Maybe she is really trying to get into it.
On this week's episode of Switched at Birth, there was a line that fit perfectly to what just happened here "the best leaders lead by example". The example of a Deaf person that just for being herself created such an impact on someone else's life, that is Mary Harman, a true leader and great influence into the "Deaf world"
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| Sean Berdy and Mary Harman |
Tuesday, May 6, 2014
KODA West Fund raising - Best Deaf event yet!!
Still during my trip to CA, I had the pleasure to meet some of the best Deaf entertainers. Talking about beauty in the way of expression, I ended up actually meeting one of my inspiration from the very one tv show that changed my course of life,Switched at Birth, Marlee Matlin (who plays Melody Bledsoe) was sweet and kind while knowing my poor signing skills need to improve a lot, she even spoke to me, I said spoke, not signed.
Well, let's just say I did learn a lot on this event. Deaf people are very appreciative of the effort hearing people makes either to communicate, help or support them or their organization. KODA West is an organization to help the education of the Deaf culture to children of Deaf adults. (www.kodawes.org)
John Maucere show was hilarious, but also does taught me a lot about the Deaf culture. It is so true that Deaf people are hugers. I have 1 friend that is Deaf, every time I see her, she hugs me, since I gre up in Brazil, in Brazilian culture it is common to hug and even kiss the cheeks when you meet someone for the first time, but after living in the US for almost 15 years, I'm not use to it anymore, but since this friend likes it, I had nothing against it. However, when I did get to the event, for the 4th time, a was received with a huge hug from the Deaf people in there, and not just one from the organizers, but people sitting at my table as well, so I need to come to the conclusion, that is not coincidence, that is just their culture. During John Maucere presentation, he also showed that Deaf people are very touchy, maybe loud and very excited, always.
Even though they are huggers, I didn't feel much difference on the "welcoming" attitudes, maybe I was giving a wrong vibe or something, but while I didn't know anyone there, and I still don't really but one KODA who gave me her number because I took a picture of her with Marlee, I stood there for about 30 min and not one soul came to talk to me or ask me anything, seeing that i was alone. From what I think, if I go talk to them, they will be friendly, but either they do not want to make new friends or are just scared to talk to people, which I would even understand considering how many people they may see on a daily basis that will not want to even try to communicate with them if they needed something, but in a Deaf event, I would think they would assume I know their language and culture and would not be afraid or skeptical to make contact, yet, nothing happened, I stayed alone the whole time until time to eat.
Anyway, being a volunteer to the NY Deaf Theatre and interested in Deaf/ASL performances, this event, for sure, inspired me more and more to keep looking for it, keep studying, getting involved, practicing and eventually reaching my goal to become fluent in ASL and work with Deaf performers, either producing a show (whatever kind, TV, Live, Stand up, Movie) or working behind the scenes as part of their management/marketing team.
From top to bottom left side: Shoshana Stern, John Maucere, Lauren Maucere
From top to bottom right side: Deanna Bray, Marlee Matlin, Bernard Bragg
(Sorry, I'm definitely not good on selfies)
I Fell In Love
I should really start from the beginning. I have to admit that I never really noticed Deaf people anywhere. It was like indifferent to me. I knew they existed I just never really stop to pay attention.
Then one day while at work on saturday, trying to catch up with my prospecting and marketing duties, around 5pm I decided to put on a movie on Netflix just a background noise (irony?? maybe) while searching for a new yet mellow movie that has few action shots that would distract me more than the regular..remembering I was trying to finish work on a saturday, thinking I would be done in about 2 more hours I found this movie information interesting yet mellow enough for me to watch as planned. The name of the movie was "Switched at Birth". Silly me, didn't read the whole full description that says it was actually a tv series with 2 seasons (back then when I first saw it). Starting the pilot episode, I had to stop many times to watch the ASL scenes which destroyed my concentration at work, but in another hands it drove me to a mesmerizing feeling of such a beautiful performance from the actors (Katie Leclerc and Sean Berdy). On my attention all driven now to the episode, I was hoping to just finish the movie and go home, at this point I had given up work, I could finish it some other day. Some minutes later, for my surprise, the episode finished with no real ending. Thinking it was not satisfying and weirdly finish so fast I went to see the information tab again to find out then it was a series. I was happy that I could see the next episode and find out what would happen then, why did I do that????? I just went deeper and deeper into the show and every time I watched Marlee Matlin, Sean berdy and Katie Leclerc signing I could not stop drooling over how beautiful it was to see them performing. Saying a whole line, acting a whole scene without saying 1 word..just pure body expression. Let me make it short, I watched the whole 30 episodes of season 1 and 10 episodes (that's all they had up until that day) of season 2 in just 1.5 days. Yes, my night and basically whole Sunday was just watching Switched at Birth.
After my whole weekend was shifted to a very different planned I had in mind, I decided to look more into what was all that about. All that beautiful way of talking. I start searching the internet for more information about ASL. One thing led to another, I was downloading learning videos, books, searching for Deaf organizations, volunteering on Deaf events, contacting Deaf meetings/chatting rooms to be more involved and see more of that amazing way of expression.
Just a small tip on my background, I grew up in dancing school, I learned Ballet, Jazz, Modern Dance and even graduated and became teacher in Tap dancing. I was accepted at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (where I'm from) and received my Bachelor Degree on Theater, specializing in Set Designing. One year after I graduated, I came to the US to study Film & TV at UCLA Extension and after 5 years I received the certificate of specialization in Production and Directing. Enough said, I was always into performing art and always admired a beautiful body expression.
As life goes by I had to adapt to what I needed to do to survive, and my way went far from any art career. Currently, I sell Real Estate (hence I do my own hours and my own business) but that is not fulfilling me. I was living the days as I needed to, not as I wanted to. I gotta say that Switched at Birth TV series changed my life completely. It gave me knowledge, it gave me a goal, it gave me hope, it gave me a life again. I will always be thankful for that weekend, but the real one I will be thankful for is the creator Lizzy Weiss. Thanks to her and her brilliant mind to create such a wonderful series with so full of art and, not only that but, information about the Deaf community and culture. I sit here writing this very first blog post, in front of the Santa Clarita Studios where they shoot the series, and they are shooting right now inside there, while my eyes is watering remembering how it all started, that weekend in June 2013. Today, while I came to CA for a small vacation, I toured the city seeing some of the show's location and finished my day here at the studio (oh, I saw Constance Marie, who plays Regina leaving the studio a few minutes ago in her car) on Tuesday, May 6, 2014 at 1:01pm.
Then one day while at work on saturday, trying to catch up with my prospecting and marketing duties, around 5pm I decided to put on a movie on Netflix just a background noise (irony?? maybe) while searching for a new yet mellow movie that has few action shots that would distract me more than the regular..remembering I was trying to finish work on a saturday, thinking I would be done in about 2 more hours I found this movie information interesting yet mellow enough for me to watch as planned. The name of the movie was "Switched at Birth". Silly me, didn't read the whole full description that says it was actually a tv series with 2 seasons (back then when I first saw it). Starting the pilot episode, I had to stop many times to watch the ASL scenes which destroyed my concentration at work, but in another hands it drove me to a mesmerizing feeling of such a beautiful performance from the actors (Katie Leclerc and Sean Berdy). On my attention all driven now to the episode, I was hoping to just finish the movie and go home, at this point I had given up work, I could finish it some other day. Some minutes later, for my surprise, the episode finished with no real ending. Thinking it was not satisfying and weirdly finish so fast I went to see the information tab again to find out then it was a series. I was happy that I could see the next episode and find out what would happen then, why did I do that????? I just went deeper and deeper into the show and every time I watched Marlee Matlin, Sean berdy and Katie Leclerc signing I could not stop drooling over how beautiful it was to see them performing. Saying a whole line, acting a whole scene without saying 1 word..just pure body expression. Let me make it short, I watched the whole 30 episodes of season 1 and 10 episodes (that's all they had up until that day) of season 2 in just 1.5 days. Yes, my night and basically whole Sunday was just watching Switched at Birth.
After my whole weekend was shifted to a very different planned I had in mind, I decided to look more into what was all that about. All that beautiful way of talking. I start searching the internet for more information about ASL. One thing led to another, I was downloading learning videos, books, searching for Deaf organizations, volunteering on Deaf events, contacting Deaf meetings/chatting rooms to be more involved and see more of that amazing way of expression.
Just a small tip on my background, I grew up in dancing school, I learned Ballet, Jazz, Modern Dance and even graduated and became teacher in Tap dancing. I was accepted at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (where I'm from) and received my Bachelor Degree on Theater, specializing in Set Designing. One year after I graduated, I came to the US to study Film & TV at UCLA Extension and after 5 years I received the certificate of specialization in Production and Directing. Enough said, I was always into performing art and always admired a beautiful body expression.
As life goes by I had to adapt to what I needed to do to survive, and my way went far from any art career. Currently, I sell Real Estate (hence I do my own hours and my own business) but that is not fulfilling me. I was living the days as I needed to, not as I wanted to. I gotta say that Switched at Birth TV series changed my life completely. It gave me knowledge, it gave me a goal, it gave me hope, it gave me a life again. I will always be thankful for that weekend, but the real one I will be thankful for is the creator Lizzy Weiss. Thanks to her and her brilliant mind to create such a wonderful series with so full of art and, not only that but, information about the Deaf community and culture. I sit here writing this very first blog post, in front of the Santa Clarita Studios where they shoot the series, and they are shooting right now inside there, while my eyes is watering remembering how it all started, that weekend in June 2013. Today, while I came to CA for a small vacation, I toured the city seeing some of the show's location and finished my day here at the studio (oh, I saw Constance Marie, who plays Regina leaving the studio a few minutes ago in her car) on Tuesday, May 6, 2014 at 1:01pm.
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