Said Shelley Oishi, Sprint’s Business Development Manager (account manager for the state of Texas), “The Taste of Technology is a free event designed for consumers, educators, and general public interested in learning about current trends in technology. Every opinion voiced empowers the future shaping of technology.”

During the event, it became more apparent why I was there, it was to learn and see firsthand how technology has changed for the better benefiting Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing people around the world, with the changes made with new technology introduced to us since barriers got torn down from the influence of the Deaf President Now (DPN) movement, resulting in laws being changed from 1989 on.

The “DPN protest heard ’round the world” provided a little push for technology to be invented for Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing people in the urgency for us to be able to function equally the way hearing people can, providing us equal accessibility.

Since Texas leads all relay efforts nationwide, this event made it all the more memorable for me to attend; they were the first on board the relay service bandwagon since the passage of the ADA.

After satisfying my taste buds eating the “Alto Buffet” luncheon, I put my fork down and watched intently as the speakers came on stage to give their presentations, they came from Sprint, Relay Texas, and Texas’ STAP program, panelists were featured, and the event discussed a wide range of relay services and technology for Deaf and Hard-of Hearing people.

For many years American Sign Language (ASL) is and was what kept the folklore of Deaf culture strong, but technology has indeed become a necessary resource for Deaf people from all walks of life to tap into, I experienced that firsthand getting videophone services, from the first TTY manufactured to the presently cool handheld gadget toys.

There are infinite possibilities, and you are about to be introduced to a definite possibility, an advanced stage of telephone technology for Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing people.

Deaf people want their loved ones to hear their voices on the phone without feeling like a fool because of uncertainty on whether their loved ones understood them on the phone; they are able to now because of the new technology available now.

But our language is ASL, so why even discuss a “moot point” over allowing our loved ones to hear us on the telephone without causing us to feel out of place?

That is where David B. Strom, the CapTel marketing manager and one of the featured speakers of the event, comes into the picture having helped change some perceptions of mine.

He introduced to the audience a special telephone feature for Deaf people, and for those of us wondering how that feature can help us, they are “CapTel phones,” which is a captioned telephone. There are several kinds, the WebCapTel (internet-based captioned telephone service), WebCapTel On The Go (mobile WebCapTel) and the new CapTel 800i phone.

The CapTel phone products and the services that come with them target specifically the hearing loss market, primarily those with hearing loss and inability to use sign language, or those with hearing loss and ability to speak and be understood by others.

Yes, a captioned telephone!

When we use the words “captioned,” what comes to mind first are televisions and DVDs that are captioned. But make a phone call to a loved one using a captioned telephone?

This is how it works:

CapTel displays word-for-word CAPTIONS of everything your loved ones say during your phone conversations. CapTel users place a call the same way we do on traditional phones that dial. Both parties communicate, one by voice, and the other by captions.

See, most Deaf people can only communicate by voice on the telephone with people they are used to doing the phone conversations with, and usually with only one to three words. CapTel makes it even more possible in addition to giving you the ability to understand their full response in captioned text.

Never mind, this doesn’t take away your ASL skills if you get a CapTel phone, or the beautiful signed cultural language that we live and die with. It just enables your loved ones to hear your voice, even a simple phrase such as “I love you, Son,” while getting an acknowledgement on the captioned response from the loved one that tells you that your “son” understood you clearly saying something so simple.

For what it is worth, as much some of us might feel silly to use our voices, it makes the loved ones happy to hear from us, at least. That is when we should try CapTel technology, and those that use the telephone by voice regularly to loved ones will love this new “CapTel” technology product that Sprint offers.

“Usually it works best for Deaf or Hard-of-Hearing people who are accustomed to functioning without making it totally a visual effort, some do use the verbal spoken languages with their hearing parents, hearing siblings, hearing relatives, and hearing co-workers,” said Strom. “But, it also can work for those who want their loved ones to hear their expressions.”

Now having registered with CapTel, all I need to do is log on, type the phone numbers and make the call.

With me being a native ASL signer, I will just call my son first through videophone to let him know what I am going to do, then call him through CapTel and tell him “You’re still my baby,” and then call him back through videophone and ask him what he thought of hearing my voice!

Seeing my son’s wide smile and wide eyes with his thumbs up is well worth the effort in making a CapTel call!

As long I keep it brief — for others, they can talk all day long if they want.

When we see the image of the world Motocross racing, the picture comes to mind: Boys who like to get themselves dirty in a Motocross event unafraid of the numerous falls and other mishaps, revving up and roaring at every turn, with their tooth chipped; they eventually got dirt sprayed on their faces trailing behind someone very special, who is very unique. The boys’ comfort zone is about to be compromised.

Entering into this picture is Ashley Fiolek, an 18 year old deaf champion motocross rider from St. Augustine, Florida, she is the the first deaf person to ever win the American Motocross Association’s (AMA) National Championship, and is no. 1 in the United States, she currently is the points leader also. She also has a list of sponsors including Honda, Red Bull, and T-Mobile.

She was also the first female rider ever on the Honda Red Bull Factory Racing Team.

“I was the first woman to be on a factory team. I ride for the Honda Red Bull racing team and it is a great feeling to be the first woman to do this,” Fiolek said proudly.

She has broke yet another barrier for women, deaf or hearing, by shredding the stereotype that girls are not good enough to compete in boy’s motocross, Fiolek was better than most boys in her age, she was more daring, by calculating the turns being careful, holding the lines and keeping the lead.

Due to her deafness, she has to be “absolutely sure that a lane is clear before moving over,”  Fiolek explained.

In fact she is so talented that people don’t realize that she is deaf.

“Some people don’t know I am deaf until I stand in the podium after winning an event,” Fiolek says with an incredulous look. Last year was her first full year in the Women’s pro series and she wanted to be on the Podium every race. People are discovering who she is because of her newfound podium presence, which was becoming a regularity.

“I wound up winning the series in my rookie year so this year I just want to try and improve my lap times and to try and win the championship again,” Fiolek states.

With the rigors of the sport and the nicks that come with it, nothing can daunt her, noting that “In my sport all riders are bound to get hurt,” Fiolek states, “as matter of fact, I have broken my wrist, collarbones, humerus, and even my nose.”

Fiolek didn’t get to the top on her own. Her mother, Roni, takes care of all “behind the scenes” stuff, her father Jim is the riding coach, and her 5-year old brother is the cheerleader.

Her mother Roni said, “Ashley wanted to race and ride ever since she was about 3 years old, It was in her heart and it was her passion,” pointing out, “My husband and I never drove fancy cars or had a big house because we always wanted to support Ashley in her dreams.”

It was a fitting statement because her parents have had a passion for the Motocross racing sport, even before she was born.

Conceded Fiolek gratefully, “My family has always been there for me my whole amateur racing career, and now my professional career,” emphasizing that “I know they have given up a lot for me and I really appreciate them.”

“I feel that motocross helped shape who I am, making me feel more confident about myself,” a smiling Fiolek said.

“I think supporting your children no matter what they are involved in is extremely important to their success and growth as a person,” Ashley’s father Jim said. “With Ashley, it has been easy to get behind her to help her reach her goals and dreams, especially when you see how hard she works and how much heart she puts into everything she does!”

“Of course sacrifices have been made by the whole family but when you see Ashley doing what she loves and succeeding, inspiring kids and adults including me and her mom, and being a role model to younger kids, it is all worth it,” said Jim. “We will do the same for our son Kicker.”

Roni glowingly confided, “When Ashley was younger an older fellow woman motocross racer said “Ashley will change the way the world looks at our sport!”

She and her husband Jim thought that was a little heavy to be saying about a nine year old; she had just started competing at seven years old, and by the time she was in the girls 9-13 class came the eye-opening revelation, “Now we see what she meant!”

Miki Keller, who founded the W.M.A. (Women’s Motocross Association) in 2004, mused “I kind of expected when she got to the pro class that she would do well, but not that she would dominate the way she has.”

Fiolek grew up in Michigan and attended a total communications school. Then she and her family moved to Florida to train year-round to compete in major Motocross events, enrolling at Florida School for the Deaf and Blind remaining there until the 9th grade when she started being home-schooled under the Keystone National High School. When she was a Junior, she switched to a school for athletes called OnTrack, where she recently graduated, receiving her High School diploma.

Fiolek was recently selected as one of Purple’s 2009 Dream Bigger Trailblazers.

With her eyes brimming being bestowed such an honor, she said, “I think its awesome to be selected, I was really shocked when they notified me of this award,” gushing, “It feels really good to be nominated with the other winners in the trailblazers and it is nice to get my story out there because I want Deaf people to realize that they can do anything that they want to do and you should never stop dreaming or setting goals for yourself!”

Concluded Roni, “Ashley has brought together the hearing, male dominated sport of motocross, to the deaf, woman side of motocross and it is a wonderful feeling. She inspires a lot of people and we get a flood of emails that talk about how she inspires people all of the time.”

Gleamed Roni, “She also inspires me everyday and I am proud she is my daughter.”

**Ashley Fiolek Statistics**

2008
1st AMA/WMA Women’s National Motocross Championship
2nd GNC International Final, Women 99-250F Pro
2007
1st Lake Whitney Spring Classic, Women’s 99-250cc 12+ Amateur
1st GNC International Final, Women’s 99-250F n/p
1st World Mini Grand Prix, Girls 65-85cc
5th WMA Steel City National
6th AMA/WMA Drill Tech Women’s Cup
2007 Xtremey Award – Most Inspirational Athlete
2006
1st Lake Whitney Spring Classic, Girls 12-15 85-105cc
1st GNC International Final, Women’s 99cc and up (250 max)
1st NMA National Championships – Women’s 125-250cc, Girls 65-85cc
AMA Winter National Olympics – 1st Women’s Supercross 99cc and up, 3rd Women’s Motocross 99cc and up
AMA Amateur National Motocross Championships – 11th boys 85 Mod 14-15, 14th Women’s 99cc-250cc
2005
1st GNC International Final, Women’s 99cc and up (450 max)
1st Branson MX National Championship, Girls 12-15 class
7th AMA Amateur National Motocross Championships, Women’s 99cc and up
#1 Woman/Girl Amateur Racer of the Year, Amateur MX magazine
2004
*Champion – AMA Amateur National Motocross Championships, Girls 9-13 class
1st AMA Winter National Olympics, Supercross Girls 9-13 class
1st AMA Winter National Olympics, Motocross Girls 9-13 class
AMA Youth Motocrosser of the year
AMA Youth Rider of the Year
AMA Winter National Olympics – Thor MX Outstanding Achievement award
* First deaf person to win an AMA National Championship

PROFILE
Born: Oct. 22, 1990, Dearborn Heights, Michigan
Residence: St. Augustine, Florida
National #: 67
Began riding: 1993, age 3
First race: 1998, age 7
Training: biking, motocross
Hobbies: Writing, drawing, photography, making videos, texting/IM
Height/weight: 5’2”/106 pounds
Current racebike: Honda CRF250R
Mechanic: Cody Wolf

How has the economic downsides of the fallout affected you and your families?

Some families are safe because their jobs are not affected by the decline of United States economy, but on the other hand there are many families affected by government cuts, Deaf school closings, and an untold number of lost jobs.

We would like to know how the downsides of a declining economy has affected you. We know that those on Social Security benefits are not affected, but they will be 30 years down the road. Those currently working in jobs, or who have recently lost jobs, tell us about it.

Our focus is the fiscal year of 2009, and how the economy has affected all of us since all the foreclosures and mortgage dilemmas, the bank closures, the merges and takeovers, and watching the company executives clamoring for big pay days while the rest of us watch their company woes being spoon-fed by federal money.

Granted, we understand that executives demand the highest pay because of their work into bringing quality and success to the companies, especially at a time when bankruptcies are being filed as often as business permits are being issued.

With that being said, how does the economic perils of this country affect your finances, and your home? Do you feel your jobs are secure, or do you feel like it is turning into a hopeless dilemma?

Said Dan Manning Jr., a Deaf consumer in Northern California, “The current shaky economy depreciates my home equity value due to homes in my area being sold at cheaper prices and the rising costs of gasoline also affects me. Borrowing money is more difficult now.”

Added Manning Jr., “Despite the weakened economy, I will keep my faith, hope, and love.”

Is there a ray of hope at the end of tunnel of the economic journey we are about to take?

Carry on a debate in the comments, and please keep it clean!

Being Deaf can set one apart from the hearing world, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that person is alone.

A Deaf person has their own culture, history, and an articulate, eloquent language in American Sign Language, and the naturally built-in pride that keeps it together, values being instilled as people cross bridges.

Being a Deaf person can stereotype you as an immigrant with little or no English, because there are certain groups of people that view us as such instead the politically correct term, “disabled.”

Again, we have a language and a culture of our own, just like any person of a certain ethnicity.

Building communication bridges between the deaf and hearing community are extremely important, if you agree, because we need the services of others while they need our services, also, and to keep us out of the water, from drowning in obliviousness.

The Deaf schools are the pulse of the Deaf community, because hearing schools can see that we can do the same things they can do, building bridges for both not only to connect, but to cross over.

The goal for Deaf people is to become a part of their own culture, with the freedom exercised in revealing their thought process, how they perceive things, what their feelings are, and how they carry out discourse through blogs, vlogs, and the various other mediums.

We learn new things by interacting in the Deaf world, and applying the acquired knowledge in crossing the bridge over to the hearing world. ASL is a fully accessible language, to everyone — Deaf, Hard of Hearing, and Hearing people.

Speech is not fully accessible for Deaf people, not even with a cochlear implant, despite the many success stories told in various publications such as the numerous blogs currently embroiled in the cochlear wars. What is being stressed here is pure accessibility.

Building communication bridges between the Deaf and Hearing community is the foundation that makes a bridge a valid crossing place, because we are a group of multi-talented people that can do anything but hear. If we utilize the skills God gives each person, we can lay each foundation in building a bridge.

We have to educate people and use mediums such as the Internet to do so. Nowadays technology connects Deaf people to the hearing world, through instant messaging and e-mails, and lately, through blogging and vlogging. It is hard enough to be friends with someone you can’t communicate with verbally or even through sign language, but instant messaging and e-mails affords you that ability.

There are different ways to bridge the Deaf community, and they are through literary, through blogs, through Internet websites created by Deaf people, through online dating sites, and especially by attending the Deaf awareness events, the Deaf center events and the DeafNation Expos nationwide.

Exchanging ideas builds bridges.

In the old days, the Deaf community gathered in Deaf clubs as the need for social belonging has obviously brought people into one place, but we have more choices available nowadays through technology, which is the very thing that makes public places more Deaf-friendly.

As telecommunications grow and expand, it will strengthen the Deaf clubs and organizations, rather than dissolve them.

Building a bridge isn’t easy. Deaf people do not mention the hearing cultural issues because they already have their own culture. Same here, hearing people may not be as prone to mentioning Deaf culture, unless they have had a taste of Deaf culture one way or another. Building a bridge can or may require finding common ground, or even a common denominator.

Says Dennis Bacon, a professional angler who is Deaf, “Doctors, audiologists, and other professionals hardly mention Deaf cultural values, effectively excluding the issues of the use of American Sign Language to new parents of Deaf babies recently born.”

Concluded Bacon, “Thus, this is one of the reasons why we need to build a bridge between the Deaf and hearing worlds. Building bridges is offering them opportunities to learn more about the Deaf community.”

People build bridges by touching and tasting their culture and foods. For Deaf people, the tool is communication.

Using communication as a tool in creating an inclusive environment where Deaf and hearing people can understand each other will help narrow the gap between the two different worlds.

The goal of every program that caters to Deaf children and adults is inclusiveness, where hearing people can learn our beautiful language, while we learn to be patient with them in facilitating communication with them.

Becoming a member of an organization that advocates Deaf culture means you support ASL as a language. When we use our memberships to build a bridge to the hearing world, or for the hearing person to build a bridge to the Deaf world, it is where we have to be delicate over what mission statement to go with, because it can build a bridge, or burn bridges.

What is your mission statement?

DeafNation’s mission statement is simple but says it all:

Language, Culture and Pride.

Yes, that is right. We cherish our language, the culture where we learned from and shared with others, and the pride that grows with building bridges.

Let us not only connect, but cross over in this new bridge we built — together.

Today was a perfect day to begin my assignments in a place, a destination so many people around the world dream about visiting, France’s own iconic landmark Eiffel Tower, which was named after Gustave Eiffel the chief designer, built alongside the Seine River (www.eiffel-tower.com).

The Eiffel Tower, which was originally built for 1889’s World Fair, constructed with a $1,500,000 tab (enough for a nice mansion nowadays), is one of the world’s most recognized structures, weighing over 10,000 tons.

In the last days of the World War II, as the allies neared Paris, Hitler ordered General Dietrich von Choltitz, the military governor of Paris, to demolish the tower, and gratefully, Von Choltitz disobeyed the order. If Von Choltitz obeyed that order, we would never have been able to tour the Eiffel Tower. The lifts of the Tower were working normally within hours of the Liberation of Paris, victoriously.

I thought, “It is a true milestone with the tower welcoming more than 240 million visitors since 1889,” even as Hitler turns over in his grave totally defeated. It is said, that “even as Hitler conquered France, he couldn’t match Eiffel Tower’s resilience.”

The Eiffel Tower was within walking distance from the hotel. The sky was clear blue with a few clouds making it perfect for taking photos and doing the video report. As I walked toward the towering Eiffel landmark, I felt goosebumps, because this was a building that the designer Eiffel obtained a city permit to stand for only 20 years, it was scheduled to be dismantled in the year 1909, when ownership reverted to the City of Paris. The plans to dismantle it was dropped when the city realized that the tower proved valuable for communication purposes, the Eiffel Tower got a new reprieve as a landmark despite the expiration of the permit.

Inside, we picked up the media badges amidst the throngs of tourists crowding the Eiffel Tower premises, the same time crossing my fingers hoping to become the 240,000,001st visitor to walk through the gates of the historic tourist attraction.

The first lift was from one of the four pillars that leads up to the 2nd level observation. I observed people walking around on the 2nd level and it was fun watching their facial expressions when they looked down at the city of Paris, it’s a dizzying sight. We took one more lift to the top observation deck of the tower where it stands at approximately 1,063 feet.

There, we displayed the DeafNation banner conquering the Eiffel Tower, with emotions building up inside of me because we are very passionate about the fact that Deaf people can do anything.

As we headed back down to the lower observation, I could see a perfect “S” shape of the line the tourists formed without any posts or ropes, it was formed by natural instincts. I could only wonder.

Mitko advised us “that we should walk down the stairs at the lower level to get an authentic feeling of the enormity of this tall structure,” and it was worth taking his suggestion because of the great experience taking the lifts and walking the stairs, some of the 1,665 steps, it would have taken too much time to walk all the way up and back down unless we weren’t in a rush.

From the Eiffel Tower, we walked through the maze of Paris to Viable France’s new office. The building just had been completed a few weeks ago with high technology, built exclusively for new technology companies. Viable France is one the companies.

Fanny Yeh-Corderoy du Tiers, the sister of Viable founder John T.C. Yeh, opened the office in the very heart of Paris. I was very impressed with her new employees, many of them are Deaf and highly talented just like those at Viable’s office in the United States. Fanny was certainly so busy preparing the grand opening reception with our live Internet coverage, it was a day she and her brother John had been looking forward to.

As you know, in regards to live Internet coverages, technology was never meant to be perfect, because at the Viable France office, the Internet was down, posing as a possible problem to running a successful live Internet webcast scheduled to run soon therafter.

Despite the hitches, I never lost faith in the Viable France staff, it was a good feeling knowing we were in very capable hands.

And guess what? The Internet, thanks to Viable France, was hooked up just a few minutes before our live Internet coverage was scheduled to begin, it was impeccable timing, making our coverage largely successful.

Viable France also hosted the premiere with new Viable representatives from 8 other countries, with the Reunion, France’s own island being the most remote country participating. Mark Wheatley, who came from one of the largest Deaf families in England that can trace its deaf lineage from the 18th century, who also is one of our 2010 DeafNation World Conference & Expo’s keynote speakers, was present at Viable France’s premiere.

John Yeh, Viable’s founder, was walking around with the Viable VPAD meeting people, while at the same time his headquarters’ employees greeted whoever looked at the VPAD screen, with their images on the screen signing back at the people who stood looking at Yeh physically and his company employees wirelessly. Neat, huh?

“This generation has great technology,” I thought, awestruck by this milestone event for France, and all the other countries that stood to benefit from advances in technology and accessibility.

I was so extremely excited about the Viable France’s headquarters’ premiere plus DeafNation’s live Internet coverage allowing viewers around the world to witness the grand opening of Viable France’s new office.

Viable France had so many important people from the French government giving presentations, and I could see it was “a big step for Deaf people in France having the same accessibility to a true VRS service,” just like America has. I am very thrilled over the fact that this generation and the future generations will have equal accessibility with Viable.

It is also big step for Viable as one of the potentially true global video relay service providers, too.

John’s brother, Joseph was there to be a part of their historic moment, and I could see their faces “glowing” being proud of their company. John had expressed that he wanted to see “future generations of Deaf people having wonderful access, empowering them to do better in the future.”

I seconded him, seeing his dream come true brought great closure of my France tour!

Viable just tore down a barrier that once hindered untold numbers of Deaf people; the spirits of Clerc, L’Epree, Gallaudet, and Sicard are smiling approvingly of Viable’s good work in extending video relay services from America to Europe and beyond.

Being translated from the quiet Basque Country to the big city in Paris, from the countryside into the very heart of Paris where the streets are so busy, I had taken a 90 minute drive through snarling traffic to get there, to meet a local Parisian Deaf named Mitko, from Bulgaria.

It was much better plan to have a true Paris man to join with me in navigating through the subway maze around the city.

Mitko moved to Paris from his home country, Bulgaria when he was only 20 years old, making France his home ever since. He also has been a professional photographer for more than 35 years.

My first assignment was at the Cite des Sciences et de I’Industrie, the french version of a place like San Francisco’s California Academy of Science in the United States.

There, I met with Olivier Fidaigo, Director des publics es des activites commerciales, which translates to “Director of public business activities,” who was to be one of our guides around the building,

At first encounter, I was very impressed with his completely well-rounded persona. You will see why.

Fidaigo’s primary focus was on special accessibilities for Deaf people. He knew LSF, some ASL, plus he was pretty good at international sign language.

He has so much insight about his building, pointing out “This famous place has hired several full time Deaf employees doing the guides, researches, developing media and many more other activities around the building. Olivier admitted that positions are so rare (all filled) so those Deaf employees do everything while the hearing people have their own speciality.

Noticing the logo of two hands, I realized that it shows the symbol of sign language.

Each video display shows the different languages; French, English, Spanish, and LSF. What was even better, Fidaigo, who has done over 40 video productions with the center, and the other Deaf actors/actresses did the video presentation with voice overs, a great concept.

“It’s so fascinating to watch the group of hearing people viewing the video in sign language with the voice over feature,” I thought.

I love the idea of doing video presentations with voice overs because it shows people, when they are able to understand what we are expressing, the realization that we have the same intellectual thoughts as normal people.

I liked where they had one section for two persons in separate rooms outfitted with webcam along with visual aids in pictures of each sign and their definition, so the hearing person that has no knowledge of sign language or little knowledge can observe the signs to figure out the meaning of them so they can sign back to the other person from their end.

It truly gives a strong introduction to any person who has no background in sign language. I am looking forward to their new creations in the future, the center is very supportive with Fidaigo’s suggestions, ideas, and work.

He does travel to other countries to promote the awareness of the museum for the Deaf community. The museum is a perfect model for all museums, for the general public, not just for Deaf people, that is how remarkable it was. Check out his team’s work online at www.cite-sciences.fr, it would be possible one day for Fidaigo to bring his team to your country using the same the unique museum concept!

I thought I would only stay there for less than an hour but we ended up staying for two and a half hours, it was an amazing experience with him.

In London, it’s called the Tube. Here in Paris, we call it the Metro underground of Paris. I felt like I was in old Paris back in the days of when France had a King with all the palace guards.

At the Metro underground, we took off from the Luxembourg station, to visit the oldest Deaf school in the world. We visited so many Deaf schools in the United States, some were very old, but none as old as Institut National de Jeunes sords de Paris, founded in 1760, that L’Epree ran using his own finances, out of his own pocket.

My first impression of the Deaf school was that I could mentally picture the surroundings as an ancient city wall protecting Deaf children. I entered inside its’ gates and noticed immediately the statue of Abbe de L’Epee, also known as the Father of the Deaf.

The statue was made by a Deaf person fittingly.

Florence, one of the great LSF interpreters and repicient of a PhD degree in History, with focus on Deaf history and the native languages of Deaf people, met us and offered us a grand tour of the historic Deaf school. I was honored having her guide me because of her very rich knowledge about Deaf history. My history, and the history of countless Deaf people around the world, the history of the very existence of Deaf people, everything you want to know about Deaf education and Deaf culture.

I had a chance to visit their library museum. I saw so many books that were printed in the early 1700’s, very well preserved among other items such as small gifts and other things from the L’Epree days.

I was heartbroken to discover the Deaf lost five dark years during the French revolution just right after L’Epree’s death. It was so amazing to find that the new French Republic decided to continue Deaf education by appointing Abbe Sicard as the new school head master.

History of the Deaf began during the historic transition from L’Epree to Sicard.

With me spotting one interesting large piece of art and Florence seeing my gaze, laughed and explained that “the piece of art gives two different sides,” displaying preference of sign language over oralism, with the old French President watching a demonstration of a hearing person who strongly encouraged oralism, forbidding sign language, and L’Epree stands on the top right corner watching over them, perhaps keeping us politically correct?

I still couldn’t figure out how people preserved our native sign language and the Deaf educational values since the French Revolution, but becoming part of history was unevitable as the whole world is part of history, not excluding Deaf people. I believe we are very lucky, but we will never know the truth or reason why. I’d rather for the French to carry on the torch of Deaf education even though the French Revolution stalled some progress, as the 1880 Milan Conference did.

Deaf culture will never die, it might go through oppression and we may see Deaf people being relegated to the mainstream school education because of lack of government finances to fund a Deaf school, but it will never die as long as Deaf leaders rise to the occasion and promote sign language and the Deaf culture that embodies it. There are no “ifs” for us. From hand to hand, the signs passed on and evolved into the Deaf culture as it is today.

Visit the Deaf school Institut National de Jeunes sords de Paris’ website: www.injs-paris.fr

Mitko brought us back into the streets of Paris by suggesting that we should have a long walk from the Deaf school through the heart of Paris, the Louvre and the street shopping, the Eiffel Tower, and the many plazas that accompanies the route we walked on.

It felt like we walked over five miles within a few hours, and we even walked through the inside of the building alleys with many small shops and the oldest restaurant, which operated since 1626.

Although we were scheduled for a full media tour tomorrow, we decided to witness the Eiffel Tower at nightfall, to catch a glimpse of the majestic light show that runs every hour after sunset. Every tourist should try to visit the Eiffel Tower both during the day time and night time, to fully experience the Eiffel Tower, which has brought about an estimated 240,000,000 visitors since its grand opening in 1889.

We want to save the best for Viable France’s office premiere, I will be back with more details in the next blog!

Au Revoir!

Since my recent excursion into old Bayonne, I couldn’t wait to go back there, where Bayonne city life starts bustling again when everyone is back to work, the shopping back to normalcy, and all the cafes open. I owed myself to see old Bayonne, or I wouldn’t have gone back home to the United States quite satisfied. Actually both old Bayonne and the Eiffel Tower, too.

I stopped by the Deaf mainstream program next to old Bayonne where there are two classes, with seven Deaf kids in one class, and five smaller Deaf children in the other class, where Deaf teacher Veronique Deck teaches.

The Deaf school had closed and the Deaf students transferred into the mainstream schools so the French government can save money. All of the students were fluent in LSF, which is good, the less communication barriers, the better.

The Deaf teacher Deck set up the video projection showing the DeafNation website, for her class to watch. Students had to sign using a combination of both LSF and international sign language to ask me the questions about the presentation. The students were so eager to challenge themselves by trying to communicate in sign language with an American, with Veronique jumping in to assist us with our classroom dialogue.

Said Deck, “I admit to the fact there is concern over the future of Deaf children,” thoughtfully adding, “I would love to see new Deaf children born in the Bayonne area, if there are none, then I don’t have the job as a teacher to Deaf children.”

Back to the camaraderie of the engaging French Deaf students, they exhibited a sense of humor, laughing with me during my presentation about DeafNation and Deaf people around the world that I experienced meeting in the past years. I was very impressed with those students who have open minds, doing well with both the French language and LSF.

Leaving the classroom, all of the Deaf students including their Deaf teacher Deck gave wide smiles, they gave me a great added inspiration to my good start beginning my day in Bayonne.

Walking to old Bayonne was almost like seeing the modern day age of 2009 disappear into a hole literally changing into the 1500’s era, I had to be guided by Veronique’s husband Christian as he knows the “maze” by heart. Bayonne is 6km, or 3.7 miles from the Atlantic Ocean north of Biarritz.

Christian was puzzled, wondering why Seth and I was walking slowly, and I explained to him that we would like to do a video to show our viewers how old buildings were built in the 1500’s or earlier, which prompted him to slow down.

I glimpsed the coffee roasting shop and thought “there is NO way for me to resist some good coffee brew,” following my nose into the shop, getting a close-up view of the new beans being roasted. The attendant brewed me a small cup of espresso, which tasted so fresh with pure concentrated coffee flavor as I sipped outside of the shop, watching people walking by.

We kept going on with our tour, stopping by one of the chocolatiers that boast of more purely refined chocolate than America will ever offer. The chocolate here is made the old-fashioned way: bitter, spicy and in a heavenly mug.

Imagine, Bayonne had over 130 chocolatiers in the year 1870, which is more than all of Switzerland!

I never had seen such an imposing mug of hot chocolate with a huge chocolaty foam, a signature of the chocolatier visited. It melted in my mouth, to my gasps. I also picked up a few chocolate candy pieces, and I had to force myself to stop or I would have ended up eating up their whole inventory. I even had to stop for the other reason that I couldn’t stop trying all the different kinds.

I saw so many small cafes, shops, bakeries, and countless doors. I spotted one shop selling Chocolate scented perfume and found the more unique scents of perfumes such as caramel, mint among many other popular scents, marvelling that the French are so creative with all the different perfume scents.

Christian introduced me to a true Basque local who was Deaf, named Patxi. He was wearing a Basque Jai-alai uniform, looking like the real thing. Seeing his outfit brought memories of when I was a young kid attending a Jai-alai sporting event, who always wanted to try and play that game. Upon researching a little more, I was surprised to find that there were more than 20 different kinds of Jai-alai, from just the hand to using a big straw racket.

Jai-alai link: http://www.guethary-france.com/anglais/peloteuk.asp

We tried two different locations; Trinquet and Fronton. I didn’t realize that each location has its purposes. Trinquet is an indoor court with glass or hard walls, while Fronton has just one wall without any side walls.

Patxi applied some special tape on his hands, wrapping with several layers, taking me to Fronton and started playing handball. I thought that I could play for a few minutes without my hand becoming sore without wearing the special tape, and sure enough on the first hit, my hand got pretty sore when the ball thumped against the palm of my hands thunderously. I couldn’t continue five minutes longer without wrapping some of that special tape, otherwise I’d have to play fast with him before my hands gave out.

Patxi gave me the Jai-alai chistera (racket) to try. “It’s such a challenge to keep the ball under control back towards the wall,” I fretted, trying to maintain a good control game. I told myself, “there is no way I can keep up with a 180 mph gassed ball,’ shaking my head in dismay, but with a smile as a good sport.

Patxi explained, “I used to be serious about the Jai-alai games in the past, but I’ve been so busy with my career at Turbomeca doing the helicopter engines.”

When I met Patxi’s parents, I was impressed how they can sign to Patxi and me. Any parent who puts their mind to it, will be able to learn sign language to communicate with their loved ones.

Being weak over the finest local chocolate, I was sorely tempted to order yet another mug of hot chocolate, so I set forth in motion a series of events shaping way for my impulses to be satisfied with more chocolate, stopping first to grab a view of Bayonne up the hill, a nice view nearby Patxi’s home. We then rushed into Bayonne’s maze and tried to park the car with little luck until I found a perfect spot by the river. I stood by the empty cafe and river, taking in my sights before I proceeded back to the same chocolate shop, with the staff and manager all roused up by my repeated visit, thrilled. Now back in my latest favorite place, I sipped the hot chocolate very slowly, absorbing all the flavor in my taste buds, and I made sure each drip was done with a clean cup.

I am ready for a great dinner prepared by Veronique with Goose Liver and cheese, Salmon fish with a special sauce, homemade apple/blueberry pie along with Basque wine, of which the Decks declared as “the best,” and “even better than Bordeaux wine,” their faces smirking.

Christian brought two bottles from Henri Corderoy du Tier’s family cognac that has been made since 1724. It was a perfect occasion drinking cognac particularly due to the fact it came from a Deaf family.

I will always think of Christian and Veronique Deck with their warmest hospitality.

You must see Bayonne and the Basque countryside whenever you are in France, you can always go to Spain directly from the Basque region in your travels conveniently, it’s not far from here.

Au Revoir!

As we left Bergerac, it was all wine vineyards throughout the hilly terrain, and this time I couldn’t rely on my GPS to guide me to a Deaf couple’s vineyard and winery. I had to rely on a traveler’s instinct, spotting the INFO wooden sign when I entered the village of Pomport, seeing the words “Domaine de Grange Neuve” to my thrill and utmost inspiration, because the wooden sign actually put the Deaf vineyard on the map!

I rushed through the narrow road leading to their vineyard, pulling over to the small parking lot. Frenchman Regis Castaing walked to me and Seth smiling at us as if we were his special guests, and as much he extended his welcome to us, we could see he was a bit shy because he doesn’t know much French Sign Language (LSF), not even American Sign Language (ASL). We made the best of it and gestured to each other, understanding one another pretty good, having some laughs with exaggerated gestures. Some families just don’t have much exposure to Deaf culture, but it doesn’t stop me from visiting Deaf people.

“DeafNation is doing a ‘No Barriers with Joel Barish’ video show in France,” I explained to Regis, and he understood who we were. I said we can communicate “through gesturing,” and Regis in his sneak peak into Deaf culture, could only say, “wow.” It was dawning on him that Deaf people were coming out of the woodwork before his own eyes, seeing how we as Deaf people can succeed using sign language as a native, primary language in our media endeavors.

While we were still at it communicating through gestures, his wife Paulette, appeared out of thin air. She seems a very active lady, which explains her sudden pop up while we were deeply engaged in conversation. She sign-speaked “Regis, let’s give DeafNation a grand tour,” and I looked over at Regis, who pointed out, “that’s what I am doing now,” it appeared that they were really excited about us doing a story on their family. Paulette knew sign language!

They are 4th generation family owners of the wine business. Their oldest son walked by saying, “let’s have fun with our Winery tour!”

With the French wine family camaraderie going on, Regis continued, “we have another child, a daughter, who just gave birth to two children, extending the family into the 6th generation.”

Regis hopes that their 6th generation children will continue their winery legacy despite current trends leading people to different jobs and other interesting things in today’s society. “Many people are moving to bigger cities,” said Regis.

Paulette mentioned they have 70 hectares, the equivalent of 173 acres. That is a lot of grapes growing. And plenty of dinner wine.

Pointed Regis, “The Chateau is down the valley. It is used for guests who want to stay away from the noisy city or to spend holidays with family or friends.”

Here is a Wikipedia description of chateaus: “A chateau is a manor house or residence of the lord of the manor or a country house of nobility or gentry, with or without fortifications, originally—and still most frequently—in French-speaking regions.” I do need getaways to a chateau, and France is a perfect place because wine freely flows.

“Wine season is from September and October,” explained Regis, sounding like he knows the vineyards from the back of his hand.

I saw flowers blooming on the vines, and Regis sensing my intuition, confirmed “the flower blooms before the grapes are grown.”

We walked back to their winery warehouse to see the different machines used to process and the wine presses with new wine flowing.

Said Paulette, “technology changed the wine industry, doing more production with less employees.” French wine needs to keep up with other wineries from around the world, especially Chile for their red wine.

We walked by many huge secured bins that preserved wine for years before they were bottled. We even walked down into the cellar.

Said Paulette, “We do some special wooden barrels for higher priced wine due to a different taste.” They explained that lots of bottles are coming from stainless bins that don’t have the flavor the wooden barrels give.

We walked up and joined one employee doing the corks, the foil wrapping over the top and labeling 6 bottles before finally packing it into a box. I was so thrilled over the things I did, including packing the boxes. Hope one of them will go to America’s stores.

If you find “Joel Barish” on any of these bottles, let me know! I am proud of their family winning some awesome awards in French wine events.

The next thing we experienced was their tasting room, seeing different wine bottles. They offered me three varieties for me to try, one white wine, red wine, and a sweet dessert wine. I decided to purchase several bottles because it was too good for me to leave without any bottles from them.

DeafNation presence with us interviewing them made them feel honored, even overjoyed, we like to share and enlighten people about Deaf people around the world. I came away very impressed with their hospitality and the quality of their wines.

Deaf people can do anything, from flying airplanes to making wine. This winery family work very hard year-round by pruning the vine, keeping up with the water quality, eradicating weeds, adding new baby vines and many other exciting tasks in ensuring the wine comes out as good quality stuff.

We drove 3 hours to Bayonne through countless vineyards. French vineyards are bigger than any other countries with all the vineyards they have.

We arrived in Bayonne only to discover at 95% of business in France were closed due to the Pentecôte holiday, and I was lost in the maze of old Bayonne. It was such a beautiful place with lots of small stores and cafes. It became one of my favorite towns at that moment. I must come back here next day with “everyone” working and walking around town. (www.bayonne-tourisme.com)

A wonderful Deaf couple, Christian and Veronique Deck welcomed me and Seth at their home only 10 minutes from the old town. I could see the valley from their backyard.

Christian displayed a Jai Alai, a well known sport in Basque county that shares with Spanish Basque culture. You can check Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jai_alai to learn more about the sport that originated in Basque culture.

They were so surprised that Seth and I gave them 5 bottles from the Deaf family’s vineyard.

They had heard about them but never had a chance to stop by. Veronique told Christian that “we must go there” after I explained them about my experience with Castaing family.

Au Revoir!

It was only a few minutes from Orly Airport to Coulommiers-Voisins Airport (LFPK), which is in the Brie region 30 miles east from Paris. The airport used to be controlled by NATO until 1966, while the United States Military used it, as well. The airport’s long runaway was shortened to accommodate the smaller private planes like gliders, pipers, and the ULM.

Seth and I went to see someone unique, who not only drives on roads but flies airplanes. Let’s see where “No Barriers with Joel Barish” takes us today.You know, in America we have some Deaf pilots scattered throughout the United States, but France has their own group of Deaf pilots, just like us, which made my visitation a homage to the world of Deaf aviation. Because, that is one hard barrier to break in becoming a pilot, it takes a lot of training, mentorship, and the right mental objective and purpose to undertake flight training to become a licensed airplane pilot. If you have the right make-up, the ambition and have someone willing to take you on and teach you how to fly, then anything is possible.

Such a pilot is a profoundly Deaf man by the name of Henri Corderoy du Tiers, he is well known internationally for flying airplanes. He is also the husband of Fanny Yeh-Corderoy du Tiers, the sister of Viable founder John T.C. Yeh, who runs his company from the United States.

Fanny runs newly established Viable France, which is the same company as Viable but the French version, with LSF (French Sign Language) interpreters. The siblings manufactures and sells videophones with wifi capacity, and in the current wifi craze, many Deaf people have one now, thanks to them and other providers. Fanny will be hosting a premiere of the new Viable France office on June 4, 2009. If you want to watch the Live Internet streaming from Paris the Viable France premiere, tune into our website for the webcast! More information is posted on the www.deafnation.com website.

As for Corderoy du Tiers becoming a pilot, it took him 25 years before he got his flying license in France; in fact, he obtained his own flight license in several countries first, including in England, Australia, and the USA before France awarded him one, too. France finally accepted his determination in recognizing him officially as a pilot who can legally fly over the French airways. That was a long way to go in accruing 1,700 hours of flight time recorded by the persistent flier.

Corderoy du Tiers also founded the French Deaf Aviators Association (ACSF) in 1996. He is currently an instructor of ULM (Ultralight Machine) airplanes. Additionally, he is the Aéro-Club des Sourds de France President, which is translated to French Aero-club of the Deaf. Being that flying is Corderoy du Tiers’ hobby, he is also a strong advocate of the International Deaf Pilots Association (www.deafpilots.com), an organization I did a video story on in 2002 in Frederick, Maryland on one of their annual fly-ins.

Corderoy du Tiers, a Certified Ultralight Motorized Aircraft Instructor since 2004, recruited and brought many Deaf French folks in joining the ranks with American Deaf pilots. Noting that, it is his big heart that prompts him to bring the French to places around the world. He always shared his experience and advice to anyone who asked, making him an invaluable asset to the Deaf piloting world.

Corderoy du Tiers has owned other airplanes in the past, some were different models, and he sold them in past years, impressively. He just purchased a brand new ULM, renting out his own hangar for it, using it to share with Deaf French pilots and new flight students.

“I encourage Deaf people in France to become airplane pilots,” said Corderoy du Tiers, “it’d be nice to see more Deaf people flying the skies.”

Aphay Singomvgsa, who came from Laos 25 years ago, is one such student and intern of Corderoy du Tiers, sharing a special connection with him, you could see Singomvgsa glow from his face when he engages into dialogue about aviation with his mentor.

Before Singomvgsa met Corderoy du Tiers, he loved flying but couldn’t understand the hearing instructor. Ever since they met, Corderoy du Tiers took him under his wing and taught him so much, and if it wasn’t for him, Singomvgsa would have had a more difficult time learning the things he knows now, and he now has a flying license.

“Come here, I need to show you something,” Corderoy du Tier beckons Singomvgsa, “let’s check the new plane out.” The hangar opened and a flash of sun rays shone in, giving me an exciting sensation as they were about to go on a training flight around the airport, I watched, mesmerized as the plane taxied out of the hangar into the runaway for takeoff.

They returned from the training flight, and still in action, they reviewed Aphay’s flight path related to wind conditions, the landing, and the take-off, the flight around the airport and the flight controls, the whole works. It was a very special moment in witnessing a very mutual relationship between the Deaf instructor and the Deaf student, bringing me to awe. It was a beautiful moment.

“Aerodynamically harmonious,” I would say!

I caught the gleam in Corderoy du Tiers’ eye, and I knew the twinkling gleam meant it was my turn to go up the skies with him, with goosebumps instantly popping up all over my arms in the same instant.

I have flown on many different kinds of airplanes, but going on the ULM plane was a first for me. I enjoyed observing him do the check-list, the rush intensified as the plane taxied down the runaway, feeling the motor purring when it took off. It was an amazing take-off experience for me.

I felt a surge as he banks left hard, a feeling I live for.

During the flight, I kept seeing many gliders being towed by tow-planes every five minutes. It reminded me of my experience in Hawaii. I videotaped the beautiful countryside of Paris.

“This is the Disneyland Paris,” Corderoy du Tiers pointed in the distance, “and you can see Paris.”

Corderoy du Tiers states, “I can fly to many airports that don’t have a control tower, but it’s more rare for me to land in some small commercial airports,” his hands motioning with the sign for airplane,”I have to inform each control tower in advance with a specific time of landing when I do.” If he misses the designated landing time, he says, “I wouldn’t be able to land at the certain airport.”

Teasing my French pilot buddy, I asked if he would “love to fly the world’s most brand new and the largest airliner, the Airbus A380.”

Corderoy du Tiers couldn’t resist a smile when I said that, he didn’t have to give an answer. The smile spoke a thousand words. Any aviator enthusiast will give you a look that you can’t possibly misinterpret, because you know of their love for flying and because they are avid airplane pilots, living and breathing in the skies.

It was my turn to smile as he made a perfect landing back at the airport.

Another French Deaf pilot by the name of Ion Berindey, also a plane mechanic, met us at the hangar.

Introducing me to him, Corderoy du Tiers gave a brief history of their acquaintanceship,”We worked many hours together at the hangar,” explaining that when he first brought Berindey to the United States showing him that there are Deaf pilots who fly, “He was stunned and inspired, thus his fascination with flying began.” Added Corderoy tu Tiers, “Berindey loves to fix any kind of airplane engines, he finds it hard to stay away from those engines,” which is obvious how he found his own niche as a plane mechanic.

The strong bond was evident between them. I felt like both Berinday and Singomvgsa were in good hands under the guidance of a Deaf leading pilot in Corderoy du Tiers.

It was time to leave the airport so we can drive to Paris, and upon arriving there, we met up with a local Deaf Parisian, Stephane Robert, who had strong French facial features.

Corderoy du Tiers dropped us off by the famous Les Invalides, a huge complex with different old buildings along with the golden domed church. Les Invalides are a complex of buildings in the city containing museums and monuments, they exhibit the military history of France, containing a hospital and a retirement home for war veterans, which was the building’s original purpose.

With only one hour of walking time by the famous Seine river,  we were able to have a good view of the Eiffel Tower from a distance. I was tempted to head straight for the Eiffel Tower but tucked the idea away in my back pocket saving the best for the last of my France tour.

Walking around in Paris made me feel a little impulsive, because there was so much to see, I grew up with a mental picture of Eiffel Tower in my mind, and here I was so close to finally touching with my hands the Eiffel Tower and its’ gigantic towering personality.

We kept on walking around the plaza, there were so many beautiful works of architecture.

Finally we arrived the very heart of Paris where Corderoy du Tier’s home was, which appeared very clean with a very original look that has been maintained since the 1600’s. You can see the pride of his noble families who from generation to generation kept things as it was. Old horse stables are a mainstay under his home. He and Fanny even have their own door from the gate in the street, and when you go inside, you can see that the home had the tall ceiling and big wall of books like we see in any medieval home.

His wife, Fanny, came from the United States, coming to France after they tied the knot. They have a beautiful baby daughter, who is a lovely 15 months old.

It was time for us to catch an airport bus a few blocks from his home to get on a flight to Bordeaux, a port city on the Garonne River in southwest France, in a region once inhabitated by neanderthals.

Now even Deaf people can fly, how times have changed from clubbing undereducated neanderthals in prehistoric times to the French Deaf taking the flight controls in an advanced society. I am happy to be living in this day and age, and am very impressed by the sophistication of the French deaf community.

Walking off the airport, the first impression I got was the grape vineyard at the airport, bringing me to mind that Bordeaux is very famous for its’ wines. The airport practically gave Bordeaux away as a wine country by the vineyard that sat square on the airport premises. It’s quite a welcome seeing how some airports present their own cultures, showing their pride. The city of Bordeaux is among the world’s major wine industry centers.

Bordeaux wine has been produced in the region since the 8th century, wouldn’t it be nice to open an aged bottle of wine and find that it’s still good, not flat-tasting?

Hungry, we drove 90 minutes to the village of Bergerac, discovering all eateries were closed except for one sole restaurant at 11pm, as it was to eat some chow before I hit the sack with yet more blogging to do.

Nice to have Deaf French people as allies who fly the skies just like the Americans. Au revior!

Two things gave my day a huge boost: Sunny Mediterranean weather and having a GPS with me, an invaluable tool. You definitely need one when you have to navigate your way through ancient roads in the heart of Marseille.

It was kind of hard driving on these roads because of the road construction going on, with improvements being made to all the roads and highways, and it was especially difficult to drive around the old part of the city. Most of the roads are one way lanes passing through homes or stores, I could literally reach them from my car window, it wouldn’t have mattered how long my arms were.

Marseille had just won the bid for hosting the European Cultures Festival in 2013, so they are in a rush to shore up the roads in an attempt to boost up their city, to uplift their community and restore ancient buildings.

Between Rues Rodillat and Pistoles you’ll see the Vieille Charité, Marseille’s architectural gem. Built between 1671 and 1749 to care for the city’s down-and-outs, this former hospice is the work of the Puget brothers.

I admired the Vielle Charité chapel and its ovoid dome (egg-shaped), a masterpiece of Italian Baroque. The place, a haven of peace and silence, groups many museums such as the Mediterranean Archeology Museum; an African, Oceaninan, and Amerindian arts museum (MAAOA) with its’ Francois-Reichenbach collection.

I met Jean-Marc Saman, Deaf owner of a ceramics shop called La Sardine D’argile. When he opened the old gate and opened the inside glass door, it gave me goosebumps since he has a shop in a community started in 1500’s.

A day earlier, Saman told me that he is understocked with items because he recently sold a lot of them.

I entered the shop, and I stood there for a minute and realized I underestimated him. He had high quality of work with lots of creative details, and had an adequate supply in stock after all.

“Wow you have a good number of items at this moment,” I said to Saman.

Saman said, “Yeah, most busy months are from November to December and from May to July,” explaining “that’s why I consider myself understocked right now.”

He needs to make more ceramics after my visit to keep up with the demand, you will see why his ceramics are heralded in Marseilles as you follow today’s action with “No Barriers with Joel Barish.”

I followed him going downstairs. I continued being in awe over his shop. Visiting Europe certainly takes me back in time when people show me authentically ancient surroundings, it is one thing that will stick with me always — I live in modern housing, so when I visit these places, it really gives me a glimpse of what life was like before our great-great-great grandfathers were born, by seeing how they lived.

The basement is a truly ancient cellar with curved stone, all brick. I learned that it used to be an underground canal and a series of water wells. There are lots of molds, clays, paintings and artwork in the workstation where he and one other employee works.

We went back upstairs as there are two ovens to heat the ceramics. Saman showed me how he makes tiles, vases, unique arts and crafts. He mentioned that he used some stencil images that has been used for many generations. He won’t adapt to the younger generation as he wants to keep things the same from the old ancient days. People who come to buy ceramics want that kind of rare originality.

Some customers came in so I moved aside to watch him serve them, observing that he could speak French very well.

He has a hearing wife of 35 years. His family came from Mediterranean Sea; Turkey, Greece, Italy and Lebanon. His wife’s family came from Argentina. Both families have been well known in Marseille for many years.

After my video work with him, he wanted to take me and Seth to his village of Puyloubier.

Puyloubier is conveniently located at the foot of the green pastures leading up to the top of the Sainte-Victoire Mountain, a limestone mountain ridge in the south of France. The mountain is renowed for its many appearances in the paintings of artist Paul Cézanne (1839-1906), who had a strikingly close-up view from his house.

With vast woods and rocky landscapes, Puyloubier offers a beautiful array of wild and preserved landscapes. Puyloubier is one of the points on the Cézanne trail which starts at Aix-en-Provence, where the communes in the Aix area can be found near the places where Cézanne lived and worked at.

Trying to park my rental car in the most narrow street ever, barely squeezing in, I shook my head. Stepping out of the car, I saw only three restaurants in the village.

Walking up the very old steps, I went through an ancient looking door and saw five tables outside. The restaurant had only one waitress. I could see a wooden menu board. They make fresh food everyday from scratch, which made the entrees very satisfying along with local French wine. I sat, watching as Jean-Marc shared his interesting stories.

Said Saman, “I grew up in a high class family, having four brothers and one sister. I used to go to the Deaf school in Paris, too.”

He remembered old days riding on steamed trains filled with white smoke. He signed it very proficiently, clearly illustrating the image of smoke billowing from the train, saying that “It chugged for 16 hours one way from Marseille to Paris.”

Back then, he flew in an old airplane with two heavy propellers for 4 hours at low altitude to get there. Saman says, “It’s now only 3 hours on TGV or only 70 minutes of flight time,” laughing.

Life changes over time. It would be interesting to see what life was like 50 years ago, there are big advances in such a short period of time, it is scary to think how far advanced technology would be in the next 100 years.

He also mentioned that once he joined his family to Argentina on an old plane, taking a 36 hour trip from Marseille to Buenos Aires, with stops in Canary Island, a small unknown island in the Atlantic ocean, the Caribbean islands, Venezuela, a village in Brazil, and finally Rio De Janeiro and Buenos Aires.

Said Saman, “In the old days the airlines were at their best, they gave the passengers high class service with really good food and huge chairs,” reminiscing, “I never forgot about riding in that plane that flew so close to the water and I could see the water from a very close distance, the plane was flying under the clouds, and it was a very shaky ride at times and a smooth ride during the trip.”

Admitted Saman, “Nowadays the airlines are like a cattle machine,” moving his hands and bending erectly, “once you are inside of the plane they tell you to sit still on your seat!”

He had traveled to 70 countries in his lifetime and even rode on an old cruise liner filled with people being wild in the night, continuing their folly until early morning. He went on a cruise in recent years and couldn’t believe how a cruise liner can hold 6,000 passengers nowadays.

We enjoyed chatting together, he was a very colorful personality with a smirk in his face as he boasted of the old days as it was compared to today. It would have been nice to be in his shoes seeing what it’s like to travel in airplanes in the old days when airlines weren’t struggling financially, when they had original airline service which somehow has evolved into a more of a soda and crackers experience today.

He still loves to travel, because it keeps his sanity.

Did I think he was a ceramist all his life? He actually used to work for the denture industry for thirty years before retiring. But that still wasn’t enough for him, he decided to study the art of ceramics and shortly opened his business thereafter. He preferred opening a small business because he loves to meet people everyday instead of having to work for a boss without any customers to talk to.

After an appetizing lunch, we drove a few miles away from the village through the gravel road to Saman’s home.

The home he just purchased three years ago, he couldn’t have picked a better location that had a beautiful view of Sainte-Victorie Mountains. It is a place where we could stay for hours drinking French wine, watching the unique shapes of the mountains. “I chose this location to get away from the city noise, not that I can hear it, but the quagmire of a crowded population was too much for me to bear,” noted Saman.

I am sorry to say, but nearly every exotic place I have gone to had either a coffee farm, or a winery vineyard. I want to bring to life the coffee and wine that most civilization can only see on the store shelves and share how they are processed from the time they are picked and the time checkout cashiers ring those items up for you. It’s fascinating to follow the trail of something that was picked out as ripe and distributed into the mainstream.

Saman lived next to a wine farm from his backyard, it would be so awesome to be able to rise from your bed and walk outside to pick some grapes to add to your breakfast plate.

If I had my own wine farm, I would make my own wine, and perhaps put on the label “Straight from the Barish Vineyards,” I thought with a chuckle.

He had built a homemade pond putting in 300-plus small fishes and created a lily pond for frogs. His wife will continue adding more plants around their land. I would love to have a home like his because that kind of environment will help reinvigorate me with renewed energy every morning.

Time was up for me to drive to Marseille airport for Paris’ Orly airport.

It was amazing day spending time with him indulging in his experiences in business and with his travels around the world.

He admired the fact I travel to meet Deaf people in the most remote of places. Conceded Saman, “I never thought about it throughout my travels with my wife, we were more of tourists and did a lot of sightseeing.”

“You do a lot of off-beat and unique travel stories,” a smiling Saman exclaimed, “giving the viewers what they want to see.”

Make sure you stop by his shop in Marseille!

La Sardine D’argile
5, rue du Petit Puits
“la Vieille Charite”
13002 Marseille