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Samantha Hayes ReportingFor a group of Utah students learning about Italy has become a real-life experience. They have been in the country since last August, now they are in Torino volunteering for the Winter Olympics, helping those lost in translation.
The study abroad program started with 50 students from BYU and the U in Rome for two months. About half are still there and are a handful of volunteers who speak English. They say it's the emersion in the culture that has really changed their world outlook.
For Jonathan Curtis, translation goes far beyond finding the right words.
Jonathan Curtis: "To get to know them and have their customs become your customs and their habits become your habits, their gestures become your gestures, it's a beautiful thing."
It's something hard to explain if you have never encountered a scene like this. It's the food, it's the music it's the passion that lives there.
Jonathan Curtis, BYU Student/Olympic Volunteer: "I love their model, passion lives here. The Italians are very passionate people and the Olympics are going to be full of excitement."
And that's why Curtis and Natalie Hintz decided they had to stay for the Olympics. Organizers are glad to have them.
Natalie Hintz, BYU Student/Olympic Volunteer: "You speak different languages, but they are exactly the same as you. And I think just understanding that and getting to know people in that is was has been amazing."
The students are doing everything from helping delegations from other countries with their athletes, to lending a hand in the USA house. And, as you heard, it's an experience that has changed the way they look at the world.
