The final day of the conference had arrived with crowds of school students from god knows where, with a hunger for knowledge that could only be fulfilled through Information Technology.

As soon as the doors opened everyone rushed for the most intriguing display on the floor. HarlemLive was able to maintain heavy traffic flow because of the attention paid to our i-Book computers. Not knowing how to speak the native language of Italy, we were still able to communicate through G.V.L. (Global Visual Language)When seeing who the staff of HarlemLive was, the students were astonished with what we were capable of doing. Plus everyone wanted to use our three i-books and one Powerbook to chat and check their email or just touch one for the first time.

Although my team and I were in another country with people speaking another language, the show would still go on. HarlemLive is known for giving the community a voice and interacting with those who need help expressing their opinions.So with saying that, you know what our next move was! We went out to the crowd to find out how project representatives felt about the audience they must present to and also how the audience felt about the projects they saw or have heard so much about.

A large majority of the crowd were students ranging from about 5 years and up. All with the thirst for information technology. No matter where you go it¹s always that little kid who has to entertain his friends so of course, being from another country, I was chosen. With spiky hair and a punk attitude he told me as he told everyone else "slooowwww I Šeh speak EnglishŠ.eh so so" then he turned to his friends said something in Italian then laughed. After a few minutes of clowning, I finally was able to get a name. Young Pietro from the city of Rome spoke for a few seconds between each joke he cracked on me saying the reason for him being in attendance was a school trip. That¹s the only information I got and all I wanted from his little disrespectful "you know what".

As I toured the area seeking someone with an American tongue I bumped into a young man who looked as if he spoke English but I was fooled. Andrea Di Giuseppe-18 from the city of Rome, was there supporting his friend Yuri Faenza who was a participant in the GJC (Global Junior Challenge). Yuri¹s project "Le Epidemie Nella Storia"(Illness and history) was to educate on the plague of Florence in 1348. He also struggled to explain in English. Finally I came across someone who could understand with out having to stretch every syllable. 17 year old Chelsea from EAST, (linkwww.eastproject.org) (Environmental and Spatial Technology) an educational initiative that uses innovative project-oriented learning to encourage students to think creatively and critically. This organization was started by a retired police officer with a goal six years ago, just like Richard Calton (link to hl history) founder of HarlemLive. EAST has one hundred sites nation wide and plans for three hundred next year. I think Chelsea gave me some good luck because the next person I spoke with was from Rome but spoke English clear as day.

Seventeen year old Pietro Paolo project is with his school website. Pietro does Digital Photo Imaging and said "the GJC was a great opportunity to meet with other people doing technology"

Students grew tired of the crowded conference and found themselves crowding the closes exit for a smoke break. It was crazy how the students were allowed to smoke cigarettes any place at any time. I ran into more students, interviewing with a struggle to translate my words. At the end of it all I was able to sit back with a new friend. Francesca, who spoke like a true teen from Harlem after one day was calling girls who acted too eager for attention "Chicken Heads."