Preparation-day in Moldova
Door: Jolijn
Blijf op de hoogte en volg Jolijn
11 Maart 2013 | Moldavië, Chisinau
Today was very nice. We went to the beach, where it was 30 degrees, and we had cocktails and ice cream, and a free massage. Oh no wait, that was my dream…
Today we (Kay, Dodo and me) have been in the restaurant of the Regency hotel for about all day, where we talked though all the details of the next days of the training on Article 33 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (which states that service users must be involved in the monitoring of their rights). I was a bit sick actually, but I’m getting along, and I hope to feel well again tomorrow, when our part of the training starts.
Right after lunch we took a walk to a coffee-bar nearby, and we saw the poor buildings and roads, located directly next to the classy governmental district (We can only imagine what the rural areas must look like if the capital is like this…). The smell in the streets made me think of Africa. Cracked buildings, roads with potholes, but also nice bars and supermarkets. I can clearly see this is a so-called ‘second-world’ country, because it’s obviously between the so-called ‘third-world’ development countries and the so-called developed countries. It’s just sad to see this, and to know that the middle section often gets forgotten, because generally the attention goes to the extremities. It’s sad to see that people live in such crappy circumstances.
When we were walking the streets, of course we were checking the reactions of people to my ‘chero’ (Mohawk). It’s quite funny to experience that I’m not the only strange one here: Traditionally Moldovan women have long hair, so also Kay and Dodo (who both have short hair) were asked where they came from, because of the “international haircuts”. They guessed we were European.
Quite some people gave me a stare as if they were saying “how inappropriate against the public moral” and quite a lot of people basically ignored me fully. Some people were looking at me excessively, or taking pictures secretly. But especially children and young people reacted positive, although in many cases I couldn’t understand what they said, but thumbs up or heavy-metal-hands are clearly supportive. It’s absolutely an experience to be punk in Moldova and to somehow stretch the limits of what’s possible here :) And also the reactions of people are telling me so much about the culture. It’s quite obvious that it’s hard to be different here, which shows that our mission for the rights of persons with disabilities is really very relevant here.
I’m proud and grateful that I have this chance to learn from the exchange of cultures, and to support change for the situation of persons with disabilities and other minorities who are ‘not-accepted’. It’s a beautiful thing to do.
Tomorrow the training starts at 9 AM, so I’m signing off now, and I hope my health will be fully restored with a good night of rest.
Today we (Kay, Dodo and me) have been in the restaurant of the Regency hotel for about all day, where we talked though all the details of the next days of the training on Article 33 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (which states that service users must be involved in the monitoring of their rights). I was a bit sick actually, but I’m getting along, and I hope to feel well again tomorrow, when our part of the training starts.
Right after lunch we took a walk to a coffee-bar nearby, and we saw the poor buildings and roads, located directly next to the classy governmental district (We can only imagine what the rural areas must look like if the capital is like this…). The smell in the streets made me think of Africa. Cracked buildings, roads with potholes, but also nice bars and supermarkets. I can clearly see this is a so-called ‘second-world’ country, because it’s obviously between the so-called ‘third-world’ development countries and the so-called developed countries. It’s just sad to see this, and to know that the middle section often gets forgotten, because generally the attention goes to the extremities. It’s sad to see that people live in such crappy circumstances.
When we were walking the streets, of course we were checking the reactions of people to my ‘chero’ (Mohawk). It’s quite funny to experience that I’m not the only strange one here: Traditionally Moldovan women have long hair, so also Kay and Dodo (who both have short hair) were asked where they came from, because of the “international haircuts”. They guessed we were European.
Quite some people gave me a stare as if they were saying “how inappropriate against the public moral” and quite a lot of people basically ignored me fully. Some people were looking at me excessively, or taking pictures secretly. But especially children and young people reacted positive, although in many cases I couldn’t understand what they said, but thumbs up or heavy-metal-hands are clearly supportive. It’s absolutely an experience to be punk in Moldova and to somehow stretch the limits of what’s possible here :) And also the reactions of people are telling me so much about the culture. It’s quite obvious that it’s hard to be different here, which shows that our mission for the rights of persons with disabilities is really very relevant here.
I’m proud and grateful that I have this chance to learn from the exchange of cultures, and to support change for the situation of persons with disabilities and other minorities who are ‘not-accepted’. It’s a beautiful thing to do.
Tomorrow the training starts at 9 AM, so I’m signing off now, and I hope my health will be fully restored with a good night of rest.
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11 Maart 2013 - 21:59
Christien:
Toch een fijne dag gehad, geloof ik.
Veel succes morgen. Ik denk aan je.
Liefs,
je moeder
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Je kunt nu ook Smileys gebruiken. Via de toolbar, toetsenbord of door eerst : te typen en dan een woord bijvoorbeeld :smiley
