Things that keep me busy in life

Stichting Sophia - Art in Utrecht

2006-03-15T19:25:00.001+01:00

Since I am back from Armenia I got myself interested in the art scene in Utrecht (well I was interested in it before, but never came to explore it). This city I live in is surprisingly rich in places and galeries for artists to develop themselves.
One initiative in particular i would like to mention: Stichting Sophia/Sophie's Palace (in Dutch). This organization tries to create the conditions under which artists can be fully creative. This means not only to provide artists with studio's to work in, but to create a flourishing cultural climate in which artists can meet, can get inspired by others, can work together in projects and to show their work to a broader public.
One of their projects (through which i got to know them) is 'de Toren van Babel' . In a former municipal building the Toren van Babel is created, for at least the coming two years. From the outside it looks very boring and ugly, but once you are inside its an inspiring place with many artists, from all different backgrounds (painting, photography, graphic designing etc.) and even small enterprises run by one person. They are all mixed in the same rooms, tables criss-cross everywhere. Everytime there are new exhibitions and concerts. It's a great meetingplace and workingplace for artists and everyone interested in art (and even the ones who arent) should take a look. Besides this there is a nice restaurant/cafe where you can get Dutch and Moroccan food. Everyone should come and take a look!

De Toren van Babel is also accomodating No Borders. This is an EVS-sending organization, sending young people away to other European countries to do volunteering projects with support from the EU. See my previous posts on EVS here and here. This organization might give me the chance to exhibit my own photoexhibition i previously showed in Yerevan, during my EVS. About that more in future I hope.

Another next phase in my life!

2006-03-14T09:02:00.000+01:00

I've not been so active on my blog recently. I was working and working and yeah sleeping sometimes, and such an activity makes one very tired, especially when the job is not the job you want to end up with. So I started looking for other jobs. And now I can tell you all the very exciting news:

I've got a new job!

Yesterday I heard I can start as management assistent at IDEA-NL. This is the 'International Debate Education Association' and as they write on their website they are 'focusing on young people and their communities [...] to promote mutual understanding and democracy globally by supporting discussion and active citizenship locally'. 'IDEA places particular emphasis on those societies where democracy is in its infancy and where negotiated resolution to conflicts and cross-community dialogue are little-established concepts'.'IDEA believes that free and open discussion is essential to the establishment and preservation of open, democratic societies. Through debate - a powerful means of encouraging critical thinking, personal expression and tolerance for the opinions of others, IDEA provides students and teachers the opportunity to examine issues affecting their lives and their communities.'

I am very excited and am looking forward to start, especially since we have to build up this organization from nothing (in the netherlands that is, IDEA is already active in many countries) and I will be able to also focus me on project development (besides the more administrational tasks).

Definitely will let you know more about it in future.
Now first I should shut up and sign my contract before saying anything more :)

Municipal Election Day

2006-03-07T22:34:00.000+01:00

Election day it was!

I am watching the results on TV now and slowly it becomes clear that people have openend their eyes. People have voted against all three right-wing parties that are in government now. Unfortunately this is only the municipal elections, but it is a positive sign that people finally came to the conclusion that this government should be stopped in the things it's doing. I am a happy person to see that not everyone lost their mind. I hope this will lead to politics not focused on making people scared, but focused on a social, civil society.
And maybe I can be proud of my own country again. Can't wait till the next national elections!

Big brother is watching us...

2006-02-25T11:52:00.000+01:00

Since september 11th the world has changed in such a rapid speed. Since september 11th we all got the American attitude of believing in the existence of 'big evil' and the ability and necessity of destroying this evil to protect the bigger good: the western way of life, the so called democracy. We'll fight the terrorists, ow these bastards, and then there will be world peace forever.
Amen.

So since september 11th the world has changed. The world has changed into one big place where everyone is scared of each other, scared of something that we can only call by name as terrorism, while if we have to explain what exactly it is, we can't. We live in a time where there is mass fear for the unknown threat. And the governments know this and use this fear for changing systems 'in order to protect this crowd' but really hey, how much more secure are we? For example: This week we can read in the Dutch newspapers that the Dutch government started setting up a database of all different kinds of information about all Dutch citizens, in order to be able to check details of everyone at any time. This way the Dutch government will know everything about you, there will be no privacy left. Another example is the soon to be introduced public transport card, where the Dutch railways will be able to follow your complete route from day to day.

I hear people say: I don't mind if people know everything about me, because I have nothing to hide. But, shouldnt we be much more afraid of our governments controlling our lives than those terrorists who, if they wouldnt hypocrytical be treated as 'evil' but as 'citizens of this world', maybe wouldn't be so active in blowing up themselves. What is terrorism and who are terrorists? Maybe we need a new definition of these words, because this American imposed definition onto the rest of the world makes me sick. I don't believe in evil, I only believe that someone will fight when threatened in the way he is living and believing by someone who is forcing him to believe and live the same way he does. Democracy building is not done in some years with military pressure, but is a process of decades and even centuries...
Are we not naive believing that our government will only do good? It is nice to know we trust our government here in The Netherlands so much that we are willing to share all our secrets with it, but only a short look into this world makes us discover that our government might be one of the few left we can trust..but..for how long...The power of companies get stronger every day and these companies, aiming for profits, will only be very happy with our detailed personal information.
I don't want a database with all my information, a goverment that knows everything about me, at any time. This is my personal life and I don't believe this to be a good method, like the 'war on terrorism'. Apparently we have lots of money for all these kind of things. Shouldnt we start focussing us on the roots of the problem, by putting money in the milliniumgoals of the UN, spreading money equally in this world, so there is no reason to fight.
We will even protect our privacy this way.

Life with order

2006-02-21T19:05:00.000+01:00

Nothing better than a life with order.
I know exactly how long it is to bike from my home to my work. 15 minutes to bike, 3 minutes to get into the office and take my seat. I have the best seat of the room, so with the best possible view over the whole officefloor. I am a lucky bastard.
I know how many windows the builing on the other side of the street has. How many plants our office has. How many paperclips are in front of my nose. I know how many people are working in the office and what each of them likes to drink and to eat. I am listening to the answers of my colleagues to questions of customers on the other side of their black headsets. It's amazing how much one can learn in just 5 working days about credit cards and commissionprices and about how to answer in a polite manner while within you questions arise about the stupidness of that particular client, or well of mankind in general. 'No question is too stupid to ask', until the client on the other side is gone and the rest of the officeroom is informed about this crazy person. Everyone is laughing. I love the jokes, ow how i love these jokes in offices.
Ah lunchtime. Time for discussing the tv-shows of the previous evening. How stupid of me to have missed America's Next Top Model..I knew I should have prepared myself for this..Back to work..
I know what button to push in which program, even after only 5 days. I am a mircale, a mysteriously intelligent person, probably from a different planet. Stretching my arms, getting some more hot water (yup my personal favourite. Tea from a so called coffeemachine tastes like, yup, coffee. Bring some teabags with you in some different flavours and your day cannot be more perfect), visiting a toilet every now and then to flush away all the hot water again..Ow it keeps a person busy. Looking at the clock (ow no! started looking at it too early ..rule: once you look at the clock, it will never get any later). And then, after a million hours of more working (waiting), you know you can go back to your own life. After those 15 minutes of biking ofcourse...

Life that ends again the next morning at 7:30, when the alarmclock wakes you from your dreams of your perfect world.

Ah..Nothing better than a life with order. Adventure and Excitement can never be good for your heart anyway.

How I wish I could always do whatever I liked doing.

New job...

2006-02-15T17:52:00.000+01:00

It looks like my life is only about thinking about civil society issues..this is not the case.

Yesterday I started a new job..It is not the job I want in life. It is definitely not the job I want. After 9,5 months of doing what I really really like: travelling, working at BEM, meeting people from everywhere and coming back, having the time to make future project plans...Then it is really hard to face reality: to get back to having a job and being too tired to be creative and make plans. Sigh..

I told myself I didnt want a simple, stupid administrational job any more. I want to do something I enjoy. I am capable of doing so much more than in this stupid job! During my time in Armenia I found out what exactly it is I like doing: the things I did at BEM..being creative, in an international, NGO environment, with young people, trying to develop civil society. Really, not only I miss my friends in Armenia, I also miss my job, the things I did (and all the things we planned but never came to realize).

And now, there I am: just returned from my second brain destroying day at work. Where are my dreams, my promises to never do this kind of job again..

Municipal elections, 7th of March

2006-02-13T13:32:00.000+01:00

How great is it to live in a house full with students. Every day I still enjoy having those intellectual fellows around, because yeah they encourage your brains to stay on that great intellectual level you have during your studies. These discussions keep you awake and active, fighting for a better society, talking about 'what should we do differently, so to make a change..and most of all: we CAN make a change..and: Lets DO it!!'
Right after my graduation, summer 2003, I was scared I would loose these opportunities to have discussions about anything anytime (hours and hours, during the night..ofcourse with some refreshing beer or some brainstimulating vodka (yeah we know that stuff). We are going to change the world. Yeah!

Ok ok, I am being cynical again.

I do have discussions in my house. It is not that people are not interested in having discussions. (ever wondered why a plughole has two holes? (well in The Netherlands that is)). And I really much appreciate these conversations.
What I do miss, and I have pointed it out in a previous post about wasting, is the awareness of people about their own behaviour. And to put it in a more positive perspective: their ability to make a change in this world. I am a person who still believes that change can happen, as long as you are actively playing a role in realizing it.

People seem to have lost their faith in their ability to make changes. Where are the people that are not only complaining, but also actually trying to make a change? Where are the people that really care what is going on in this society? We do talk about it, but don't do anything...

Reason for this post is because I have not encountered one single person these last days that was thinking about going to vote for the municipal elections on tuesday 7th of march. They all say: it is useless anyway and also that they don't know anything about it. They sit back and say: the politcal parties are not even letting me know what their plans are..well let them first tell me what their plans are.

Ok then my answer is: when you choose for a democracy, you, as a citizen, as a part of this democracy, should go and vote. Not voting is undermining democracy. When you don't want to vote, then vote for nothing (blank vote). And if you don't know what to vote: You don't have to wait to get information you know, you can be an active citizen and go and find out the information you need for making your vote. Democracy requires active citizens.

Therefor I would like to present a link to information about the coming elections in Utrecht. You can find everything you need on this site :). Be inspired about all the local events you can finally show your opinion about by voting for a party. How great is that!

Volunteering Experience in Armenia, part I

2006-02-09T11:21:00.000+01:00

Since I am mentioned in some blogs now, especially in context with Armenia and volunteerism (see Armyouth, OneWorld Multimedia and Life as I see it) I feel like telling something about my Armenian volunteering experience (which i will do more in future. Impossible to tell everything in the same post).

How did I get the idea of going to Armenia?
As I told in a previous post I came to Armenia with support of the European Voluntary Service (EVS) of the European Commission. The first time I heard about EVS was in 2004. I subscribed myself to a sending organization and from then on received information about vacancies in projects all over Europe. In january 2005 I received the vacancy for a project in Yerevan, Armenia, at BEM Youth Progressive Action Center. Within 10 minutes (and this is really true) I applied for this vacancy, because it sounded so interesting. I didnt know anything about Armenia (later I had to dissillusionise quite a few Armenians that almost all were so proud that people abroad finally seemed to know about their Armenia, to really choose to come here. I had to admit over and over again I didnt even know where Armenia was before coming.
I also didnt know much about the project, but this was the interesting and challenging project I had been waiting for, I just knew it. Within some days I got a phonecall from Falkor I.C.Y.. This organization was responsible for writing the project and receiving the grant. After two interviews they decided that it was me and Marieke, another Dutch volunteer that were selected for the project in Armenia.

So, with a complete blank mind, some expectations, a bit of knowledge from the travelguide I had been reading, Marieke and I arrived at Zvartnots Yerevan Airport: Armenia. What was to be expected?

I can't really call it a 'great shock', because you are prepared in a way, but arriving in a country where you can't read the signs (Armenian has a unique and quite difficult alphabet), don't understand what the people are saying (most of them don't speak English), where you don't know anyone and everything looks like a documentary one sometimes sees about former soviet countries, or even war-zones like former Yugoslavia, I can say that at the moment of arrival I thought it a big challenge to stay there for the coming 6 months. This length of time felt an enourmous amount of time and made me panic a bit.

Now being back I can say my time in Armenia was over too soon and it is funny to overthink my reaction at that time with the knowledge I now have about Armenia and Armenians. Or at least my experience with it.

Armenians. What an interesting, complex, proud, hurt, suspicious, hospitable, inscrutable people they are. These words come to my mind when I think about the Armenian people.

It is significant that my first idea about Armenians, in my first few weeks, was different from the idea I had when i left the country. It is also significant that it took me a few months even to really get a picture about 'the Armenian'. People, walking in the streets, don't display their emotions, they don't smile, they don't cry, they keep everything to themselves. I had expected emotion display to be a very important part of the Armenian life, as I had seen in southern European countries, like Spain and Italy. Whether this is a typical Armenian thing or that it is influenced by their Soviet history, I dont know. My interpretation is that during the Soviet time it was hard to really trust people around you and that it was best to not show anything that might give something away about yourself. This distrust still seems an important part of the Armenian society, as since Soviet times corruption is still an important feauture of Armenian society. Besides this there might also be no reason to laugh a lot, in these harsh times where everyone has to take care of themselves in order to survive.

This first sight influenced my first impression about Armenians and Armenia and I even thought I would maybe never feel at home here. This was a wrong conclusion.
I got to know more people around me: the BEM-volunteers, colleagues and friends outside BEM, the people you meet in the streets, the people in the regions. I found out that Armenians might look distanced from the outside, they are very welcoming and hospitable, even to strangers. But especially when you are inside the 'network of friends' you are regarded and treated like family. This is a very important feature of Armenia: everything seems to work inside the 'network'. If you need help, support or any other need, there is no way you are alone. I find it hard to really describe it. Armenia felt like one big family, where relations between people are very important for a lot of things: support, but also access to jobs, companies etc. . This can both regarded as negative and positive. Knowing the right people (and having the right amount of money) is sometimes more important than skills for jobs, which is especially bad in case of government positions. Also tight ties between family and friends can lead to social control over familymembers, and especially girls seem to have troubles with it, by not having the freedom that boys have. But this is something important I might talk about in a later post.

Armenians are also proud of their history, their ancient culture. This proud seems to be increased by the present conflicts with neighbours Azerbaijan and Turkey. Conflicts that are both caused by the strong indentity of the Armenians, as well as resulting in a stronger selfconscience, whereby Armenians feel they should be proud and should fight for their right to be Armenian, for their right to have a nation. I found it very intersting to observe Armenians in their fight for preserving their heritage and the reasons for it and the hurt feeling combining this proud. There is a strange combination of a 'victim-role' and a 'we-are-great role' (Armenians seem to have invented everything on this planet if you believe the stories), as the former is definitely influencing the latter.

I found it funny when Myrthe, a Dutch girl living in Armenia, pointed me out that there is an interesting mix of European and Middle-Eastern influences. And ever since she told me that I was convinced about it. Both in minds as in appearance: Almost all men are dressing conservatively; pointy shoes, white or black coloured clothes and short haired. All the same way. Women are the same in winter, but in summer it's all bright colours. (The same for every season: High heels. Horror!)

This mix of different influences in history and present from East, West, South and North, the family tradition, the conflicts with neighbours, it all leads to a very complex mind of the Armenian. And is therefor very hard to understand and describe

YES-EVS evening in Utrecht

2006-02-06T10:28:00.000+01:00

Tomorrow evening at 19:00 there is an information evening for interested young people about EVS projects. (I will be here telling about my Armenian experience. How great is that to have some victims :) ). Unfortunately this evening is full, but I would like to mention it anyway, because it gives me the opportunity to point out the next dates:

7th of march - 19:00 at NIZW, Utrecht
9th of may - 19:00 at NIZW, Utrecht

Come and find out more about EVS at the YES-EVS evening at NIZW or online here (Dutch) or here or here (English)!

International Essay Competition 2006

2006-02-06T10:22:00.000+01:00

The World Bank invites young people to join their International Essay Competition 2006. Topics of this years competition are: How do you contribute to solving community problems? How do you influence decision-making? Deadline for submissions is 2nd of April 2006. There are prizes to win.

A trip to Karabakh

2006-02-05T19:16:00.001+01:00

Yesterday I went to the movie 'A trip to Karabakh' at the International Film Festival in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. This movie is directed by Levan Tutberidze from Georgia.
In short, the story is about Gio and his friends, living in Tbilisi, Georgia during the chaotic and stressful times of civil war. Gio and his friend Gogliko are making a trip to Azerbaijan to get money by selling drugs. On their way to Azerbaijan they get terribly lost and they end up in Karabakh, where they are captured by the Azeri's. Because they are Georgians, they don't really have to fear the Azeri's. During the night Armenian Karabakhi help their friend (also captured in the same shed) escape and Gio is going with them (Gogliko is left behind). This time Gio lives with the Armenians for a while, where he thinks a lot about his life and his love, Lana. Being a Georgian he is treated as a 'brat' (brother), but after thinking over his life he decides to go back in the end, to his friend (who has been treated as a 'brat' by the Azeris). They together find their way home to Tbilisi.

The movie has two different very interesting layers.
First of all it is about Gio's personal life, his impossible love for a hooker and the very difficult decisions one has to make in life. His parents and his friends want him to stop seeing this girl. Besides showing how young people face the same problems everywhere in the world (questions about who am I, what do I want etc.), it also shows the importance of friends and family in the Caucasus region, which can be a cause for very difficult (loyalty) situations sometimes.
Besides this personal level, there is a different level: that of different nations in the Caucasus region. Because I have been studying these relations, I was very much interested in the way the director displays the difficult, sensitive, conflicting relations between the three different nations: Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan. Georgians are regarded as the neutral party in the zone. Two Georgian men are both by the Azeris and Armenians regarded as 'brat'. It is surprising to see that it is a Georgian director that is showing both the Armenian and Azeri side of the story. Or in my regard he is trying to show them both as being the same. Both Armenian and Azeri men in the movie tell explicitly their opinion about the other party: "they are crazy people". Interesting is that Gio doesnt really seem to be bothered with anything happening around him..he is more busy with overthinking his life than with the whole Karabakh war.

The movie made an impression on me. Because this whole Karabakh issue, the conflicts in the Caucasus region, the differences between nations and the will to fight for that, instead of moving towards peace has kept me busy this last half year. A lot of things were recognizable, for example the relation between friends in the Caucasus, the continuous drinking of vodka, the very kind people inviting you home as you being their best friend (brat). It is probably this recognition that made the movie have quite an impression on me (my friend was less moved by it), but I think the movie is worth seeing by especially people from the Caucasus region as well, since it doesnt choose side and is quite realistic, recognizable and an up to date subject: The war in Karabakh has ended in a ceasefire in 1994. This year the parties are coming together to talk about solutions of the conflict. The year of 2006 is regarded as a very important year, as the meetings can lead to either peace or war.

Lines between rights & World inequality

2006-02-03T12:56:00.000+01:00

Although sometimes I'd rather vanish from this planet and hide away from problems that seem so unsolvable, unreachable and only seem to affect my nervoussytem by giving me breakdowns every now and then, the issue does keep me quite busy at the moment. I'm talking about the difficult situation we are facing at the moment: The right of freedom of speech on the one side and respecting each others believes on the other.
Dutch people became familiar with this issue when Theo van Gogh, a cineast, got murdered on the 2nd of november 2004 because his critical view of the Islam, as shown in his movies, was found unacceptable by his murderer, a muslimman, who believed it to be an attack on Islam, his religion. Since that very moment there has been discussions about freedom of speech and extremists muslims ideas and where to draw the line.
Now with the Danish cartoon-issue the same is happening, though this time the discussion is taking place on a wider scale; globally. It is all about the freedom to say what you think (by making a caricature of a religious important figure) and respecting someone's religion and believes (feelings of insult because of this).

What can I say about it? I am living in a democratic country and very much stress the importance of freedom of speech (therefor my blog for example) for a healhty, democratic society. I am not a religious person and from my personal rational I don't understand how you could agree religion to be the ruling factor in your life (Christianity, Islam, Hindoeism, Buddhism, all of them).
BUT, I am also raised with the understanding that people are different and that we should always respect other people, even though they are different. We can learn from each other and make this world, because of these differences a much more interesting place.
Where is the line between these two: I dont know! And I am constantly trying to form an opinion about it, every day again.

We have to face that we are no longer a world with different, independent nations. We are getting interrelated; globalization. This world faces different problems, all caused by inequality: of money, of resources, of religion, of different worldviews ('truths').
Never thought I would start mentioning things I learned during my studies, ha, but I believe there is not a single truth. Ones 'reality' (the 'truth') is determined by his vision of the world. This vision, this perspective is heavily influenced by the 'context' someone is living in. A persons view of the world is shaped by everything around him. This brings me to religion and the money issue. The believe you have is the believe people tell you. That is your familiar world and that is the world you will defend, because it is your own. Thats the truth you know.
So I see a world with people that are not on one line, they all have different ideas about what reality is..

I also see a world with inequality; some people have money and power, other people don't. Without the money you don't have the power, regardless of religion and nationality. People will feel anger grow inside themselves. I see it as a normal tendency to have a will to change this situation, driven by religious, cultural and socio-economic grounds.

Some people make cartoons to illustrate this anger, other people burn flags to display theirs.
Everyone their own method, but each others methods are not accepted by the other party.

My personal response is that we should start talking about it. Question is if we can start talking about it, instead of just showing anger. Or would this be 'my point of view' and is 'discussion' only a western solution to problems? Should we have respect for Islamic ways of responding to anger? IS the way a lot of Islamic people respond really an Islamic respons? Or is this a consequence of other issues, like poverty?
This is not a cynical question, this is honestly something I would like to understand. I am trying to understand someones point of view that isnt mine.

I only know that we should start understanding each others point of view, each others realities AND start reducing the worlds inequality by reducing poverty before we can get to any solutions.

Is there a possibility for an open dialogue about issues of democracy, freedom of speech and respecting each others believes? I hope so. I am thinking about the answer, but it is so complex that I really have no idea other than to keep on thinking about it and discussing about it in the open, according to my own point of view.

European Voluntary Service

2006-02-01T16:49:00.000+01:00

In my very first post I mentioned I have been working and living in Armenia. Now I would like to tell a bit more about the program which made it possible for me to work and live in Armenia. Not many people know there are various opportunities through different grantprograms that provide grants to young people to work and live abroad. One of these programs I took part in: the European Voluntary Service (EVS) program of the European Commission. This program makes it possible for youngsters from 18-25 years of age to work as a volunteer for 6 to 12 months in a different European country, without any costs. Without costs means completely without costs: no administration fee, complete coverage of ticket, accomodation and food, and even a language course and some pocket money. There are also projects outside the EU (though limited), like the project i participated in, and also for example in Central and Latin America. Also for young people outside the EU there is a chance to volunteer in a project in an EU country. My own sending organization Falkor for example has already hosted 2 Armenian volunteers in the past. There are many, different kind of projects (social, working with youth, disabled, elderly; reconstruction; environmental, etc). It all depends on your interest and all are a very good opportunity to work and live in a different country.

Although the EVS program is a great opportunity for young people looking for an international experience without much money to spend, the program isnt well known among young people in The Netherlands (it seems this differs for the various EU countries).

Now tonight I will become the official treasurer of the Dutch organization for ex-EVS-ers: The DutchOnes. This organization aims to promote EVS in The Netherlands, to create an EVS network within Europe and to provide current EVS-ers that participate in a project in The Netherlands with cultural exchange and mentorship. This organization is also supported by the Dutch sending/host organization NoBorders. I am very curious about our future cooperation, since this organization has a lot of projects in mind that sound very interesting, e.g. to be a host organization for 4 EVS-ers for a big cultural exchange and more things that I will probably inform you about in (hopefully) the near future.

Besides the program of EVS there are many more opportunities, through the EU and through other organizations, non-profit ones and profit ones. These last mentioned are according to me far too expensive and not paying enough attention to the fact that volunteering is indeed free labour and that you definitely shouldn't pay extra so your free labour is only contributing to the organizations profit...Good Dutch non-profit organizations for volunteering projects are SIW Internationale Vrijwilligersprojecten (I have been a volunteer through SIW for short term projects in France and Czech Republic) and VIA.

Please feel free to ask me anything about volunteering, since I noticed I did gather quite some knowledge about it in the past few years. And please feel free to add any programs (I have not mentioned many to be honest, since there are numerous, but I am very interested in programs other people know)(maybe also for my own use in future, since I am currently looking for volunteering opportunities in other former Soviet countries, like Russia or Belarus).

International Film Festival Rotterdam

2006-01-30T22:43:00.000+01:00

From 25th of january until the 5th of february the annual International Film Festival in Rotterdam will take place. A lot of movies are shown and coming saturday i will go to a Georgian movie: A Trip to Karabakh (Gaseirneba Karabakhsgi) from director Levan Tutberidze.
To be honest I don't know him and I don't know anything about the movie (I am a fan of films, but definitely not an expert), but because it is about Karabakh, a region I have been (see my pictures or my weblog (in dutch)), i am very much interested in this movie. I will report about it afterwards.

Luxurious life or more wasting things we don't need?

2006-01-30T20:10:00.000+01:00

I don't want to start off too negative immediately, but I was thinking about what to write and ended up with some frustration I have about people here in The Netherlands.

As people in Armenia don't have so much to spend, there isnt much to waste. Back here I realize how luxurious our live here is: we have running water, a shower (ah hot!), gas to cook on, electricity all day long, so light and working computers 24 hours a day!
Realizing this made me also realizing that so few people in this country seem to appreciate the things they have. Now you might consider this as an innocent ignorance, and yeah it might even be a good sign of this society that everyone sees this as normal to a civil society. I would like to see people openly appreciate it, but this is not my big concern.
This innocent ignorance though is sometimes combined with ignorance of waste. People are not aware of their wealth anymore and will therefore sometimes come to the stage of using more than they actually need. I'm living in a house with some other young people and during the day (yes i am still unemployed..) I am constantly switching off lights, switching off radios and tv's nobody is listening to/ watching, etc. etc.
If this was simply about just one occasion of forgetting, but unfortunately this is not the case. People don't seem to be aware or ever worse: people don't seem to care.

I am concerned about such things. I am concerned not only because it costs a lots of energy that is wasted. I am concerned, because I think a civil society needs to have citizens that are aware of their behaviour, have citizens that are active citizens that keep on working for this civil society. It won't remain a civil society if people take their rights for granted and just 'waste around'.

Welcome, another blogger here

2006-01-27T16:02:00.000+01:00

First of all: welcome to my blog. I am Sanne, 26 yrs, currently living in The Netherlands.

I am fairly new in the blogosphere. Why did i set up this blog?

Last year I worked and lived in Armenia. As a result I came across the issue of independent media and the troubles of it in former soviet countries. Most likely I will post more about that topic in future. In Armenia I met Onnik Krikorian, a photo journalist, who has his own blog at www.oneworld.am . I started reading his posts and finally got the importance of blogging as a tool against censorship in countries like Armenia. I'm also a fan of Myrthe's blog at http://www.armenianodar.blogspot.com , a Dutch girl living in Armenia and the newly set up blog by Tamar at http://armyouth.wordpress.com . Onnik is trying to stimulate blogging among Armenian youth and he makes me more and more realize how important blogging can be in countries like Armenia, where people are not allowed to write and say whatever they think.

I never thought about setting up my own blog. I don't see myself as an excellent writer and I will never be. I am living in The Netherlands. What use could it be to have bloggers in well developed countries where freedom of speech is seen as normal? Who would like to read about the things that keeps me busy in life? Who am I to stand up and speak up to the world? Who would ever listen to me?

And suddenly, because of these questions, I realized the essence of freedom of speech. If there is no one to speak up, then why do we have freedom of speech? Every person on this planet has things to say, to share, to discuss.
Especially in countries like The Netherlands, where it seems like everything is perfect, there is the threat of laziness, lack of interest in social issues and losing of creativity because everything is ok anyway. Especially here people shouldn't stop being idealistic, being open minded, having discussions. If I think the world would be a better place by discussing, sharing and getting to know each other, then why not start with myself?

I am not sure yet what will happen to this blog. I have so many interests and I would like to talk about them all. We'll see :)