By Roos Hogerzeil
Back in my
hometown and already so many things have happened since we returned from our
Kosovo trip. The weird thing is that I still have the feeling that no-one
really has had enough time to recover from the trip: there is still so much to
process.
Immediately
after we arrived at Schiphol, I had to go to the studio to rehearse for the Dormfest
performance for the next day. Glad I did, because the performance was one of
the best ones I have done so far: the boys from the band were on point, the
festival was well-organised, but most importantly: the audience was filled with
all of my friends and I saw all the lovely Kosovo-group faces dancing to the
music. Is there a better way to come back home?
I remember
the moment that I was sitting in the bus on the last evening of our trip,
looking down on the streets of Pristina. I really started to enjoy the city and
the country and I would love to come back and travel around some more, and to
discover more of the cities and its people. So many women so dedicated to their
appearance, wearing heels all day long, tons of makeup and tight clothes. All
the taxi drivers who speed like crazy, and all cars and busses driving
retardedly – when actually the lack of street marks, rules, limits do not seem
to bother the drivers at all. Actually, they function rather perfectly as they
all adhere to the same crazy driving style.
This trip
has changed me in many ways. I never thought that in the last couple of weeks
of AUC (I am graduating tomorrow, whuuut?) I would find the energy to open up
to new friends, but I found so many during the trip. The group changed me and
we changed each other: we became like family and it felt very comfortable and
safe to be with everyone. I am grateful
for that: it leaves me with a lot of energy to go into the next phase of
whatever I am going to do next year.
Also, the
project that I worked on changed me. I am happy to have stuck with the initial
idea for my project: making an overview of the perceptions of the current
situation of the LGBT community in Kosovo. Whereas I thought QEsh (an LGBT organization
based in Pristina) would be my main source of information, I found so much more
and at times and places where I had never expected to find something useful for
my project. Overall, I found that it makes me frustrated to see that there is
not much particular (inclusive!) attention for the rights of those who identify
as LGBT. Many organisations (apart from those who specifically aim to raise
awareness for the LGBT community) do not pay attention to LGBT rights in their
programs and projects. Why is this? Are they not important? Some interviewees
answered that homosexuality is a taboo. What kind of answer is that?
Apart from
my project, Kosovo left me with so many more questions. I have heard so many
stories from so many different people, which confirmed that the most important
thing to do when going to a place you do not know is to just open up to people,
ask polite questions, and listen. Just listen, and reconsider your prejudices,
because we all have them. People like to put others in categories, groups,
lists, sides. But actually everyone has her or his (or something else on the
gender-spectrum) story and motivations for the life they live.
For those
who are interested in this course and made it to the end of my last blog post: I
could not have wished for a better way to end my AUC career with.
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