Monday, 19 May 2008
Wednesday, 14 May 2008
Bringing the sunshine to Ireland
Yesterday we had a bbq in our garden. It was the first one I've had in my house, in Ireland!
Somehow it is difficult to associate barbecues with this country. The sun has been pleasant to us during the last few days and we grabbed the opportunity to feast It. We got our little bbq set a couple of days ago, I still cannot deal with the idea of having disposable ones. They were a novelty to me when I came here..but then again it's Ireland..a country blessed by its showers.
We invited a few friends. Mediterranean blood kicking in, we were worried we won't be having enough food for all. Alon made his beef kebabs, I mad my tofu kebabs..then we had mushrooms in a balsamico/honey marinade, Quorn sausages, garlic & wine sausages, pork sausages, beef burgers; bread - wholemeal, mixed seed, white, mediterrenean loaf (M&S); Greek salad; tahini, tzatziki, marinated olives, cheeses..all washed down with white wine and champagne. Then we had lemon cheesecake, irish mocha cheesecake, and fresh strawberries..and Tea to finish all off!
Being 3 Israelis, a Greek and a Maltese amongst the Irish, German and Dutch I felt 'we' brought some Med element to it all.. could have been louder! Oh yes all this was accompanied by background music. No..there was no latin music..it was Madonna's latest album..and that's the queer touch for you ;)
That's sunshine to me..it's the pleasant, late and relaxed nights outside with friends.
Pics: http://picasaweb.google.com/ruthbaldacchino/BBQ
Somehow it is difficult to associate barbecues with this country. The sun has been pleasant to us during the last few days and we grabbed the opportunity to feast It. We got our little bbq set a couple of days ago, I still cannot deal with the idea of having disposable ones. They were a novelty to me when I came here..but then again it's Ireland..a country blessed by its showers.
We invited a few friends. Mediterranean blood kicking in, we were worried we won't be having enough food for all. Alon made his beef kebabs, I mad my tofu kebabs..then we had mushrooms in a balsamico/honey marinade, Quorn sausages, garlic & wine sausages, pork sausages, beef burgers; bread - wholemeal, mixed seed, white, mediterrenean loaf (M&S); Greek salad; tahini, tzatziki, marinated olives, cheeses..all washed down with white wine and champagne. Then we had lemon cheesecake, irish mocha cheesecake, and fresh strawberries..and Tea to finish all off!
Being 3 Israelis, a Greek and a Maltese amongst the Irish, German and Dutch I felt 'we' brought some Med element to it all.. could have been louder! Oh yes all this was accompanied by background music. No..there was no latin music..it was Madonna's latest album..and that's the queer touch for you ;)
That's sunshine to me..it's the pleasant, late and relaxed nights outside with friends.
Pics: http://picasaweb.google.com/ruthbaldacchino/BBQ
Monday, 12 May 2008
Kopenhavn
Like many diaries and journals, I seem to have abandoned this one as well.
I thought of using blogging simultaneously to my journals especially since I spent three quarters of my time in front of this screen. Yet there is still something which keeps pushing me away. So here I go again, my attempt to write, to break away, to come out of the inhibited blog-free life I have been leading.
And what made me think twice about this blog was last weekend. I was in Copenhagen. It was the first time I was there and despite the few days and little time I had to actually see the city, I liked it. I would go again.
I had an ILGA-Europe Board Meeting linked with a World Outgames Networking Day. The next World Outgames are in Copenhagen, July next year.
I thought of using blogging simultaneously to my journals especially since I spent three quarters of my time in front of this screen. Yet there is still something which keeps pushing me away. So here I go again, my attempt to write, to break away, to come out of the inhibited blog-free life I have been leading.
And what made me think twice about this blog was last weekend. I was in Copenhagen. It was the first time I was there and despite the few days and little time I had to actually see the city, I liked it. I would go again.
I had an ILGA-Europe Board Meeting linked with a World Outgames Networking Day. The next World Outgames are in Copenhagen, July next year.
We stayed at the Clario Hotel Neptun, a few steps from the brand new theatre, just across from the Opera House. It's in the port area of Nyhavn which is characterised by the many bars and cafes along the canal.I miss the outdoor cafes and the big squares! There are no squares in Dublin...no open spaces where people would just walk across, sit and drink tea or coffee...sun and light penetrating the dark streets.
This was a weekend of meetings. It wasn't only the ILGA-Europe Board attending; there was the Chairing Pool and the new Elections Preparations Committee. That meant I was able to see Gabi and Jasna, too..and that made me very very happy! I miss those two lots!
The Outgames networking started on Friday, where we had a reception at the Town Hall. We
were told it was a 15-minute walk from the hotel. After half an hour walking in the pouring rain, we gave up hope anyone of us will be in the jovial-networking-mood we were expected to be.However, between the grandeur of the Town Hall and the Mayor, and the tradition of serving pancakes to guests; as well as the Outgames organisers and the sporty queers...our mood has been definitely changed! After the Town Hall some of us walked to Steffen's place..a gem of a place where we were served Brut and crisps for a couple of hours..and then we were off to our diner...
RizRaz - a Mediterranean restaurant (yeah, of course...a good restaurant HAS to be Mediterranean!) - where everything was to the Vegetarian's taste and therefore, Ruth was happier. Prices affordable (remember it's Copenhagen) and nice decor..even though disappointedly Malta did not feature on the Mediterranean mural :(
Jasna and moi, together with Julia and Catherine from GLISA headed to Vela, a lesbian bar - an ex-brothel with oriental-style decor in the trendy neighbourhood of Vesterbro. We were told that the place is 'friendly to guys' even though our little gay map's little script read "Mostly lesbians". It was cool and relaxed when we got there but left when it got busier and annoyingly smoky (despite the smoking ban in Denmark, the lesbians don't seem to have noticed it yet).
The following day we had to be at our Outgames Networking spot at 8.30am .. very early! The morning dragged along with introductions and presentations. I was there as ILGA-Europe and ILGA, so I had a presentation to do on the World organisation. After lunch it was the smaller meetings and I found those to be more productive and relevant. At around 4.30pm, after the meetings were over, some of us 'sneaked out'..We couldn't stay there for dinner as well, the day was too long and we had a board meeting to look forward the following day. Took the train back to Nyhavn and had a lovely relaxing evening with the girls (Linda, Gabi, Jasna). Sunday was Board meeting all day long.Unlike most meetings, this time I was leaving the following day. This meant that I had Sunday evening and Monday morning all for myself..no meetings. So I played Tourist on Monday morning..took a boat tour from Nyhaven port, which took us (Gabi and I) around the main spots of Copenhagen. Through the canals we saw the Theatre, Opera House, the famous Mermaid, the Black Diamond, old defence structures, Custom Houses, statues.. and it was simply pleasant.
Did I mentione the weather? After miserable rainy Friday, we simply had 3 days of gorgeous weather..bright and blue! After boat tour, I went to this shopping centre and bought a couple of Menu 'accessories', packed my luggage..and headed towards the Metro. With my blue clip card, I clipped my way to the Metro and headed to the Airport. 7 stops or 12 minutes later I was standing in the airport.. unreal Nordic efficiency! :)
The shops at the Copenhagen Airport are many, diverse and to a certaine extent some of them are affordable too. A few good restaurants, designers clothes and furniture, bookshops, jewellery, IT and accessories..It's worth going there earlier to stroll around. I was flying with SAS, all was punctual and in a couple of hours I was back on irish soil..having to wait 35 minutes for the luggage and another half an hour for a taxi. Vive l'Irlande!
All in all my trip to Copenhagen was very nice. I would love to go back with no planned meetings but simply to walk around and see this city again.
Monday, 23 April 2007
On being gay...and poor
On Friday, during a conversation at work, discussion diverted to queer migrants. An acquaintance of the person I was talking to is a Brazilian gay man who left Brazil and is living in Ireland. He left Brazil to get away because of his sexuality. I was told his mother does not know he's gay and when I half-jokingly said that mummies have a tendency to 'detect' .. the reply was "you know, they're coming from a poor background, I doubt she'd know anything about these things".
Acknowledging the fact that I am not aware of any findings which show that parents have a higher tendency to detect their offspring's sexuality, I was struck by the association of sexuality with money. Presumably referring to sexuality, "these things" become loaded with class, race and political ideologies.
In other words, being gay for this person (and many others like her) means a cool, well-off, classy gay man flashing his pink pound around town. According to these ideas, knowing about homosexuality and anything 'gay' requires class and money. A woman in a village wouldn't know about "these things". I would go on and argue that the same sexuality is associated with the urban areas and cities and as Halberstam have discussed, the queer sexuality and gender is transported to the cosmopolitan life in the city. It becomes a complex topic of discussion, a policy issue to be dealt with and a right to fight for. Yet, in the rural area it becomes a nothingness with no history.
The mother mentioned above has been stripped of any knowledge she would have acquired throughout her life and her community/ies. She becomes a old woman in a developing country - no class, no education, no money, no power.
How about the Brazilian gay guy? Does he consciously disguise himself under the dominant Western idea of the cool gay guy? Or do WE bestow that idea on him, refusing to see beyond the outer skin?
Acknowledging the fact that I am not aware of any findings which show that parents have a higher tendency to detect their offspring's sexuality, I was struck by the association of sexuality with money. Presumably referring to sexuality, "these things" become loaded with class, race and political ideologies.
In other words, being gay for this person (and many others like her) means a cool, well-off, classy gay man flashing his pink pound around town. According to these ideas, knowing about homosexuality and anything 'gay' requires class and money. A woman in a village wouldn't know about "these things". I would go on and argue that the same sexuality is associated with the urban areas and cities and as Halberstam have discussed, the queer sexuality and gender is transported to the cosmopolitan life in the city. It becomes a complex topic of discussion, a policy issue to be dealt with and a right to fight for. Yet, in the rural area it becomes a nothingness with no history.
The mother mentioned above has been stripped of any knowledge she would have acquired throughout her life and her community/ies. She becomes a old woman in a developing country - no class, no education, no money, no power.
How about the Brazilian gay guy? Does he consciously disguise himself under the dominant Western idea of the cool gay guy? Or do WE bestow that idea on him, refusing to see beyond the outer skin?
Wednesday, 18 April 2007
research proposal
Since I've been thinking and attempting to work on my phd research proposal, I thought of using this space as a site for my thoughts, my work, other people's thoughts and works.
I am curious to look into the intersections of sexuality and migration. In particular I am interested to inquire into the impact of sexuality on migration, and vice versa. What can be learned and understood, by myself and others, from this multilayered exploration and analysis of my personal and professional experiences as a queer activist, researcher and migrant? How can this research promote understanding of the human experience and challenge and shift practices around such subjects as sexuality, citizenship, discrimination and migration? What are the shifts in citizenship upon being associated with migration and non-heteronormative sexualities?
I have thought about the ways to go about this and I'm sure that this will be changing as time goes by. The main areas I have planned to engage with in this research are migration, queer migrant narratives, citizenship and nationalism, assimilation, queer theory, identity construction and [dis]location. This proposed research will focus on mapping stories of queer migrants in Europe through mixed methodologies. My use of “queer migrants” here refers initially to those people who leave their “home/nation as a result of their sexuality” (Roque Ramirez, 2005), acknowledging the fact that the concept could be broadened to represent a diversity of experiences and understandings.
Having written this, I do hope to use this blog as a journal for the stream of thoughts and ideas...mine and yours.
I am curious to look into the intersections of sexuality and migration. In particular I am interested to inquire into the impact of sexuality on migration, and vice versa. What can be learned and understood, by myself and others, from this multilayered exploration and analysis of my personal and professional experiences as a queer activist, researcher and migrant? How can this research promote understanding of the human experience and challenge and shift practices around such subjects as sexuality, citizenship, discrimination and migration? What are the shifts in citizenship upon being associated with migration and non-heteronormative sexualities?
I have thought about the ways to go about this and I'm sure that this will be changing as time goes by. The main areas I have planned to engage with in this research are migration, queer migrant narratives, citizenship and nationalism, assimilation, queer theory, identity construction and [dis]location. This proposed research will focus on mapping stories of queer migrants in Europe through mixed methodologies. My use of “queer migrants” here refers initially to those people who leave their “home/nation as a result of their sexuality” (Roque Ramirez, 2005), acknowledging the fact that the concept could be broadened to represent a diversity of experiences and understandings.
Having written this, I do hope to use this blog as a journal for the stream of thoughts and ideas...mine and yours.
Monday, 9 April 2007
this is where it all started...
I have finally crossed the line to start blogging. Been on my mind for a long time but had (and still have) mixed feelings about it... But as anything else in life, unless I give it a try I can't say whether I like it or not, how it feels like to blog and whether blogging does change something in our lives..or not.
Since I was very young, I have started numerous diaries and journals. I would write few words, fill in a few pages and after a month or so, abandon it to seek other, or maybe to start another one anew. I have always thought of my diaries as incomplete, an unfinished work. But simultaneously my life was moving on, I was changing..so maybe the puzzle of diaries I have stored is a reflection of the puzzle of my life. It's incomplete and unfinished because it is going on, moulding constantly to the changes around me ... instilling a sense of mystery and grandeur...like any unfinished work of art.
Since I was very young, I have started numerous diaries and journals. I would write few words, fill in a few pages and after a month or so, abandon it to seek other, or maybe to start another one anew. I have always thought of my diaries as incomplete, an unfinished work. But simultaneously my life was moving on, I was changing..so maybe the puzzle of diaries I have stored is a reflection of the puzzle of my life. It's incomplete and unfinished because it is going on, moulding constantly to the changes around me ... instilling a sense of mystery and grandeur...like any unfinished work of art.
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