Cheers to Publicizing Diversity!

Yes, I know, two blogs today because I have to make up for lost time! Out and about today and I happened upon an extremely interesting event (see below for further details - the pic is of me drinking Turkish coffie - yum!)!

Last night, Pdot and I went out to a festival called The World of Witte de With Festival held from September 11th-13th. This is an arts festival that is described as being like the city itself : trend-setting, surprising and on the cutting edge. It included a mix of film, theatre, dance, literature, music, debate, fashion and a leading role for the visual arts. Importantly for Pdot and I, this festival spilled onto the street out front of the Witte Aap (The White Ape-a bar-which apparently was voted the best bar in the world by backpackers- both Pdot and I debate this point, it's a cool bar but probably not the best). So we stood there for around 4 hours, drinking white wine (no grey tooth!) and chatting to people passing by who knew Pdot or one of his friends. I spent much of my time explaining what my project was about which often sparked debate about immigration in some way. Most people, like Pdot, see immigration as an important lifeline to the Netherlands both economically and socially. While others have expressed their belief that Rotterdam's immigration policies were good at one point in time yet should be tightened up. I had the sense that 'things were becoming tense'. While this is nothing more than a sense, I did learn that immigration and the presence of migrants in the city (such as myself) is a topic that most anyone is willing to discuss. Overall, many people that I spoke with saw positive and negative sides to the 'immigration question'. Most often what lurked near to negative comments were certain types of migrants yet the criteria seemed to change depending on the situation, that is, there is no cut and dry answer. In general, I found that those with whom I spoke took the time to weight out a variety of aspects and while I think that there are certain people who are quick to denounce immigration and certain communities, they are not the majority in Rotterdam.

The following day (today-September 12th), Pdot and I went out walking around the town again to go down to the Blaak Market (No that's not a spelling mistake - it's the market on Blaak straat - not what I originally thought...stolen goods and back alley deals!). After the market we walked around the centre of town again and passed by large white tents. We later learned that Rotterdam is publicly celebrating Ramadan. Pdot thought it was interesting that the Dutch and Muslim community were trying to publicly present elements of the Muslim community. From what I understand, there have not been many initiatives in this area and so this event can be seen as a positive step toward community interaction. In the afternoon when Pdot and I went by the tents, there was nothing happening, and so, I returned that night with a Western (UWO) colleague, whom I shall call Meer, to check out the night's events. Although we arrived quite late, we partook (is that a word?) in food and drink and perused the information provided by http://www.islamdialoog.nl/. There were also movies playing in Dutch that unfortunately neither of us understood. The majority of the people there at 8:30pm were from the Muslim community. They ranged greatly in age from old to young and everywhere in between. The smells and sounds of the tent welcomed Meer and I and we toasted to another fruitful day in the field of Rotterdam!