Rarely things go as they should, but sometimes it happens just like that.
It could occur to you to be - at a certain point of your life - in a nice city, waiting to start a new job in an exotic country, and enjoying a high-level training. In that moment, you'll probably realize how much your new employer is investing in you, and feel an uncanny mix of satisfaction and anxiety.
In that glorious moment between bingo-winner elation and overexpectation awe, you have the warm and comforting feeling that in this world there's a place for you. You realize, you can actually start focusing on your present, and loosen up your frantic planning.
Maybe for the first time since years, this world looks like a pleasant place to enjoy life.
Showing posts with label Social. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Social. Show all posts
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Smile Paipa, you're on TV!
Thanks to Manuela Gomez Salgado, reporter at Noticias Uno, I had the chance to participate to a press trip to one of Oxfam main development projects in Colombia. Destination of this mission was Paipa, a small town in the Boyacá province.
Monday, March 2, 2009
House Quest
Note: This post has been written on the date specified in the very first lines, which could differ from publication date.
Nobody says looking for a flat is easy, but in my case it was. Might be because of the large offer of flat for rent and their medium-high quality, or maybe for the fear of continue paying 30$ per night in our temporary apartment, me and Federica – my former flat mate – we both found the “right flat” after just 3 days of house exploring. The previous one was, all in all, a good solution and at our arrival - when we finally get to enter (we arrived at 5am and our freelance driver had hard time opening the outer door of the building) – we were relieved of discovering into this warm, lovely and roomy flat our new house. Then, as always happen, we started noticing those small details that make your idea of looking soon for another flat a bit more attractive. To be honest, instead of warm I should have said hot; the apartment was totally hot round the clock and we were used to have snow out of the window and summer pajamas under the pillow. Secondly, after long and committed investigation we found out that the awful, intense and sudden smell wafting from time to time was originated somewhere somehow from the bathroom. Later on we discovered that this was not peculiar of the flat but a problem common to the majority of the houses, but I still believe that the strength of that specific aroma was outstanding. Finally, we soon discovered how difficult is living in a “temporary” condition; without opening the main luggage but just using the few things wisely elected to stay in the hand luggage “for any emergency” while supplies last, with no chance of buying furniture and stuff useful to make your stay more comfortable or goods to allow some home economics, you feel totally uneasy.
Probably some of you jumped on your seat while reading the rent price; well, don’t be surprised. Here in Bishkek (and in Central Asia in general) it’s common to pay from 450 up to 550 USD (plus expenses) for a double room flat (1 bedroom, 1 living room) in the center of the city. Families, on the other side, are usually paying around 750-850 for solutions more appropriate to their needs. The real estate market in this area is totally sick and prices are sky-high because the offer is usually limited both in quantity and in access; tenants are generally looking for businessman or foreign officers of international organizations to enter their houses, and the offer is according to this premise. Therefore, when fall decides to play it hard like in 2008 many people die from cold because of the lack of adequate housing or shelter (cfr: http://sim.law.uu.nl/SIM/CaseLaw/uncom.nsf/804bb175b68baaf7c125667f004cb333/7483bfb5c44299fbc12569ce00494f2c?OpenDocument, http://www.fidh.org/spip.php?article2065, and http://daccessdds.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/G00/443/37/PDF/G0044337.pdf?OpenElement). Of course people who cannot afford to leave in the city center move to the outskirt where prices drop down against high criminality rates and lack of social and health services.
Now I can understand a bit more why adequate housing is one of the main concern of my Office.
Nobody says looking for a flat is easy, but in my case it was. Might be because of the large offer of flat for rent and their medium-high quality, or maybe for the fear of continue paying 30$ per night in our temporary apartment, me and Federica – my former flat mate – we both found the “right flat” after just 3 days of house exploring. The previous one was, all in all, a good solution and at our arrival - when we finally get to enter (we arrived at 5am and our freelance driver had hard time opening the outer door of the building) – we were relieved of discovering into this warm, lovely and roomy flat our new house. Then, as always happen, we started noticing those small details that make your idea of looking soon for another flat a bit more attractive. To be honest, instead of warm I should have said hot; the apartment was totally hot round the clock and we were used to have snow out of the window and summer pajamas under the pillow. Secondly, after long and committed investigation we found out that the awful, intense and sudden smell wafting from time to time was originated somewhere somehow from the bathroom. Later on we discovered that this was not peculiar of the flat but a problem common to the majority of the houses, but I still believe that the strength of that specific aroma was outstanding. Finally, we soon discovered how difficult is living in a “temporary” condition; without opening the main luggage but just using the few things wisely elected to stay in the hand luggage “for any emergency” while supplies last, with no chance of buying furniture and stuff useful to make your stay more comfortable or goods to allow some home economics, you feel totally uneasy.
Probably some of you jumped on your seat while reading the rent price; well, don’t be surprised. Here in Bishkek (and in Central Asia in general) it’s common to pay from 450 up to 550 USD (plus expenses) for a double room flat (1 bedroom, 1 living room) in the center of the city. Families, on the other side, are usually paying around 750-850 for solutions more appropriate to their needs. The real estate market in this area is totally sick and prices are sky-high because the offer is usually limited both in quantity and in access; tenants are generally looking for businessman or foreign officers of international organizations to enter their houses, and the offer is according to this premise. Therefore, when fall decides to play it hard like in 2008 many people die from cold because of the lack of adequate housing or shelter (cfr: http://sim.law.uu.nl/SIM/CaseLaw/uncom.nsf/804bb175b68baaf7c125667f004cb333/7483bfb5c44299fbc12569ce00494f2c?OpenDocument, http://www.fidh.org/spip.php?article2065, and http://daccessdds.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/G00/443/37/PDF/G0044337.pdf?OpenElement). Of course people who cannot afford to leave in the city center move to the outskirt where prices drop down against high criminality rates and lack of social and health services.
Now I can understand a bit more why adequate housing is one of the main concern of my Office.
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