G-A-Y

take care with that, it might not come off tomorrow, said a friend last night, when the guys from the G-A-Y club put the stamp on my hand. i didn't see a problem with that. unfortunately, the G didn't get on my hand. and, anyway, what's the problem with being G-A-Y?my gayness is that I'm smiling all day long on the streets, so one can say that I'm happy, as in gay, or the other way round.

i went to a career opportunities fair today, and met a very funny guy, kind of english common faced geek, with a very funny expression and with a huge blonde rasta, which was leaning back and forth while he was speaking, we were speaking about his organization and about volunteering opportunities and I tell him that I'm here only for 4 days, and he is like- no waaay, wow, fantastic, and how do you find england, and I say- well it's great, I mean- the greatest thing of all is that everybody is smiling at me on the streets, and that lots of people wave hands at me, or say hello in the bus and stuff like that. and he is like- he stares at me for a bit and says: no shit! do they? and I'm like- yes, isn't that a common thing to do here? and he says- no man, not at all. most of the people are grumpy around here and people defenitely do not wave hands at other people on the streets. we start laughing and then we decide that maybe that's because I'm smiling all the time and floating around like Sandy Belle.

and I think I found a place to go volunteering: it is named centrepoint, and it deals with socially excluded and homeless young people. it seems to be quite what I have in mind about a project for tennegers in daycentres in Bucharest. they offer assistance and help for homeless kids or kids with problems to integrate and find jobs, and try to build a living, and their...

"ultimate goals are …

That we share with others: A socially inclusive society.

That is specific to us: That no young person will ever fail to realise their potential by being caught in the social exclusion trap.

To give young people on a downward spiral (especially those at risk of homelessness) a chance to turn things around and build a more fulfilling future.

"

(excerpt from Centrepoint's Mission statement)

It's strange and so good that last night I was writing in my new red notebook about possible ways of trying to do such a project in Romania, for the homeless kids, and I was thinking about how helpful it would be to work in a place like that here, and to see how people do it here, and now the first thing today is getting to these guys.

:-)