Mechelen: kazerne Dossin (Day 4 in Belgium)

Today we went to Mechelen by bus to 'Kazerne Dossin'. We had to wake up very early because we had to be at the bus at 7:30 am. After a big 2 hours riding we arrived in Mechelen. In 'Kazerne Dossin' we had a workshop about the gypsies and the stereotypes. We all had a lot of prejudices but the Romanian people knew more than the Belgian people. The guide told us everything about the gypsies (roma-sintis, poor-rich,...) and we had to guess who was a gypsy and who wasn't but it was very difficult. There was also a true and false exercise. We had a lot of wrong thoughts and we learned that we can't always see who's a gypsy and that a lot of prejudices aren't for every gypsy or sometimes for none of them. It was a really interesting workshop and it was a lot of fun with the exercises that we had to do (romanticizing, criminalizing, nuances). After that we went to the museum and the guide gave us a little bit of information. It was time to leave and go to the large market from Mechelen. There we got an hour free time. After this it was time to leave with the bus and going to Ostend again. In the evening we went to a karaokebar in Ostend and we danced and sang a lot. It was an amazing night where we socialized with everyone. Everyone was having a great time and it was fantastic to see everyone so happy!

'First you have to accept and love yourself before you can accept and love another person' - The guide from the museum