By Evi Tsakali,
Is there a better way to cope with household chores in your student apartment or bear with a difficult exam period than a good podcast? Among the hidden gems of Apple Podcasts, I discovered Δίπλα σου (Besides you) by Giannis Vitsos, the independently made podcast that would accompany me during last winter. In each episode of Besides you, Giannis, who is a psychology student, strives to shift the spotlight to a member of our society who is “beside us” albeit we do not see them; a girl in a wheelchair, a homeless man, a polyamorous student in the autism spectrum… and the list goes on. Having been born blind, Giannis dedicates an episode to the interview of a girl about his age with the same condition; and this is how I learned about Anna Balan.
Anna Balan was born in Moldova. When she was 4 years old, her mother went to Greece to seek a job to support the family financially. But Anna was left with her alcoholic father, in the hands of whom she went to an orphanage before reuniting with her mother in Greece some years later. In Greece, she made a fresh new beginning, learning Greek and being with the loving family she deserves. Today, she studies Social Work and works as an actress.
Anna has her own podcast as well, under the very creative title Να δει κανείς ή να μην δει (To see or not to see). In each episode, without a filter and a lot of sense of humor, she vividly describes the life and struggles of individuals with vision problems, while answering any questions we may have (but often do not ask) on blindness.
How do blind people choose their clothes?
They need to buy clothes with people they trust and who know their taste and what makes them feel comfortable. When they buy an article of clothing, they feel its texture and it stays engraved in their mind. Regarding colors, they learn basic rules concerning matching colors from a young age, so that when they are told that, for example, their top is white and their pants are black, they know that they are matching.
How do blind people count their money?
There is a special gadget that enables people with vision problems to tell the different banknotes and coins apart; it looks like a ruler, upon which you put the coin/banknote and the point where it reaches says its value in braille.
What do the different pavement tiles for people with vision problems mean?
The striped tiles with distant stripes mean free passage with no obstacles. The striped tiles with dense stripes mean warning or that there is a ramp, and finally, the ones with the dots mean caution or danger ahead.
How do blind people do their makeup?
Anna has made clear in her podcast and social media that she does her makeup on her own, having gathered advice from friends all these years.
Regarding which colors look good on her and which products to use. She applies her makeup on her own and wipes the areas all around to make sure that she has not smudged it.
Those were only some examples of the descriptions Anna makes in her podcast and social media accounts. If you would be interested in learning more, the links can be found below!
References
- Να δει κανείς ή να μην δει, podcasts.apple, Available for listening here
- Δίπλα Σου, podcasts.apple, Available for listening here
