london calling

Heathrow – December 22, 2010

Just ran into my friend Zach from SIT study abroad… he has been living at Heathrow for the past 6 days because his standby flight got canceled the first day and it’s been a disaster ever since. His dad flies for United so he had a free ticket to Europe… but no guarantee that he’d leave on schedule. Pinch me but I think we’ll be able to leave!

The Tube

Riding the Tube and reading the Evening Standard, the Daily Mail, the Metro – all the free papers you get in the underground system – definitely an excellent way to people-watch in London. Dad and I got “Oyster” cards – a week pass on the central London public transit – and, as anyone who knows my dad can imagine – we spent a lot of quality time calculating our cost per tube ride etc. I can’t pretend that I didn’t contribute!

Ferry Ride to Greenwich:

I was still not feeling that healthy on our last day in London so dad and I planned another calmer day – a ferry ride along the river Thames to Greenwich (British pronunciation =Grenitch). One of the crewmembers gave a lively and rather informative narration of the riverside from Westminster Pier down to the Tower Bridge (next to the Tower of London) where we had to change ferries. The tide was so high that many of the larger ferryboats couldn’t make it under any of the bridges further upriver of the Tower Bridge. I had no idea how extreme tide changes are in London – as much as 7 meters difference! Once in Greenwich we had a proper greasy fish’n’chips and then headed off to the Royal observatory. Greenwich was originally a totally separate city from London and though it’s now well within the official boundaries of London proper it very much retains it’s distinct and self-sufficient flavor. In addition to being an all around fun planetarium/astronomy museum the Royal Observatory defines the longitude of 0! So, like any self-respecting tourists we straddled the Eastern and Western hemispheres.

*A note: The Brits do make fun of us Americans for a whole variety of reasons – we seem to be easy, naïve, gregarious targets. One of these reasons pertains to the Tower Bridge. Back in the early 1900s a wealthy man from Arizona bought London Bridge to bring back to his hometown when London was putting in a new one…. but he thought he was getting the Iconic Tower Bridge with the two ancient-looking towers and brilliant blue cables. When the bridge got to Arizona he actually asked…. but where’s the top?

Visiting with Sandra in Brixton

During my gap-year after High School I met a British woman in her early thirties while crossing into Laos from Thailand. We were both traveling on our own and made the snap decision that the other wasn’t too insane so we’d stick together looking for a hotel room that night. As she later put it we had paid to be refugees: we took a slow, slow boats from Thailand to Luang Prabang along the Mekong river for two days. The views were gorgeous but there wasn’t anything to do so we got to be pretty good friends! We ended up traveling together (along with two Irish boys) for a week or so. About a month later we met up in Hoi An, Vietnam while she was moving south to Saigon and I north to Hanoi.

Well – the long story long is that she now works in London and I was able to see her! It was absolutely one of the highlights of London for me. The London underground was touch and go with all the ice and rescu trains heading after rescue trains etc… so it was really generous of my dad to accompany me to the end of the Victoria line and on a bus around Brixton to meet her. I loved seeing a totally random area of London that not even Rick Steves would think to send me to. There’s so much to London that it’s impossible to pretend you’re going to see it all… and I’d rather get some slices of random than all of the classic sites. We had dinner at a batty Brazilian restaurant – I can’t believe that’s the fourth country I’ve seen her in. I highly value maintaining those precious and unpredictable connections so thank you to my dad for helping me do so and thanks to Sandra for caring as well. Also reminds me of getting to know the family of Ann Ollivarius in London– my dad’s college friend. But first:

THE POGUES

While Dad was waiting for Sandra and I at the tube stop after our dinner (and his solo dive into a “real Londoner’s pub” he had about ten minutes to kill chatting up the cop outside the Tube station. This “bobby” (British) was there to keep scalpers at bay who were selling tickets to his beloved POGUES! By the time I got there I don’t think there was any question about the matter – Dad and I were going to see the Pogues. In his own works, “The cop worked me up in such a lather I just had to know what they were like!!” Oh Deane Minor. I was feeling pretty sick but I can’t say no to spontaneity so we started to haggle with the scalpers that Dad’s cop friend recommended. He wanted 160. Pounds. For two tickets, but still – No thank you. It was easy to play hard to get when we truly cared so little. So we watched the price trickle to 100, finally 85 and we were feeling pretty good…. until we realized we didn’t have that much between us. Luckily an ATM was located conveniently next to where the scalpers operate so one of the main man’s minions monitored our cash withdrawal….attempt. Turns out we just had the credit card, not the debit cards. Lame. So we had to say in all honesty that 45 pounds was the best we could do. At this point he had spent a solid ten minutes on us and I think he just liked us – so the guy grinned, shock our hands, said Merry Christmas and told us, “Congratulations – you scalped the scalpers!” I find this all particularly hilarious knowing my Dad… the man is honest to a fault if that’s possible. How he paid 45 pounds for a ace value total of 62 is a complete conundrum to both of us. By the way – the music was excellent! Ireland’s biggest rock band and for good reason. Dad was seriously bringing up the average age in the venue.

Saint Paul’s Cathedral

The Saint Paul’s audio guide tour that you get with entry into the cathedral is a prime example of excellent British museums. Excellent views of the city from the dome as well. Though he wasn’t an architect, Christopher Wren was commissioned to design the Cathedral as well as fifty-odd other churches - after the great London Fire of 1666 (spooky date…) Mr. Wren was simply accomplished at absolutely everything he undertook – math, astronomy – and soon – architecture! The genius move that struck me most in St. Paul’s was how he chose to craft the massive dome (which is a fixture of the London skyline, a symbol of the city). He knew that the dome would be more impressive from a distance if it were huge and elongated – not spherical. However, the same shape from the vantage point of worshippers inside the Cathedral would not be nearly as aesthetically pleasing. Moreover, Wren realized, the paintings on the underside of the dome would be hardly visible from such a distance. He therefore constructed a dome within a dome supported by a complicated scheme of rafters between the two. Wren happily was able to live to see the Cathedral built – in a “mere” 40-odd years. Compared to many European cathedrals that took over 200 years to construct that doesn’t seem too bad! Still, Dad and I found it interesting to compare these epic undertakings to the Mosques of equal complexity and size built in less than 10 years. Funding! The Sultan funded mosques whereas the church was in charge of Cathedral building.

The Tower of London: The building and entire complex is saturated in English history. British people also do a hell of a good museum so I really felt like I learned a lot wandering around through the different rooms and exhibits. Also - we started our Tower trip with a guided tour by one of the Yeoman Warders, the guards of the Tower of London and the official guards of Her Majesty the Queen. To be a Yeoman warder one must serve the British army for 22 years was distinguished awards (I forget the details) and you’ve got to be well versed in 900 years of history. The guards are still locked inside the Tower every night – along with their families! - at 10pm so there needs to be a doctor and chaplain on the grounds at all times. What an example of continued British tradition in a way that really would be unimaginable in the US.

Meeting Ann’s Family and learning about Dad’s past

Dad’s ***ex-girlfriend*** (from his wild college days, oh-la-la) has lived in London for the past 12 years practicing law. We stayed with her while we were in London – both in her city home and in a lovely home in the country. She keeps herself incredibly busy with work and she happened to have family in at the time as well but when we got to see her it was really wonderful. I hit it off with her kids – her two daughters are my age- extremely engaging and intelligent people. People always make the highlights of trips – for me at least.

Dad’s long hike in the country to the home of one of Britain’s most powerful barristers

“Goodbye, God Bless You, Love the Muffers”

On the day that I was feeling most sick Dad and I went to Westminster Abbey for the Evensong performance in attempt to find the lowest impact tourism possible. We did! Evensong is the evening worship that is largely sung – much less gospel, much more choir. It was still cold inside because massive cathedrals weren’t built with heating in mind and it’s been around freezing our whole stay in London. I was therefore wearing my panda earmuffs purchased in Croatia with Danika! On the way out I shook hands with several of the priests one of who said – and oh yes, I wrote “Goodbye, God Bless you, love the muffers!” All in the same measured, chipper voice. It was too good. He even tapped his ears jovially as an indication.

Walk around the City and Westminster and the South Bank!

Daddy took me out to a formal English teatime at The Wollesley. How proper and such. It included a three-tiered silver tray of cute little sandwiches with the crusts cut off, some beautiful tartlets/desserts, and scrumptious crumpets. Oh – and tea. Dad ordered beer (see previous post: ) People called me Madam and doted on me… how weird.

The Tate Modern – LOVED every minute of it. Some very weird stuff, but all stuff that I found thought provoking and/or beautiful.

Memory

Why do I do this? Why “blog”? Well. As much as it’s for my mother it’s for me as well. Someone having on the internet makes me feel like I “need to get a blog post up” in a way that wouldn’t be true if this were just a journal I was keeping on my laptop alone. I’ve really loved it. I don’t think it’s important to remember every little detail… but at the very same time I do find it indescribably important to cling to some details. Because what is life if it’s just done in broad brush strokes of “Went to the Aya Sophia…. saw Greenwich….etc?” I believe that facebook - and even digital cameras pre-social network mania – have changed the way we relate to our memories. It doesn’t really concern me that twenty years from now I will remember studying abroad and I might recall that time that I went on a hike through a vineyard near Lausanne (did I even blog about that? no clue) – maybe I’ll recall a hike along the waterfront when really we just sat there and drank wine and then wandered in the hills because they were gorgeous. What does it matter if I forget which Alpine mountain I went to? I know that the Swiss people are marvelous and terribly anal all at the same time. I’m glad for the impressions these countries and people have left on me. And I’m so glad that I decided to imprint a handful of these memories in my own words at ages 21-22. Italy will never be the same as it was as a 21 year-old about to turn 22 the next week. Now I can have these memories frozen in fall 2010 now and keep making new memories of what my study abroad months meant to me and come to mean to me for the rest of my life.

Random istanbul things

Shopping for Dad’s Beer

I had a good time making fun of my dad for his daily trip to the supermarket across the street to buy cheap Turkish beer. I alternated between bemoaning the fact that he was spending our entire travel budget on alcohol and demanding that I be allowed to be a Turkish apple tea whenever he went off for his beer. For whatever reason though on our last night in town I agreed to go buy his beer for him – I think he was just finishing his book and I took pity on him. The supermarket had sadly just closed (it was 10:05) so I came back to ask the front desk where else to head. He directed me down the street but I came back again, unsuccessful. He was highly agitated on my behalf, apparently not used to having his clients going shopping late at night and gave me painfully long directs in painfully unclear English. This time I found it… but when I asked for the beer the guy literally laughed in my face. There I was, a woman, asking for beer after 10pm – this seemed to be the funniest thing to happen to him in a long while. So I returned, tail between my legs, to the agitated hotel staff, several of whom literally got to their feet in expectation when I walked through the door (I wonder what they thought I was shopping for?).

Bosphorus Part One!

Definitely one of the coolest things we did in Istanbul. We rode a public ferry populated almost exclusively by other tourists also looking to see the Bosphorus almost all the way to the Black Sea! For history/mythology nerds like my dad and myself it was heavenly. Jason and the Argonauts sailed through here! The meeting point of the Bosphorus and the Black Sea is one of the most dangerous and unpredictable shipping thoroughfares in the world. As if to prove the point the clouds opened up as we approached our final port along the Bosphorus. We had the chance to get off in Asia – dad’s first time on the continent!!! – and climb up to some castle ruins with spectacular views. Wandering around the Asian countryside and towns drove home the arbitrary nature of “continents”.

Bosphorus 2 and Fener

The Highly Present Waiters

On one of our last night in Istanbul my Dad and I took a wander to a non-touristy neighborhood near our hotel where we hadn’t yet dined. We hoped to find a cheap place where mostly locals eat. Well - we did have the opportunity to dine at very close proximity to locals…but those locals happened to be the owner and waiter at our restaurant. Initially one of the Highly Present Waiters (HPWs) paced the marvelously gaudy restaurant with a stern look on his face. We figured the HPW would disperse after we ordered. We were mistaken. He situated himself at the table not three feet away and proceeded to brood, starring directly at us. At this point I became highly aware of the lack of music or, in fact, noise of any kind in the building. Dad and I sat starring at each other – stumbling through the first awkward silence of the trip. When he eventually we began to breath freely again but – don’t worry – he was shortly relieved by another HPW. This particular HPW alternated between starring out the window and starring me down. The whole HPW experience culminated with the owner of the restaurant dressing Dad and I in traditional Turkish headgear (think: Arabian nights) and taking pictures with us. It sounds like that could be a goofy frivolous activity but the HPW was dead serious about it. The HPWs were highly present till the end so I guess we got what we wished for: plenty of face time with local people.

Farewell, Istanbul!

Hello everyone! My dad and I are at the Istanbul airport - Ataturk International Airport - waiting for our flight to London. We got her in plenty of time.... I'm still smarting from having missed my flight to Spain.

Turkish Bath Time:

Dad and I decided to indulge in own of Istanbul's famous Turkish Bath experiences. To begin with we were each herded off to separate male and female bathing areas. When I entered the first room - a "holding tank" of sorts, I was immediately out of my element. To my pleasant surprise pretty much everyone was Turkish. My initial delight at diving into this "authentic Turkish experience" was closely followed by a string of pressing questions: where do I change?, how much do I change?, who is supposed to be scrubbing me down?, and how the hell do I get from holding tank to bath sans towel? A slightly disgruntled attendant soon answered the first of my questions shoving a towel and goody bag into my hands and frog marching me into a changing room, indicating a locker along the way. Okay, I thought, clothes off and towel on, here I go. The goody bag smelled pleasantly of herbs and spices but I figured I'd let my attendant help me utilize it properly.

As soon as I wandered back into the holding tank a beefy Turkish lady similarly clad in a towel grabbed my hand and led me into the steamy bath area. Everything in sight was made of various shades of marble. The ceilings of the circular "hamam" (bath) rooms are vaulting domes with lattice pattern windows letting in sunlight. Around the perimeter you find elaborate spigots and sitting areas cordoned off. All this surrounds a giant raised platform on which about a dozen women were lounging wearing just their underwear. OH. I didn't have MY underwear. I had little time to reflect. My strapping attendant sharply indicated my towel and the marble platform sternly and haltingly said something along the lines of "face - down". I comply... not quite feeling the Turkish relaxation wash over me as I moon my attendent and the rest of the bathing area. To her credit, she didn't miss a beat. She jabbed my should once, grabbed my "spice and herbs goody bag" and opened it to reveal a pair of standard issue black underwear. Ah......to be continued.

Istanbul photos, by popular demand :)

Istanbul (not Constantinople....or Byzantium)

Now to get you in the mood for this blog post about history...

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xj1d_istanbul-not-constantinople

Most likely most of you, like myself, know that Istanbul used to be called Constantinople. I had no idea, however, that Istanbul has been known by so many other names as well!

Byzantium: first known name of the city - founded by Greek colonists in 667 BC. Later the East Roman Empire was known as the "Byzantine" empire - although this was MUCH later: German historian Hieronymus Wolf dubbed it such 100 years after it had fallen.

Augusta Antonina: for a brief period in the 3rd Century AD by Roman conquerers

New Rome, Alma Roma, Roma Constantinopolitana: The Romans, obviously. before Constantine the Great took over in 330

Constantinople: The name that became widely known when Constantine the Great was powerful - Also Latin Constantinopolis and Greek Konstantinoupolis

Konstantiniyye: Name that bacome widely known in the Arab world during and after Constantine's time

Istanbul: since the 10th Century in a range of forms - comes from the Greek for "The City" or "To the City". Also Stimbol, Islambol, Stamboul

Other languages: Hebrew - Kushtandina, Icelandic - Miklagarour (the old Norse name that came into use after Viking contact with the Byzantines)

Love!

ISTANBUL with daddy...!

My DAD is here. In Istanbul. With me. We met up yesterday evening in the Istanbul airport and romped around the city today but is still incredibly surreal to be with him! I must say, he has been quite a trooper on the jet lag front. Come to think of it, his habit of pulling an all-nighter at the office before leaving town probably helped for once since his body was already out of wack.

Istanbul has captivated me for years – it is literally the number one place in the world that I have wanted to see since high school. Am I really here? In Asia? Europe? The Middle East? All of the above? NONE of the above? I’m trying my utmost to stop trying to categorize scenes or buildings or interactions with locals into European or Asian. There is no line – okay, fine, there’s the Bosporus – but culturally? This is the epitome of a blend. Having visited a wide range of Asian and European nations it’s all to tempting for me to wander around Istanbul proclaiming connections to this or that culture. For example, the little miniature paintings that look like ones I saw in India – then again, the Indian miniatures came with the rule of the Mughals, a Muslim empire. Then there are the cobblestone streets and castle/fortress looking walls – Europe! Europe! The shops crammed together selling everything imaginable rapid fire – Asian flashbacks… but then there’s the highly efficient tram system and the clean, clean streets. No offense Asia, but that brings me back to Europe.

Today we went to the Blue Mosque, the underground Basilica Cisterns, the Hagia Sophia, and wandered around the neighborhood a lot. The Blue Mosque is not, as you might assume, blue on the outside. The designs on the rook inside are, however replete with rich blues, yellows, greens…major wow. I LOVE the calligraphy designs that are all over mosques – it is forbidden in Islam to draw anything representative so the highest art form evolved into elaborate calligraphy. We’re planning to go back again on our last day in Istanbul to see how it feels different given our other experiences… I like bookends and my dad REALLY likes things like that J. I was fairly shocked at the behavior of some of the visitors: plenty of Western women did not cover their heads with scarves when they are very clearly asked to do so and loud chattering even when the imam started to announce the call to prayer.

Favorite quote from dad:

Salesman: “Where are you from?”

Dad: walking away “Uh…Everett.”

Salesman: “Oh yes I know it!”

The underground Basilica Cisterns were first built in the 6^th century but the Emperor Justinian (the most powerful Byzantine Emperor) to provide water to the overcrowded capitol city. (**Note – Istanbul used to be Constantinople and is no longer the capitol – that’s Ankara) The cistern complex is the size of two football fields and deep – supported by a seemingly endless expanse of pillars. When I had lunch with the friendly French lady who I met on the bus in Geneva she kept insisting that I go see the cisterns. Great tip!

The Hagia Sophia was first a great cathedral and then later converted into a Mosque. Today it is a museum – housing both Christian and Muslim religious symbols and architecture. It’s HUGE – not only could the entire Notre Damn Cathedral fit inside – but the Statue of Liberty could comfortable do jumping jacks in its central nave! Okay less talk more photos ~~~

Random thoughts… It occurred to me that many, many of the restaurant/souvenir shop workers in Europe are, in fact, Turkish… which made me wonder – why do the vendors here feel so different? Well. We’re in Turkey. And the storeowners are Turkish! Not immigrants. Both a really obvious and easy to overlook fact!

whoooops: I saw an impressive looking wall and archway near the Hagia Sophia so I wandered on over and tried to go in. Sadly the armored guards told me it was closed so I asked one of the military men what it was – “Topkapi Palace” he explained, failing to suppress a look that clearly added “You raging idiot”. Okay fine, one of the most important tourist stops/cultural sites – duly noted.

Okay. My daddy wants to be a guest blogger now so I’m going to turn it over to him…. and then we’ll go out to dinner!

_____________________________________________________________________

itsmy turn to donuts, actually GO NUTS

I have had a great time with alice so far… and no end in sight for the good times

rained all day—did not faze us! we love the rain. although, it got cold too – thanks, leslie, for the sweater idea: I wore it at layer number 3 of five today—with the fleece over it, followed by rain coat.

I don’t want to get boring here, talking about clothing, but I fear that alice has problaby already said all the good stuff. but did she mention her inquiry of the machine gun clad military man at a gate, where she inqured, “what’s that?

answer, Topkapi Palace….. look it up on google if you don’t’ know why that’s so funny!

enjoyed being played by a carpet salesman today…. no we did not get a carpet, but we got other stuff!!!

I had to stop once today to just drink in the fact that I was in instanbul… with alice. wow. what a treat.

bye for now, your guest blogger, deane

My friend Anusha is REALLY good at traditional Indian dancing so one night at the hotel in Pula she taught a bunch of us a routine that we performed for the others :)

Croatia....

View from our hostel in Split

Sunset in Split

The ancient Roman amphitheater in Pula - 6th largest in the world

With friends in the amphitheater

More amphitheater

Old city gate.... and elf from the Christmas parade! Very different concept of Santa's elves

The temple of Augustus in Pula, Croatia

With my friend on a day trip to Motovun - an adorable hill town in Istria (the province of Pula)

Playing around in some old windows with Danika in Split

In the harbor in Split looking at the Adriatic

In Plitz Viche National Park

Architecture in Split

Croatian Limbo

Hey all!

Still in Croatia. Continues to be a bit odd/hilarious since we're pretty much the only tourists in Croatia this time of year and the weather is all over the place. So here are some things on my mid these days:

International Relations/Politics:

The closer I get to coming home to more I realize that I've been in a very unique political environment here. All my peers are interested in international relations and quite well informed- plus I was not just in Europe but Geneve - land of international relations. Coming back to the states may be a little frustrating for me. With all the domestic economic turmoil going on in the US I'm anticipating the news/national political mindset to be very domestically focused. It'll be interesting to see how much I notice that and what sorts of political stories I find myself following.

Food

I miss cheese and chocolate! I also miss all the food my mom makes. There's not much more to say about this really... but Swiss cheeses are unbelievable.

Daddy!

So excited to meet my daddy in FIVE more days in the Istanbul airport! I've never had the chance to travel with just him - and for so long - it's going to be special. Also, the idea of Istanbul has enticed me for years. I love spots on this globe where things either don't make much sense or are a grand conflagration of more than one culture. Turkey in the Middle East? check. Turkey as a candidate to join the EU? check. Turkey in Asia too? check check check. I obviously know it will be completely different from India but I think it will be the closest thing to it that I've seen in a couple years. I'm ready for a little bit of madness and difference. And my daddy there with me! I'm sure traveling with a middle-aged man will make a difference in ways I haven't even realized yet.

My wonderful friends from SIT

I've met some spectacular people here. A few of the goodbyes will be rough. Mostly, of course, I'm glad we met and will thus forever be in each others' lives. Yesterday we went on a program-sponsored trip to two coastal villages and a lunch site... hanging out with the people who count was wonderful. There is honestly a contingent of people I will not miss at all, but why think about them? My friends Danika, Allison and I bought ridiculous ear muffs for 6 dollars.... best souvenir ever. It was cold! And my earmuffs are pandas. SOoooo that's a must-buy situation, clearly.

Christmas

All the other SIT students except one are preparing to go home in a couple of days... I, of course, I'm going to be traveling with my Papa for two weeks but I sort of keep forgetting that we're not on the same schedule. I am SO excited for home and Christmas. I want to accelerate these next few days until I meet my Dad because goodbyes are hard and everyone around me is in such a different place. I'm just way thrilled for Turkey - London - Christmas. And Minor ladies - we'll be dressing up and going to the Sound of Music in downtown Seattle, yes? We'd better!

Love to you all, happy holiday season. I can't wait to get to see you whenever that may be.

~Alice

Croatian Blizzards

Here I am in Croatia. The past weekend was indubitably one of the strangest on record. My friends Danika and Julia plus two others rented a car and drove from Pula to Split….most of the length of the country. First of, we are in Croatia at a truly bizarre time of year. Everyone we talk to is utterly perplexed at our presence here…and when we say we’re with a study abroad program based in Geneva that doesn’t really clarify the issue. Croatia IS gorgeous but this time of year the weather is highly unpredictable – sometimes you get those postcard blue-sky days but often it’s grey and rainy. And since no tourists are here this time of year none of the

touristy things are open really. I love it.

View of Split from above

I’m enjoying getting a flavor of Eastern Europe. The longer I spend in Europe the more I see the stark Eastern/Western European divide. The European narrative from the Western perspective essentially leaves out the countries and cultures east of Austria. I have heard numerous Europeans have speak of how proud they are of the fact that Europe hasn’t seen a war since World War Two and the increased multilateral diplomacy that came in the aftermath of that devastation. Then they may pause and say, “Well, that’s not counting the Balkans, but that’s different”. Or they don’t even acknowledge/remember the Balkans. In contrast, Eastern Europeans don’t seem to have the luxury to forget Western Europe when they speak of Europe. Typical socioeconomic dynamics.Friday we drive from Pula to Split and got stuck in a blizzard on the main highway (which just opened 3-4 years ago). We were SO lucky to have my friend Danika there who drives stick shift really well and is from Vermont so is used to snow. It was so bizarre. I never thought I’d be driving through a Croatian blizzard. But that’s what happened. We didn’t have the firmest directions to our hostel in Split because I google-mapped it but you can only get so far with little meandering streets and Old Town squares built before there were cars…. So when we got there we bumbled around for a bit and found some friendly cops who helped us along. They entered our address into their GPS and everything… unfortunately the Hostel was called “Hostel Split: Booze and Snooze”. Not what we planned to do but…still a slightly awkward place to talk about with a cop. He laughed at us though so that was nice.

Split is nuts. Croatia is nuts. So much beauty and culture. We saw some thousand year old ruins, wandered up an got fantastic views of the city and drink Croatian coffee… wandered gorgeous markets in a beautiful coastal city. What? How did I get this lucky? It poured for a bit but then cleared up again for a splendid sunset.

We left fairly early on Sunday morning because we wanted to see Plitz Vich National Park – beautiful waterfalls and lakes – in the middle of the country. For a Croatian it’s probably not “on the way” to Pula…. but to us it seemed just dandy. If we thought we were in a blizzard before we were in for an education. When we eventually got to the park there was about 1-2 feet of powder snow in the parking lot and absolutely no one there. The info hut was, however, inexplicably well staffed. We got a little confused and took a path on a stairway/bridge over the road that was in three feet of snow… so dumb, so hilarious. We got to the other side of road and realized we could have just, you know, walked across the road that gets a car every fifteen minutes or so. All the staff in the inexplicably well-staffed info hut laughed quite unabashedly at us and told us we were free to look at the viewpoint but they weren’t going to charge us because we couldn’t see anything. UMMM false. Danika and I romped around in the snow and saw winter beauty crazier than I could have imagined. Words don’t do justice. The photo below is in color, not black and white....

The NEXT blizzard was even more bizarre and extreme. Danika is unbelievable, seriously. SO MUCH DRIVING. We sat still on the Croatian highway for three hours in a blizzard because some stupid cars blocked the highway. Croatian drivers were pretty unnecessarily rude. A lot of cutting each other off and honking when there are no lanes and no one is moving fast than 10 km/hour anyway…. Luckily Danika doesn’t have road rage and she DOES have common sense and a desire to stay alive and in one piece so we let the cars pass and hang out ten feet in front of us. With plenty of car games and stories we made it back…. at 12:30 after having left at 8:45. Danika is a TANK!

Today I walked along the Croatian coast with the waves CRASHING and blinding sunlight. SUPER windy and a little cold – so beautiful. Quite an impressive storm. I love oceans.

LOVE to you all!

Bye bye Geneva :(

I am in Croatia. At a resort on the beach. This is a major – WHAT is going on with my life situation. As I think I mentioned at the start of my blog we got deported after 90 days in Switzerland because it is in the schengen visa zone and our program was unable to get student visas since SIT is not run through one specific university. SO – off we go to Croatia because it’s the closest place not in the schengen zones. As a side note – the various intersections of European supranational bodies are remarkably complex… the closest I’ve come to understanding the way it all fits together is with the help of this diagram:


I’d like to bid a little farewell to Suisse! I had a fantastic time in that beautiful country – the last couple of weeks predictably went by far too quickly so there is far too much I could say at this point.

Alice as a Diplomat!
In the past week I had the chance to meet with diplomats from South Africa, Mexico, the UK, and Egypt. I also have a phone interview scheduled with the highest-ranking diplomat from South Korea in New York. I am still surprised that I managed to finagle this interviews… all of these countries have a strategic interest in the debate surrounding Security Council reform and all were able to give me wildly different perspectives on the debate. I spoke with Counsellor Combrink, the South African representative on disarmament for three hours! He was insightful beyond belief and willing to have a real dialogue with me. Overall I was continually impressed with the respect shown me by these diplomats. I had coffee with the highest-ranking diplomat from the UK! What? It gave me a surge of optimism about international relations… I’m not suggesting that my experience indicates that all diplomats everywhere are actively listening to each other and willing to collaborate it was encouraging to find that the kind of people holding these important positions were interested in talking to a random American student just because they are interested in the topic and willing to share their expertise. I had to be security checked at the UK Mission! On my way out I overheard a man say something along the lines of, “Have you spoken to France in regards to the upcoming Security Council decision?” That was surreal.

My Swiss contradictions:
• I love chaos, the Swiss love order and stability
• I love unpredictability and spontaneity, the Swiss positively THRIVE off creating a good, solid plan
• My host mom once told me that unless I cleaned the drain in a certain way (specific soap/rag/water combo that had been totally out of my cleaning league) I was never going to find love.
• I don’t like worrying and complaining about details… that was one of my host family’s favorite activities
• I am against stress, my host family was always fairly edgy/stressed about time, cleanliness, plans, etc…

I am going to miss the clear blue skies and mountains everywhere – even though the northwest will always be paradise to me there is an unrivaled beauty going on in Switzerland. The cheese, chocolate and wine… I’m sure I’ll return a snob after this trip! I also am so used to eating cheese – I hadn’t really thought about it but it’s now totally normal for me to have a small block of cheese as a snack or dessert after dinner. I doubt my college budget will support that sort of behavior.

As sad as I am to say goodbye, I am also glad to be connected to another part of the world. I’ve heard people say “travel makes your world bigger” but had never fully interpreted that phrase for myself until now. I agree. My world gets bigger every time I drop roots in another part of the globe. I care deeply about South Asia – to me the people there are real, vital beings. They aren’t news. I now feel an affinity for Switzerland specifically and even Europe generally – especially in relation to politics.

I love you all and I’m getting excited about the upcoming weeks in Croatia… and then traveling with my DADDY in December! That will be spectacular.

Love to you,
Alice

PRAGUE!

Prague may be my favorite place yet this semester. It is simultaneously gorgeous and gritty. Rare combination indeed. Like Vienna the enchanting streets go on and on and on – people live in work in buildings that, to me, are veritable works of art. It does not, however, have the money of Austria, emerging as it did from the grip of the Soviet Union after the Cold War. This made it a particularly fascinating border to cross – nothing about the train or natural landscape changes, but immediately one can observe more potholes, less efficiency, crumbling structures, less industry. Government and money matter! (In contrast, I had to be told by the train conductor when we crossed back into Switzerland from Austria. About the only difference was a slight increase in those typically Swiss window shutters…and yes the Swiss are more on time than anyone else, but one can hardly fault the Austrians for that.)

I have rarely been to a place as saturated in completely divergent histories as Prague. Ancient and powerful Prague and the modern Prague devastated by communism and revived by activism are layered over each other wherever you look. Danika and I started our first day in Prague with a confused wander through town… definitionof winding, confusing streets – the squares either extend further than you expect or are dotted with random buildings splitting them down the middle, further turning you around.It wasa great place to be lost. We spent some time in St. Wenceslas Square, the site of much activism in 1968 Prague spring and the 1989 Velvet Revolution towards shedding the yoke of oppression. Eventually we reached our target – the Museum of Communism. WOW. Truly well done exhibit replete with video footage of the Velvet Revolution and Prague Spring, speeches by communist figures and dissidents who held power between 1945 and 1989. Also plenty of interesting artifacts and signs for history nerds to read (in six languages, obviously).

Here comes the RANDOM. We went on a segway tour. It was hilarious – I mean, how could we take it seriously, right? But actually quite informative! A great way to see a bunch of the city without getting lost for a change. We zoomed around the Jewish quarter, up to the highest lookout point, over to the ancient Prague Castle, around the Charles bridge area, and all around the Old Town. I couldn’t stop laughing, it was fantastic. Danika and I even reenacted “Chimpanzee Riding on a Segway” – it’s a Youtube video… Highlight = I tried to twirl around too quickly on my segway at very low speed and… I fell off. In front of the house of the President of the Czech Republic. WIN. The sun set in the middle of our segway tour so we were able to watch the city light up from above:

The river picture on the right is a morning run along the Danube! Love having my jock friend to travel with.

Another Prague highlight was certainly the

Prague Castle which we explored in full the next day….. super! History nerd that I am, I thoroughly enjoyed the audio guide, one of the more in depth I’ve ever listened to. Beautiful Prague Views! Later we got a drink at a restaurant just to have the excuse to go down the narrowest road in Prague, which leads to it.

Prague was fantastic. I definitely want to return at some point in my life. I’m now in the middle of wrapping up my final research paper so a bit busy…. I will be better about blogging once I get through the paper J

Welcome to Ostrich (part one)

I was just traveling through Austria and the Czech Republic for over a week with my awesome friend Danika (of the bollywood dance on the Eiffel Tower and amazing weekend hiking in the Alps). Kelvin of Lakeside joined us for the first half of Salzburg/Vienna! The title of this blog post comes from the fact that Danika kept telling her host mom that she was really excited to go to Ostrich… the French word for Austria is Autriche….ostrich is autruche. Shoot. I can’t possibly fit SalzburgViennaPragueInnsbruck all in one post so I’m going to do this in installments.

Abnormal Tourism Hours: Salzburg

Kelvin determined that we experienced Salzburg in12 phases… just go with it, I’ll explain.

1. The overnight: We wanted to stop in Salzburg and we wanted to take an overnight train to save time/money sooooo that meant that we trained from Zurich to Salzburg Haupbanhof (train station, get used to it, I find German endlessly amusing) from 11:00pm to 4:12 am. Sweet! My compartment-mates included an incredibly earnest Chinese guy who spoke English and German and a Macedonian man who thought I understood German. No matter of blank stares and “no sphreichens” could convince him otherwise. Then he chugged red bull just before we turned to lights off.

2. Delirious Indecision: We get off the train at 4:12. We follow signs for the Salzburg Congress thinking it might be pretty and lit up at night. It is an average office building. We proceed to pathetically meander through a park scouting nap spots. Eventually we decide that before we give in and sleep in public we should catch a peak at the river. I call our hostel and determine that check-in time is 5 hours in the future….”See you THEN!!!” I tell the tired Austrian man, a little too enthusiastically.

3. Church Nap Time and the Creepiest Graveyard Ever: We found the river! And all the pretty buildings. Danika had the bright idea to try to get into the massive cathedral called Erzabtei St. Peter and lo and behold it was open! Awe-inspiring in the pre-dawn darkness. If you know much about me you know that I LOVE hanging out in beautiful cathedrals so I was having a grand old time. Everyone else slept. Kelvin reported some of his most vivid dreams in months! We then decided to head up the hill to get a view of Salzburg for sunrise. This decision took us through one of the creepier places any of us had ever seen. I recognized it right away! The graveyard that inspired graveyard where the Von Trapp family hid from the Nazis and Rolf saw them. So I guess seeing it 6:30 am in complete darkness was true to form… On the right you'll find Kelvin deep in slee - I mean prayer.

4. The Largest Fortress in Europe: Clearly no one was at the ticket counter so we just stumbled into the largest fortress in Europe, up quite a solid hill… turns out it was one of the best views I’ve ever seen! ALPS. Adorable Austrian Salzburg in the foreground and ALPS ALPS ALPS in the background. It was frigid so we swaddled ourselves in every available article of clothing and huddled penguin style… of course Kelvin and I sang the Hills are Alive with the Sound of Music. Except, problem – those are not HILLS, excuse me. They are ALPS.

5. Church nap 2 and Horse pictures: Another round of napping in a (different) epic cathedral. We then started to try to move towards breakfast but literally made it no further than ten yards at a time without getting distracted – mostly by taking pictures of horses from various angles but also of Austrian cow bells on sale, a sculpture of a man standing on a giant gold ball and a man who insisted on giving Kelvin a mystery morning pick-me-up beverage.

6. Breakfast: After collapsing into the first breakfast establishment we found we began to systematically terrorize the wait staff and other patrons. No intentionally! We could hardly be help responsible for our actions at that point. It took a REALLY long time to feed ourselves… we composed some rather revealing poems:

Two hours I slept

Before the hills were alive

Kelvin and I sang

Macedonia

Fell asleep in my breakfast

As cold as penguins

Walk ten steps then stop

Lost control of our fingers

Pictures of horses

For a complete compilation, inquire to the artist! (me….)

7. Nap time! Finally got into the hostel, glorious sleep (except Kelvin, weirdo). Sadly things got a little less funny after this since we weren’t delirious. But it was also nice that I no longer felt like a shell of a human wandering the dark streets of Salzburg.

8. Sound of music musical recreations: Normal tourism hours! How dull. Just kidding, I skipped through the trellis where Maria and the children run around singing “Do a Deer” and squealing with delight. Kelvin and I had plenty more musical reenacting to do… Stay tuned for a compilation video.

9. Mozart! Highly recommended Mozart museum – his adolescent household filled with artifacts, pianos he played on, lots of music on the audio guide, and – as seems to be the case all over Europe – an interactive audiovisual spectacular.

10. Trespassing on Sound of Music Properties: We saw the nunnery! Didn’t actually trespass there but stood at the gate and wandered around the outside, sang a little How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria and looked at some more Alps. The Sound of Music family compound in the movie is actually a compilation of two houses in Salzburg – we saw the one that includes the house and the lake: We then realized we weren’t strictly speaking welcome there (the gate had been so pleasantly open!) so we hid behind some bushes and watched the sunset over the lake. I’m fairly certain I saw Maria’s room from the outside! I certainly saw the place from which Rolf threw rocks at the window J

11. Bach concert: Impressive Cello concert. Very well attended by locals…. We learned about it while hanging out in the first nap-cathedral of the day. Kelvin's friend who was traveling with us knows a lot about classical music so offered some colored commentary before and after.

12. Dinner: Weiner Schnitzel and a traditional Austrian Beer! Our roommates were fairly confused by our schedule:

Tourism 4am – noon

Sleep 12 – 2:30

Tourism 2:30 – 10:30 pm

Sleep 10:30 pm – 6:30 am (up for another train…to Vienna! Stay tuned)

The Swiss Life

Here's a short compilation of some videos I've taken around the house in Switzerland! Hope you enjoy. My host parents got a little camera shy which prevented them from being as extreeeemely talkative as they usually are but I think you'll get a little sense of them :)

Above = me and some friends about to each fondue in a Chalet....isn't my life tragic?

I'm done with all my scheduled classes now so I have a lot of unstructured time! Yesterday I spent all afternoon in the UN library finding sources for my research project. Today I'm in Geneva working in a cafe with my friend Dan. It's been incredibly windy today and yesterday in Geneva so the Lac Leman is quite in a stir! I went to the top of the Cathedral Saint Pierre this morning and the views were unbelievable - you can see all of Geneva, the lake, the Jura mountains in the distance on one side and the Alps on the other. Talk about picturesque.

The hike down from the Chalet where we had out fondue! Snow!!! One of my friends on the hike had never been in falling snow before - he's from Texas. I took SO many pictures of him dancing about in the snow.

This past Sunday I went on a gorgeous little hike with some friends in the Jura Alps to the West of Geneva/Lac Leman. It started to snow in the middle and it was SO BEAUTIFUL.

Bongiorno Cinque Terre

Unbelievable weekend. I left early Friday morning for Cinque Terre (five gorgeous fishing villages connected by footpath along the northwestern coast of Italy just south of Genova. This was another trip with Kelvin Bates from Lakeside and a couple of his friends – we realized that we seem to have a tendency to go to Italian speaking places together! Although with Italy itself and Ticino, Switzerland we may have already exhausted our options…

I would like to THANK MY MOM for encouraging to go on this jaunt. I have the research paper about the legacy of Calvinism due on Monday and a big test later this week. I was going to have out and study in Geneva but when I talked to my mom on the phone she said – and I quote – “work shmerk!”. I was quite diligent last week getting all my interviews and research done before I left and I’m SO GLAD that I minded my mother and made it to Italy!

Making friends with an Italian Magician

First off, I love trains. They’re pricey, but part of the joy! I did work all during the Geneva-Milano train but on the train from Milano to Cinque Terre I had an unbelievable time making friends with Italians. Have I mentioned how much I love random encounters of people? Well this certainly qualified.

Kelvin and my other friends were in a different compartment because we made our reservations separately, but I didn’t mind at all because I find that trains can be a really fun way to make friends. (Note – the border crossing into Italy was literally just two Italian policemen glancing at our passports. They saw I was American and hardly even opened it but they examined every page of the passports of the two Russian ladies next to me…). Anywho – my Italian train compartment was me, a middle aged lady, and a guy in his mid/late twenties. We got to talking because I ordered a little espresso from the train man and they looked really worried. After a moment he blurted out – “Please do not judge the Italian coffee from this coffee! This is the train coffee!” From there I saw that the guy was reading an English book so I asked him about it…. turns out he’s trying to learn English for – wait for it – his Magic career.

Yes, I shared my train compartment with the official magician for the Italian branch of the Kinder Chocolate company. He does magic shows for kids all over Italy and even on TV sometimes! He was incredibly warm and kind and basically facilitated a conversation between the three of us because the lady didn’t speak any English. I could follow the gist of very basica conversation because it’s so similar to Spanish. They wanted to tell me all about the right foods to eat in Cinque Terre (seafood of course, a special kind of noodle made with pounded chestnuts, a pizza that involves chickpeas, ficcacia bread – this is where it comes from, and pesto – this is the homeland of pesto!!!). They also explained that though both of them live in the north now, they have “Southern Italy in their hearts”. The young guy, Scizzo, went, “I am from Sicilia, bang-bang Mafia, you know?” Yes… I have heard of the Mafia. In the 1940s many Southern Italians moved north for jobs and remain to this day but still maintain their separate identity. They explained to me that the reason they wanted to make friends with me is because they have Southern Italy in their hearts so they are warm and loving (yay stereotypes!). The lady told us all about her life – she was really amazing. She lost her husband when she was fairly young with a small daughter who is about my age now but has some health problems.... but she has a very warm view on life. In just a three hour train ride she gained quite a fondness for me – she wanted my address in Geneva to send me postcards from her hometown. Then she gave me a bracelet that she had in her purse – so I gave her a pair of earrings that I made last year at Whitman. This is really my favorite bit of traveling – meeting people, exchanging ideas. The other favorite travel experience would be seeing beautiful things…. which is basically all of Cinque Terre so I was in luck!

Cinque Terre!

You never thought I’d get to the five seaside villages, did you? We got to Riomaggiore in the mid afternoon – time enough to check into an AWESOME private apartment for the five of us that was cheaper than communal hostels in Switzerland….oh Switzerland and your devilishly strong currency. The villages are built into little valleys leading to the sea, so the houses are all jumbled on top of each other which makes an artistic array of angles. An artisit must have designed these villages – the building are all painted warm shades of yellow, pink, and orange and the occasional purple with green or amber or some other lovely color windows…. then there are the sandstone or peach churches, bright blue water, lush green hills, and sheer cliffs into the Sea. SO ugly. We wandered into a church service and around the beautiful town, had an Italian coffee overlooking the Sea, and later a divine meal. That night we went down to the beach and Kelvin and I swam in the Mediterranean Sea! It wasn’t too cold but apparently only the Pacific North Westerners could muster it J. Beautiful moonlight, gentle rocking Sea….wow.

On Saturday we hiked between the towns and took in some more beauty, and of course, local cuisine. Gelato! Ficcacia bread! Interesting spinach-egg – pizza-like thing! At points it felt like the jungle… there are palm trees and cacti all over the place. An extremely mercurial climate. Pictures are really the only way to describe it, so:

It started to rain in the afternoon….and rain HARD. But even that gave a different kind of beauty to the landscape. So we were soaked and had to get another Italian Cappucino to recoup. That night after we’d finally warmed up and the rain had let up we took a jaunt down the pathway that connects Riomaggiore (where we stayed) with Manarola. It’s called “Via delle Amore” – pathway of love – because it was the first path between any of the villages – built just before WW1. It opened up all sorts of social and romantic possibilities for the young people of the two towns. Before that everyone had only ever married people from their tiny villages. A tradition began of meeting along the pathway and fastening a lock with you sweetheart in, as Rick Steves describes it in his guidebook, “a lovey-dovey spot”. People still do it so the path looks like a modern-art display in spots.

I’m not in Levanto waiting for my train to Milano. It’s almost an hour late…that’s fine. I’m not in Switzerland anymore! The entire time I’ve been writing this two older men have been playing the slots in this little Train Station café. Something I would NEVER see in Switzerland. The Swiss like their stability. It’s pretty incredible how different two nations that share a huge border like this can be. And I’m in Northern Italy!

Life, life, you are fascinating. So once again, a thanks to my marvelous mommy who encouraged me to go on this jaunt. And a shout out to Mae Rice who LOVES Italy. I can’t wait for you to explore here, you will love it in person as much as in concept.

Things about me that I contemplated a lot this weekend:

1. I need to live near the ocean

2. I need to have a dog in my life

3. I love chaos and adventure but above all I prefer the comfort of home

I hade a couple hours layover between trains in Milano so I jaunted through town. Mostly wandered around the Duomo for a very long time. Duomo is the fourth largest Cathedral in Europe (after the Cathedrals in Rome, Seville, and London). The Milanese started building it in the 1400s…and completed construction in 1810. They wanted to get some respect from the Italians down South in the Vatican….they certainly put in the time! And it shows. The Cathedral just keeps going. It was built to hold 40,000 people – the population of Milan when construction started. Breathtaking. I then wandered around the Galleria where there are a bunch of incredibly famous Milanese fashion stores like Prada…. for a mall it’s gorgeous. For anything it’s gorgeous, actually. I thought I was headed for a museum but I was going the exact wrong direction so instead I bought a cheap street snack that tasted sort of like a nut but also seemed like a fruit…. and talked to the old men hanging out at the stand in Italian for a while. Communication was minimal but good intentions were maximal.

Love! Arreviderci!

~Alice

Reveling in the Random!

Hello friends. As you likely know I'm a fairly open and outgoing person. This often results in me making friends in the most unlikely places. Switzerland is SUCH a fantastic place for this because it's so, so SAFE here. Don't worry, "je fais attention!" - I'm careful - but I've got to recount some recent friends I've made.

Last Thursday I took the tram across town to visit the Cathedral Saint-Pierre (the church where Jean Calvin preached). I was also visiting the fantastic International Museum of the Reformation which is right next door. I highly recommend this museum to anyone visiting Geneva - not only are there some fascinating artifacts, but every guest gets the recorded guide - in English or almost any other language as you please - and they do a fantastic job of tying the whole history together. THere are two interactive audiovisual performances. I think I've said this before - the Swiss are DOWN for interactive audiovisuals... it's pretty hilarious. ANYWAY! As I believe I mentioned before I met an elderly lady on the bus on the way there and we chattered away in French for ten fifteen minutes. She gave me her name and number and insisted I call her for a tour of the area at some point. Well I did, of course, and it was unbelievable!

This lady is a kook in the best way. She's from Bretagne but has lived in Geneva for 50 years. She collects all sorts of little "truks" - things - and is pleasantly disorganized. After hanging out with unbelievably regimented Swiss people for a month and a half it was really fun to laugh with her about how we both find them absurd. She made me a magnificent chicken dish, vegetable pure, great red wine and an apple tart. She wanted to hear ALL about my family and studies etcetera. Then she took me to Le Chateau de Madame Staul in Coppet - near her home. Madame Staul was a revolutionary thinker of her time - she was completely opposed to Napoleon's tyrannical philosophy and managed to keep her Barony out of his control. The tour was just us two and another older lady.

So of course I made friends with her too. I'm doing a project on the legacy of John Calvin in Geneva... and I struck up a conversation with her about Protestantism - she's Calvinist. So we shared a coffee and talked Calvinism for an hour! I love older people. They are so rich with life.

The final older person that I have befriended lately was a Pastor... I called him because I found a course online about Protestantism that I thought I could sit in on.... Turns out it's a two year cycle. And spealing a foreign language on the phone is much more difficult than in person so it was quite awkward. After all that I just straight up asked him for an interview and he's like, "Oh! Okay!" Before we hung up he said, "So for you can know to me I am an old, fat man. Actually I am very huge." He was such a sweet person. And he had some fantastic insights - about the origins of Geneva as an international city stemming from it's history of welcoming Protestant refugees from all over Europe - particularly France (Hugenots), Spain, Italy, the Balkans. It was the ONLY place in Latin Europe where people could freely worship and study Protestantism. Even John Knox, founder of Presbyterianism, came to Geneva to study! It was THE center of learning. That's also in part because Calvin insisted on universal primary education. Truly universal - for girls too! THAT was a step ahead of the times. His motivation was that he believed all people should be able to read so they could study the Bible and thus have a direct relationship with God and not rely on others to translate God's message. The result was that Geneva grew and grew as an intellectual powerhouse. Voltaire came here when he was expelled from Paris and of course Jean-Jacques Rousseau was a native Genevois.

Geneva was a nothing town before Calvin - fewer than 10,000 people lived here and it was very, very poor. With the unifying influence of Calvin and Reform Christianity people flocked to the city - it more than doubled in population in ten of Jean Calvin's first years here. Additionally because Geneva is located in the heart of Europe - at the Cross-roads both of north and south and east/central and west - almost all flows of religious refugees naturally stopped through Geneva for a time even if they continued on because there wasn't room for them. Thus the influence of Calvinism spread north through the Swiss cities of Lausanne, Neuchatel, Biel, Berne, Basel and into Germany all the way to Berlin! Geneva obviously remains an international city to this day! Like I know I've said before nearly half of the citizens of Geneva proper are not Swiss. It is still a city of compromise, thought, and multiculturalism...

Of course the migration patterns how changed considerably... but that's something to talk about another time. We also talked quite a bit about how the actual religious doctrine preached by the Reform Church has changed over the centuries. I think I'll hold off on talking about that until I know more. It was particularly intriguing to me because my family is Presbyterian and Lutheran so the Reformation is a part of my history - it's always exciting to feel such a connection to a place, to know that a place shaped your family's history and culture.

A tout a l'heure! Must do some homework now. Love to you all,

~Alice

Yodeling and handicrafts

This week my friend and I decided that we wanted to go to a Swiss folk festival. So we looked online on "myswitzerland.com" and found a festival. And thus began a wonderfully random trip to Kleine Scheidegg in the Bernese Oberland. I'm fairly certain we were the only people who came to Kleine Scheidegg expressly for the festival. Kleine Scheidegg (yup, I like repeating that word) is at about 2900 meters (my ears are still in pain...) and there are beautiful alps all around. And we had an odd native dish involving pasta, beef, apple sauce, and fried/dried onions... super good. The lady in the video below let me try to make lace - not on the one she was working on obviously - but she had a little "starter" lace set up that I learned on. Funnnn. After soaking up the festival we went on a nice little hike towards the Alps.

Now I have a lot of homework to do. Yes, I do have that too! I AM still in school :)

Suisse-land again

I feel like every time I update the blog there’s always some huge “must-blog” event or trip that’s taken place. So I wanted to take the time to talk about “normal” life for me here – my studies, my neighborhood, French!, and Swiss culture in general!

French!

Well let me just go ahead and brag to start this off – I have improved SO MUCH at French in the past month and a half. I have come from haltingly stringing words together to full-fledged conversations with native speakers! Today I took the city-tram to Geneva Old Town to go visit Saint-Peter’s Cathedral and the International Museum of the Reformation. I asked a sweet looking old lady on the bus which stop I should get off. We proceeded to have a real conversation for 10-15 minutes! She even spoke English but we stayed in French because my French was good enough and I told her I’d prefer that. She was so concerned about me – wanted me to really love Switzerland – so she’s invited me over for coffee at her house so she can give me a tour of the Roman Ruins near her house. Wonderful moment. Then at the Museum I spoke with the curator about the reformation! It as exciting to be able to express myself about things besides “I’ve like to order a crepe” or “one ticket to Bellinzona, please”. The reformation quite beats those topics for interest and complexity. Which brings me to the next topic….

School!

Everyone in my program must complete a “culture drop off” which translates to – short report on some issue related to Swiss culture. I have chosen to write about the legacy of John Calvin in Geneva today. Is his message still alive? Where to we see it? How do the actual people of Geneva perceive him, his teachings, and their place in the history of Protestantism. I’m enjoying it thus far! Being raised Lutheran/Prebyterian I already know quite a bit about the Reformation but learning about it in Calvinism’s birthplace is a whole new thing altogether. More later once I actually have my interviews…

The SIT seminar:

The seminars we’ve had with SIT have been often fabulous but also sometimes awful. On the whole I feel that I have learned A LOT – some of it via observing the various biases of our lecturers. I knew precious little about European politics and WOW has this been an education in that! Though the stereotype goes that Americans are ignorant about international affairs, I have personally found that Europeans are fairly ignorant about international affairs that aren’t European. Yes, they are inherently more geopolitically connected with the Middle East, Africa, and Asia.... but I’ve personally found that Euro-centrism is possibly even stronger than American-centrism. In some cases we students have felt that Swiss lecturers have talked down to us as Americans, which is deeply frustrating.

The subjects our “briefings” have covered include a huge range: Geopolitics, International Security, conflict management and peacekeeping, UN humanitarian work (briefings at the UN with UNAIDS, UN High Commission for Human Rights, etc.), European integration, how the EU works/flounders, European trade and economics, US-European trade relations, International political economy, Swiss politics, French politics. It’s fascinating stuff! And given that I had no international relations background…. I have had a lot to learn. Some of the other students have complained that some of the lectures are far too rudimentary. I frankly agree with them given the potential high level of discussion we could have about the same subjects – but this hasn’t negatively affected me as much as other students since I knew so little to begin with.

Travel Buggin!

I am LOVING how centrally located Geneva is. Last weekend I was in Paris, this weekend – tomorrow! – I’m going back to the Alps with a friend. There’s a folk festival in Interlaken called “Interfolken” I mean…. I can’t say no to that! It’s in the German bit of Suisse. Schweiz I should say J. Then next weekend I’m planning to go to Italy! I am very aware that this is an exceptionally special time of my life to be able to pack up and go like this. So many other travel plans to unfold in the coming months…!

For now, a bien tot! Miss you, family and friends. Sorry if I’m not keeping in personal touch as well as I should. I’m quite busy but I love and miss you lots and am very excited to see you again.