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