Nora the Explorer

I've moved to Dublin!

2011-12-03T14:17:00.000-06:00

Follow my Irish Adventures at dublinrotaryscholar.blogspot.com

An update from DC

2010-11-17T21:53:00.003-06:00

It's been a while (to say the least), so an update if you will. First, I must warn you that this post will be blissfully and wonderfully unedited, unrevised, and at times grammatically incorrect as I am on my one-year sabbatical from academic writing :o)

I feel like I'm finally settled into DC, my job, and life enough to move out "on my own!" I spent a good chunk of the summer traveling back to Iowa for both planned and unplanned trips surrounding weddings, funerals, birthdays, and the State Fair, and on the weekends I didn't fly west, I'd tour the East Coast (NYC, Philly) or host visitors in DC or find a new mountain to hike or river to raft - I absolutely loved it all! BUT now that's it's fall, I'm feeling less like a tourist and more like a real person who gets exhausted trying to see all the sites all the time! I've been living with a relative in Montgomery Co, MD, who is absolutely wonderful - I couldn't have asked for a better housemate and feel very comfortable here, but the commute is wearing on me (it takes less time to drive from Ames to Des Moines, than it does to get from my house to my office no matter whether I drive, bus, or metro, even though it's only half the distance), so as of yesterday I found an apartment in a rowhouse on the Hill and I'm excited to sign the lease (mainly because it's month to month, so still manageable with my uncertain plans). It's also the same neighborhood as a number of my friend and coworkers, which will make me feel more like I live in a community and not another state (to be fair, at the moment, I do).

I attended a regional conference on International Education in Richmond, VA, last weekend. I really enjoyed learning more about the field and found that I was most drawn to the sessions regarding advising students in an on-campus setting (no surprise there - I really enjoyed working in the Study Abroad Center last year and doing the peer advising). I feel like my knowledge of Iowa State - the academic process, the people, the locations abroad - would enable me to be quite effective if I worked at ISU right now, certainly a lot more effective than I am here in this position in DC, but I am very happy here. It was strange to attend a conference and 1) simply attend without being in charge of anything (I liked being "in the know" at World Food Prize and Lectures) and 2) not know anyone or have any network established yet - rest assured that I'm fixing that!

All in all, life is good. I'm trying to take full advantage of the city's offerings while I can - from theater events to museum exhibits to the night class I took for the past two months on Catholic Social Teaching and Immigration Policy taught by a Georgetown professor. I think my next agenda item will be to join Young Professionals in Foreign Policy. Stay posted...and for more regular communication, email is best!

Service Learning Placement: Take Two

2009-11-08T22:56:00.004-06:00

In the last post, I was concerned about my placement at the Office for Institutional HIV Coordination on campus. This is a reflection I wrote for class on my thoughts on the placement and the work we had done about 6 weeks later (in mid- to late-April) - long story short, it was a great place to work and I learned a ton!

In the past week, the links within the community have really stood out to me. In the beginning of the semester, I thought that the Office for Institutional HIV Coordination placement was very separate from any of the other placements in the sense that we would not get out into the heart of communities that need more basic development assistance. On the contrary, working at the OIHC is complementary to many of the other site placements. For example, the congregation where we are planning to host an HIV awareness and testing weekend is the same congregation that runs Legacy in Kayamandi. In fact, our primary contact at the church is the same contact that I have heard the Legacy service-learners talk about. The church contact isn’t sure if it would be appropriate to link the HIV awareness event to the Kayamandi project. Our initial reaction was not to because HIV is a problem in white Afrikaner communities like this congregation, not just in the townships. However, I can talk to Liz and Christiana about whether they see a link as well. It is unfortunate that the contact has not yet made the link that the roles of myself and my partner at the OIHC are parallel to the role that Liz and Christiana could be playing since I have heard from the students placed at Legacy that the church contact only seems to see them as volunteers but seems to recognize myself and my partner as agents of the OIHC.

Another link within the service-learning community (and by extension the wider community within the Western Cape) is that my partner and I will be going with Carly and Sam today to Child Welfare Services to do a presentation for the students about HIV. We had heard them talking in class about how they sometimes have difficulty communicating with the students since the students prefer to use Afrikaans as their primary language of communication. To address this issue, we sent out an e-mail specifically seeking the assistance of an Afrikaans-speaking Peer Educator to accompany us to the site and help explain HIV in clear, simple terms that the students can understand. We got only one response, but that’s all we needed.

Through the process of working at the OIHC, I have gained valuable knowledge about HIV and also a deeper appreciation for the need to care for the person as a whole, not just to treat the disease inside of him or her.

In terms of the way that we have impacted the community, I think this project with Stellenbosch Gemeente Kerk could become a project that service learning students at the OIHC carry forward in future years. Assuming the project goes well, the OIHC will be able to use this example of working with a church in an effective and non-offensive way to build relationships with other churches in the community and reach out to groups that the OIHC has not had access to in the past. Particularly with HIV prevention, it’s important to reach as many pockets of the community as possible to ensure that they have the knowledge and resources to protect themselves and others from contracting HIV. Our community really is the community as a whole, not just the students, because students interact with non-students and transmissions occur in that manner as well.

I’m not sure if the OIHC service-learning students have worked with other service-learning sites in the past, but the service-learning class offers a built-in network with access to a number of other communities that OIHC can reach out to. The OIHC does not currently have the capacity to do all of the outreach that it would like to or that the community needs. Still, I will talk to my supervisor about the opportunity to arrange mini-outreaches like the one we are doing today at CWS if future service-learning students are looking for other ways to do outreach or do not have enough hours.

Throughout this semester, we have helped to establish new networking opportunities for the OIHC. We have been careful to balance the work in the sense that my partner and I are the main organizers on the side of the OIHC in planning the outreach with the church, but our supervisor has been involved throughout to ensure that he makes the connection with the church as well. It would be irresponsible for us to leave the OIHC not having established contact between the community and an OIHC staff member that will be able to maintain that working relationship in the future. It is our intention that this project of reaching out to the faith community opens up the door for future service-learning students to continue partnering with faith communities if they so choose.

Service Learning Placement

2009-02-10T22:09:00.000-06:00

Disclaimer: this entry is less upbeat, but know that I still love it here!

I’m beginning to grow quite frustrated with the registration process for classes here. I am in a program that is pretty much set. I have several 9 hours a week of Theory of Service Learning and Community Development, 3 hours of Afrikaans, and 3 hours of a political science elective. I really want to take a number of them, but the ones I like best (and am allowed to select) are Negotiating Transitions and Transitional Justice. These were originally scheduled for Saturday morning and afternoon. Not surprisingly, they had low enrollment. The positives are that they are combining the two so I don’t have to choose one over the other and that they are rescheduling. The frustrating part is that I don’t know when (though Friday night is most likely), so I can’t finalize my schedule yet even though we’re two weeks into classes and final decisions are due on Thursday. Still, I’m sure I’ll learn a lot in whichever elective course I end up in and will be glad I could take it.

Today I found out my placement for the service learning portion of my course. I have to say, I was initially disappointed. Last week, the initial list (that was subject to change) posted me at CWS, partnered with my friend Carly. I didn’t know what CWS meant until today, but I was excited to be with Carly and we suspected we would be working with children since that is the most common placement and we both work at summer camps. I found out today that my placement changed to working in the Office of HIV Coordination. That’s an on-campus placement, and from what I can tell so far, it’s mainly an educational campaign. I was placed there because of my background in event management. It turns out that Carly and another girl will be working with children who are HIV affected (HIV+ but not AIDS) or infected (HIV has progressed to AIDS). That was essentially my dream placement. It’s a new community this year because the community where they worked last year isn’t so safe due to uprisings surrounding the upcoming presidential election. When I heard that, I was crushed. I felt cheated: instead of interacting with children in townships, I’ll be staying on campus and encouraging students to get tested and handing out condoms. That’s not what I signed up for.

Now, it’s not fair yet to judge the placement because I haven’t even gotten there yet, and I do enjoy organizing specific projects with an outcome rather than something that is less tangible like making children happier for six hours a week. I’ll have my first meeting with the organization next week and by the end of this semester, I’m sure that I will have a deeper understanding of how to effectively reach out to people and talk about HIV. I’ve wanted to work with HIV care and prevention for 5 years, and this is my chance. I suspect I’ll even be glad I got this placement by the end, but I just hope that I have a chance to get out into the community beyond the borders of the Stellenbosch bubble. For now, I’ll stay positive and try not to judge the experience too much before I find out the full description.

First Rugby Match!

2009-02-09T23:11:00.000-06:00

On Monday I went to my first live rugby game. I didn’t expect it to be such a big deal, but about an hour before students in Maties Rugby shirts started walking towards the stadium. When I got there just after the start of the game (kickoff?), the stadium was packed. It’s probably about the size of Valley Stadium, but with seating in either endzone. Monday night rugby here is as big as Saturday college football in the USA! I had fun watching, though none of us knew what was going on for the most part. I had only limited knowledge from watching a couple of games with avid fans at King’s, an English sports bar in Leiden. My favorite is when the ball goes out of bounds and there’s something called a “line in” (I think) where each team lifts up one of their teammates off the ground to try to hoist him high enough to get the ball before it comes within reach of the rest of the players.

After the game, I had my first meeting as the co-director of recreational activities for the International Student Organization of Stellenbosch. Ironically, my co-director goes to the University of Iowa. We’re really excited about planning adventure trips and hikes and visits to theater events in the coming semester! I’m thinking white-water rafting, sky diving, abseiling (like rappelling), sand boarding, surf lessons, sea kayaking, and at least one hike up Lion’s Head Mountain in Cape Town during a full moon. The best part: since I’m planning them, I can go on them all!

Also, there was a full moon out tonight (or close enough to full that it counted) and that made me happy :)

Stellenbosch Vineyard Tour by Bike: Asara and Neethlingshof

2009-02-08T21:00:00.002-06:00

At about 11am today, I got an SMS (the local lingo for text message) from Kathrin, my German neighbor. I had to laugh at the fact that she messaged me since we can each be standing in our kitchens and talk through the windows to each other. She asked if I was up for a bike ride to a local vineyard. Absolutely! (It turns out she was still in bed and was only planning to get up if I was going, which explains the SMS rather than a knock on the door.)

Stefan, another German in Kathrin’s program, is off exploring Namibia this week, so we had his bike. After visiting a couple of bike shops that were closed on a Sunday, a petrol station attendant was able to help us lower the seat on Kathrin’s bike so that I could actually sit in the saddle while riding for the duration of the day. Kathrin braved the height of Stefan’s bike since she has very long legs and can manage such things. Then, armed with bottles of water, sunscreen, sunglasses, and bags large enough to hold any future purchases, we were off.

Asara is about 5 kilometers outside of Stellenbosch, so not a bad ride, but it’s been a while since I biked in a place that was either sunny or had hills. By the time we reached Asara, we were ready to sit. Luckily, the cellar was air conditioned. We sat down at a large table and made our selections – try any five wines for 30 rands (~$3). As we waited, I practiced my new German phrases (I can now say, “Let’s go out!” and “Have fun tomorrow!”), we listened to two small boys at the adjacent table sing “Twinkle Twinkle” with South African accents, and admired the view of the lake, flowers and mountains.

Between the two of us, we tried 10 of the 12 wines offered for tasting (excluding dessert wines). I was not at all a fan of the Cabernet Sauvignon Blanc, but did like the Sauvignon Blanc and the Chardonnay Reserve. I wanted to like the reds, but on such a hot day (approx 40C/104F), the chilled whites tasted best. We considered making a purchase or two, but decided that it was too expensive (even at $4.50 - $9 for a nice wine) – but what did we expect from a 5-star resort? We wandered around for a bit longer, tasted some truffles (the champagne flavor is nice, the cabernet sauvignon is not), and enjoyed ice cream cones in the shade as we admired the view from paradise.

After consulting the map, we learned that the vineyard next door was also open on Sundays until 4pm. That was 2 km away, home was 5 km, and the sun was at its hottest. On to Neethlingshof we biked.

Then Kathrin got a flat tire.

On to Neethlingshof we walked.

The map was a bit inaccurate in placing the location of the vineyard right on the road as we walked at least .75 km up the oak-lined drive before the cellar came into sight, but we did eventually reach our reward: 6 wines for $3/€2.

We put on our sweetest faces and told the server of our dilemma (a flat tire 7 km from home) and asked if he knew how we might fix it. Indeed he did and as we enjoyed our wines, the house artist patched up the bike. As it turns out, our server had met an American girl on Friday night and wondered if we knew her. Sure enough, when she left the party where she met him, it was to come dancing with us! From then on, we got extra special treatment and he even brought our wine selections out to the patio for us, rather than making us come in to the cellar for the next choice.

Neethlingshof is a strange vineyard in my mind because while I really liked the Gewurtztraminer at Simonsig and generally like Sauv Blanc and Chardonnay (wooded), these ones weren’t my favorites. However, the Lord Neethling Pinotage was fantastic. [Pinotage is the most famous red wine in the Stellenbosch region.] Of course, it was the most expensive on the list and I didn’t have enough of a desire to bike it back home again. At closing time, we paid for our tasting, ascertained an offer of a free tasting in the future, and promised to deliver the server’s number to our friend.

The bikes were fixed and we were set to go. 1.5 km later, Asara appeared at up the road. If I haven’t mentioned it, and I’m sure I have, the African sun is hot, and the atmosphere is thin. Kathrin is quite tan having spent the past 5 months here, but I have only reached “not pale” and occasionally “bright red”. Asara is open until 6pm on Sundays, has several dining options, and is air conditioned. We turned back into the vineyard we had left only two hours earlier and made our way down to the tapas restaurant. We had great seats in the shade on the deck overlooking the water that gave us the sensation that we were on a dock.

Kathrin ordered a Sauv Blanc/Chardonnay mix, her favorite from the earlier tasting, and pizza. I ordered the Sauv Blanc and stuffed calamari, and we got orders of ostrich and fish to start. The food was good, the wine was great, and the view was breathtaking. I decided that this would be a great location for my parent’s first meal in the country and Kathrin thought the same for her friends who are coming in from Germany next weekend.

At 6pm, we finished our meals, jumped on the bikes for the final leg of the journey, and returned to our flats, thrilled with a Sunday well-spent.

Forest Fires Blazing

2009-02-07T23:59:00.000-06:00

On Wednesday, I got up and did a bit of scheduling to try to sort out my classes, then packed a lunch and met up with the ISU gals for a hike up Stellenbosch mountain. Hannah, Liz, Shelly (William & Mary in DC), and I made the 30 min trek across town to the base of the mountain, then hiked up for another 30 min or so before taking a break. We intended to hike further up to find a picnic spot, but all ended up sitting on tree trunks, enjoying the view and chatting away as we let the sun turn our hair lighter and skin darker (a paradox that Hannah brought to our attention). Before we knew it, we had to get back down so two of the girls could get to class on time.

I did not have a class to get to, so took advantage of the fact that the gym was at the base of the mountain to try out the equipment. After a quick work out, I met Kathrin and Carly at the pool for sunbathing and swimming laps.

Not too long after we arrived, we saw smoke rising from somewhere beyond the gym. Later, a helicopter flew over towing what appeared to be a container of water. We stayed at the pool for a while, enjoying the last real day of freedom before classes got into full swing. Then Carly headed home and Kathrin and I headed to the Adventure Center to plan for our upcoming visitors: Mom, Dad, Jim, Gina, and Susan for me (YAY!) and two friends from Germany for her. After spending an hour or so with our travel agent, Kathrin introduced me to THE place to get smoothies in Stellenbosch. The smoke had gotten thicker while we were at the travel agency and by the time we finished our drinks, the sun was blocked out by the black smoke originating from the mountain, so all we could see was a pink dot of the sun. It was eerie. We put on sunglasses for the walk home to keep the ash in the air from blowing into our eyes in the wind.

We had a braai (South African bbq) that evening in the courtyard of my residence, but the main attraction was not the fire on which we were grilling, but the one on the mountain. My roommate returned from volleyball practice to tell me that the flames were only feet away from the gym and she had a sore throat from breathing in all the ash. From the third floor walkway of our building (about a mile from the base of the mountain), the mountain looked like lava flowing from a volcano. For the girls from Arizona it wasn’t anything new, but I had never seen a forest fire in person and was amazed at the sheer power of the wind to spread the flames, and the human inability to contain it.

The fire blazed on throughout Thursday, Friday, and today. We watched as the wind carried it from one mountain to the next. On Thursday night, it was mainly burning on the far side of the mountain which created an amazing silhouette of red around the peak in the darkness of night. My camera wouldn’t focus right, but I’ll get pictures from Leena to share.

I got up today for a 10am class. Yes, I am writing on Saturday. “Negotiating Transitions” looks like such a fantastic course that I thought I would try it out, and I can probably manage at 10.00 – 13.00 class on a Saturday morning while most of my friends are still in bed. As much as I would love to take “Transitional Justice,” though, I will not take the course from 14.00 – 17.00 on a Saturday. I was back and forth on the class during the lecture. On the one hand, it’s a course with fascinating topics and it goes in depth on the topics and I think I would learn a lot that I can use in my future. On the other hand, it is a Saturday and the two professors were clearly incapable of saying in 10 words what could be said in 10 minutes. The question: could I handle such complete answers, knowing that I could hear what they said, go off in a tangent about a related thought in my head, realize I wasn’t paying attention three minutes later and start again and not miss anything? Not on a Saturday. But at the same time, I still felt so inspired by the end of the class that it was tempting. Until we went 20 minutes overtime and I lost patience.

At the end of class, a number of students address the professors about the fact that class was on Saturday (they seemed to be oblivious to the fact that study abroad students might be phased by this). After a long negotiation, we agreed that Fridays from 16.30 – 19.30 in Cape Town would be a much better meeting time for all involved (pending agreement by the International Office to find a venue and transportation), and I was happy again, despite just having agreed to take a course on Friday nights.

I spent the rest of the afternoon lazing around. It was really too hot to do anything and the whole town felt dead. We had a surprise party for Ethan in the evening (he turns 20 on Monday), and then the most amazing thing happened: it rained.

Logically, we changed into our swimsuits, set up the slip ‘n’ slide into the inflatable pool, and played in the rain and sprinklers.

We all had dinner at Carly’s, then Kathrin came over and we watched Scrubs on my bed. It made me miss my Leiden roommates. In December it became habit that several nights a week we would watch a movie in Annamieke’s room if we got started early or an episode of Scrubs in my room if we didn’t finish up reading and papers until later in the night.

As I go to sleep, I don’t see any more flames in the distance.

Nov 22: Pisa!

2008-11-23T23:00:00.000-06:00

On September 4, 2008, I found very inexpensive tickets from Eindhoven, the Netherlands to Pisa and Rome. So naturally, I bought them. The plan: fly to Pisa, catch a train to Rome, then return from Rome, all in 4 days (classes hindered a longer adventure). I had met Tracy a week or two earlier at orientation and she was fun, so I asked if she wanted to join and of course she did! The only “problem” was that we had to wait two and a half months to go. That said, when November 22 did finally arrive, we couldn’t believe how quickly the time had passed.

As it turns out, I’m not sure I could have chosen a better time to go. My final pleading session for my international law moot court was on the Wednesday of that week and I was ready for a break. I had enjoyed the class, though. I wasn’t on a team as I had been in mock trial, but getting up and presenting reminded me of a closing argument with a rebuttal, and the competitive side of me was thrilled to finally make an appearance, having had few opportunities since high school graduation. I ended up arguing against a Brit who had much more moot court experience than myself and went on to earn cum laude of our class, but I held my ground and was happy with my performance.

On the night before our flight, I biked through the rain over to Tracy’s flat for dinner with my guide book in my basket. As we ate, we chatted with another tenant in the building about his thoughts on Rome and flipped through the books to plan out our journey. Perhaps some would have planned it out a little earlier, but we were full-time students and Tracy being a master’s student was even busier than myself. I returned home biking this time through hail and realizing how convenient a helmet would have been.

(Sidebar on biking: In all of my 5 months in the NL, I saw maybe 10 bikers wearing helmets, all on men wearing racing uniforms. It’s just not common, but I would still wager that biking there sans helmet is safer than biking in the States with a helmet. In the NL, you have bike-only lanes everywhere next to the sidewalk and separated from the road by a median. There are stop lights for cars as well as for bikes and pedestrians, though the locals seek the bike lights as more of a guideline than car stoplights. Even in turning circles, rather than cars driving past when they could fit through in front of a bike, they almost always stop, even if it means waiting longer than just a pause. The official right of way goes pedestrians, bikes, buses, cars, but in practice bikes are before pedestrians.)

Back to the story: I got home around 11pm to find two of my roommates in quite a state, dancing around Stoyan’s room with assorted liquors. Apparently they had just turned in a large assignment for their moot court competition as well, and it was time to celebrate. At their insistence, I stayed and attempted to teach a Bulgarian and an Irishman how to do a country line dance. By the time I got back to my room, it was about 1am, so finished the last of my packing and decided to chat online with some friends back home for a while – I had to be up at 3am anyway to catch the train to Eindhoven and board my 8am flight.

Tracy and I met at the train station as scheduled and boarded the 2.5 hour train to Eindhoven – a very long journey as neither of us had slept. We then waited, shivering in the train station for about an hour until the first bus came to transport us to the airport. We shuffled through the snow that was falling lazily and sticking to the ground and imagined the warmth of Pisa.

Upon boarding the flight, I immediately fell asleep. I woke up to find we were back on the ground, very disappointed to see that there was indeed snow in Pisa as well. Tracy quickly corrected me – the flight was delayed, we were still in Eindhoven. So I resumed sleep and when I next woke up during our descent, the sun was shining and the snow was gone. As we stepped off the plane, we took off our jackets enjoying the warmth. We bought two train tickets to Pisa Central and onward to Rome and jumped on the next train. In Pisa, we stored our bags and wandered into the city.

Our wandering took us past a lovely pastry shop, so we had to stop for some treats. It reminded me of Joseph’s with the assorted treats and the spritzer cookies with pink frosting. Eventually our wandering took us around a corner, and there in the middle of everything was a grassy knoll and THE Leaning Tower of Pisa! We walked into a nearby shop, purchased two slices of pizza and drinks, and sat in the grass, eating lunch and admiring the view against the clear blue sky. We didn’t have tickets to go up the Tower, but did wander into a church (unfortunately without my guidebook handy I can’t recall which one) and stared at the beautiful paintings and sculptures.

After purchasing a few souvenirs and taking photos of us holding up the Tower (or attempting to at least), we went in search of other Italian foods to try. Alas, the next slice of pizza was a bit of a let down. We walked along the river and stared at the way the sun struck the buildings as it sank lower in the sky, making the bricks appear to glow. Occasionally we could hear a roar that we speculated might have come from the crowd at a football stadium, though we never found it. For the most part, the streets that did not immediately surround the Leaning Tower were pretty empty for a sunny Saturday afternoon.

Around 4 o’clock we found what appeared to be a main street in town. There were children everywhere jumping rope and playing other games for what appeared to be a school fundraiser or perhaps just a game day organized in which parents could have fun with their children. As we walked up the street, a number of shops were just opening – very different from in Holland where the shops would be closing up at that time. We admired the clothes in the windows, tried on real Italian leather boots and wished we were already rich, successful lawyers so we could buy them, and stepped into a chocolate shop already decked out with holiday décor to sip hot chocolate and cappuccinos.

As we made our way back through town to catch the train, we decided that we couldn’t wait to return to Florence, not even having left yet. We wandered through a little craft market and I lingered to look at Christmas ornaments in various colors, shapes, and sizes. The bell with the nativity scene inside reminded me of Fr. Jack and Aunt Mary.

Just outside the train station, we passed a large parade of protesters waving signs and shouting and police on either side, ready if it got too rowdy. Unfortunately, my Italian is not up to par, so I didn’t catch the reason for the protest.

At the station, we retrieved our bags from storage, got an ice cream cone from McDonald’s, and jumped on the train to Roma. By 5:30pm, the sun was waning, so for most of our journey we couldn’t actually see the countryside. It would have been nice to be able to see it, but another time. We didn’t want to spend our daylight hours on a train anyway.

Several hours later, we arrived at San Pietro station and we greeted by my cousins, Brendan and Rachel Egan. It was soo wonderful to see them! The homesickness and culture shock had gotten to me a bit over the previous two weeks as I missed Grandpa’s birthday, harvest, Helen’s birthday, Mary’s birthday, and there was other excitement and drama with friends at home and I was ready for a weekend away – my own personal fall break. Seeing my college friends and getting a wonderful Rachel Downey hug (her surname until May 2008) made me feel “home” again, even in a place I’d never been.

Rachel and Brendan walked us around Rome and the Vatican City, pointing out historical buildings, St. Peter’s Basilica (hard to miss), the Pope’s window where he holds audiences each Sunday, and other places they liked to visit, like Old Bridge – the most gelato with the best flavor at the best price in the city. Naturally, we had to try it immediately. We were in awe of the flavors, but finally chose three that sounded good and jumped on the bus back to Brendan & Rachel’s.

Brendan and Rachel were living in Rome for three months preparing for 1 – 2 years of service in East Timor through a Catholic organization based in Rome by learning the language, the culture, and how they could best share their faith through their actions. At the time we were there, they only had two weeks left in Rome before they began the journey to East Timor and we could tell they were getting excited. They had been kind enough to find us two extra beds in the house and their housemates – other lay missionaries as well – were warm and welcoming. They made us some dinner and we chatted for a while, then turned in early, ready for a big day of sightseeing on Sunday!

Nov 17: Thoughts on South Africa

2008-11-17T05:05:00.006-06:00

What have I gotten myself into?

Last week, I bought my plane ticket to Capetown, signed my housing contract, and purchased health insurance for the duration of my stay. It's real! I leave the Netherlands in mid-January and have an extended layover in Munich before I bid farewell to the life I've built over the last five months and begin anew for another five months or so. I won't be returning to the US until the summer. Many people have been emphasizing this fact lately - that I'll have been away from home for nearly a year (51 out of 52 weeks really, counting DC). It's a fact that I know but prefer not to dwell on. While studying abroad, you have the highs and lows and admittedly, this last week has been a rough one.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not re-thinking going to South Africa. I'm thrilled! I can't wait. I'll have a chance to live, work, and study in a new culture. The academic program looks like it was practically designed with me in mind, the only problem being that I want to take about twice as many courses as the university allows.

From a weather perspective, this is a brilliant move. Winter hits in the Northern Hemisphere, I move to the Southern Hemisphere and experience instant summer. Winter hits in the Southern Hemisphere? I head back home for a Northern Hemisphere summer.

But this morning, rather than doing my assigned readings on the historical development of the EU, I've been reading blogs of other students who have studied in South Africa. The theme: Racism in South Africa. While the most recent post I've seen is over a year old, I can't imagine that the last 19 months have miraculously brought about an end to racist sentiments. And I'm moving into an Afrikaaner stronghold.

Really it's not the fear of exposure to racism that worries me. I'll be exposed to it, and it will be upsetting, but I'll learn about tolerance in society and how to cope with racist comments made against me and comments made against others.

I have heard nothing but positive sentiments about America electing it's first black president. Now South Africa has had black presidents since 1994. But how will I respond to a comment made by a white supremacist questioning what the world is coming to when even the all-powerful America is run by a black man? Not because he's a democrat, but simply for the color of his skin. Does the racism extend to all blacks in the world, or just those living in South Africa? Will I be distinguished as an American rather than an Afrikaaner, or are we all just white? My hope is that this will not matter, because American or Afrikaaner, Xhosa or Zulu or African-American, I am a person not defined by the color my skin.

As for the question of Barack, I suppose I'll deal with that question when it comes. Lucky for me, I've got plenty of ammo to fire back as to why he is indeed the best candidate for the job.

I'm not quite sure what I have gotten myself into. I imagine that thought will enter my mind frequently over the next few months, but I'm excited for the challenge.
--
"Confronting Racism in South Africa" by Sarah Menkedick

Nov 9: Americanism

2008-11-09T07:03:00.005-06:00

It seems that everywhere I go these days, people congratulate me. It's wonderful.

On election night, all the relieved internationals congratulated us Americans.

At the end of an email from a friend about rowing club: "Woo, Obama!"

Walking into my Moot Court class, the TA says, "Hey congratulations. That's a big win." In fact, my professor used Obama as an example of a strong orator and said we should watch a speech and note the way he pauses for emphasis. Then when she asked one student what the Bush Doctrine was (he had referred to it in his arguement), he stumbled. She cautioned him not to be like Sarah Palin.

Friday night before going to see 007, some Dutch students were talking about how much fun they had on Obama night (and got a definitive glare from the American Republican in the group). But as I pointed out, it clearly wasn't Obama's night. The glare turned to me. As Kier pointed out later in the evening, we had quite a diverse group going to the movie: two Dutch, one Russian, one Chinese, one Mexican, an American Democrat and himself, an American Republican. Oh the discussions we could have had...but for the sake of getting alone, we resisted.

At an international student conference on Saturday, we painted wooden clogs. The girl next to me painted the Obama symbol on the top of hers. We got to talking - she's an American law student studying in Amsterdam - and she said she hasn't seen this much support for America since she was in Scotland the week after Sept 11 and 75% of the shop windows bore American flags. So much has changed in the past 7 years, but we're finally back on track.

In the church bulletin today: "Pope Benedict sent the newly elected President of the USA his blessing, expressing his joy to see the first black President taking the dream of Dr. Martin Luther King one step further. Our parish also congratulates the USA on this democratic achievement."

The world has been watching, and it cares! I've heard nothing but positive comments about America all week.

There is one discrepancy in the way I've heard the Obama win talked about in the news media versus personal discussions, though. That is, in the news, there's a large emphasis on the first black president. When Hillary still had a chance, there was potential for the first woman president. But we students aren't 106 years old. We don't remember segregation, lack of women's suffrage, or the civil rights movement in general. To our parents, it may be significant that he's a man of color. To us, he's young and fresh and new and a change. We didn't vote for him because of the color of his skin or for Hillary because of her gender. We live in a world that, at least in much of the USA, is relatively egalitarian. Sure, there is still racism and sexism. Blacks still comprise a disproportionate percentage of the poor and women are still underpaid relative to men. But it's getting better - somuchso that my generation doesn't quite understand why the older generations are making such a big deal about these things. And that's certainly a step in the right direction.

Nov 5: Election Night

2008-11-05T11:10:00.000-06:00

Election Night 2008 began at 11:27pm on November 4 when my housemate Catlan banged on my door and woke me up from my nap to tell me to shower and get ready to go! Groggy, but excited, I did as I was told. I made dinner and watched Fox News with Cat, Josh, and Stoyan on Josh’s laptop until about 1am when we all got motivated enough for the 20 minute bike ride across town to the “official” Leiden University Students for Obama Election Watch party. It was pretty crowded when we arrived – I’d say maybe a quarter were Americans at the beginning. By about 3am the ratio was closer to half Americans and half international students. We watched anxiously, listening to Wolf Blitzer and Anderson Cooper analyze the numbers. We counted down the seconds to poll closings each hour and cheered when Ohio finally turned from yellow to blue on the map. We sang happy birthday to Charlie, who couldn’t think of a better 21^st birthday present than a landslide victory for Obama. We watched with incredulous eyes as Anderson Cooper turned nearly every state red, illustrating the near impossibility of a McCain victory. I stood back as my Irish friend Gemma furiously explained the impact the US has on Ireland and how we don’t even know it. At 4am, they turned Iowa blue and I (literally) jumped for joy and got a round of applause as the token Iowan. I also got several pats on the back when Ohio turned blue, mostly from Americans who either couldn’t hear me say “I’m from IOWA” over the noise of the crowd or didn’t actually know the difference. Still, they’re both the right colors.

I was thinking last week about what an amazing opportunity it has been to be abroad during all of the election hype. I mean, as an Iowan, I’ve been experiencing the election for nearly two years. It’s been two State Fairs for sure. After our population diminished by half in January 2008 (as all of the candidates, staffers, and media moved on to the Super Tuesday states), the election wasn’t nearly as exciting for us Iowans. I went from talking to 3 candidates a week to zero. My summer in DC gave me an interesting perspective as I heard people who actually know the candidates personally talking about the individuals – not just the candidates. But being here… I just didn’t appreciate the way in which the US dominates international politics. I knew that we were “a pretty big deal” to steal the phrase from a friend. Yet I didn’t realize how invested the common European was in the election. Not even particularly politically-inclined people.

I first began to understand when some American ex-pats came to Iowa from England in January to do some campaigning for Richardson and Obama and attended the caucuses with us. But still I didn’t appreciate it. The international community follows US elections as much as Americans do – maybe even moreso. Maybe even more than they follow their own elections. I’m not suggesting that they know every detail, but they know that their lives will be affected by the next president. Bush certainly affected them enough.

As I made my way back to Leiden from Madrid this morning, I was at a bus stop and a man asked me a question in Dutch. I apologetically told him I only speak English. Oh, where are you from? he asked, switching to English as so many Dutch are able to do. America, I said. He grinned. After asking me who I was supporting and if I had voted, he expressed his own excitement over the change that will come. Then he unzipped his jacket to reveal a blue sweater bearing the American flag. A Ghanaian man living in the Netherlands wearing an American flag for Election Day – it was quite a sight.

Of course, the Europeans know who they’re supporting. In the Netherlands, throughout all of the political discussions I’ve had, and there have been many – there were 3 debate parties leading up to the election and that’s usually the default small talk conversation when an international student meets an American – I met only one McCain supporter, and he’s American. As one Dutch student told me, it’s ok that he supports McCain, because he’s American. He cares about domestic policy. I don’t know about domestic policy, maybe McCain is better. But for foreign policy, it’s Obama all the way. It’d be stupid for any non-American to support anyone other than Obama.

And last night, our dreams came true. In a landslide victory. The five of us from my house that attended the party waited until 4am when Iowa was announced, then rushed home trying to stay warm and get back before Obama’s acceptance.

We arrived back in plenty of time, but as soon as I sat down to keep watching I was out. I’d gotten 1.5 hours of sleep the night before and while the nap helped, it only kept me going for so long. I went up to my room at 5am and my computer started ringing (internet calling). I answered the phone to my sister Mary bearing the good news. Then Mom joined the video call and we shared our election night experiences. I hung up and not 3 minutes later my friend Amy called to share the excitement too. As I crawled into bed, I got a text message from my sister Helen saying “We did it!” And that’s exactly how it felt. Not “he” did it. “We” did it. Americans came together. My parents knocked on doors, my sisters made phone calls, I sent emails. We were behind him and we, we Americans, did it. We have a new President-elect. An African-American. A democrat. An American. A man that we believe in. He’s no messiah, but he has instigated the largest voter turn-out and made people believe in America again. Already, still two months before he takes office, Americans have improved their standing in the international community, a community that breathed a sigh of relief and said, Finally! Thank you, America.

I woke the next morning having slept through the alarm I had set to watch Obama’s speech live and through my 9am class as well. Oops. It’s ok. I figure last night was a better political science lesson than I would have gotten in class this morning. Watched the two speeches and was impressed by both of them. I expected Obama to impress me, but McCain came as a surprise. Whoever his speechwriter is has got a strong career ahead of him. And his response to the crowd booing Obama was classy. Barack was fastastic as well. Maybe it was just that they both were finally saying something new - finally. (See “Synchronized Presidential Debating”) Barack’s story about the 106 year old woman was well told and illustrated several good points. My favorite part, though, was when he said, “To those Americans whose support I have yet to earn: I may not have won your vote tonight, but I hear your voices. I need your help. And I will be your President too.” Classy.

So now we celebrate. And recover. And in January, we begin anew.

Nov 4: Madrid – Maastricht/Achen – Eindhoven – Rijswijk – Leiden

2008-11-04T17:45:00.000-06:00

At 3:15am I woke up, put on my shoes and coat, and headed to the bus stop. I arrived in plenty of time for the 4am bus, but Philip had warned me that if I missed this one, I would miss my flight and that just didn’t sound appealing.

The bus dropped me off at the airport stop, which, as Philip had warned, looked nothing like the airport. As instructed, I followed the two women who looked like flight attendants until they went separate directions. I took a chance and went left. Wrong. Oh well. Rather than catching the bus to the terminal, I walked another 20 minutes to the airport and through the other terminals, but I had time.

At the airport I checked in and bought myself a café con leche and a chocolate croissant for breakfast around 5:30am then made my way through the security line and to the gate. After waiting what seemed like forever, we were finally allowed to board the plane. I got to the front of the line and snagged a window seat up front. (RyanAir doesn’t assign seating, so you definitely want to be at the front of the line when traveling in a group so you can sit together. As a single traveler, it’s less important, but window seats are my favorite.)

I fell asleep before the rest of the plane was fully boarded and only barely noticed when the plane finally took off.

I woke up just as we began the initial descent. The pilot announced that we would be landing in Maastricht/Aachen shortly.

…

Now, I was groggy from just having woken up, but I knew that I boarded a plane to Eindhoven, the Netherlands. So why were we landing in Germany?!?

I turned to the girl next to me and asked, Porque vamos a Maastricht? Por la visibilidad. Oh.

…

A few minutes later I turned back to her, Y Despues….? Van a Eindhoven por autobus. Oh. I guess that works.

So something about the visibility in Eindhoven was bad, but they would get us there. I can handle that. It did seem rather silly, though, since it was so clear where we landed. I mean, it couldn’t have been that bad.

The bus returned us to Eindhoven on an endless journey – actually it could have been an hour or three hours – I was a bit delirious from exhaustion and continuously falling in and out of sleep. Realistically it was probably about an hour and fifteen minutes, maybe an hour and a half. But my bed was calling.

When we got to the Netherlands, I knew it. There aren’t really borders anymore now that the EU is in existence, but we drove right into a wall of fog. Thick fog. So thick that the bus slowed down. And that bus was moving – the driver clearly had places to be.

We finally arrived at the airport and I managed to get on the next bus to the train station and then caught the nearest train going in the right direction. I took the Innercity train from Eindhoven to Delft. The fog was everywhere. It was like a scene out of Harry Potter in which the Dementors descend upon all the land. I had planned to tour Delft for a couple of hours, but with the weather I passed that up. I'll go back on a nicer day. In Delft I transferred to a slow train to Rijswijk where the Ministry of Justice is located. After a brief wait, my number was called and I was given my official piece of plastic that says I am a legal resident of the Netherlands until January 2009. That way I can still travel without any re-entry issues. You can stay here for 90 days without a permit, but then cannot return for another 90 days. And it’s actually a pretty sweet souvenir. I waited with some friends who were also there picking up their permits, we commiserated about how far we had to travel for it, then headed back on the train together.

Another 10 minutes on my bike (which I found with relative ease given that I couldn’t quite remember where I had left it 4 days earlier) and I was home! I dropped off my bag, hit up the local Tuesday market to fill my shelf of the fridge and then went to bed for the rest of the afternoon/evening. I had to rest up for the big night….

Nov 3: Madrid – Cordóba – Sevilla – Madrid

2008-11-03T06:53:00.000-06:00

It was another early morning as we tried to catch our 7:40am train to Cordóba. Unfortunately, due to unforeseen circumstances (namely exhaustion so extensive that the alarm clock rang in vain) we didn’t quite make it. We were able to catch a faster one just 50 minutes later, though, which meant we were only 20 minutes behind schedule. We didn’t have a ton of time in the city, but we did see the main attraction – the Mosque-turned-Cathedral, said by some (Spaniards of course) to be the most important mosque in the world. We also walked along the Roman bridge in Cordóba and wandered the streets of old town – a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Philip kept sneaking into courtyards leading into people’s homes to see the infamous patios with white tiles and flowers because, “It’s ok, they’re proud of them, they want us to come look at them!”

Philip’s family flew in from the States this morning and we met them at the train station. The family enjoyed a 10 minute reunion before Philip and I sprinted to catch our train to Sevilla. His parents and sister would tour the Mosque as well and meet up with us in Sevilla later that afternoon.

In Sevilla, we toured the 3^rd largest church in Europe and the largest Gothic church in the world. No joke, it’s excessive. Intentionally excessive, in fact – the builder wanted people to visit in the future and think, why did he make it so big? The interior had an entire wall covered in gold leaf. There was a courtyard with an orange tree grove in the back. We climbed the tour (sore feet and knees and all) – 30 flights to the top, but well worth the amazing view. The bells of the tower chimed as we stood gazing over the city just 20 feet away – pretty cool. The guy standing directly under the bell had a bit of a different opinion though…

On the way down, Philip got a call that his family had taken an earlier train and had arrived in Sevilla. We rushed to find a bus and met them at the train station. As we tried to find the bus stop, Philip asked two uniformed policemen which way it was and they each pointed confidently in opposite directions. I only wish I’d had my camera out. We did find the right bus, and Philip’s family, then drove back into town in the rental car. We walked around for a bit before coming upon the horse-drawn carriages outside the Cathedral. We hired one and I enjoyed a gorgeous sunset tour of the city with the jetlagged family and the Spanish-speaking tour guide. Philip translated for everyone and I gained confidence in my comprehension of the Spanish language. It was a 45 minute cozy (read: crowded) tour of the city. By the end, we were ready for some tapas and dinner! We found both the places recommended by the tour guide and were not disappointed. As Philip always says, “Hunger is the best sauce!” and we had plenty.

It was a great meal, with great conversation and in a family environment. Family meals are one of those relaxing little things that I forget that I miss. I make my meals in the kitchen and eat on the go while cleaning up or in my room while writing emails, so it’s nice to occasionally sit and enjoy the meal. I had to leave in a bit of a rush to catch my train and was sad to leave, but so happy I had the chance to spend the evening with the Sandagers.

As I said goodbye, Lousia told me to check the bag she had given me with jeans from home for a little something extra. I had checked as soon as she handed them to me hours ago but hadn’t found anything. On the train, I checked again and realized that there was something in the back pocket. I felt like a little kid on Christmas morning as I anxiously unbuttoned the pocket to find my treat! My mom had sent me a note, along with a surprise envelope that made my day! It could have been anything, I was just excited to get an unexpected (but hoped for) surprise. It was sweet and reminded me that I’m loved and a pretty lucky gal. It was also a nice way to start the next chapter of the trip – one I was not looking forward to.

The train arrived at the station at 12:20am. By the time I caught 3 metro lines and walked 4 blocks back to the apartment where I was staying – Philip’s friends had graciously agreed to host me since he was staying in the south with his family – it was after 1am. The lights in the common room where my couch was went off just after 2am. In the meantime I had gotten dressed for the next day – no reason to change into pajamas for an hour long nap.

Nov 2: Madrid

2008-11-02T07:39:00.000-06:00

We arrived at El Rostro around 9:30am. The Sunday flea market. We walked around and I found myself some new gloves and a scarf and Christmas presents galore. Not sure how I would get them all back to the Netherlands, but sure that I needed them all, I took them. Philip purchased a painting and then we got some flowers on the way to church as a thank you to Philip’s Senora – his house-mother, Carmen – for letting me stay there.

The church we attended was a Pentecostal service held in a bar down a side street in Madrid, but it was packed. I caught most of what they were saying when I paid attention, but the concentration took so much effort that I only caught about half of what was going on.

After the service, I met Philip’s friends and Lienke was delighted when I greeted her in the Dutch way – 3 kisses rather than the Spanish two. She is an exchange student from Maastricht University in the far south of the Netherlands.

We made plans to meet them for dinner, then headed back to the apartment for paella – the traditional Spanish rice and seafood dish that Carmen prepares every Sunday afternoon. It was tasty! Philip claims it’s the best in all of Spain. I have only ever eaten Carmen’s paella, but I can believe him. It’s good stuff.

After lunch I needed another brief siesta before we started the rest of the day. An hour later Philip woke me to get ready to go to the park. First we took my bag to his friends’ apartment, where I would be staying for the next two nights. Then we headed to El Retiro – the Spanish equivalent to Central Park, I’m told – and rented a row boat. Philip’s been dying to rent one for months! We rowed around for a bit and watched the sun go down to the sound of a drum concert in the background. After 45 minutes, we returned the boat and wandered around the park for a little while longer.

It was getting dark, so we headed toward the Prado to finish up the tour that we hadn’t completed the night before. Philip spotted a friend as he was taking me from famous painting to famous painting and she joined us for the evening. By the end of the tour, I was ready to sit down and enjoy a drink. We found a small café and enjoyed American hot chocolate there – Spanish hot chocolate is more of a fondue than a drink.

After regaining some strength, we made our way the rest of the way across town to meet Philip’s friends for dinner. We had a great time at a Cuban restaurant. We all split several orders traditional Latin American foods such as plátanos (fried bananas) and I reminisced about Honduras.

We ended the night at a flamenco show in a small dinner theater with front row seats. The show was great, but after another long day, we were all falling asleep during the second act, so decided to leave around midnight before the third 30 minute set began.

I made it back to the apartment and fell into bed, determined to get every minute I could before our 7am departure for the south of Spain the next morning!

Nov 1: Leiden – Eindhoven – Madrid

2008-11-01T06:51:00.001-05:00

As I left my room to catch the 5:15am train to the airport, I ran into several of my housemates returning from the Halloween parties of the previous night. I had been perfectly content to get to sleep early when I had been dragged out of bed the night before and named Toby’s gypsy pirate slave, despite my protests about being sick. Apparently gypsy pirate slaves don’t get to be sick. After assurances from my housemates that we would come home in time for me to get at least some sleep before my big trip, I began to get into costume. We made quite a crew biking across town: a monk, a pirate, a gypsy pirate slave, Africa, an 80s girl, and Joe the Plumber. I left early and did manage to get a nap before the trip, though as my housemates pointed out, they came back before I had to leave, I could have stayed!

I caught my train, the bus, and the plane and arrived in Madrid by 12:30pm. Philip was waiting for me and after we found me some food, we were off. [Note: Bogadillas are fantastic Spanish sandwiches, traditionally made of a smoked ham, cheese, and good bread.]

We took the metro to Philip’s homestay to drop off my bag and then were were off to see the city! I had a great time as Philip showed me around Puerta del Sol and Plaza Major and the Palace and the National Cathedral and many other places that I can not longer recall but were fun to see. He filled my brain with little tidbits of information and I felt like I was on my own personal tour – and I was!

We went into a store and purchased the traditional sweets of All Saints Day and All Souls Day, and then I broke the news to Philip: having just eaten the treats, I now felt obliged to attend a Catholic mass – it was a holy day of obligation and the rough equivalent of celebrating Christmas without the Jesus part. So we found a church and sat through mass. I expected everything to come rushing back to me from Honduras – I practically had the entire mass memorized after Holy Week this year – but it did not. I did remember bits and pieces, but the acoustics were so bad that it was hard to listen to what others were saying to catch up again.

In the evening, we walked around the Prado, which is free to the public from 6 – 8pm each night. Philip was in a course on Spanish art and knew so much about the paintings! It was fun to listen as he pointed out all of the symbolism that I never would have caught had he not explained it to me.

My favorite part was seeing the paintings by Goya and Velazquez that I had learned about in my high school Spanish class. At the time, I thought the unit on some art museum in Spain was ridiculous – I wasn’t ever going to go there. Until I did. But Philip was able to explain the significance of the paintings better than my teacher ever had. I knew what parts of the paintings were significant, but not why. He filled in those gaps.

By the time the museum closed at 8pm, I was exhausted. We went back to the apartment and I took a nap before going out for the night. Philip took me to a cute little tapas place and I experienced the terrible Spanish service that makes me glad that in America we tip our servers. It gives them a reason to be nice.

Following the potato and meat tapas, we checked out the café across the street, but it was too full and the clubs don’t start to fill up until at least 1am. We walked to the other side of the city center for churros con chocolate at the “best place in town.” Churros are softer here, not crunchy like in the US, and served with a cup full of liquid chocolate. Not like hot cocoa, but like a fondue. It was a deliciously rich dessert that I was unable to finish for all the sugar it contained.

We rushed back across town after the churros to get into a salsa club by midnight (free admission!) but arrived to find that free admission does not exist on Saturday nights. Oh well. We found another club and danced a few songs, ending on one by Shakira which made me miss Ella and Elyse and our renditions of Shakira songs on the bus on the way to Oklahoma in 2006.

In Madrid, many clubs hire people to stand on the streets and give out coupons to get people to go to that club. One guy found us and offered us free drinks. Despite the fact that neither of us actually wanted the free drink (I was on antibiotics and Philip does not like beer), we poor college students couldn’t turn down free. Upon entering the club I was delighted to see that it was all decked out in Halloween decorations. Even more fun was listening to the Spaniards try to pronounce the holiday. "AHH – low – een!" After that, we decided to call it a night. We were both sick, exhausted, and had an early morning ahead of us.

October 31, 2008: Arrogant Dutch Doctor

2008-10-31T11:32:00.000-05:00

This morning I woke up feeling sick for the third day in a row. Given my history of strep throat and the fact that I was leaving for Spain in 20 hours, I decided to call the GP (general practitioner/family doctor). That was at about 9:30am and they gave me an appointment for 10:10am. Perfect. I got my bag together (planning to visit the library afterward) and headed out, stopping by the ATM on the way because without Dutch insurance, I would need to pay in cash and seek reimbursement from the insurance company on my own.

I arrived at the doctor's office and after taking my address and phone number, the receptionist sent me to the waiting room. No insurance forms, no medical history, no paperwork at all. I waited just a few minutes in the waiting room before the doctor came for me - not a nurse. He took me to his office/examining room (all in one) and asked what I was here for. I told him I had a very sore throat and had had a mild headache for about 3 days and that I have a history of strep throat. You're American? Yes. And in America, they give you antibiotics after three days? Well, yes. This is not how we do it in Holland. Americans are too quick to prescribe antibiotics. It's different here.

Ok, I can understand his point of view. Maybe Americans are over-medicated. But I am not one to run to the doctor for every runny nose. I know strep when I have it. I could have waited until Monday in Spain or Tuesday when I returned, but there is a good chance I would have severe dehydration by then possibly leading to hospitalization and frankly, I want to enjoy my time in Spain outside of the hospital. He continued, In the States, how long does it take for your symptoms to go away after antibiotics. Um, a day, maybe two. Oh, you are a quick responder. So how long should I wait before coming in next time? Oh you are welcome to visit any time you are not well... He kept talking but said nothing else useful.

He looked in one ear. Good. He looked in the other ear. Good. I opened my mouth and said "ahh." Oh. Yes I see why your throat is sore. You still have your tonsils? Perhaps in written form that sounded like a rhetorical question, but by the inflection and the way he paused, he clearly was waiting for an answer. At this point, I am not only offended but also beginning to doubt his qualifications. Clearly, I still have my tonsils. Did you not just see them? I said, Yes. Here we remove them at 5. I realize that I should have mine removed, but I haven't found time for a 3 week recovery period yet. Irritated, I held that in.

He felt the outside of my throat. I flinched and teared up. That is painful? I nodded. Very. He listened to my heartbeat, my lungs, and poked my sinuses. Finally, he said Ok. I think your symptoms make you good candidate for antibiotics. What do you take in the States? Penecillin? I resisted rolling my eyes, took the prescription, thanked him and left. I paid the receptionist, biked past my house to the other side of town, picked up the prescription, and was back home and on meds by eleven - an hour and a half after calling for an appointment. Hey, at least they're efficient :)

Note: After talking to some Dutch friends, I learned that it is extremely difficult to get a prescription for antibiotics in this country. You can't even purchase DayQuil (or an equivalent over the counter medication) without a prescription here. Who would have thought in the land in which soft drugs are tolerated that it would be so difficult to get medications for an actual cold?

October 26: Finals and South Africa

2008-10-26T16:23:00.000-05:00

[Excerpts from an email]

Life in Leiden is wonderful. It's so different from any situation I've ever been in. Friday night after we finished our exam, a number of classmates went out an a Dutch student told me about her experience working in Ghana last summer. Saturday night I went to Amsterdam with the ladies and during dinner with 2 other Americans and two Irish, we discussed the crisis in the universal Catholic church. During dessert one Irish gal informed me about how US policies have destroyed Latin America and why she supports Evo Morales in Brazil even if he is changing the constitution to remain in power. Then tonight I had a friend over who is Zimbabwean. As she talked, the looks on my housemates' faces were priceless. I'm sure I had the same look at times too, but I had heard her talk about life at home before and how she went with Mugabe's daughter to vote for the opposition party in the first election of this year. She couldn't believe I would travel to war-torn Uganda and I couldn't understand how she, being from Harrare, could say such a thing. I just love the environment and intellectual and cultural discussions that we can have. Granted, this weekend was quite the exception to the rule, but I get to have at least one of these discussions once a week. I don't meet many Dutch students, but the international students are so fascinating. [Note: in my courses 2^nd block, there are a lot more Dutch students and they are helping me learn helpful Dutch phrases!]

I got accepted to the program in South Africa last week and have been pretty much floating on the clouds since then. I keep coming up with all these amazing ways to spend my life and just can't wait to get there. But I am here now and need to remember to enjoy that too - and I am. I'll be in Stellenbosch, South Africa beginning at the end of January, and finals begin at the end of May. There is a possibility that I could make it back in May for Emily's wedding and for Helen's graduation and if I have that chance, it would be difficult to pass up. Roach weddings are such fun and I'd hate to let Helen down. She turns 18 tomorrow and I wish I could celebrate with her. Still, if I have the chance to work in Africa or to travel for a little longer, it would be hard to turn down. I know I'll miss home and maybe I'll be ready to go home by the summer - today marks one week longer than the longest time I'd previously been away from home - so there's really no way to know right now. Anyway, regardless of the length of time I'm in South Africa, I would love to have the chance to visit my Aunt Mary’s religious sisters who work there and/or in South Africa if possible. It’s still a long ways away, but I can’t help but want to plan it all – I’m so excited!

October 21: Bruges, Belgium

2008-10-21T05:30:00.000-05:00

I got up on Tuesday morning and enjoyed a continental breakfast of cereal and toast at the hostel before setting off for the day. I had intended to get up early and bike up to the sea, but it had been raining late in the night and into the morning so rather than brave the weather at 6am, I slept for a few more hours.

I met up with my Canadian friend and we explored the town together, starting in the Markt, which is the city center and full of tourists on every corner staring at maps and occasionally looking up with confused looks on their faces then staring at the map again. Hilarious. Admittedly, I was one as well, but I still found humor in it.

We wandered through the Belfry (decided not to pay admission to climb the tower, though) and looked at the large photography exhibit in displayed in the courtyard. Nor sure what the photos were about or where they were taken, but about half were of a UN truck and African children. There were also some more nature-oriented photos. I tried to ask what the display was, but the lady I asked didn’t seem to understand my question, or else didn’t know the answer.

The next stop took us around the corner to the Heilig-Bloedasiliek (Basilica of the Holy Blood). Since 1149, this church has housed a fragment of cloth stained with what is said to be the coagulated blood of Christ, wiped from his body by Joseph of Arimathea after the crucifixion. We got there around 10am and the veneration of the blood was at 11am, so we left and looked around a little photography display put on by a local photography club and returned at 11 for the veneration. I went up and touched the vial and then contemplated the authenticity for a while as others went up as well.

From the Basilica, we wandered around for a while, gazing at the storefronts full of chocolate and marzipan and chocolate sculptures and other amazing treats. My favorite was a large chocolate dinosaur that must have been a meter tall or more. Of course, we had to get some hot chocolate made from real chocolate, not just powder. It’s hard to go wrong with hot chocolate, but this was certainly a finer blend.

The wandering then took us to a courtyard among churches that had sculptures of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Very creepy.

Around the corner, we found the Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekerk (Church of Our Lady). It is home to a Carrara marble Madonna and Child created by Michelangelo in 1504, the only one of his works to leave Italy during his lifetime. Marble is one of my favorite mediums, mostly because its so majestic how an artist can make the movement of flowing garments out of stone, but I have to say, I couldn’t tell the significance of why this Madonna and child was any prettier than the others. Still, I’ve now seen a Michelangelo.

About this time we were hungry for lunch: I got fries with Ketchup, Eric got fries with Mayonaisse – very European. Then we took a tour of De Halve Mann brewery, which brews only beer still made in Bruges. It’s called Brugse Zot, or “Fool from Bruges.” The tour was interesting and the rooftop had a nice view of the city.

As we sampled the local product at the end of the tour, an older couple asked if they sit at the table too – the only tables available were tables for 8 and there were just two of them and two of us at this one. Of course. Oh, you’re American? the man asked me. Yes, where are you from? Washington state. I’m from Iowa. No kidding?! My wife and I, we’re from Leon, did you hear that dear? She’s from Iowa! Yeah, my grandpa lives in Clarinda, I’ve spent the 4^th of July in Leon. Who’s your grandfather? And the conversation carried on. They were visiting their son at Cambridge and decided to see Belgium as well before heading back to the States. They shared their meat and cheese with us, offered to buy us another round, practically pushed Belgian chocolates and nougat into our hands (ok, we didn’t resist much). You’re from Iowa, you’ll do this for someone when you’re our age too, they told us. We had a great conversation about their travels, her visits to archaeological digs in Turkey and his mission trips to do surgeries in Latin America. A lovely couple. I knew that the longer we talked the less likely it was that I would make it to the chocolate museum by closing time, but it was fun to talk to them and there will be other chocolate museums.

We walked with the Iowans over to Prinselijk Begijnhof ten Wijngaarde (Princely Beguinage of the Vineyard) and she told us the story of the Begijns, religious women similar to nuns, who accepted vows of chastity and obedience, but drew the line at poverty and made a living by looking after the sick and making lace. It was a beautiful courtyard tucked away from the busy streets with its own quaint little church. The Begijns are long gone, but the area is now occupied by Benedictine nuns.

I glanced at my watch and knew there was no way I’d make it to the chocolate museum now, so I enjoyed a waffle (that’s right, a real Belgian one) in a small café. On the way back to the hostel to recover my backpack, I checked on hotels for when my family comes to visit over winter break and found a couple of possibilities. I wasn’t quite ready to leave and wanted to stay another night, maybe see Antwerp or Brussels on the way back the next morning, but I was low on funds and not sure if my latest wire transfer had gone through so I figured it was safest just to head back. On the way, the window about 4 rows ahead of me in the traincar cracked and had to be replaced at the next station before we could continue our journey. It actually took much less time than I expected which was nice and I still made it back home by midnight – tired but thrilled with my first backpacking success!

October 20: Gent, Belgium

2008-10-20T05:28:00.000-05:00

The semester here is split up into two terms so rather than midterms, we had finals in mid-October. In the week leading up to finals week, I had a major presentation so I spent the weekend in recovery. I didn’t have a final exam until Friday, though, so on Monday morning I departed for my first solo backpacking trip. I had acquired a train ticket to Bruges, Belgium from a friend and it expired on Friday, so I might as well use it.

I arrived in Gent, Belgium on Monday afternoon and hit up a few tourist destinations. I started off in the Belfort en Lakenhalle (Belfry and Cloth Hall), a UNESCO World Heritage Site. I climbed 215 feet up the 298 foot Belfry and got a great view of the city. I was at the top with the gargoyles when the bells chimed the hour, and I watched as the automated gears began to turn to ring the bells.

Just next door to the Belfry is Sint-Baafskathedraal (St. Bavo’s Cathedral). The exterior is a mix of Romanesque, Gothic, and baroque and the interior is filled with paintings, sculptures, screens, memorials, and tombs. The main “attraction” is Jan van Eyck’s 24-panel altarpiece The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb. I stood staring at the detailed piece as at least two tour groups walked through.

My final stop was the Gravensteen (Castle of the Counts). I didn’t arrive in time to go into the castle, but I wandered around the outside looking at the architecture and the fortifications. I also wandered along a pretty stretch of canal before heading back to the train station – I had a hostel booked in Bruges and wanted to find it before dark.

I just barely caught the train to Bruges (saving myself a 30 – 60 minute wait for the next train) but it was so crowded that after walking through 3 train cars, I did like the other students and sat on the floor in the entry/exit part of the car and listened to my Dutch language podcast.

After a bus ride and a great deal more walking than necessary, I was able to find the hostel just as the sun went down. I checked into my room, left my bag in a locker, and followed the directions of the receptionist/bartender to the nearest grocery store to buy dinner. Pizza and juice seemed like a good enough choice until I returned to the hostel’s kitchen to find that there was no oven and the microwave appeared to be broken. Luckily, the microwave only appeared to be broken so I stuck the pizza in and figured soggy pizza was better than frozen pizza.

As I waited in the kitchen I talked to the other backpackers and ended up eating dinner with a Canadian who just applied to medical school and decided to travel Europe while waiting for the decisions of the schools. We wandered around town that evening finding some nicer pubs and some pretty shady ones. I was amazed at how silent the town was at night. After the cobblestones began to wear on our feet, we headed back to the hostel for some rest before the next day’s adventures.

October 11: Katwijk Beach

2008-10-11T04:45:00.000-05:00

After 7 weeks of living just 6 km away from the North Sea without having actually seen it, I decided it was time to experience the beach! I had a free Saturday afternoon so I drug my housemate Toby away from his studies and we glanced at a map and jumped on our bikes. There’s a nice little bike route that guided our way (thank goodness because we only had the vague idea that we needed to head North) and took us along the canals, fields of sheep, and through town. On the way, we saw a couple driving horses from their carriage – Toby thought they might have been Gypsies.

We stopped at a grocery store along the way for picnic food – bagels and lox, chips and salsa, baked goods, and grapes to give the illusion of a healthy meal – and continued on our way. We did find the beach and I finally saw what the infamous Dutch dikes that I’ve been hearing about in class look like. Much of the country is actually below sea level. In fact, 60% of the population lives at or below sea level. So along the North Sea, they built up the coastline to keep the sea from ruining the cities. There was a large hill that resembled the grassy sand dunes of west Michigan along with an overflow dam in case of a particularly strong storm.

It wasn’t a typical beach day, but the weather was nice, the sun was out, and in the evening a light jacket was warm enough so by Dutch standards, it was a gorgeous day. As we picnicked, we watched a wedding party take pictures and horses walk up and down the coastline. After the picnic, it was time to frolick! We wandered barefoot along the beach, waded through the cold water to a sandbar, watched a fisherman at work, posed in front of the sun and left cartoon drawings in the sand. The trip took a bit longer than the anticipated 2 hour study break, but was well worth it. I only wish we could have stayed the last hour until sunset. But now that I know how close it is and how easy it is to get there – just about 20 – 30 minutes by bike – I plan to return when I have a free day, even if it means I’m all bundled up in my winter clothes. I’m only here for the cold season, so I have to take advantage of it warm weather or not!

October 9: Weather and News Update

2008-10-09T06:43:00.001-05:00

It's been rainy a lot here lately, but yesterday afternoon and today the sun came out! I have a lot of reading to do, and some papers, but I have finished enough on the computer that I can go out and read in the sun before I go rowing this evening :) The weather is usually in the high 50s or low 60s during the day - though it changes three times daily. So everyone is wearing jackets and lots of layers to adapt to the various temperatures throughout the day.

The election news is very popular here. I actually feel quite well informed on US politics, though I know little about the current events in the country in which I live. Last night I watched the Presidential debate online with 3 of my housemates - one is American, one is Bulgarian but studied at De Paw and Georgetown, and one is British. For the first debate since it was a Friday night we had a gathering of about 50 international students all sitting around the television watching from 3 - 4:30am! It was hosted by Leiden Univ Students for Obama (I believe the group is headed by non-Americans) and only a handful of the attendees were actually American. It was quite impressive to see how interested they were in politics. Many students here are studying politics, law, and international topics, so it's nice to be in an environment where I can have in-depth intellectual conversations with people who are actually well informed.

That's all for now - back to the books!

October 3: Leiden's Ontzet / The Seige of Leiden

2008-10-03T04:24:00.000-05:00

Preface: I am adding a whole bunch of new stories all at once. I’m trying to catch up because, being me, I can’t put up stories out of order. Thus, they may not all be as creative as they could be, but you’ll get the idea.

October 3: Leiden’s Ontzet / The Seige/Liberation of Leiden

My high school friend Philip came to visit on October 3rd from his study abroad post in Madrid. He chose a great weekend. October 3rd is Leiden’s Ontzet (in Dutch) or the Liberation or Siege of Leiden – I’ve heard it translated both ways. It’s a huge festival celebrating the defeat of the Spanish in 1547. Think the 4th of July meets the Iowa State Fair.

The whole city was transformed almost overnight. There were carnival games and rides everywhere: roller coasters, a Ferris wheel, and various other highly entertaining Adventureland-like rides appeared in and around town square. Cotton candy stands and fruit-filled doughnut stands and stroopwaffels (a Dutch delicacy of a warm thin waffle – similar to a freshly-made waffle cone with a caramel-like syrup in the middle) beckoned on every street. Vendors called from their games to knock down bottles, shoot darts, or play bingo to win a stuffed animal. Heineken and other beer stands found every few feet had lines of customers waiting. Herring stands – the tradition food of October 3rd – had shorter lines, but lines nonetheless. Amongst all of the food and games vendors were stands selling anything else you could possibly want from scarves to raw meat or cheese to electronics to customized street signs to decorative toilet seat covers. Restaurants extended their storefronts to include tents to form outdoor patios and added Hutspot to the menu for the day – a meal of mashed carrots and potatoes served with beef. The streets were packed and it was nearly impossible to walk a bike through, let alone ride it.

The whole town closes on October 3rd. Shops and grocery stores close early the night before and the University cancels all classes. Festivities focus around the night of Oct 2nd. I’m not sure why, but I suspect it’s because everyone has Oct 3rd off, but not the 4th, so they celebrate all night Oct 2nd and recover on Oct 3rd. This year, however, the 3rd fell on a Friday so festivities ran all of both days.

Philip arrived around noon on Friday (Oct 3) and we walked around town for a bit, collecting my bike from the opposite end of town in the process. I managed to ride it in the previous night before the crowds got too large, but wasn’t able to get it home. My basket was a little bent, but the bike made it through the night in fine form overall. We got an appeltaart to go – the standard Dutch dessert – before I biked him back to my house to drop off his bag.

Philip had never ridden on the back of a bike (or at least not in the last 18 years) and I had only chauffeured Gul, my 110-lb, 5’1” housemate who is able to straddle the bike for even weight distribution. Philip doesn’t weigh much more than Gul, but his backpack did and he is significantly taller. It took a few initial attempts, but we finally made it home without any crashes, scrapes, or bruises the first time or any other time throughout the weekend, including when Philip took a turn to bike me. I live about 10 minutes by bike from the city center (15 minutes with a passenger) so I got my work out as we went back and forth all weekend.

After dropping off his backpack, Philip and I returned to town and explored the canals and enjoyed a couple of carnival rides. We also tried the herring sandwich. That is now crossed off my list and I need not do so again. The top of the tallest ride provided a great view of the city which I was able to capture on film, though I did fear for my camera as I took the pictures. We went back home for dinner then back into town for the evening. I was able to recover both my purse (left at a friend’s house the night before) and my phone (a friend had borrowed it and accidentally left it at a house party) and then met up with the gang at a pub whose name translates to “The Cow.” We stood under the tent there, specially erected for the Oct 3 celebrations, waiting for the downpour to subside before we headed back to town square for the carnival games and rides. Toby was determined to win a tiger, and I really wanted one as well, but we were unsuccessful. He was awarded a consolation prize – an oversized “Mr. Perfect” tie – for his effort. After exhausting the rides and our wallets, we turned in for the night. Poor Philip had been up nearly 24 hours because of his early flight but he was a trooper. We set the alarms for the next day’s Amsterdam Adventure and got some much needed sleep.

October 4: Amsterdam Adventure

Philip and I made our way to Amsterdam the next day a bit tired, but ready for some sightseeing. Knowing he would be visiting, I hadn’t done many of the tourist destinations yet myself. We started off the day at the Anne Frank House, grateful that the sun finally came out. The line wasn’t too long, just about a 30 minute wait, but since it was mostly outside, we were thrilled that it wasn’t raining.

Having acclimated to living 5 km south of the North Sea and being used to the temperate climate and frequent changes in weather, I was thinking how nice the weather was. Philip had also adjusted to his new country of residence and had been enjoying the warm Spanish weather. So as I basked in the sun, he bundled up in several layers, gloves, and even purchased a hat to keep warm as we toured the city. It was then that I realized that I no longer judge weather so much by the temperature as by whether the sun is shining and whether the sky is clear. The city isn’t so bright that you can’t see stars here, but the skies are rarely clear enough.

The Anne Frank House was fascinating to see. It’s a former warehouse that’s mostly the same as it was when she was living there, but the furniture was removed long ago and Otto Frank (Anne’s father) didn’t want it to be replaced – a symbol of the emptiness and loss. Nearly all Jews in the Netherlands were exterminated during WWII. The NL declared neutrality early on so the Germans stormed in and set up camp right in 1940. The completeness of the eradication of Jews was due in part to the Dutch bureaucracy’s detailed records and in part to the fact that there’s just nowhere to hide. It’s a densely populated country (population density = 480 persons/square mile) without mountains or a vast unpopulated countryside. The Frank family was discovered in August 1944, over two years after the family had gone into hiding. Anne died in March 1945, just weeks before the camp was liberated by the British in April 1945.

After visiting the Anne Frank House, we caught the tram to the Van Gogh Museum. I decided that I like the portraits done in Belgium and the paintings of Parisian scenery best. Then we walked through Dam Square and had a nice dinner at A-Fusion in Chinatown, including bubble tea – one of my favorite drinks back home. Philip hadn’t experienced bubble tea before and expected hot tea with fizz. The poor guy was so excited about a warm beverage on such a “cold” day rather than a cold drink of smoothie-like consistency with tapioca pearls inside. After dinner, we wandered around the Red Light District for a bit then headed back to Leiden.

The following morning we headed to Den Haag for mass at the English speaking church there before he headed back to Madrid in the afternoon and I went home exhausted. I’d been jealous of my European friends whose friends were able to visit so easily and it was fun to get to have a friend in myself too. It was a quick trip, but we did a lot and had a great time.

German Get-away Weekend

2008-10-01T04:55:00.007-05:00

Gutentag! I have just returned from a great weekend in Germany! The description:

It started off at 5pm when I got out of class and rushed home to pack for Oktoberfest! A large group of us were planning to go – catching a train at whatever time the ringleader figured out. That ended up falling through (trains too expensive, people old enough to rent a car didn’t have licenses, people with licenses not old enough to rent the car…) so Gul, Nickoletta and I headed to Rotterdam for the evening. I came back early to catch the Presidential Debate from 3 – 5am at a party hosted by Leiden University Students for Obama. I was impressed – there must have been 50 people there watching! And not just 50 people around, but actually watching the debates, occasionally throwing in their own editorial comments (moreso to McCain than Obama). I’d say no more than 15 of the people there were American. It continues to amaze me how engaged Europeans are in American politics. We had food and drinks and couches and there may have even been good conversation afterwards, but I headed home before I could find out – it was about a 20 – 25 min bike ride back to my room and I had a train to catch in the morning!

Saturday morning I awoke having missed my train, but feeling kind of rested at least. I had planned to get in to Essen, Germany around 1pm, but ended up not leaving until nearly 2pm. I texted Katharina on the way saying it was an easy journey. Then she called to say that there was an accident on the rail and that none of the trains were going to Essen. Unfortunately, my phone ran out of credit after that and I was left in Germany to find my way to Essen. I wasn’t too far away and found a girl who spoke great English and was also going to Essen. We got on the train and she guided me through the subway system until we arrived at the main station in Essen. I found a pay phone, called Katharina, and she and her father picked me up shortly after that. It was only a bit of an adventure and not too bad at all, other than the stress on the Jenni family as they worried about the American lost in Germany!

We got back to the house and I met the whole family. K’s parents were so warm and welcoming and I finally got to meet her brother Alex – he was nice enough to share his hair straightener with me all weekend! K’s mom made amazing dinners all weekend. As we sat down together on Saturday night, I folded my hands to pray and Katharina caught me – it’s just so natural to me when sitting down to family supper – and asked that I lead the family in prayer. She remembered it after I started it and I promised to say it more slowly next time so the rest of the family could follow the English. Dessert was an apple cake that was, of course, fantastic.

That evening K and I met up with two of her friends (the ones who would be willing to speak English, she said it would be weird for her other friends to come because they would speak German the whole time) for cocktails at Salsarita’s – they swore it was the best place in town. Afterwards, we called it a night – I was tired and we had some exploring to do in the morning!

Sunday morning Katharina and I went to Dusseldorf. We saw the Benrath Palace which is, as a friend described, very pink. Pink is the color of happiness, so all of the exterior of the building are pink. The interior had themes of hunting, the sun, and the seasons. There were also doors to nowhere – they didn’t actually function – but were placed in the location to give the appearance that the house was larger than reality. The entire palace was architecturally symmetrical – his and hers sides since they didn’t like each other that much anyway. Their marriage had been arranged when they were 9 by their families – back in the days when marrying cousins was the thing to do.

After touring the palace (K translated for me), we walked back to the train station and took it into the center of Dusseldorf to see the shops on the “Ko.” The street has all the high end stores: Gucci, Louis Vuitton, etc. It also had a Starbucks, so we got coffee and lemoncake to keep us going for the rest of the tour. The sugar helped wake me up enough to believe that there was actually a dress with a E2,500 price tag and a ring priced at E16,999. As we drank our coffee, it was fun just to people watch and see how dressed up they were on an unusually warm September day. Of course, no one was shopping since the stores were closed on Sunday, but they certainly matched the street they were on (and we did not!). We finished the Tour d’ Dusseldorf with a stroll down the Rhine, making our way through crowds of people out for a stroll on a nice day and jealously watching the jet skiers race by.

Sunday night brought more wonderful cooking and mousse du chocolat. K and I were pretty tired so we had snacks, watched a movie, and conked out early in preparation for the next day.

Monday morning, I enjoyed Cinnamon Toast Cruch for breakfast (the cereal I get here in the Netherlands just cannot compare to the taste or breadth of selection in the US). K’s mom drove us to Cologne to see the sights and I took my first trip via the Autobahn. We toured the Dom Cathedral – a church that has been standing for over 1,000 years – an impressive building by any standards, likely difficult to construct even with today’s technological advances! It has beautiful stained glass windows inside and provides a home to the remains of the Three Wise Men. We also walked through St. Andreas across the street, home of the skulls of the biblical Maccabee brothers as well as the crypt of Albertus Magus (St. Albert the Great). I love seeing how old Europe is and how much history there is to experience, especially compared to life in America where my aunt and uncle’s 100+ year old house is an anomaly.

The three of us enjoyed lunch on the Rhine in between the sites and drank the Koelsch that Cologne is known for brewing. I shared lunch with K’s mom – a pretzel and sausage for me (a Bavarian specialty), and some sort of meat and potato and cabbage meal for her, more typical of Cologne. As we made our way through the city, we did a

bit of shopping for me (only 6 weeks in and I’m already tired of wearing the few clothing items I brought) and purchased some Berliners (jelly doughnuts) for the ride home. We also visited the 4711 Store, the famous location where American soldiers bought perfume to take home to their wives during WWII. It was a fun day, but a bit exhausting and I slept the whole way home.

Monday evening we enjoyed another amazing dinner – some sort of meat and sauerkraut and

mashed potatoes – and then K and I got started on dessert! We whipped up some American-style chocolate chip cookies using the English-system measuring cups my grandma had given her before K returned to Germany – a great idea! The first batch was regular chocolate chip cookies, but for the second round, we took some of the baked cookies and broke them up into the cookie dough and baked them again. The result: cookies that were partly crunchy, partly chewy, and entirely amazing! It was an idea from my roommate back home (her aunt makes them that way) and it’s brilliant. K’s friend came over and we ate the cookies and the dough and watched an American movie for my last night in Germany.

Monday morning, I got up, packed, and jumped on a train back to Leiden and reality. But only for a few days. Thursday is the start of the Leiden’s biggest festival of the year, celebrating the Liberation of Leiden from the Spanish several hundred years ago and Philip arrives on Friday from Spain to join in the celebrations! So today is for grocery shopping (the stores will likely close from Thurs – Sat, and are never open Sunday anyway) and studying before the weekend starts all over again!

September

2008-09-26T13:09:00.002-05:00

So it's been quite a month. I am very settled in and can't believe that October is just around the corner. I have a ton of photos to share and am trying to figure out the best way to post them. I am well into my classes and am learning about Dutch Culture, Politics, and International Law of the Sea.

I'm off to Germany for the weekend to visit Katharina in Essen, see Cologne and Dusseldorf, and possibly visit Munich with some friends if the travel works out right!

I'll do my best to update it next week, just wanted to write to say I am indeed still alive!

August in Oegstgeest

2008-08-31T13:41:00.002-05:00

I arrived safely in Leiden on the morning of August 22 and after a few days of adjustment, I think it’s safe to say that I’m really going to like it here.

I live in student housing in a city just north of Leiden called Oegstgeest (pronounced like oh-st-heist, more or less). There are twenty or so international students here. I have my own little bedroom and there is a shared kitchen, common room, and laundry facilities on the first floor. There is one (small!) washer and one dryer for the entire building. So far today, I did one washing which took a little over an hour, and have gone through 3 one-hour dryer cycles and am hoping that my clothes will finally be dry when I check in about 10 minutes. But it is free and in-house, so that’s nice.

Last night, we hosted a gathering at our house to get to know each other which was fun. People are still moving in and out, but with classes starting next week, it should settle down after Monday or Tuesday. I now have a pretty good idea of which people live here now and which people are frequent visitors. It’s nice to live with so many people because there’s usually someone to go with to University events, activities for international students, grocery shopping, or to a club activity like rowing (I joined the club today!).

Since I live outside of Leiden, where my classes are, I bought a bike which shaves about 10 – 15 minutes off my commute in and out of the city each day. It’s a city of about 70,000 but feels much smaller than that. However, I was corrected when I called it a town – the people are very proud of their city.

After a week, I finally feel like I kind of know my way around. I haven’t gotten out of Leiden much other than spending two hours in the Hague – just a 20 minute train ride away – and 6 hours in Haarlem yesterday at Ikea with my housemates. My room is much more organized now and I have a lovely Guzmania plant.

Tonight's plan is to see Mamma Mia! in the cinema - I've seen it a few times and love it. Several of my housemates are coming including Thanos, whose hometown in Greece was used as the setting of the film. I'm off to get ready. I'll try to update this blog at least weekly. Please keep me posted on your lives too!

DC Living

2008-06-25T16:50:00.000-05:00

Today marks one month since I moved to DC for the summer and I am happy to report that my job is going well and the city is a blast. I am very appreciative of public transportation as the gas prices keep rising. Other people are too I think because the metro keeps getting more and more crowded - I watched 3 trains go by before I managed to sneak on to one this morning to get to work.

I live in a great location so the commute isn't bad. I walk about a mile to the metro station (or take the bus if I'm late - which actually doesn't happen very often, surprisingly enough) and then ride the Red Line to Union Station and walk a few more blocks to get to work. I'm actually on Capitol Hill and work just about 10 blocks from the Capitol. I spend most days staring at a computer screen, but have gotten out to lobby twice. So far I've been working a lot with the press (we had two press conferences this month!) and also on creating a record of how Senators have voted on torture-related issues. That should be up on the website in the next couple of days (www.nrcatactionfund.org). I get to do fun public policy things like that because that's campaign work which comes from a separate pool of funding (not tax deductible) and we don't have enough to pay any other member of the staff to do it :) It's a small office so we're always busy which can get hectic, but keeps things exciting.

As for when I'm not at work, I have had a great time getting out and seeing the city. There's always something going on. I took a sight-seeing tour by bus when I first arrived and visited the National Cathedral, the Lincoln Memorial, the Washington Monument, the WWII Memorial and the Korean and Vietnam Memorials. I have also been to the National Gallery, the American Indian Museum, the International Spy Museum and the Newseum (a museum about the press). My favorite thing in any of the museums by far was the photo display in the Newseum of every Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph - they were breathtaking.

My aunt and uncle (who I live with) have been very hospitable - sending me to the ballet and the military tattoo (where the navy comes and does their fancy marching and gun-twirling) at the Iwo Jima memorial among other places. Living with 7 dogs and a cat is a little different than two cats (that's right, there are 7: one German Shepard, one St. Bernard, two labs, a bulldog, a pomeranian, and one other one that howls). I have now successfully made one trip from my room on the 3rd floor out the door on the first floor without causing a bark or a howl (once one starts, they all do!) so I am hopeful that this will happen with slightly more frequency in the coming month. On the plus side, I never need to announce my own presence when entering the house because the dogs take care this for me.

I've had a few visitors too which has been nice. Ramya and Rani came out for her Odyssey of the Mind National Competition and I joined the group of elementary schoolers and parents on a night tour of the city which was beautiful. It was quite the journey given the shoes I was wearing (wedges are supposed to be much more comfortable than that!) Amy's mom Kathy has also been out to visit for National History Day and we enjoyed a nice meal together as well - and she convinced me to buy a great new dress! And while Katharina was in town, we visited Alexandria and enjoyed a Red Cross Festival that was going on.

One month to go!

Children and Chaos at STA

2008-05-03T14:32:00.002-05:00

We had our last ERP kids event of the year last night. It was movie night watching Mr Magorium's Wonder Emporium at STA. There were about 12 kids and 7 ISU students which is crazy in itself, but good enough when they're watching a movie. But only 1 child actually watched the movie (they complained that they didn't like the movie, so we switched it to Enchanted and still, only one watched the movie).

It was fine because most of them played in the Angels room, but a few of the older boys just went around picking fights. It made me sad to see that their way of interaction was mainly to get into fights or yell at each other and call each other names. I mean, I know they're kids, but at ten and eleven years old, it was more than just the typical kids being kids. Then the oldest one, Bear, grabbed one of the bulletins and realized that we were in a Catholic church and freaked out. I can't be in no Catholic Church, I'm a Christian. Catholics are demons, they're devils. Then he saw a picture of Pope Benedict XVI in the student lounge. You shouldn't be wearing that cross. You're no Christian. Bear in mind that there were a number of young adults gathering in the lounge at the time witnessing all of this. Catholics think they're Christians, but they're not. They're devil-worshippers.

I was offended and saddened. Offended because we make time to plan events for the kids - and enjoy doing it - and organize it through our Catholic Church. Then he goes around yelling that we are terrible people (not my interpretation, he actually did) when we're doing these things for them. We could have been studying, probably should have been, but since they asked us to do a movie night we added one last event. It was frustrating and made me not want to make the effort in the future. Granted it was only one child, but by the end of the night he had one other girl come up to me and tell me Catholics are bad (though she clearly only did it because she felt forced to) and many other students heard his rants.

I'm not sure how much of the things he was saying he actually believed versus how much he said just to get a rise out of us. It made me sad to think of how young he is and how intolerant he is already. And if it was only to get attention, the fact that he felt like he needed to try to hurt someone in order to get attention. Or maybe he was just bored and figured that was something to do for a while. Whatever the case, he thought it was acceptable to go around yelling insults in the church. It made me sad. And grateful for the home I was raised in where hitting was a timeout and screaming meant getting sent to my room and fighting with a neighbor probably meant not playing outside the next day.

There are two new children that just moved in to ERP family housing that are still sweet and not violent. I hope they have the chance to play outside with the other kids, but that the other kids aren't a bad influence on them. It's just a tough situation all the way around. And we don't spend enough time with them to make much of a tangible difference other than maybe 5 or 6 hours a month. I hope in the fall, or even this summer, they can get a tutoring program going for the kids to help with reading or schoolwork on a regular basis.

Reflecting on Honduras

2008-03-30T22:52:00.000-05:00

Excerpt from an email to a friend in Bolivia:

Honduras was an incredible experience. We were only in-country for 10 days, but I got a glimpse of the culture. Since it was Semana Santa, the whole country shut down, especially on Thursday and Friday - we could hardly find a place open to buy food. Luckily we were prepared, but it was a little unsettling not having options. Definitely a good thing to experience - it gave me a small sense of what it's like to have no option for the poor.

I also saw how the "importance" of a person varies. There we were, just a couple of college students and people were thrilled to have Americans in their presence. Several people in the smaller villages we visited like Dolores in western Honduras had never seen gringos before, particularly the kids, and definitely not so many at once.

The machismo really stood out. We would walk around Santa Rosa where John and a few Peace Corps workers are the only real gringos they see - not a big tourist town - and get all sorts of stares and whistles and loud comments from men who assumed we didn't speak Spanish (and sometimes I'm glad I didn't know the slang when John would glare their way). But in the tourist town of Gracias where there's a great cloud forest - Celaque - the stares were even more blatant. Even to the point that people would stop cars and roll down windows and stare as we walked by two feet away. That was later in the week, so it we were kind of used to it by then but it surprised me that in a tourist town the stares were more blatant than in the town where at least the majority of the stares were out of curiosity. Especially when the police were the "perpetrators."

Sidebar: I had an interview for study abroad the week before break to spend the fall in the Netherlands and the spring in South Africa studying community organizing. I'm really excited about both. One of the questions they asked me was if I were lost, what would I do? I said I'd go to a center of transportation (gas station, train station, etc) to get directions/oriented. And if there wasn't one around? Then I'd probably ask a woman with children for help. Then I would probably ask someone else to make sure I got the same directions. They said they hadn't heard that answer before, which surprised me given the number of students they interview for study abroad. The typical answer is that a person would go to the police. I realized that my travel experience when I'm not with family has been in countries where the police are not necessarily the most trustworthy people to seek help from and that was my frame of reference when answering rather than thinking of how stable the Netherlands is. And on that topic, I'm debating which language to learn in South Africa. I plan on learning Afrikaans since it's related to Dutch and that's why the programs are connected. But I'm afraid that the language I chose - Xhosa v. Afrikaans - will be symbolic because I'm not sure if one language is more associated with one racial group or group of particular social standing. Oh well. I hope to learn enough Dutch and Afrikaans/Xhosa to be fluent so I can get a Rotary Scholarship to one of the countries but that's at least a year away.

The people of Honduras are so friendly. I am amazed by the poor and how caring and giving they are. We stopped to tour a church in a small village on our way back into town because the church we were helping to build would be identical to it. The family who lived next to the church insisted that we come in for refreshments just because they saw that we were extranjeros. I was relieved to see that they poured us pop so we could accept it.

iHola de Honduras!

2008-03-18T23:04:00.002-05:00

iHola todas! I am in Santa Rosa de Copan, Honduras and having a blast! We got in on Friday night and after 2 hours in customs, we met up with John Donaghy - our in country host - a little more tired, much warmer, and one bag lighter than when we left Ames that morning. It was nice to be out of the airport. We spent the night at a hotel in San Pedro Sula, not too far from the airport.

We started off Saturday morning with a traditional breakfast of platanos con crema y huevos rancheros: sweet bananas with creme and eggs with peppers. The bishop - Monsenor Luis Alfonso Santos - wanted to pick us up but the President of the Republic (of Honduras) was visiting Santa Rosa to dedicate a new street that was about to be paved, so the bishop had to be there as well. Instead he sent two cars to pick us up. I rode with Ramiro, Katie, and Mary & John, Mitch, and Marla rode with Rafael. We had quite the discussion about the geography, impact of the mines on the agriculture and the people, and of course politics.

Ramiro told me about how he is working to get the government to impose a tax on the mines since they are engaging in cyanide leeching which gets into the water supply and causes health problems. They don't want environmental laws because there will be no enforcement of the laws and most officials are easily bought off by the mining companies anyway. He also asked my impression of the war in Iraq. I told him it was mostly unpopular in the States, but now that we're there, what do we do? I have friends who are fighting there now. He said popular sentiment in Honduras is that we never should have gone in and should leave immediately. I asked him about Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez. He said most people like him because he is doing a lot of good things to help countries in Latin America. Ramiro doesn't speak any English so all of our communication was in Spanish - I was impressed by my abilities to communicate. It was broken but I got the message across.

We arrived in Santa Rosa de Copan around noon and got settled in with two Spanish nuns - Hermanas de la Immaculada - who run a home for girls from the countryside who are attending school and need a place to stay. Since it is Semana Santa - Holy Week - they are all home and their rooms are available for us to stay in. Mitch is staying just down the street at John's house.

We spent Saturday walking around town and buying fruit at the market. We ate dinner with the sisters at a local pizza place. Actually, we spend most days walking around town. There are taxis, but mostly we walk. Saturday night, though, Sor Maria Jesus and Sor Marissa, our hostesses, drove us around town in the back of their truck: up and down the hills under a star-studded sky in the warm evening air - it was gorgeous. [Cultural note: stop signs are optional. In fact, people slow down more when there is no stop sign.]

Sunday morning we got up at 3:45am to make alfombras in the street for Palm Sunday. Here, they cover the streets in a path of decorative designs like crosses, doves, flowers, and chalices made of sawdust and then line them with real flowers. Then they process along the path from the local church - St. Martin - to the Cathedral in the town square. The procession includes Jesus on a donkey, all of his disciples, a statue of Jesus carried by four men, the priest, and lots of incense. It began at tipo 8am [about 8am - that's the time to gather and it will start sometime after that] and lasted until 11am. Then we ate lunch at John's - baleadas are the traditional meal of corn tortillas, beans, and crema, plus fresh mango, pineapple, and papaya.

Then it was naptime. Our siesta was not long enough.

We walked around town some more to change money and get licuados (a milk and fruit drink similar to a smoothie) before dinner with the bishop. He is something. He treated us to dinner at one of (if not the) nicest places in town and offered lots of alcohol, cigars, and desserts [all of which we turned down because this is a church trip and we were full from a huge meal]. But he was very energetic and enthusiastic and happy to spend time with us which was nice. Afterwards we walked around the town square for a while and he asked about our schedule for each of the remaining days of the week asking when we could get together again. It was touching how hospitable he was to us and how pastoral he is to his people. He stands up to the government every chance he gets [even when they are armed] and in the streets paused to say hello and ask after families of people he knew. The country is 90% Catholic or more and he is a well known figure after 24 years as bishop. For a man of 71 he looks at least 15 years younger.

Having had a long day, we eagerly went back to bed. Monday morning came at 4:30am. My alarm clock is not particularly accurate in time (it cost $2.50) and on top of that I had to guess the time to set it, I didn't have a clock to set it from. Anyway, I read it wrong and we all got ready by 4:50am thinking we were late when we were really an hour early. So we took naps and got to John's...late anyway. Mass started at 6am at the radio station.

Author's note: today has been another full day and I am tired. Here is the short version of what happened:

Monday:
6am - Mass, Marla sick :(
7:30am - breakfast at John's
8am - to Kindergarten in Colonia Divina Providencia: 50 kindergarteners, 1 teacher - mostly orphans
Noon - lunch with Padre Roel - very liberal priest ... ask me about him
1:45 - 2:30pm - nap, this is exhausting
3pm - visit Hogar San Jose - a home for malnourished children newborns to age 5 run by the Missionaries of Charity after 5 years old, they either go home to their families who could not take care of them before due to financial situation or imprisonment or to the orphan homes next to the kindergarten.
6pm - dinner at John's
7pm - Stations of the Cross at St. Martin with the "base community" that John belongs to
10pm - BED!

Tuesday...I'll tell you about later. It was a fun day at the Copan Ruins followed by a talk by famous Brazilian Catholic theologian and former priest Leonardo Boff.

I haven't written much about the people other than Romiro. The interactions I've had with them are very important and the reason we are here. However, 1) I don't have time - I'm detail oriented and as you can see I am not terribly brief and 2) I want to explain that in person - if I write it all now you'll have nothing to ask me about when I get home. They are touching and have impacted me as a person and made me consider new possibilities for my own future. They are absolutely filled with God. Sandra, a young girl who lives in a shack with no electricity and at least 4 siblings and her mother brought us snacks on Sunday morning because she wanted to offer us something. She gave from what very little she had to her new friends. As John says, the most important thing is that we were paying attention to her. But here I go writing too much again. The Kindergarten and the Home for Malnourished children have been the most moving so far - I'll talk to you when I get home. Hope all is well. Abrasos hasta luego.

Life goes on...?

2008-02-01T17:20:00.000-06:00

I saw death today for the first time. Like not the result thereof. Death in action. We had to put Stripes to sleep. My Dad held her. I turned away. But not before she went limp. She's my kitty. I love her. She was in such a good mood too, especially for being at the vet. Not that I regret it, I'm sure it was the right thing to do for her. Right? Yeah...

But it got me thinking, through my tears...can you imagine, I mean, really imagine, living in a wartorn area of the world? Where young children accept death as a sort of way of life, part of the way things are? Watching a loved one die at the hands of another... I mean, my cat died in the most humane way possible...what if you were forced to watch your family member be tortured? Even just imagining someone I know getting tortured is horrible, but someone I love? While I was watching?

I got a poster in the mail today:

People are being tortured;
Why should you care?

Torture is a sin.
Torture doesn't work.
Torture hurts everyone.

All who torture,
All who order torture
All who let torture happen,
Must be held accountable.

As followers of the tortured
And risen
Jesus,
We must stop torture.

Together we can.
Know. Care. Act.

I think maybe I will take that job in D.C. this summer...
www.nrcat.org

ONE Campaign Update

2007-09-30T14:54:00.000-05:00

So things have been really busy with the ONE Campaign lately. We took a lot of action over the last few weeks - particularly during Political Action Week at Iowa State University. Some events:

Sunday, September 16: Harkin Steak Fry
ONE had a table set up to talk to Iowans about ONE issues and invite them to sign the declaration. Gov. Bill Richardson came over to the table, did a shout out, and put on the band that I gave him!

Monday, September 17: Political Action Week - Foreign Policy Day
ONE members talked to students on Central Campus and Iowa ONE Outreach coordinator Natalie Sugira was the keynote speaker, talking to students about her global poverty in the context of growing up in Rwanda.
Read the Iowa State Daily Article: http://www.iowastatedaily.com/home/index.cfm?q=ONE+Campaign+Obama&flan_search=go&event=displaySearchResults&buttonPushed=1&client=testing-testing&forid=1&ie=ISO-8859-1&oe=ISO-8859-1&cof=GALT%3A%23008000%3BGL%3A1%3BDIV%3A%23666666%3BVLC%3A663399%3BAH%3Acenter%3BBGC%3AFFFFFF%3BLBGC%3AFFFFFF%3BALC%3A0000FF%3BLC%3A0000FF%3BT%3A000000%3BGFNT%3A0000FF%3BGIMP%3A0000FF%3BLH%3A37%3BLW%3A310%3BFORID%3A1%3B&hl=en
Watch Natalie's speech: http://youtube.com/watch?v=-Kb09x37aqo

Friday, September 21: Political Action Week - Keynote: Barack Obama
Twenty students wore ONE Vote 08 t-shirts on Central Campus during Barack Obama's speech. After the speech, Senator Obama greeted the crowd. I handed him a ONE band early in his hand-shaking and he wore it on his right hand as he shook hands with literally hundreds of students!

Our next big event will be the Iowa Hunger Summit on at the Downtown Marriott in Des Moines on October 16! We may also have the opportunity to host a meet and greet with David Beckman, president of Bread for the World on campus on October 15!

Until then, keep rocking the wristbands and spreading the word!
www.one.org
www.onevote08.org/states/ia

Reunion Dinner Thoughts

2007-08-14T00:28:00.000-05:00

I forgot how much I value honest, intimate conversation. The dinner was fantastic - wonderful food: gazpacho, pasta puttanesca, and spumoni. Pat and Kirstin are such gracious hosts, and their boys were so much fun. We all traded photos and I passed around my scrapbook. It's the first time I'd really shown it off. I put a lot of time into it and people appreciated that, which was nice to hear.

The crowd thinned out pretty early - maybe around 9pm. Pat, Joey, Spencer, Bryce, and I sat around for a while longer talking. Then it was down to Joey and Pat and Kirstin and me. They chatted about the boys for a bit, then Kirstin went to bed. Joey and I talked about our summer and moving to school and Pat listened attentively. I told her about my experience on the way up to Ames. I told her about how much I didn't like Iowa State last year. I mentioned in brief the reasons why, although I left out the major detail. Then I listened to her talk about how she's been feeling since she got back. She was so honest, like she always has been. I didn't know what to say really, so mostly I just listened too. Then I asked Pat about school. He avoided the question quite nicely.

It was so refreshing to experience such honesty and openness in conversation. And it was really nice to be able to talk and have someone listen. Sometimes, that all you need. No advise. No input. No words of "encouragement" or "support." Just someone to listen and care. Joey and Pat did that. Laura did earlier this summer. And it means so much. Just to know that someone cares enough to let me talk about whatever it is I'm feeling. Not judge me. Not tell me how to feel. Not tell me what to do. Just listen. So thank you. I entered Ames with dread and I left in peace. How wonderful.

To My Wonderful Advanced Group

2007-07-20T21:04:00.000-05:00

So I just got home a few hours ago from working at Catholic Youth Camp in Panora, Iowa. It's one of my favorite places in the world, and the one thing I missed like crazy while I was having the time of my life with all of you. I had a number of people ask me, "Oh yeah, you've been gone, right? So how was Africa?" Mostly in passing, like, "Hey, what's up?" when they didn't really want/have time to hear about it. Mostly I just said it was an incredible experience. And I bragged about you guys a lot. You are seriously the most kind, compassion, generous, thoughtful, intelligent group of individuals that I have ever met. And I say individuals because despite sharing all of those amazing characteristics, you are all so unique and have such a variety of gifts.

So we spend Saturday before the week of camp starts as sort of an orientation to the way things will run for the week and getting (re)acquainted with the other 21 counselors. After dinner, we go to mass. There's a really great band there that just formed in the past year that play for us. I was actually pretty impressed with myself for how I'd been dealing with the reverse culture shock. I really hadn't had any major breakdowns or anything, and I even survived for 15 minutes in the mall and about 15 minutes in a grocery store which I heard were the two toughest places to go. I'd spent a week in Michigan with my family and then a week at home doing laundry and re-packing for camp, so it had been about 2 weeks since the return trip home. I was at mass and listening to a song that the pianist, Eric, had written. I'd heard it a few times earlier in the year and I liked it. The song is called "Made for You."

Chorus:
I am made for you
I am made for your light to shine through
Give me strength so your will I may do
I am made, I am made for You

Verse 3:
When I see the poor on the street
And they don't have enough to eat
I will not turn away
I'll be You for them today

I was fine until the 3rd verse. This was the opening song of mass. I got a little teary. I made it for one more chorus and then I had to leave. I went back to the bathroom and completely broke down. I don't know when I've last sobbed like that. It took me until the homily to calm down (like 30 minutes) and then of course I was a Eucharistic Minister (handing out communion bread) - red eyed and everything.I just feel like there is such a huge, overwhelming problem. It's something I've been thinking about a lot since that breakfast conversation we had on the Thursday before we left when Eric was talking about some of his frustrations. I want to be able to go and help. But I question how much help I can do as a Mzungu: a white, privileged American going in to "fix" the problems of Africa. (If you've seen the Last King of Scotland, I'm thinking of the line where Idi Amin says to the doctor something along the lines of, You white people just think that you can waltz right in and fix all of our problems) I want to help, I really really do. It's been my plan for my life to live in Africa and do some sort of relief work. But I wonder if foreigners and creating a culture of dependence when as soon as a child on the streets sees a Mzungu they come running with their hands up. When like Spencer and Eric said, Jimmy - a wonderful, genuinely compassionate and well-meaning man - who has no mortgage whatsoever on the school says how can I get VEDCO to bring their program and sponsor my school rather than ok, I can start a school gardening program, we have the tools to do that now that we've seen what they do. I wonder if debt relief helps countries recover from colonialism or if it enables/encourages government corruption. Don't get me wrong, I don't for a minute think that what we did for the last month was in vain. We did a lot of incredible work. We lived with the people. We learned from Edith and David every night and from the workers each day. We built valuable relationships with nearly every person that we saw daily, and even some people that we only saw once or twice. We gained so much more than we could possibly have given to them. And I really value that. These are just some things that I personally am struggling with. And for some reason, that song just hit me in a way that I could not handle at that particular moment. I felt like I really want to feed the hungry, but I can't. I'm only one person. I can't just go around handing out money. I know that we can go around with food, but I just feel like it's so much more valuable if the change comes from within - from Ugandans, Africans, people like Edith and all of the UWCM staff - rather than from me who comes in and reinforces the stereotype of the rich white American. Sigh. I am trying to explain only what I feel and not offend any of you in any way. I just feel so frustrated with how huge all of this is. I hope you can understand what I'm trying to say. Anyway, thanks for putting up with my story. I tried to explain it to a few of my close friends, but they just couldn't understand. They tried hard, I know they meant well, and it's not their fault, they just didn't experience what I did. So that's my big update.

On a lighter note, I have a new Africa playlist which includes songs like Africa by Toto, We're Not Gonna Take It by the Twisted Sisters, and Mayberry by Rascal Flatts because it reminds me of getting Cokes at the Grace Drug Shop. Unfortunately, I couldn't find "You are Welcome" on iTunes. What was that other one with the weird music video that Bobby and Spencer sang all the time? Any recommendations for more songs? Oh, also Jeremiah was a Bullfrog from our brick throwing days.

I really want to thank each and every one of you for being so open and honest and genuine throughout the whole trip. I really felt like we were a complete family - I still do. I miss you all so much. I'll be on RAGBRAI tomorrow (Saturday) through Monday, then back home until Saturday when I go back to work another week of camp - I've already heard the song a few more times and been fine, so I don't anticipate any more breakdowns. I had talked to Fix, a staff member, about the incident and I saw him looking at me the next time the song came on (when I was of course, a Eucharistic Minister again), which was really sweet. Bobby, I'll take your suggestion on providing my new foreign exchange student with F2F, though she is from what I like to refer to as a "cold-climate culture" as well. I am so excited to see all of you on August 13th and even sooner if anyone makes plans any sooner. For tonight, I am going out with some fellow counselors to stand in line for the Midnight release of Harry Potter 7. If anyone is riding RAGBRAI, give me a call on my cell phone and I'd love to meet up with you on Sat or Sun afternoon/evening. Thanks for the update, Jo (I think I may have beaten you on the long/rambling email). I'd love to hear from everyone else on what's new.

Love, Nora

PS - I had a camper named Sammi Koen (but pronounced like Cohen), and I thought of Sam and all of you!

Making our way back home

2007-06-30T04:54:00.000-05:00

Today I am writing from Jinga. It is Saturday afternoon and we are making our way home from Mbale. It’s been quite the week. On Wednesday, we went to Kamuli to visit the schools that ISU has partnered with to create school gardens. The school uses the gardens to produce food for the school lunches. Unfortunately, for the last 2 months the school lunch program was discontinued. It was reinstituted once the ISU students arrived last week, but it’s unclear if the lunches will continue once the students are gone. The school teaches children agricultural techniques in hopes that they will take that knowledge home to their families. It appeared that a large percentage of the students were malnourished but I’m not sure on the number – I met one Des Moines University student, Tamim, who was doing physicals on the children, but did not have figures yet. (Basil, your brother says hi.) The problem is not a lack of food, but a lack of knowledge about nutrition and how to get a balanced diet. It was a very long trip – about 6 hours each way, despite the fact that it was only about 150 km. There is a lack of infrastructure and roads which contributes to the problems of distribution of food. Oh, and we blew tire #5 for the trip so far. It was well worth the trip, and I enjoyed seeing the town, the VEDCO office, and the Namasagali Primary School. We ate dinner at the Jubilee Restaurant in Tororo (the owner traveled with us to see the school) before heading back to Mbale for the night.

On Thursday, we worked until around noon and had an early lunch. Out of the 6 single guesthouses and 3 doubles that we had planned to complete, we got the walls done and the plaster on all of the singles. Based on the budget, we decided to stop building after we laid the foundation for the doubles and potentially finish those next year. They’re smaller than we would have liked, so next year may involve expanding the foundations before building the walls. One single had about half of a roof completed and it will look very nice. The guesthouses will be small, but there will be room for a bed in the main room and a toilet, a shower, and a sink in the bathroom. Natasha and Ian, our Aussie friends working in the Malaria department of UWCM, have promised to send us photos once the houses are complete.

After lunch we packed some and got ready for the goodbye ceremony. It lasted from about 4pm until 8 or 9pm. All of the UWCM staff, the Ebenezer Village Construction Company (that’s us), and the local workers attended. We were only missing the house staff who were busy preparing a dinner for all 60 of us. The workers had gone home and gotten all dressed up for the celebration – it was really touching. The ceremony included lots of singing and dancing, people making goodbye speeches, presentation of parting gifts, and a large dinner.

On Friday, we finished our packing early and again had to say goodbye to our new family. The last Friday of the month is a prayer day at UWCM and it was quite the ordeal. There was constant praying and singing and testimonies. There were many tearful goodbyes to our yayas (sisters and brothers) and even as we pulled away in the bus, Papa David was singing and playing his guitar. We went to Iganga to visit the other group’s site. It was outstanding, but a bit disheartening. They built 2 school buildings with their budget, and both have roofs. Since they stayed within budget, they were rewarded with the opportunity to build a new brick house for a grandmother in the village who currently lives in a tiny wooden hut and is caring for 7 orphans under the age of 12. Even that house is getting trusses put on today. But I’m so happy for them at all the progress they have made. It’s really impressive. They even created a basketball court and a soccer field for the school by building 2 goals and a erecting a basketball hoop. It’s going to be a wonderful facility. We had a great lunch and enjoyed their (much briefer) closing ceremony as well. Then we headed to Jinga for the night.

We are staying at the Kingfisher Resort. It is gorgeous. The rooms are all doubles and are one quarter of a large hut. There is a swimming pool with a kids area on one side and a bar on the other. It’s right on Lake Victoria and offers boat rides by appointment.

It’s really hard to take. It’s a hard transition to know that we are staying at this beautiful, expensive resort in the middle of all of the poverty. That’s the point of staying there, though – to transition. Mooney says it’s to sensitize us to help reduce the reverse culture shock when we get home.

This morning, Jenny and I got up and headed into Jingatown. It’s on the other side of the lake, so it would have been a long walk. About half way to the main road, a motaboda stopped and picked us up for a ride into town. We went to the Source Café (the only place we know in Jinga). Jenny wanted smaller bills for shopping, so we went into the Café for drinks. We sat down with a woman named Paula and started chatting. She’s a missionary from the Netherlands with YWAM (Youth with a Mission). She had a fascinating story. She had met Edith (my host) at a conference a few weeks ago. A friend of hers, Elaine, visited UWCM a few weeks ago and I had exchanged information with her in hopes to meet up in Johannesburg in February. Small world. Paula is traveling to South Africa on Monday a few hours before we depart for Dubai. She will be working with HIV/AIDS in some capacity. We also exchanged information. She’ll be back in the Netherlands in February, but I hope to meet up with her again in a few years. I also gave her the UWCM contact information for the next time she’s in Mbale.

Since then, I’ve bee wandering around Jinga. I’m getting hungry, so we’ll probably head back to the Resort soon for lunch (it’s included there, in town we have to pay out of pocket). I plan to catch up on some journaling and reading – I brought 7 books expecting to do tons of reading and just finished the first one yesterday. On Sunday we’ll travel to Kampala and then Monday we’ll fly out of Entebbe. We have no problems with any of the flights from Entebbe to JFK. Parents, do not worry. There may be some flights changed from JFK to DSM based on how long it takes to get through customs, but the airlines are aware of that and will take care of it. Everyone will be home on July 3^rd as planned.

I, on the other hand, will be traveling to Michigan for a Tobin family 4^th of July celebration as we send Kevin’s family off to Burundi. I will be back in the States July 3^rd and you may or may not be able to reach me on my cell phone after that point. I don’t know if I’ll have reception in Fennville. Also, I have gotten used to not carrying a cell phone – it surprises me when I find it in my bag from time to time because I forgot that I had one.

I’ll be in the Des Moines Area from July 8^th to 13^th. Look for one to two more posts on my reflections in the coming weeks. I love you all and I look forward to seeing you again soon.

Whitewater rafting on the Nile!

2007-06-22T08:32:00.000-05:00

On Wednesday, the group went white water rafting on the Nile. It was a blast. We rafted class 4 and 5 rapids. Our group was supposed to be the "extreme" group – me, Jenny, Z, Dylan, Trevor, Trey, Ross, and Katie - meaning we would go right into the middle of the rapids. We did that, but the raft did not tip over once. Ironic for as hard as we were trying to flip. I think most or even all of the other rafts did. We only got thrown out once – right at the start. That was fun – I think I did one summersault out of the raft and then three underwater. I was a little sore the next day, but not bad. The Nile was really warm. It was overcast later in the day and it was actually warmer to float along next to the raft than to sit in it with the cool breeze.

We were in Jinga for two couple of days for the rafting. We tried to visit the Iganga project yesterday on our way back to Mbale, but we weren’t able to – something about timing. We have a small contingent working on the project today. I’m not feeling great – just a minor cold that’s been going around – so they sent me in to do the cooking instead of hauling bricks. We'll spend Saturday working also.

We sent Pat and Debra home from Jinga – it was sad to see them go. I can't believe we're getting down to the last week – I'm glad I'm here for the whole trip and not leaving yet. Yesterday we gained another chaperone – Mavis, and another student – Krishna. It should be good to have another chaperone around to try to keep a balance.

Tuesday was Mama Edith's birthday, so I’ve been looking around for banana bread recipes online to make. We wanted to do an American birthday party with cake and ice cream and singing, but as I mentioned ice cream is hard to come by (the electricity is a little too temperamental to trust a freezer) and the cake here could probably be better used as a hammer on the worksite, so banana bread and singing it is – if we have a pan…maybe they’ll be banana cupcakes instead…

Weekend in Tororo + photos

2007-06-17T09:32:00.001-05:00

It’s Sunday, so happy Father’s Day to my wonderful Dad and Grandpa Tobin and Papa Roach! Papa called the other day – it was nice to hear from you. We spent the weekend in Tororo, the location where the building projects have taken place over the last four years. On Saturday morning, we started off by changing a flat tire (#3 thus far) before heading into town. I went with 2 other chaperones. Debra (our coffee roaster) and I wandered around until we found a store that advertised that it sold ice cream. ICE CREAM!!! Very exciting news. I talked to the manager and asked if he could have enough for 20 this evening. No problem. That’s one thing about restaurants in Uganda – they have wonderful menus, but that doesn’t mean the have the food listed. If you pre-order, you actually get what you want. We sat down in the café and had coffee and banana cake (bread) – also a treat. You don’t find such soft bread often.

We ran a few more errands then headed over to The Rock. Like it sounds, it’s a big rock. It may be high enough to qualify as a small mountain, but not wide enough. We hiked up and it was even steeper than Sipi Falls. By we, I mean about 45 of the 50 from our group and about 100 girls from the local school. The other college chaperones were singing some country songs, so I joined right in for the first 15 minutes. After that, we mostly focused on breathing. The climb up took about 45 minutes. The photo is taken from the top of the Rock while a few of us ventured up a nearby peak. I'm in the middle still making my way up in the teal shirt and navy shorts.

On Saturday afternoon all 50 people in our group visited the Tororo Parents’ Secondary Girls’ School, which did not exist before Global Builders came to town. The girls gave us tours of the classrooms, science lab, and dormitories. Nora and Mary were my guides. They’re both 16 and in their 3^rd of 6 years in Secondary school. It was a very nice facility. The meal was catered from a local restaurant. No utensils meant eating with our hands. Not bad, but the rice and beans got a bit messy. After the meal, the girls sang and danced for us. Everyone was very appreciative and thankful of our help in building the school.

From the celebration, the Global Building Group headed back to our weekend home, The Rock Classic Hotel. Yes, in Tororo, the Rock is a big deal. We swam for a bit and then enjoyed a poolside barbeque. There was a lot of meat, which was also exciting.

Once we sent the Iganga group back to their African home, the Mbale group went into town for ice cream. It was delicious. We’ve been wanting ice cream for at least a week. It was vanilla with some sort of fruit pieces in it, but no one could tell what. We also enjoyed banana bread on the house. A great end to the evening.

In terms of building, we are just finishing laying the foundation – almost to the point where the project should have been when we arrived. Still, we have been helpful and worked hard, regardless of when the work was done.

Today Anne and I visited a local church service. It was full of singing and dancing and two very animated preachers. It was held in a school classroom with a congregation of about 30. When were dropped off, one little boy ran up as fast as he could and gave Anne the biggest hug. Another woman, his mother I think, came and greeted us with hugs as well. The service was said in both English and the local language, so the two pastors appeared to be talking back and forth, the translator mimicking the actions of the first speaker. The service began at 9:30, and ended around noon. The pastor escorted us back to the hotel, about a 25 minute walk. We were worried that we would be late for our Noon lunch, but not to worry, we arrived an hour early. That’s African time. You order at 10am for a meal at noon and by 1:30, it’s time to eat.

We’re now back at the UWCM. Janet had washed our sheets, but we figured we would make beds when we got home today. They were made and the floor was swept when we arrived – the room is the nicest it’s looked since our arrival! (Ok, so on Friday over lunch break I also cleaned a lot of the clutter and trash away – I love living with these wonderful girls, but 6 girls with 2 suitcases each in little space take up a lot of room and it is nice to see the floor from time to time. My 1^st semester living experience has made me love clean floors more than ever. For those of you who saw my dorm first semester, don’t worry – the room here is still cleaner than that.) This photo is of us hanging out in the main room of the girls 'apartment' one evening after dinner.

Thanks to everyone who is commenting and sending me emails – it brightens my day so much to hear from all of you!!! I haven’t seen an international newspaper in a few weeks now. Last I saw, the news was talking about a potential 2^nd Cold War with Russia if we built a wall in Europe. There was television in the hotel lobby this weekend (the first I’ve seen in a few weeks – and I am in no way complaining). I saw snippets of Angelina Jolie on Larry King Live, Oprah, and news from Gaza on Aljazeera, but not much of US news.

I'm trying to add more pictures, but they're taking about 15 minutes each to load and I should probably head back to the house soon. First, I must introduce you to Fred. Last week, we met Fred in passing one morning. I saw him again at the church service last Sunday where he explained what was going on. We'd arrived at the end of a service performed in a language other than English and at the end there was a woman holding a large pawpaw - papaya - and yelling. There was also clapping involved. Turns out people who cannot afford to tithe money instead give what they have - an animal, a fruit, and egg - and the items are auctioned off at the end of the service with the money going to the church. This particular fruit had been purchased, then donated back to the church and purchased again - all in some local language that we did not understand. Anyway, he's a Briton who has come to Uganda for 2 summers now. He works with his church's partner organization here in Mbale, but when he has time, comes over to help us with construction at the UWCM. Anne is currently reading the 6th Harry Potter book and asked him to come over and read to us in his British accent. He has no children, so we figured we would adopt him as our collective grandfather. Fred came to read to us on a night when the electricity was out (which happens about two of every five days). Here, he is reading to the entire group by candlelight!!! Three chapters!!! Fred leaves this coming week, but we're hoping he'll come by once or twice more to read to us some more.

Trip to the Mountains

2007-06-14T06:36:00.003-05:00

It is Thursday afternoon in Mbale, Uganda, and it is hot. Yesterday I went on a visit up into the mountains. It was a long journey – partially because of the roads, but also because it was very far away. I went with two Concern Ministry workers and 3 students to sit in on a meeting about building staff quarters at a primary school. Often teachers walk 6 miles to get to school, so they arrive midday and not much teaching gets done. Staff quarters at other primary schools were able to improve education exponentially, based on standardized test scores.

After the meeting, I stepped outside of the building and was immediately surrounded by children running from hundreds of yards away. Many of the young children had never seen a white person before. We played soccer with the 300+ kids (probably closer to 500, but I’m not the best with estimating numbers). It was a blast.

On the way, we got a flat tire, but in the most perfect spot. I was sitting in the covered bed of the truck at the time. We didn’t even notice a tire was flat until the driver stopped the car and told us it would be a while (tells you something about the roads). We got out of the car and heard a waterfall, so we wandered down the mountain into a cave and found it – beautiful area!!!

I better keep working on the buildings - sledgehammering rocks is so much fun.

Love you all!

My First Week

2007-06-09T10:06:00.000-05:00

Mulembe! It has only been one week, but it feels more like one month - in a good way! We arrived in Mbale on either Tuesday or Wednesday - I forget which. With all the travel the days ran together. We are staying at Ugandan Women's Concern Ministry. The accommodations are nice by Ugandan standards. We have 3 girls in my room, 2 in the main room, and another chaperone gets the 3rd connecting room. The 6 of us share a bathroom connected to the main room. It is mostly bug free now that all of our screaming scared Harry away after the first night. Harry was our welcome spider. Imagine a regular water bottle. We cut out the bottom of one to trap him inside because only person (not me) wanted to be humane and let him go outside (far, far away). He didn't fit. He was that big. So that was the first night. The boys, by the way, didn't come to our rescue, but one of our hosts ran from her shower to save us! The showers here are great after a long day of work - nice and cold - all the time.

The weather is very nice. About 80 to 90 degrees daily, occasional showers but no humidity. But the sun is hot. We've been doing a lot of work on the project. We're building guest houses first. Mama Edith was telling me that she has wonderful donations coming in, but everyone wants the donations to go towards a project. She has no way to pay her staff, so often she trains them and then they leave for a better paying job. These guest houses (and the piggery that we will convert into a conference center next) will allow her to have a source of income to pay her staff and continue the wonderful work she does. Everyone is very welcoming and happy to have us. We're building 6 single guest houses and 3 doubles. We started with a circular ring 4 feet deep. For foundation, we laid many heavy rocks, then covered them with broken bricks. We used sledgehammers to break the rocks that were too big for us to move. It took about 4 hours to make handles for the 2 hammers and about 30 minutes to break both. On top of the bricks went aggregate (concrete and rocks) which is setting now - not bad for 2.5 days work.

Today we met up with the group we left in Iganga (they're working to build a primary school there) to go to Sipi Falls. It was beautiful. I wish I could upload pictures to show you, but I will later. We hiked straight up a mountain and visited 3 waterfalls on the way. I stood at the bottom of one as the water fell - pretty amazing. The most fun, though, had to have been jumping into the "pool" at the top of one of the waterfalls. It was only about 15 feet down to the water, but a blast! Very cold water, but well worth it.

In terms of the cultural adjustments I feel like I am doing very well. It's been pretty "sheltered" up to today. I knew I was in Africa, but it didn't feel like it since we were always on the compound and living with "Mizungos"- the local term for white people (not a derrogatory term, just a fact).

It's so great to hear the stories that Mama Edith and Papa David and all of the staff have to tell. They are Ugandans highly respected in the area. They have a wonderful community-based approach to all of the work they do. They focus on HIV/AIDS education, care for orphans and vulnerable children, assisting single mothers, and an Australian woman is now on staff for the next two years to start new malaria prevention program.

They make us food all of the time - some African food and some Western food like popcorn and chips (crisps here - British influence - they also drive on the wrong side of the road). Don't worry, we are very safe. The head police chief in the area came by to meet us and assure us of our safety. Last night and tonight we are staying in Mbaletown at a hotel to get cleaned up and give our hosts a break. We came into an internet cafe. Walking around town, I finally feel like I am in Africa. We're off to dinner now. I hope everything at home is going well and everyone is safe.

Happy Birthday, Fr. Pat and Traci!

Hello, all!

2007-05-30T09:50:00.000-05:00

Hello, friends. I know this isn't the most personal way to keep in touch with all of you, but with limited computer access it's the best way I can share my stories without leaving anyone out. My first adventure is to Uganda. I'll be leaving in a few days so check back every week or so and I'll do what I can to keep you up-to-date and share some pictures. Have a great summer and I'll see you in a few weeks!!!