Blooming in Dutch!

Per the request of mi madre, I'm back to blogging. My apologies for my absence lately. Things have been hectic! I was just looking back to see where I had left off with my little story.

I was busy planning my trip to India and Thailand. Figuring out embassies and visas, and lots of homework. Things are still about the same, but amplified.
However, I'll start from the beginning.

Since arriving here in Leiden, I've enjoyed the small town atmosphere again. After London, the change was welcome. I have had the chance to visit a few neighboring towns, like the Hague (the capital) and Rotterdam (one of the biggest ports in Europe). Easy day trips by train. Roberto has been to visit a few times so we have been riding around Holland and finding things to do.


the Hague, Parliament square

Dutch view of the American Dream, haha

Rotterdam, NL

Blomme means blooming in Dutch and Flemish... People finally know what my last name is!!
Pronounced: Blumma

Luckily, his trips were before the big Volcano erupted in Iceland that grounded Europe from flying for several days, stranding people all over the continent. This also caused my parents trip to get canceled as many of you know. I couldn't believe it. After all this time and my mom and I finally got my father agreed to take a vacation and come all this way, and a natural disaster strikes.

To add to my twilight zone feeling, my next home has been in political unrest for the past few weeks. The Bangkok government has been dealing with protesters called the Red Shirts parked outside their offices, in the city center and blocking roads all over the city. The protesters, often poor villagers looking for equal rights, are asking that the current government be ousted and a new election take place.

The situation got more serious about a week ago when twenty some people died in a riot. This spurred my school to close down and begin looking for safer classrooms. The question was posed to all of us traveling there if we felt safe enough to continue on with our next term or to choose another location. The decision was tough for me. But after a few days debate I decided to stick with Bangkok, hoping for a learning experience and some safety.

Currently, I am still looking forward to the experience. I have several friends that are there now and say its pretty crazy, but I haven't heard anything too threatening.

To keep me distracted from my twilight zone, last weekend I had the chance to go to Brussels, Belgium for my class. Brussels is a bit like DC in terms of International Organizations and the home of the European Union. We were there to visit NATO, European Parliament and the EU Council.

Outside of Parliament

We arrived on Thursday morning and went straight to NATO to meet with our George Clooney look-a-like representative. (I think this was planned out by them to try and win students over.) But the visit was altogether very interesting. By far the highest security we have gone through on any of our visits. The rep answered our questions very candidly. He was an ex-congress press sec. and had some great stories. I can't say that defense and military actions are my favorite topic, it was engaging none the less. I had never thought I would have visited NATO headquarters.

Tight security at NATO, no pictures...

After this we visited the European Parliament. The closest thing I would compare it to would be the US House of Reps. There are currently 736 MPs from all of the 27 European Union countries. With 23 official languages, the most interesting part was the way in which they communicate within the meetings. Our speaker was also a translator and spoke seven languages. That morning she had just given a presentation in Russian.

European Parliament Hemi-Cycle

That evening we went out to dinner as a group with our professor. We ate 'mussels in Brussels' and had a few of the famous Belgian beers. I heard the most amazing story of how her and her husband fell in love and came to be married. (Her husband is also our professor.) I was blown away. Sorry for the suspense, but it could be a blog in and of itself.

Afterward we walked around the city a bit and to the square (check out my video at the bottom from the next day). We ate waffles and found a bar that is home to the biggest selection of beers on the planet. I had a Chimay Blue. :) Very dark Belgian beer.
It was an amazing day in Brussels, the city has architecture mixed from the 1600s to the 1980s . I absolutely love it!


Part of the Berlin wall...

Square at night. Obviously closer to 1600s than 1980s :)

The next day we had one last visit with the EU Council, which is where the heads of state all meet every 3 months. We listened to the director of the terrorism department, who was extremely passionate about his work and full-body scanners. :) I regret to inform you that I believe they will become the norm in the future...

That afternoon I walked around the city with a friend of mine. We stopped in a Magritte Museum, ate street fries and enjoyed the sunshine!

Brussels is picturesque!

That evening I had planned to meet an old friend from High School for dinner. Vanessa was a foreign exchange student from Germany when I was a sophomore. We had seen each other about 4 years ago in Amsterdam. It was so fun to catch up again and have a local show me around the city.

Vanessa and I, 10 years since her time in Memphis!

Back in Leiden, I've been busy working on papers, presentations and game simulations. However, on Thursday we went to the International Criminal Court's (ICC) Special Court to Sierra Leone to watch the trial of Charles Taylor, ex-President of Liberia. It has been in the news recently because of new events that Naomi Campbell was given a diamond by Taylor, which would prove that he was in S. Africa buying guns for his the war on Sierra Leone. It was on ABC news recently. Check it out.

Anyway, the trial was super interesting. I did some research on Taylor before visiting. He's a really bad dude. The defense was giving their side of the case when we were there. They had called a soldier from the Liberian army to testify. The prosecution previously had called child soldiers, amputee victims and much more. It's been going on for 3 years now.


ICC Building, Den Haag
Side note: The ICC is a treaty where the majority of nations have signed, agreeing to let their nationals be tried in an international court. Currently the US is not a party to the treaty. Both Bush's could easily be brought to trial if they were. Clinton signed it and Bush Jr. 'unsigned' it.


Quick visit to the Organization for the Proliferation of Chemical Weapons, Den Haag
Photo op with all of the flags :)


That's the extent of my crazy life right now. Coming up next weekend is Queen's Day (the queen's birthday) so I'm sure I'll have plenty of stories for everyone!

xoxo,
Amy

Brussels Square Video :) Click play twice...

Reading, Writing and Travel Plans

Since I have been so busy lately, I haven't gotten out to do much sight-seeing. So instead I'll tell you a bit what I have been up to. Again, I should be working on a presentation due in six hours... but I'm sure it will all come together :)

On arriving in Leiden, we had an assignment of about 15o pages of articles, an entire book of reading and a paper. This has been the theme the past week and half, tons of reading and huge work load up front. Usually the professors give us a week or two before shoving anything significant on us, but that doesn't seem to be the case. Hopefully that will mean that finals will be less intense :) I'm still hopeful. haha

This term I'm taking a Politics of Development class focusing on aid in Africa. Our professor is South African and the assistant prof is Nigerian. It's been interesting hearing debates on whether the West should continue to give aid to the continent. My other full class is Globalization. The two compliment each other really well and are focusing on a few of the same theories and ideas, which will hopefully make studying easier. Our professor for this class is Iranian and extremely intimidating. (the presentation due in six hours... yikes!)

But all of that is boring. On top of school work I've been trying to plan my trip to in between Leiden and my next term in Bangkok and look for jobs. Stress! I've come to realize that travel agents have a very difficult job. Dealing with Visas, strange airline websites, and converting foreign currency to check each price is a class in itself! However, I'm very excited for my trip. I'm flying to Bangalore, India to visit with my cousin Brian, now Legtsok. I'm staying with him at the Buddhist monastery he's studying at. I've never been past Eastern Europe, so this idea of unknown and completely foreign really excites me. I'm ready for the challenge!

On top of being in Asia, I'm excited to learn more about Buddhism, which shouldn't be hard residing in a monastery. Last night after class we got drinks at the local pub near school, and I found myself in a conversation with my Nepalese classmate about Buddhism and his religious revolution from atheism. He was mentally putting together a book list for me to read. His stories of government corruption, children and meditation in his homeland caught my interest and make me want to see more.

After my stop in India for about 10 days, I'll be heading to Bangkok for my final term and writing a thesis. This year has flown by. Each term goes faster than the last. The next stop after that is real life. I'm hoping to get a job in Asia for a year or so after the program. That's the plan right now :)

After all this ranting, I can't not share a few pictures. Some friends and I went to Amsterdam for the day last week. Here are some of the sights from our day trip and other Dutch things.


View out my apartment window in Leiden

Flowers and rain drops

Dena and I overlooking a canal in Amsterdam

The Dutch love biking everywhere!

Street market in Amsterdam, this little car had two fiesty puppies in it!

Rembrandt Square in Amsterdam

Portuguese Road Trip

Hey Everyone!

I just returned from my last break in Europe during this program and it was gorgeous. Some friends and I decided to rent a car and drive along the Southern coast of Portugal. Flights were cheap and during the off-season, so were the food and lodging. After 2 months in dreary London, I desperately wanted sunshine!

My my classmate Steve and I flew from London to Lisbon on an early Saturday morning and met up with our friends from the Geneva campus, Roberto and Erika. I've been dating Roberto since last October when we met while I was studying in Geneva. We've stayed close since I've left Switzerland, seeing him both in London and back in Geneva. He's sweet and funny and puts picante sauce on everything! Erika is Steve's girlfriend, and she has become a good friend of mine. So the four of us decided to spend a week wandering about Portugal, trying not to get into too much trouble along the way.

The Group!

View from our apt in Lisbon

Our first two nights in Lisbon, we had booked an amazing apartment overlooking the central square of the city. After washing off the airport feeling, we started to explore the city. After walking about an hour, food became the priority and we stumbled upon a quaint little restaurant to try for lunch. We all sat down and the waitor brought out a large, raw fish on a hook, and said "I cook." Without much of an option we all agreed and took his expert advice. He started out by bringing us appetizers of fried sardines with lemon. Then came the fish, with salad and potatoes. It was honestly one of my favorite meals of the trip. So tip of advice: Listen to your waitor in Portugal. He knows best :)


We wandered around a bit more and saw the city. After visiting the grocery store, Steve, who was a cook before an IR student, made us de-constructed Paella, as Erika called it, for dinner in the apartment. Our first night out we went to the bar district of Lisbon called Barrio Alto. The tiny cobblestone streets were packed with people until 4 in the morning. It was a fun first night of being reunited with good friends.

Dinner in the apartment

Ro and I in Lisbon

The next day we headed up one of the seven hills of Lisbon to the Castle that over looks the city. We got tapas on our way up to take a breather from all the hiking. The views from the walls around the city were beautiful. While we were looking around the castle, we found a few peacocks roaming about, that came to be common in Portugal. On our way out, we saw the male spread its feathers and dance for the two females. It was absolutely stunning. (See the video below!)

One of my favorites :)

Overlooking Lisbon

Our plan was to head out Monday morning to start our road trip. The night before we had picked up our rental car and parked it outside of the apartment. When we woke up, the other cars around it had moved. I suggested we move the car soon, so as to avoid being towed. However, Roberto and Steve decided it could wait, until about 30 minutes later, the tow truck was hoisting the car up from where we left it. Roberto ran downstairs to try and convince them to not tow it. Fortunately, most of the Portuguese understand Spanish, so he talked them into lowering the car and only giving us a fine. Crisis averted. It did, however, make for a funny joke the rest of the trip.

Ro chatting with the police officers..

After the run-in with the Lisboa police, it was time to skip town and head east. We were heading to Evora, a small town inland with Roman ruins and an aqueduct. On the way there, we spotted another castle and decided to stop and check it out. We wandered around Montemor-o-novo a bit, had lunch and then headed back on the road.

View from the castle ruins

The night in Evora was raining but we still managed to find an awesome little restaurant to have dinner in. The next day we walked around the city and visited the Church, Cloisters, Roman ruins and a Bone Sanctuary. The sun was shining and a perfect day to see the sights!

Inside the Cloisters

Stopping for lunch in Serpa

From there we headed south in search of more sunshine. We ended up in Albufeira for two nights. We found a cheap apartment and spent the day on the beach! It was sunny, but still a bit chilly for swimming or laying out. So instead we built a fire around the cliffs and hiked around a bit. It was one of my favorite days out and about!

Cliffs around Albufeira close to sunset

Our next destination was the tip of Portugal. We had read about a drive along the edge of the coast line toward Sagres and the end of Europe. So we stopped listening to our GPS and followed road signs along the coast. We started in Lagos, on to Luz, Burgau, Sagres and finally the end of the continent. We drove along two lane roads, winding around cliffs and even ended up on a gravel road at one point. But the sights were unbelievable.

Stopping at an old fortress in Sagres.. Too close for comfort!

Tip of Portugal

From there we went back to Lagos to find a place to stay for the night. Definitely one of my favorite cities outside of Lisbon. We spent another two days there, putzing around and checking out the city. One day we went to the beach and relaxed. We built figures in the sand and played all day. I did yoga on the beach and loved spending time outside in the sun.

Beach in Lagos

Our week exploring was almost over, so we headed back north to Lisbon for one last night before catching flights back home. We drove through more countryside and saw small villages, cattle farms and beautiful views. The farms there had a different look about them than back home. It was fun to be able to see the country side and poke around where they haven't had much influence from tourists or outsiders. During our trip we were even stopped in the road for a herd of sheep passing over a one-lane bridge. The sheppard was driving a motorcycle with his staff in his lap.

Traffic Jam in Portugal

Country Road Sign

It was a wonderful trip, we ate well, relaxed and enjoyed a week without an agenda, phone or distractions.

More from Holland soon!

xoxo
Amy

After reading a few of my friends' blogs this morning, I am realizing how out of touch with everything I have been lately. Since getting back to London after the holidays I have done a terrible job keeping up with connections at home. So again, my apologies for lack of attention.

I can't believe it already but I only have a week left in London!! After getting back from a week in Geneva for a Humanitarian Conference, I had to scramble to finish a paper comparing Hillary Clinton and Margaret Thatcher's political satire. Hopefully I don't sound like too much of a feminist!

Right now all I really want to do is slow down time. Knowing that the real world awaits next July is coming all too quickly. I've been considering staying abroad for a while after this program to get some international work experience and put off the perils of job searching in the States. Any suggestions?

But enough ranting, let me catch you up on recent activities over here :)
London has been full of cultural experiences and good food. I have come to love Indian food, and I think my stomach has finally become accustomed to spice. London is one of the most diverse cities in the world, I believe I've heard that 50% aren't Londoners. (don't quote me on that) The East side of the city is where immigrants enter(ed) into the city, and today the area is full of restaurants from the Far East to the Middle East, markets selling rugs, electronics and olives. I have really come to love this area.

Olive Bar in the market near Brick Lane

Inside the Novello Theatre, showing Cat On a Hot Tin Roof
I got James Earl Jones' signature this night!!

The Girls and I going for High Tea one weekend... One tradition that I could get used to!

Dena and I at QPR v. Ispwitch Football (soccer) Match
GOOOOAAALLLLL!!
I was really hoping to see some houliganism but just some angry booing the General Manager. Maybe next time :)

I have also gone to a few plays and visited a few galleries. A few weeks ago I found out that the Gagosian Gallery in London was having an opening right around the corner from my flat. I drug my friend Steve along and I felt a part of the art crowd again :)

For our class Humanitarian Issues, we got to attend the Humanitarian Conference in Geneva (aka an excuse to see my old friends in Geneva!) The conference was two days of speakers, discussing access to resources. In between all of that was a fondue dinner, visiting our old Cafe de la Presse, and wine and cheese by Lake Geneva. It was really fun being back in Les Berges and visiting with the people I got so close to in Geneva.

Humanitarian Conference at Webster Geneva

A Sunday afternoon by the Lake :)

I'll leave you with this and get back to studying Comparative Politics and writing about Culture and Development. (exciting stuff!) And I'll try and be better with my blog writing. :)

Salud!

xoxo
Amy

Catching Up!

Hi Everyone!

So I know I've been absolutely terrible about blogging lately. I'm surprised they haven't kicked me off of here for lack of attention. But I'm back. Fear not :) I guess I should start out by catching everyone up on what I've been up to the past few weeks...

I left Geneva quite sad to leave some of the good friends I'd become close to, heading home for the holidays to spend with the family. It was wonderful and relaxing. Played lots of cards, monopoly and even played in the snow, for as long as I could manage before being froze out. My mother and I cooked a lot and everyone ate A LOT. Over-indulgence is the name of the season.

Family Pic
Playing Pitch at Uncle Doug's on Christmas
Grandpa Jeep and I dominated the game...

I headed to St. Louis for a few days to meet up with friends. Spent a few days with my old roommates in Soulard and a few more with friends from SLU. We all spent NYE together in Benton Park at Frazer's, a really cute little bar near the brewery with free apps and a midnight toast. I loved having everyone together :) Bridget and I even went to the art museums I worked at and saw quite a few friends and good art.

Missing these two!! Lindsey, Bridget and I

Me and some of my StL boys :)

I came back to Europe a few days early to fly to Madrid for the weekend to meet up with a High School friend, Jennifer Crawford. She had found a cheap flight and wanted to meet me there. I obviously had no problem with this as I had spent six months there in my undergrad and had always wanted to revisit the city. So after my terrible luck with traveling, I finally made it to Madrid about 3 days after I'd started. (Apparently Londoners can't handle 3 inches of snow on the runway... I would like to have seen how Chicago could have handled it, not biased at all :)

But Madrid was absolutely amazing. Jennifer and I ate tapas and Spanish Tortilla, drank Sangria, stayed out late, saw Flamenco and lots of art. It was exactly how I like to spend my vacations. :) It was so fun to be back in the city where I had first experienced life abroad.

Some Views of Madrid, Mi Amor :)

Street and Sky view outside the Museo del Prado

Jennifer and I at the Flamenco show :)

Spanish Flamenco Dancer

Tortilla Espanol, Jennifer and I were on a mission to find the best, meaning we tried it in every place we visited :)

Richard Serra and I in the Reina Sofia Museo

Plaza Mayor

I recently read a quote by British critic, GK Chesterton, that I think describes accurately some of my own feelings of being abroad... "Foreign travel is not so much to set foot overseas as to see one's own country as a foreign land."

Just some food for thought :)

Cheers from London!!

xoxo
Amy Jo

Happiness

"Happiness is the consequence of personal effort. You fight for it, strive for it, insist upon it, and sometimes even travel around the world looking for it." -- Elizabeth Gilbert, "Eat, Pray, Love"

I love this quote.

The other night, taking a break from studying and paper writing, some friends and I went to watch a futbol game at an Italian restaurant around the corner. We met our Italian friend Tomasso and two guys from Jordan and Bahrain.

Walking into the place, the Italian owners were taking shot of tequila and having a great time. After the games were over, a Venezuelan woman bartender sat down with her guitar and played music for us. She had the most amazing voice ever. She switched in and out of French, Spanish and Italian, with a few English words in there as well. She was a little shy after having 4 shots of tequila but I couldn't tell. It was unbelievable.

The men were so proud of her. Her daughter was also a singer and they played us her cd on the stereo system. I could just imagine how she would have felt.

Happiness :)

xoxo,
A

Thanksgiving and PARIS!!

(I apologize for being a little behind on my posts, busy busy with school. Finals are next week already!)

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone in the States!! I was definitely jealous last Thursday thinking of everyone at home being together and having delicious meals of turkey and pies! Obviously, thanksgiving isn't celebrated in Switzerland, so I sat through my Middle East class instead. However, our advisor did invite us to lunch and made an amazing homemade Pumpkin Pie! After class I had a skype date with my whole family that I was looking forward to all day :) I even got to talk to my Grandpa, I think he was pretty amazed that he could actually see me from so far away! Everyone sat around the computer while we chatted. It was so nice to see everyone!

The next morning I had to get up early to catch a flight to PARIS for the weekend. I once again almost slept through my alarm and had to be woken up. Good thing I have such good friends! But Megan, a classmate of mine, and I made it just as the plane was boarding without any problems. We had planned this trip as a Viennese family reunion with my roommate and neighbor from Vienna.

We got to Paris early on Friday and made it to a Marina's friend Kristen's apartment in the 7th District. It's about a block from the Seine, a gorgeous apartment! That afternoon, we walked a few blocks to the Eiffel Tower and we climbed the 700 stairs to the top!! We couldn't go all the way to the top on that day because it was closed the view was amazing! It was sunny and not too cloudy.




We walked down to the Arc de Triumph and along the Champs Elysees toward a Christmas market. They had stands along both sides of the street selling candy, crepes and Christmas ornaments. It was picture perfect. :)



The next day we got up and went to lunch as a sushi place that a friend in the group's cousin owned. Afterward we walked to the Louvre and Megan and I decided to go to the Musee Rodin.


That evening we met up with two of Megan's friends for dinner in Montmarte, the old artist's quarter where Picasso, Giacometti and Hemingway all hung out in the first half of the 20th century. I was in heaven :)

We met up with our group of host and roommates for the weekend at their friend's house on Rue de Bac in the 8th district. Super nice area. The apartment was unbelievable. From the balcony you could see Andy Warhol's old studio. The man that bought it keeps the light on constantly, apparently wants to be like Andy too.

The next day the group walked around the Jewish quarter called Marais and had falafels. Marina and her friends are all from Dubai, UAE so they were craving some Arab food. The line was a little long but definitely worth the wait.

After walking around Marais and then walked toward the Pompidou Centre, a large modern art museum that I visited a few years ago, for crepes and cafe at happy hour prices. By this time it was dark, so we walked toward Notre Dame Cathedral to see it by night.

Inside they were having Mass in French. The cathedral is stunning.


Our host and tourguide for the weekend, Kristen, was a master at the Paris subways and took us up to Montmarte to see the lights at night. The touristy Moulin Rouge is there. There was also a lights show on the Eiffel Tower which we climbed the top of some steps to see that evening.

After that the group went to smoke Sheesha and have hot tea in a little sheesha bar, another Arab tradition. In the states it's called Hookah, the Hebrew word for it.

The next morning Marina and Aldina and I got up to check out the Cemetery that is home to Gertrude Stein, Oscar Wilde, Jim Morrison, Pissaro and lots of other artists and people in history. It was a gloomy day but gorgeous. We walked around and found a few of our favorites.


Oscar Wilde's tombstone, it's a French tradition for girls coming of age to kiss the grave of an influential historical person in their lives. Mr. Wilde is a popular one.

After that we met Kristen at Le Sacre Couer, which overlooks the entire city of Paris. We went on a walking tour of Montmarte and found the square where artists work and sell their work from little stands. We saw the original Moulin Rouge were Lautrec, an artist I love used to hang out and do work from inside the bar. Walking through the city is incredible. I wish everyone could have the experience. :)


The trip was amazing, full of sight-seeing and friends.

xoxo,
Amy