Wandering in Circles

Procrastination

2007-12-01T06:32:00.000-08:00

In exactly one week, I will be somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean. But there's a lot between now and then.

But first the news... (that's for you NPR lovers out there)

Last weekend I went to visit Marisa in London. What an amazing city!! There's so much to do, you would never have to leave in search of new adventures. It was so refreshing for everything to be in English. Like I could pick up a left newspaper on the Tube and be able to read it!!! And it's so much easier to make new random friends when there is no language barrier. We did some of the major sights, but we also did a lot of just wandering. Check out my pictures for all the things we did...I don't have enough time to do a play by play today :(

The reason I don't have too much time is due to the mounds of studying in front of me. Since I've returned from London all I've done is work. I finished my internship on Wednesday. I can't believe I had been there for 3 months. I'm definitely sad to leave Parliament and all its quirks and perks. Thursday was my last class, and now its papers and finals. My economics paper was due yesterday, Law is due Monday, and the Economics and Law exams are on Monday. Tuesday my Parliament paper is due, but that's pretty much done.

So I have about 48 hours of hell in front of me, but then I'm home free till I leave on Saturday :) Wish me luck!

Never a dull moment

2007-11-17T15:40:00.000-08:00

Things are always an adventure around here…

The week after Italy, it was back to reality. We had classes and work and the usual. On Thursday afternoon, I took the Thalys train to Paris to meet Ben! It was soooo good to see him after two months apart. That train ride was the longest hour and a half of my life! We stayed at the Hilton next to le Tour Eiffel which was a fantastic location. On Thursday night, we went up to the top of the tower for the amaaaaazing view. You can see all of Paris from up there. Ben was feeling pretty jet lagged, so after the tower, we found some dinner close to the hotel and then headed to bed.

Friday was the only full day we had, so I made Ben walk a looong way. We started the morning with crepes in the San Michel area and then checked out Notre Dame. The church is absolutely beautiful. From there we walked to the Louvre, through the Tuileries Gardins, to le Place de la Concord, up the Champs-Elysees, to le Arc de Triomphe. From there, we went back to the hotel for a bit, and then headed to the Louvre for the free entrance on Friday night for students. The museum is sooooo huge. The Mona Lisa is not nearly as impressive as the hype leads you to believe, but the museum was good. After that, we headed out to dinner in San Michel, which was quite tasty. And then it was time for bed.

Saturday morning, we headed out to Musee d’Orsay. It was better than the Louvre. The Impressionists were really neat to see in person: Van Gogh, Monet, Renoir, Cezanne, and all the others. After that, we took a train from Paris to Brussels.

It was about that time when Ben really started to feel crappy. By the time we got to our hotel in Brussels, he was pretty done. So we spent the rest of the day at the hotel, and I got to play nurse. Sunday, he was still not feeling good, although we did go out for a little while and see Grand Place and Manneken Pis. Monday morning came, and Ben wasn’t well enough to fly. So after some wrangling, he changed his flight to Saturday and I was able to get a room for him at the Institute. I had to go meet my class at the Turkish Mission to the EU, so Ben was on his own to get from Brussels to Leuven, but he made it alright.

So Ben spent Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday in bed in Leuven, while I had class and work. On Wednesday he went to see a doctor who wouldn’t prescribe him antibiotics at first, but finally did on Thursday when he was feeling worse. So Friday he finally started to feel better…just in time to head out today.

So it’s been a long two weeks, but good in the end. Now its time to buckle down and write my 3 papers and study for finals! About that…

I'm moving to Italy!

2007-11-08T14:50:00.000-08:00

So I wrote this a week ago, but the internet at the Institute has been down for the last week...pretend its last Monday or so :)

What a week!! Rome was fantastic, warm, and beautiful. We (Allison, Erin, Carlin, Jenn, and I) left Leuven on Saturday and arrived in Rome in time for dinner. Unfortunately, Allison’s wallet was stolen shortly upon arrival at the train station. So after filing a police report and canceling everything, we headed in from the airport. Our hotel, Hotel Welrome, was adorable and as much as we could ask for at the price. The owners were incredibly helpful and very knowledgeable about Rome. By that time, it was getting late, so we grabbed a cheap and delicious dinner next door and headed to bed. We were getting up early the next morning to go to the Vatican Museums.

On the last Sunday of the month, the Vatican Museums are open half a day for free….soooo when we got there at 8am (an hour before the opening) the line was already down the street, around the corner, down another street, around another corner, down another street, around a corner, annnnd down one more street. Needless to say, it was pointless to wait in line because it would have been closed by the time we got to the door. So we went into St. Peter’s Square and watched part of the mass that was going on. After that we went wandering through Rome. We first walked toward St. Angelo’s Castle which was huge, then across the river and to Piazza Navona where we had lunch at Tre Scalini with amaaaazing tartufo for dessert. After lunch we headed to the Roman Forum and the Colosseum. We walked up the Palatine Hill which had all sorts of interesting ruins and a beautiful garden. Then we took a guided tour of the Coliseum, which is huge! (It reminded me of the old Municipal Stadium in Cleveland.) It’s crazy to think how many people died there…and mostly for sport. After that we came home to get ready for dinner and went to a place near Piazza del Popolo. From there we went to the Trevi Fountain to see it at night and get gelato. By the end of all that and looooots of walking, it was time to call it a night.

On Monday we headed to the Vatican Museums again, and this time the line was much shorter. We waited about an hour after the opening to get in. We wandered through the museums looking at the Gallery of Maps, the Gallery of Tapestries, Raphael’s Stanze (including “the School of Athens”), and finally to the Sistine Chapel. The artwork is absolutely amazing, but it doesn’t really feel like a sacred place anymore with all the tourists wandering through the whole thing. After the museums we lunched, took a quick detour to the American Embassy (a copy of Allison’s passport was in her wallet), went back to the Trevi to take pictures in the daylight, and headed back to the hotel. We had dinner next door again because we had another early morning for our bus tour.

So Tuesday morning, the bus company came to get us at 630am, and then we headed out to Naples. We got a quick tour of Naples by bus and then went to Pompeii. The ruins are amazing. When Mt. Vesuvius erupted the ash preserved the entire city practically perfectly. The houses are still standing with fountains, frescos, mosaics, and pillars. And the city was huge! I’m glad we had a guide or I probably would have been so lost in there. We also got to see the plaster casts they made when they found hollow spots in the ash. Sometimes these spots turned out to be where humans and animals had been trapped and killed. The resulting casts are sad, but interesting. After Pompeii, the five of us got into a mini-bus to take us to Sorrento for the night. What a ride. The roads are barely wide enough for two cars, and they twist and turn while hugging the coast line. I thought we were about to die every time we rounded another bend. But we got there safe and sound, and our hotel was amazing. We had a TV (with English channels, gasp!), a balcony with an amazing view, and tons of space. Dinner that night was a really good four course meal at the hotel dining room. Afterwards, Carlin and I ventured down into town for a few drinks. The people watching was fantastic and so were the wide array of olives, nuts, and cookies that came with our drinks.

The next morning we were picked up bright and early yet again to go to the harbor and catch the ferry to Capri. The boat ride was only about 20 minutes, but it was beautiful. I forget how much I miss the water until I’m near it again. Once on the island, we found out that we would be able to see the Blue Grotto. To do so, we got into small motor boats that towed 2 row boats. Once we got to the entrance we had to transfer to the rowboats and lay in the bottom of them. Why? Because the entrance to the Grotto is only about 3 ½ feet high and that’s the only way to fit. Our guide skillfully rowed us through the entrance into the pitch black. But as he spun the boat around you could see the neon blue water. They say it looks like that because there are larger openings under the entrance that let in sunlight which reflects off the white limestone bottom and then the water refracts out all the red light. The effect is eerie but soooo cool. I’m glad the weather allowed us to do that! After we got back to shore, our guide Marco took us on a walking tour of the town of Capri and showed us the gardens on the island. It is absolutely beautiful there. I can see why it is the stars’ playground. The sun is bright, the water blue, and the island beautiful. After that we drove up another crazy road to Anacapri at the top of the island. There, we had lunch and did some shopping. From there we drove back down to the harbor, rode back to Sorrento, got our bags, headed back to Pompeii, and then back to Rome. Talk about an action adventure packed two days!!

Thursday we were able to sleep in a bit (relatively). In the morning it was raining, so we took a bus to the Pantheon, but they closed it for worship service right as we got there. We wandered around the area to kill some time and went to another church that has a Michelangelo sculpture. From there we took a bus to the Burghese Gallery to see the best art museum I’ve ever been to. The collection houses many of Bernini’s most famous sculptures including Apollo and Daphne (my favorite). I could have spent hours in there, but they only let you stay for two. After that, I booked it over to Saint Peter’s Basilica because that was the last thing I had to do. Amazing. The place is soooo huge. There really are no words. After that, it was back to the hotel to get ready for dinner and our pub crawl which was awesome. We had great food, a jerk waiter, and then hit the bars. Such a good end to a good trip.

Friday it was back to Leuven and time for LOTS of sleeping!!

the land of fountains and chocolate :)

2007-10-19T20:00:00.000-07:00

So first let me apologize for stinking at this updating game...but this time it wasn't just laziness. I had a midterm on Thursday that I was studying my butt off for. Promise :)

Last weekend, Jim, Dayna, Carlin, and I ventured off to Geneva, Switzerland. What a fantastic city...I'm ready to find a job with the UN and just move there. I think we tried to do just about everything and succeeded. We stayed at City Hostel near the train station, which was really nice. After getting in on Friday mid-morning, we went off to find Lake Geneva and le jet d'eau. So beautiful...and you can see the jet from just about everywhere. After lunch, we wandered up Rue France toward the Place de Nations to see the Landmine Chair...annnd play in our first fountain of the weekend. We also saw the UNHCR monument to people lost in their missions, stumbled upon the World Intellectual Property Organization, which had beautiful grounds (and more fountains), and the Ariana Museum of Ceramics and Glass (also had a fountain). Then we headed up to Old Town, which is absolutely adorable. Because of the way Geneva is set into a hill the roads are narrow and all over the place. So we wondered for a bit and discovered the Reformation Wall as well as the life-sized checker/chess boards on le Promenade des Bastions. Jim and I played a game of checkers with the help of a crazy Swiss man. That night we headed to the Paquis Bath for fondue on a jette in the lake for dinner. Soooo delicious and the best view. We ended the evening at Lord Jims Pub.

Saturday, we got up and went watch shopping. (What else would you do in Switzerland!?) Jim and I both bought Tissot watches :) After that, we went to St. Pierre's Cathedral and climbed the towers there. Absolutely amazing. You could see forever. Then we went down to the archaeological dig that is underneath the cathedral. It was preserved for display really well and was very interesting. The site was religiously important since before the Roman Empire. After that, we took a boat ride (for free with our complementary transit passes) across the lake toward the hostel for lunch. After lunch, we rode the 8 bus to the end and crossed the boarder into France to go up a cable car to Mont Seleve. The view from the top was again amazing (you could still see the jet d'eau), and fall was everywhere. We also got to see some guys para-gliding which was cool. After that we returned for a brief nap and then headed to a Swiss restaurant for dinner, which was delicious. We returned to Lord Jim's to watch the end of the France v England rugby match, which England miraculously won. That night, we wandered along Lake Geneva with a bottle of wine and just enjoyed the atmosphere.

Sunday, we headed back up toward the UN and went to the Red Cross/Red Crescent museum. The museum was really good and eye opening. After that we went back to the lake to find lunch and found a festival of some sort going on. We were able to get a really good sausage for lunch for only 6 francs! After that, we went to the UN which was by far my favorite part (of course). The tour was really good, and while we were in le Palais de Nations we could see Mont Blanc waaaaaaaaaaay off in the distance. The hall in the original League of Nations building was so ornate and beautiful, and the gifts from all the member states were interesting. After our tour, we went back to the lake for one last boat ride and then it was off to the airport to go home.

I really liked Geneva and the whole atmosphere there. I definitely wouldn't complain if I could get a UN job there.

This week was good too. I worked both days (go figure!) and got some guidance on the briefing note that I'm writing. We had the Law midterm on Thursday, which I studied intensely for. But I think it went well. Next and last is the Econ one on Monday. Wish me luck.... I'm in Leuven this weekend though, so I have no excuse to not study...

That's it for this week!!

2007-10-11T16:38:00.000-07:00

hmm...what to say...I know it's Thursday already again, but sometimes I just can't make myself sit down and type.

The last week and a half have been pretty routine...Classes and back to my internship last week and this week (well sort of, but more on that in a minute).

Last week, I was still coughing, so the sent me home at noon on Tuesday. But that day I found some cough syrup so I was able to go in on Wednesday. Gundars outlined what they see me doing in my time there, which is more research and writing the background for a report to the Environmental Committee. So while I'm not excited that I get to spend my days mostly in front of a computer, I am excited that what I'm working on will eventually be presented and used in the European Parliament.

Over the weekend, I had no set plans so Liz and I went to Brugge for Saturday. It was such a cute city. (Once again, check out the pictures.) It seemed everywhere we turned there were lace and chocolate shops. The city is criss-crossed with canals, so we took a boat ride which was sooo nice. We also toured the Choco-story chocolate museum and visited Michelangelo's Madonna and Child which is in the biggest cathedral in Brugge. It's one of the few of his statues that left Italy in his lifetime. And it is absolutely beautiful. It's so amazing that stone can be carved into something so intricate, detailed, and life-like. We also saw their Markt and Burg.

This week we had our History midterm on Monday, so I had spent most of Sunday studying. It went alright, but we probably won't get grades until after break Dr. Malone said. On Monday, Chris from my internship called and told me that I didn't need to come in on Tuesday because both she and Gundars were ill. I actually still went in and sat in on some meetings that interested me, including an exchange of views with the Armenian Foreign Minister. After lunch, I wandered around Brussels to some of the areas I hadn't seen yet. So just kind of a relaxing day. I didn't get another phone call from Chris, so I assumed that I was going in on Wednesday. So when I got there it looked like no one had been in since last week. I waited for awhile, then called Chris to make sure I was supposed to be there, and she said yes, Gundars would be in. So I waited...and waited...and waited. No Gundars. It was lunchtime by that time, so I left a note with my cell number and told him I was going to lunch and then to watch Plenary. I never received a call, and I left right from Plenary at 6pm. Soooo I'm assuming he never came in either. But oh well at that point. And I had wanted to watch Plenary because it's the only one held in Brussels while we are there. It was interesting at first and then just turned into everyone stating the same position over and over again for two hours. And they really didn't get to the item on the agenda that I had wanted to hear. But it was a good thing to hear.

And that brings us to today. We had Law this morning and then Margaret called a History class for this afternoon since SHE had canceled one earlier...grr. It's not my fault she couldn't make it before! I don't appreciate being told only a half hour before class that we are having it, and it is not fair that some people had already left for the weekend. I don't approve.

This weekend we are headed to Geneva! Check back for that tale and more pictures :)

Rain, rain go away...

2007-10-02T09:20:00.000-07:00

So apparently I have fans clamoring for an update...this one's for you Laura...haha.

The weeks in Leuven are usually pretty quiet. We had class on Monday and Thursday, and a makeup Econ class on Friday. I didn't intern because it was plenary week for Parliament, so everyone was in Strasbourg. Classes are going fine...midterms start next week, which is kind of scary. I'm glad our Econ professor is back from his conferences...he's hilarious and I'm really liking economics more and more (as long as I don't have to do the calculus behind the graphs).

After I came back from Dublin, I got a pretty nasty head cold, so that made this weekend pretty relaxing too as I tried to recuperate. I'm almost better now (all that's left is a pain in the ass cough). So on Friday and Sunday, I stayed in Leuven and worked on research for work. My roommates were also in Paris for the weekend, so I got to enjoy some space and peace and quiet.

But on Saturday, Carlin, Liz and I used our GoPasses and headed to Antwerp, the diamond capital of the world, about an hour away by train. Unfortunately, the rain never really let up like it was supposed to, so it was a rather soggy trip. It was still really pretty there though. We saw the Cathedral of Our Lady which is home to many of Peter Paul Rubens' famous paintings. The cathedral itself is magnificent as well. I don't really understand the whole Catholic faith, but they sure good at building enormous, gorgeous churches. After the cathedral, we wandered around their Grote Markt, admired the really cool fountain in the middle, headed down toward the Scheldt River, and then wandered through the very very extensive shopping district (both affordable and not so affordable sections). It was a really nice city, and maybe one day when it's not raining, I'll get a chance to go back and appreciate it even more.

That's all for this weeks adventures, please tune in next time for more :)

South of the River Liffey

2007-09-25T09:40:00.000-07:00

Last week was pretty slow around Leuven. My one class on Monday was canceled, so I just had Law on Thursday. I really like the law class even though most don't. He's not that energetic of a teacher, but he loves what he's doing and is in the middle of it all, so it's interesting. Tuesday and Wednesday I didn't have to go into work because of an Alliance of Liberals and Democrats in Europe (ALDE) party meeting in Barcelona that the assistants and my MEP were at. I've been researching "environmental refugees" from home though.

The weekend was fantastic though. Six of us (Seda, Caitlin, Jen, Allison, Bridget, and I) went to Dublin, Ireland for Friday to Monday. Getting to the airport in Charleroi (where Ryan Air flies out of) was an expensive adventure. Our flight was at 9:30am, so we left around 6 to give ourselves lots of time. Except for the fact that every train we were trying to catch was late. So we got to Brussels-Midi and had to take a cab to Charleroi, which is about a 40 minute car ride. 100 euros later, we got to the airport with time to spare. After buying a train ticket we didn't use and paying for a cab, it would have been the same price to take the more expensive flight from Brussels. But alas, you live and learn. Once we got to Dublin everything got better. We took a bus in from the airport and found our hostel, The Four Courts. It was really nice and in a great location (near the Temple Bar area and Christ's Church). We got rid of our stuff, got a hop-on/hop-off bus tour ticket, and went riding around the city to get our bearings. The bus was nice because it takes you by all the sights and lets you see everything without a ton of walking. We got of the bus near Trinity College and went to see the Book of Kells. Jen, Bridget, Allison, and I were waiting to meet up with Seda and Caitlin when they announced the museum was closing soon and we could go in for free if we wanted. So although it was a little bit rushed, we were able to see the manuscript and also Long Hall with 100,000 of Trinity's oldest books. We explored Trinity a little bit and watched some boys play rugby ;), then went and found dinner. Food is so expensive there....but that seems to be the trend in all of Europe. That night was the Ireland/France game for the World Rugby Cup, so we found a pub and a pint and unfortunately watched Ireland get crushed. We went out for a bit after the game, but called it a pretty early night since we had been up since 5:30 am.

Saturday, we got up and went out to the National Museum of Modern Art on the old Royal Hospital Grounds. I'm not much for art, but some of the exhibits were pretty cool. One was a lot of multimedia things which was neat. After that, we went to the Guinness Storehouse for a tour. Although it doesn't go through the actual brewery it was interesting. They had sections on what beer is made of and how it's made. The upper floors had exhibits on Guinness advertising through the years, which was neat to look at commercials from the 60s and 70s. The top floor of the building is glass enclosed and that's where you get your "complimentary pint" and an amazing view. You could see all the way out to the ocean and all of the city. The weather while we were there was pretty good, so the view was even better. After that, we went to find some food and walk around. Caitlin and Seda had been staying with Caitlin's family, so we met up with some of the boys and they took us out for the night. What a good time. We were out way too late, but it was well worth it. It was cool to be outside of the touristy areas as well.

Sunday, we rolled out of bed and went shopping for the afternoon. Grafton Street has more people and stores that I have ever seen before. After that we took a nap, found some dinner, went out to the Temple Bar area for just a little bit and called it an early night. We got up the next morning at 3:15 am to get to the airport for our 6:30am flight. Once back in Charleroi, we had to take a bus, a train, another train, and then walk 20 minutes to get home. Guess that teaches us to try to do something cheaply.

We got back just in time for class on Monday, and I haven't had to work yesterday or today. I went in yesterday to pick up my security pass, and decided to take the "tourist" tour of Parliament. Waste of time....but it was free, so oh well.

I think thats it for the last week. See you all later.

Too old or too young...

2007-09-16T04:45:00.000-07:00

Luxembourg City is so beautiful. The city is fairly small but divided by a valley that is all green. The river at the bottom is no more than a trickle anymore, but the valley was gorgeous to walk around in and enjoy the finally sunny weather. I put up some pictures of our adventure. The shopping was supposed to be good, but it wasn't anything too remarkable in my eyes. We spent the night there in a cute little hotel that was probably cheaper than a hostel would have been. It had beautiful stained glass windows and the nicest old man running the front desk. We attempted to go out for bit Friday night, but the crowds were either 40 years old or 16 (bankers or their kids). So that made for a quiet night. But all in all it was a nice trip. Definitely check out the pictures :)

2007-09-11T12:53:00.000-07:00

So just an overall view of where I am and what I'm doing. I'm here in Leuven, Beglium for 3 months studying the European Union. The town is about 20 miles from Brussels and is the home of the Louvain Institute for Ireland in Europe, an old Irish college founded here in the early 1600s. Oh, and it's also the home of Stella Artois. :)

So I've been here for a week and a few days, and I'm finally beginning to feel at home. So here's a run down of the last week or so:

1-2 September: Our flight was two hours delayed but once we finally got into Brussels, we hopped a cab to Leuven. We got to the institute and checked in. I'm rooming with two other girls from NU. Our room is nice, but just one big room with a bathroom. See pictures :) We took a nap and then explored the town. It's incredibly old and beautiful here. The Catholic University here was founded in the 15th century and the town is older than dirt. The town hall is a beautiful Gothic building. And there's tons of bars, restaurants and shops. Oh and lots of chocolate and waffles and beer. Don't worry, I've tried all three.

3-7 September: Lectures started bright and early Monday with a brief orientation and a walking tour of Leuven. Classes themselves began Tuesday with three 2 1/2 hour classes basically back to back. Luckily we only have each class once a week so the long sessions are bearable. I'm going to be taking History and Development of the EU, European Law, and Economics of European Integration. The History class is taught by our program director here at the Institute, Law by a lawyer with his LLM from Harvard, and Economics by grad student at KU (the Catholic University) from Benin.

On Friday we had to go register our visa's with the town hall, which was an adventure. We had to be entered into the system, then to police are supposed to come to our residence to see that we are living there, and then we have to go back to the town hall again with a bunch of paperwork. What a process...and we really didn't even need the visa, it turns out. We're the only group here that has them. Thanks for the goof goes to our study abroad office at Northeastern.

Last weekend, we decided to catch up on some much needed sleep between the lingering jet lag and busy class schedule. Saturday was a good day to wander around Leuven and explore where we are a bit more. On Sunday we ventured into Brussels for the afternoon. The train ride is only 25 minutes, so it's really convenient. We didn't have anyone with us that had been there before so we wandered around using our guidebook as best we could. We had mussels in Brussels, and we saw the Cathedral of St. Michel, Le Grand Place, Manneken Pis (the little boy peeing statue), le Place Royale, le Palais Royal, le Parc de Bruxelles, le Parc du Cinquantenaire, and the EU buildings. Everything is just so old that it's hard to comprehend. The buildings in le Grand Place are so ornamented and beautiful, and Manneken Pis is way smaller than you might think. Unfortunately he wasn't dressed up that day. The EU buildings are sort of interesting because they are so new and shiny compared to the rest of the city. I in all my brilliance forgot to take a camera that day, but since I'm interning there I'll get pictures some other day :). After walking for about four hours, we dragged ourselves back to Leuven for the night.

This week I started my internship with Member of European Parliament Professor Georgs Andrejevs from Latvia. I haven't seen much of him in the two days I was in, but his assistants Gundars and Chris are fantastic. The job itself leaves quite a bit to be desired after the first two days, but hopefully it will get better. I spent about 14 hours in front of a computer researching environmental refugees. For the next two weeks I don't have to go in because there is a party meeting in Barcelona and then its plenary week in Strasbourg. But they asked me to write a summary of the evolution of the term "environmental refugees" and the sides of the debate over whether or not they exist. Luckily I can probably use this for my paper topic too so I can kill two birds with one stone. But I would like to sit in on committee meetings and things like that, so hopefully they will give me the chance to do so. I might go in sometime in the next to weeks to do that since I'm not expected to be anywhere.

Monday and today have been class days. Tomorrow we start our trips :) We are headed to Luxembourg for Friday and Saturday. I'll fill you all in on how that goes when I get the chance.

Tot ziens!