Goodbyes

So, this semester has come to an end. It has been one filled with new people and new experiences! Spending the past semester in Washington D.C. has been fantastic and a wonderful change from the small college town I am use to. I have definitely learned a lot for this semester. Here are some of my favorite moments this past semester.

Favorite moment number one, meeting with so many different individuals who had different perspectives then my own was a great experience this semester; also well as being able to have academic conversations with them.

Favorite moment number two would be sitting on a grassy field in the sun surrounded by all the noise of the city.

Favorite number three would be going out in the capitol at night and experiencing the night life!

Favorite number four going out to eat to some many different places and eat so much wonderful food as well as getting to write blogs about them!

Final favorite moment would be the FDR memorial; it is one of the best monuments/memorial I have been to. I highly recommend going to visiting it, because it is one of the best I have been to. It is a bit hidden away, which is a shame because I think people overlook it. My favorite parts of the FDR memorial are the quote throughout the memorial.

But, now my time is over here in DC at American and it is time to go home. I hope that everyone gets the chance to visit this nation’s capital because it is honestly a great city and has a lot to offer!

Devotion

Today one of my mates presented on the Mennonite approach to peace. I really do not know a lot about the Mennonite faith so it was very interesting to learn more. There are similarities I believe in the Quaker faith. What was even better was we had a speaker come in who is a practicing Mennonite and certified mediator. He practices mediation and also serves as a mediator of issues within the congregation.

The approach of the Mennonites, from what understood, was a large support of nonviolence. They do not agree with military service because they preach nonviolence. Many did not serve in World War I and were imprisoned for it. When World War II and the Vietnam War came around the United States had implemented other options when drafter than military service. This other option than military service led many Mennonites to be working in metal institutions. The work which the Mennonites did in the mental institutions led to a push from the Mennonite community for reforms to be made to metal institutions. I found this very impressive since the conditions of the mental institutions were so deplorable at the time.

In the Mennonite faith there is such a large idea of passivism; which is one of the main pillars of the Mennonite faith. But there are many different denominations of Mennonites in the United States 28 to be exact and not all of them follow the idea of passivism in addressing the issues within their congregation. For instance the individual who spoke with us, his congregation follows a more aggressive track part of passive aggressive. His congregation addresses issues right out in the open rather than talking about it secretly and letting an issue fester. I think this may be a better choice.

For our speaker I got the sense that there is this ability to really follow your faith and your belief even if it is not the norm of society. I just always find faith so fascinating because people who have a faith are so devoted to what they believe most of the time and do not question it. I always find it so impressive to believe in something so much.

Coming to an End

The other day was the last day of my internship. Something I was not even expecting was the cake and goodbye party we received. One of my supervisors came in half way through the day and wanted to make sure we were available for a meeting at the end of the day. We all said yes, that we were free. Upon entering the board room our supervisors were all on one side of the table after taking our seats on the other side of the table one of the supervisors brought around a carrot cake and cards for all of us. The carrot cake was quite good and the cards were very sweet and had a pre-paid gift card inside of them! Which I thought was so thoughtful and something which they really did not have to do.

Looking back on my internship experience I would say it was a very good one. I really enjoyed the experience I had at TransAfrica Forum. I really learned a lot from my internship especially in regards to Haiti. When I first started I knew nothing about Latin America or Haiti but after this internship I had a wealth of knowledge. That is something great about taking an internship you get to learn so many new things but you get to learn even more when you take an internship on something you have no experience with you get to learn even more. That is something so wonderful about this semester how much I learned. It was great to have a good response from my internship since they said how happy they would to have me come back and intern with them again. It was also great to feel appreciated at my internship unlike the stereotypical ideal of being an intern.

It was also great to get to know the inner workings of a non-government organization. With how much everyone has to do, as well as how many different roles one has to play in a NGO. It really has been a great semester where I was able to learn so much.

Foodies back in DC

It has been quite some time since I did a food blog for DC, so here one is!

A great place to go for a quick breakfast, lunch, dinner or dessert is Crepe’s A Gogo. It is around the Dupont Circle area. This place only serves crepes, but not only the dessert crepes they also serve ones filled with tons of other things such as grilled chicken with pesto, and tomatoes. I would suggest the grilled chicken one with pesto on a whole wheat crepe (which is a wonderful option to have!) The grilled chicken is fantastic with a perfect amount of pesto that was not overwhelming. For the dessert ones there are so many choice I do not know which one is best. I would recommend the banana and strawberry with Nutella, it is wonderful! But the ones without nutella are just as fantastic because sometimes the nutella makes it too sweet since they pack a lot in there! I suggest if you go with someone you should split with them so that you can one, try more and two, they are really filling so getting half of each is great!

The second place which I would recommend going is a frozen yogurt place in Bethesda. I cannot remember the name of the place but it some of the best frozen yogurt I have ever had! All the flavors are very good but the best flavor, in my opinion, is mango. It actually takes just like real mangos have been mashed up into frozen deliciousness! Then all the wonderful toppings you can add to your frozen yogurt, my personal favorites would be the addition of fresh strawberries, blackberries, and just a scoop of mini chocolate chips. Now, the reason why I am so blown away by this frozen yogurt place is because in Vermont we do not have just frozen yogurt place, we have Ben & Jerry’s because it is originally from Vermont. I mean of course Ben & Jerry’s serves frozen yogurt but nothing like this place!

Unknown Disparity

A group of student from my class did a presentation on DC disparity. Something which this presentation did for me was reminding me how passionate I can get about two things, inequality and education.

In a really weird way it is normal to hear about disparity in other countries but when you hear about disparities in the United States it seems odd, because honestly how could disparities happen in a place where the American Dream was formed with a white picket fence? Isn’t the United States supposed to be the place where dreams come true not shattered?

I really cannot stand to see or hear about large inequality in the United States education system because I see education as a way to change the social/economic class you are in, so when that is taken away from the individuals who need it the most it makes me so angry. How can the government district schools in such a manor? Public education is free so it should be a good and equal one. There should not be equalities caused by the division of districts which are created by the government.

Something which I had never considered when looking at disparity was the access to food. Now this is not in reference to lack of money causing people not to have food it is about not having grocery stores in areas of poverty. I never knew that this occurred; it was something I never even considered. So many poorer communities are left with small convenient/liquor stores which also sell groceries to shop at for groceries but the issue then is the quality of food and the high price of food at these convenient stores. Area lacking a grocery store would be called a food desert. I also cannot believe that society does this, creates a food desert for those who need affordable food. I mean this is ridiculous for a society which preaches not to have inequalities but then creates them.

There is a shocking amount of disparity here is in Washington DC, the nation’s capital, which is unknown to many people.

Learning New Things

Something I was uninformed about was female genital cutting. A classmate of mine did a presentation on female genital cutting, but do not worry I do not get explicit about the process.

So, some things I did not know about FGC, one there are different versions of Female Genital Cutting. Two it is normally largely celebrated in the villages or communities of an entrance into womanhood. Three it is led by females in the villages and the communities. Four some girls, who are old enough to choose, really want to have FGC performed on them.

I was very surprised to learn the social factors which o along with FGC. This was portrayed very well in a documentary we saw directed by a woman who returned to her native area of Africa to partake in a FGC ceremony. I learned a lot from the presentation but my opinion I drew from it was some reforms should be made to the process of FGC in my personal opinion. Such as having the procedure of FGC postponed until girls are of an age where they fully understand the procedure and what it means and then make the choice themselves if they want to go through with the procedure. Secondly I feel the procedure of FGC should be medicalized. What I mean by this is that it should be done as a fully medical procedure with sterilization and proper medical tools etc. Now for both these things to be accomplished they cannot be just imposed on a society. It has to come from the community; there should be educational services about child rights and also about health issues related to FGC so that it can be the community’s choice to implement these reforms not imposed from outsiders onto their society.

Now I do not want you thinking this was a one sided panel with only supporters of FGC there were also two speakers present who opposed FGC. Honestly I found these speakers to be attacking and not open to ideas or opinions outside of their own. I felt they were very stuck in their own ideas without being open to other. I see this attitude to be very detrimental to having change actually occur in the world because people will not accept something forced upon them. But all in all it was a great presentation which I learned a lot at!

Child Soldiers

For a class presentation I studied the issue child soldiers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. One of the biggest issues facing the DRC other than the actual issue of children being used as soldiers is the issue of disarmament, demilitarization, and reintegration. I feel the reason why there is so much failure in the DDR programs is because there is such a push from the western worlds on what they think the children need. Where rather there should be discussion with locals and formal soldiers on what they think former soldier reintegration programs need.

One thing I think is needed is forgiveness and love. I think forgiveness and love allow someone to go back into society and be able to cope with the actions or crimes which the child soldiers committed.

The entire act of children being taken to be soldier is really horrible. It honestly makes me so angry because it is taking the innocence of a child can be one of the worst crimes.

Something I learned from this project was how there really is not discrimination against taking girls too. For some reason I felt girls were raped and then left not take as sex slaves or into the militia. It is upsetting how much information is out there about boy child soldiers but how little information out there on female child soldiers. I just wish there was not such one side of a story told but both sides and everything is exposed.

What is better Justice?

For an end of the semester project everyone in my class is doing an end of the semester project. I am going to talk about the interesting presentation on the gacaca courts in Rwanda. This student put together a panel of experts on the Rwandan Gacaca Court system as well as the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. This panel would promote a discussion to see which has been more effective in promoting justice and peace.

A comment which struck me by one of the speakers was “you cannot catch all the killers of Rwanda because if you did you would be locking up an entire nation.” This particular speaker was a survivor of the Rwandan genocide as well as being a participant in the Gacaca Court system. So then what do you do? Forgive all and move on. She felt that the Gacaca Courts allow you to confront your perpetrator and allow you to heal and move on. How do you do that just forgive and move on, do you need justice to forgive?

Another thing which was mentioned which I thought was very important by the survivor of the Rwandan genocide was that she felt she was given an identity she did not even know she had. She was labeled a Tutsi without even really knowing that she was a Tutsi. I could not imagine that being labeled something to such an extent that you could be killed for that label.

The discussion became a little heated when it came to the effectiveness of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda with the controversy of it not being located in Rwanda as well in the insensitivity of the courts towards cultural norms, specifically in reference to rape. Some panelist believe the courts did not understand that rape was not a think to be talked about in the Rwandan culture so when a lawyer may be very blunt about the experience which a victim may have suffered it could cause less cooperation with the courts in regard to individuals coming forwards. Also the ICTR faces the issue of having individuals testify in cases which may go on for years and with this long draw out process may cause them even further emotional damage since they are unable to move on from the pain which they have experience until the trials are over. So, then which is the better form of justice for the crimes committed?

On Replay- Istanbul

Meetings Istanbul is not something I have talked about. While in Istanbul I learned about a really interesting organization the International Crisis Group. I really like what they do and the women we met with was really interesting and passionate about her work. They also have office across the globe which made me quite excited.

Something which I realized by the end of our stay in Istanbul which was interesting was that almost every individual we talked to about eh Cyprus issue need to give us (sometimes) a length presentation on the history of the conflict. Now, I understand why the speaker does it because they want to make sure we have the “right” history, their view of history. What I do not understand is why speakers do not understand that we have met with people with the same views as them so we know this history they are telling us. But not only that we also have done preparation for this, we have read article from all perspectives it was not as if we all suddenly decided lets go to Cyprus and look at the conflict. I mean it is as if we were ignorant to all that has happened and needed to be taught to right way. Do not get me wrong it was interesting to see how different people interpreted the conflict but sometimes it was just “can you give it a break, could you not talk down to us as if we do not know what we are doing or even studying!”

Then you would have speakers who you could not believe what was coming out of their mouth and what they were saying. Of course you would be respectful because are representing yourself, your professor, your school, and your country. But there were certainly times for me at lease when I had to hold back from saying things so as not to be offensive because I was so shocked about the individual’s views.

I did enjoy it though because you do need to know there are people out there that do not think like you and you will be face with those individuals in the real world so better learn how to cope with them.

Food of Istanbul....yummmm

As I have for the other countries I visited it is time for me to write about the food in Istanbul. So I am going to write about my top favorite dishes while I was in Istanbul starting with the first day. We went to a restaurant which was a buffet style, which seemed to be very common in Istanbul by the way. A friend and I split the roasted chicken stuffed with rice. The chicken was cooked to perfection and not at all dried out; the rice had spices in it which gave every bite a burst of flavor. The only spice I could identify in the rice was cinnamon, which may sound so odd but it was some of the best rice I have ever had! It also had raisins in it but the odd bit which I picked out was little pieces of liver. All three countries seem to be big on liver, me not so much, do not get me wrong I tried it but it still was not for me.

My next favorite meal was a pizza. Now you may be thinking really you got pizza, but this was Turkish pizza. Let me explain. The pizza was on a huge pitta that was shaped like an eye so the corners had lots of crust, which is one of my favorite parts of a pizza! Next difference they do not put tomato sauce on their pizza, another happy moment for me since I do not really like tomato sauce on my pizza! Then there was just a mixture of vegetables on top, it was wonderful delicious! My favorite part of the pizza was the corners because it was a ton of wonderful crust with lots of cheese:)

Final favorite was a chicken kebabs. Kebabs are not served on a stick or at least not where I went to eat, maybe because it was sit down restaurant, but they are still delicious. The reasons why this was such a good meal was again because of the spices! The chicken was just grilled but it was orange from whatever spice was used, I honestly could not identify it but it was so good! The rice that was served with the chicken kebabs was very good too and tasted like the Spanish rise mix you would buy at the grocery store but better. I think it had been mixed with some tomatoes among other things no idea what but it was delicious! Really this rice appeared at almost every place we ate if you are ever in Istanbul and see rice that looks like it has been tossed with tomatoes and has an orange tint get it because that is the rice I am talking about. That is all for the favorite of Turkey!

Europe & Asia

Turkey is a country divided between two continents, Europe and Asia. Istanbul is a divided city between Europe and Asia. We stayed in the European side of Istanbul right by the Bosphorus Strait the body of water which separate Istanbul and Turkey. One of the first few days that we were in Istanbul we took a ferry ride up the Bosphorus towards the Black Sea. Seeing the different landscapes of Turkey along the Bosphorus was really interesting, the transition from a city scape to rolling green hills. Then coming upon a castle atop a rolling cliff area overlooking the water that looked like something that was supposed to be Ireland not Turkey was so funny to me. The differences in Turkey’s landscape were a pleasant surprise. Upon landing on the Asia side of Turkey as you walked off the boat onto the dock you could see tons of jellyfish in the water! It was like a sense from Finding Nemo and something I did not expect at all. After the surprising jellyfish we headed to a restaurant right on the harbor for a lunch of fresh fish.

After lunch we headed back to Istanbul on a bus to enjoy the drive back to the city through the mountains. When arriving in Istanbul we went to the Sultans Palace. The Palace was so beautiful with wonderful sounding gardens of tulips. Before entering the Palace you had to put these little plastic baggies on your shoes to not get dirt on the carpets (which I think were the original carpets when the Sultan lived there) they were beautiful carpets. I would post a picture with their wonderful design but no photos are allowed to be taken in the Sultans Palace. The Palace was lovely with lots of chandeliers. The largest one being located in the ball room and weighing in at 4.5 tons! It was massive but very beautiful. Touring the Palace also gave me a few first such as seeing real ivory elephant tusks as well as those full bear rugs with the head and everything, you know like the ones you would see in some movie up in some country cabin in front of a fireplace. It was crazy!

Mosques of Istanbul

As you may know Turkey does have a prominent Islamic population so you do not see churches but mosques around. Now, let me just say mosques are some of the most beautiful things I have ever seen. On our day leaving Istanbul I looked back out to the city with the rising sun bursting through it causing all the mosques and their minarets to just become black outlines with yellow and orange light flooding the area around them. It was incredible something that you would see on a post card and say they had edited it to look that way, but it was real life instead.

From the balcony of our hotel you could see the Blue Mosques also known as the Sultan Ahmed to the local populations. It was incredible and to hear the call of pray was so interesting because it was something which was so foreign to me, I had never heard it before. I thought it sounded lovely and it never woke me up at 5AM so I did not have a problem with being so close to the mosque:) The Blue Mosque is called the Blue Mosque because when you go inside it is covered in this blue design on tiles and what is so interesting is they have never been able to replicate the blue which is on the tiles and it is beautiful something which you cannot even describe. Also when you go into the Blue Mosque you must remove your shoes but the carpet which covers the entire floor is one of the softest carpets I have stepped on!

We also visited the Hagia Sophia Mosque which is just across this little park area from the Blue Mosque. What is so interesting about the Hagia Sophia is that it is both an orthodox basilica and a mosque. Before it was turned into a mosque it was an orthodox basilica so it has an interesting combination of design and art work which has been covered then reviled since the Hagia Sophia is now a museum. The Hagia Sophia was really, really cold though I could never imagine going to church or going to pray for hours with it being so cold in there. I know that is was so cold because it is made of pure stone but I would have enjoyed old school going the church.

Anyway I suggest you go to Istanbul it is so beautiful and amazingly fantastic!

Famagusta

So as usual with more serious or sad blogs I am warning you that this blog is a bit serious and a bit sad. For our last day in Cyprus we went to Famagusta in northern Cyprus. Famagusta was a well-known area as a beach resort before 1974. After 1974 and Turkish troops landed in Cyprus the Greek Cypriots of Famagusta left to go to the south. The area of Famagusta where Greek Cypriots lived is now occupied by the Turkish Military and restricted from the public. The area is sounded by a high chain fence with barbwire at the top. Everything beyond the fence has become overgrown, all along the edge of the fence there are overgrown cacti and thorn bushes. Everything within the fence has not been touched since 1974 and it has all been put into a glass bubble which has allowed it to decay and become taken over. All along the fence are these big red signs with pictures of armed soldiers saying in three different languages, Turkish, Greek, and English all saying this is a “forbidden area.” Famagusta was famous for being a beach resort area before 1974 when Turkish Militia occupied the city.

As you walk along the white sandy beach you are suddenly confronted with a large chain link fence going into the clear blue water. When looking past the fence you see one hotel after another hotel with blacken holes for windows. You could see the exposed elevator shafts of the hotels. It looked like a sense from “Inceptions” as if the hotels were about to crumble into the sea. After visiting the restricted area (which I wish I had pictures of but photography is forbidden) we went to the mass graves of Turkish Cypriots.

Once the Turkish Troops landed Greek Cypriot militia started attacking Turkish civilians. A large number of women and children were separated from the males and brought the dumb and killed then thrown in the pile of trash and covered with a bull dozer. Another site where many were killed was a school house where women and children were brought and killed in cold blood. Walking through the one room school house with desks and chairs that only come up to my knees surrounded by black and white photos of all the children, women, and elderly who were killed facing you was something I cannot explain. After going to these sites we then visited the memorials where the bodies were buried. There was completely silence among the group as we went through looking at ever name and age of the people who were buried there. After that we had a very silent bus ride home.

Back to Cyprus!

What to say about food in Cyprus? There is a lot of it! The common style of eating in Cyprus is tons of little dishes which everyone takes a small portion from and put it on their dish to eat. Nothing is very big it is all small but there is so much food and so many course that you can never finish. Bread or pita is served with every meal as well. One night we started dinner at 7:30pm and were not done until 12:30am! Meals are long in Cyprus, because it is not only about the eating it is a socializing time and you do not eat fast it is a slow process, which was honestly so foreign to me because dinner normally only last an hour in my house if that. Dinner is also later then in the United States, normally starting around 8 or 9 at night.
So, now the food itself! (We are going to go through a traditional Cyprus dinner). First there will be a serving of pita or breads there will be dipping sauces on the table as well some of the most commons are hummus and tazike, which is a yogurt cucumber sauce with some herbs. They are both very good. Then comes the salads which are normally tomato, pepper (sometime), cucumber, lettuce, and sometimes cheese. The salads normally do not really have dressing on them but only a little vinegar.
Next up is all the meat that is served. There can be many different meat dishes so here they are: there is always liver, lamb, chicken and pork kababs, then pork or lamb sausage, these are all served in different sauces, or with no sauce. Sometimes we got all these meat dishes, which I must say is a little overwhelming. Then there would be chicken done is some kabab manor and served normally with french fries. Somewhere in the middle of all the meat dishes they bring out a dish of cheese raviolis, I guess to take a break from all the meat for a minute.
Up Next, dessert come on down! For dessert there will normally be a plate of fresh sliced pears, oranges, apples, and an occasional pineapple. The second dish for dessert has a few possibilities. First is a candied fruit. Baby walnuts, oranges, pears, and apples are taken then something is done to them which involves being soaked in honey then they are served to you. I think it is some version of a preserve, the fruit becomes quite soft. Another option is this honey sweet tan colored desert that comes out cut in a small block and has the texture of koos-koos. This was not really my favorite desert option. The last option was of course smaller piece of baklava, my favorite! Something which I had not had before was baklava made with pistachios which I tried while in Cyprus, it was quite lovely. And that concludes the very long dinners of Cyprus.