On the road again

            So I have been negligent with these updates in the past week or so and I apologize, but there was really not much on which to update. I spent the majority of the last week writing and editing my final paper for the course. When that wasn’t the case, I was in lectures, eating lunch, or sleeping. Luckily, the paper was turned in on Thursday and I was able to enjoy my last few days in Vienna.

            On Thursday we took our last trip “into the field” when we went to the UN headquarters in Vienna. As we stepped onto international territory, the air was already HOT as Thursday was also the hottest day of the year (the temperature was close to 38 degrees Celsius, close to 100 farenheit). We learned a lot about the structure of the UN bodies based in Vienna and also heard from a representative of the International Atomic Energy Agency. The information was fascinating, but unrelated to the main focus of our trip in a few ways, which was frustrating since we all had papers to write.

            Friday morning started with a quick map quiz of the Former Yugoslavia, and within the hour of finishing I was off on my first adventure of the day. We took tram 1, which goes around the main ring of the city’s buildings, to the Hundertwasser haus, a beautiful building that reminded me very much of Gaudi’s work in Barcelona. We couldn’t go inside because the buildings house private residences, but the exterior alone was worth the journey.  After returning to the DA for our last four-course lunch, we hoped on the U-ban train to Schonbrun palace, a former summer home for the emperors of Austria. The audio-guided tour, progression of rooms, and organization in general was extremely impressive. Everything ran smoothly (like things do in Vienna) and I definitely feel as though I got my money’s worth. After viewing 40 of the 1441 rooms in the palace (all that are open for display) we were able to walk around the gardens before the weekend rains set in. The gardens were beautiful and full of fake-roman ruins, fountains and gardens in the French style (geometric and ordered, the French think they can control everything).

            Friday evening was the last group-event and we had a delicious meal in Schwedensplatz, down by the Danube canal (I didn’t spend much time by the water this trip, so that remains to be an adventure for next time). After dancing for most of the night, and a walk back to the DA in the pouring rain, we said good-bye to five members of our group and called it a day.

            Saturday morning I went to the Nachsmarket, which is a farmers market full of vegetables, fruits and prepared goods as well as a flea market on Saturdays. It was one of the most fun times I had in Vienna for the combination of people-watching, food-tasting, and the ambiance in general. I had a lunch of tomatoes, peppers and artichokes, which were all stuffed with cheese; it was delicious! I spent the afternoon in bookshops and jewelry stores in the hopes that I could fit more things in my already stuffed-to-the-brim suitcase (no really, it’s a feat of greatness that the bag zipped closed). In avoiding a rainstorm I caved and sat in a Starbucks (a third place even on vacations) and read. Saturday night was filled with another gallivant in Schwedensplatz and a late night packing game.

            And now I am in the Vienna airport, sitting and waiting for my flight, hungry because I forgot to grab food before I went through security and tired due to the lack of sleep over the last six weeks. I have come no where near close to understanding all that I have learned the past six weeks, especially since I have not had the chance to debrief since the three confusing weeks in the Balkans. Luckily, I will have lots of travel time over the next ten days as I plan shift from friend to friend every few days.

            I hope you are all having a wonderful summer and I look forward to hearing from you all!

 

Love,

Lauren

Babel

Today as I was walking towards my museum of choice, I ran across a middle-aged Asian man. He was frantically looking down at his map and then up at a building (granted, it was beautiful). As I walked closer to him (seeing as he was standing in the middle of the sidewalk it wasn’t hard to), he looked up at me with pleading eyes, and spoke in broken English: “excuse me, I want to be here (points at Karlsplatz) is that this building?” I turned him around, and showed him the way…the clarity in his mistake became immediately apparent. This little conversation left me with a few thoughts. First, this man either knew that I was a tourist or hoped I spoke English. I am going to hope that it was the latter while recognizing that the former could have been true. Then I remembered how miserable it is to be lost in a country where you know none of the language. How lucky are that our native tongue is an accepted method of communication throughout the world. Even if I spoke Albanian, I probably would have known some English. And even at that, it is the most frightening experience to be in a country and not be able to communicate at all – this man’s problem in Vienna, Austria sent me right back to my days in Sarajevo, before I knew a few key words and my way around (sort of). It also reminded me how scary it can be to be in a foreign place where you are just another drop in the bucket.

In any case, I was able to help this man, take a lovely walk through the Stadtpark (city park) and spend an afternoon in the Museum for Applied Arts (MAK). It was a wonderful day and I really enjoyed the exhibits. Later in the evening a group went to Prater, a permanent fair. We went on lots of shaky upside-down rides and ate lots of greasy fair food – including a giant piece of fried bread (pizza size) with garlic stuff on it.

I have been able to see a lot of Vienna this weekend. I went to the Belvedere gardens and museums on Friday afternoon (after turning in the rough draft of my paper). I spent a rainy Saturday inside the Kunsthistorisches (Art History) Museum. I am a little museum-ed out at the moment, so Prater was a nice shift in scenery. I have one week left in Vienna to try and process all that I have learned about the West Balkans and international organizations.

 

I hope you are all well!

Love,

Lauren

All the news that's fit to print

In Vienna my life is unbelievably normal in comparison to the way things were while traveling in the West Balkans. Every day we have at least one lecture. Today we ended up with three. Since nothing exciting has happened, I decided to pick apart my favorite moments to share with you all. So here is a list of Things of Note from Vienna:

1.If feet could talk…mine would be SCREAMING because they are so blistered and gross looking. So I went to the local DM (think CVS) and invested in some nice dead-skin remover stuff. I scrubbed my feet for an unbelievable amount of time. Nice image right?
2. I usually keep my window open because there is no air conditioning and my room (thanks to its previous tenant) absolutely reeks of cigarette smoke. This is wonderful except for the few hours each night when my lights are on. I have created a bug sanctuary in the Diplomatic Academy.
3. I have fallen in love with two new coffee drinks. The first is called mélange and the best way I can describe it is that it is like a small latte. The second is an eis café, which is an espresso version of a coke float. I enjoy both of these drinks (and other delectable foods) at the café a block away from the Diplomatic Academy. The café is situated on a corner, and was built around a fountain (commemorating a clever girl named Elizabeth who outsmarted an old thief) and old trees. The trees are currently flowering, and in the breeze the petals float down onto my lap and into my bag.
4. Vienna is a very walk-able city and I can’t think of something that I have needed that I cannot find within a five-minute walk of my residence. The most wonderful museums and the loveliest gardens are only a ten-minute walk away. As such I have seen unbelievable works of art. The different styles of art represented are wonderful, and I have seen a lot of pieces from specific styles that I have not seen much of before.
5. The past few days have been unbelievably humid and hot. Since we are in the city, this makes the heat especially unbearable. Luckily, there was a wonderful summer storm tonight, which will hopefully cool off the weather for the rest of the week.
6. I love raspberry (hirbeer) gelato.
7. I am constantly amazed by the wonders of technology. I have been able to keep contact with people from UNC (and elsewhere) who are spread all around the world, across five continents. This is possible through e-mail, g-chat, skype, facebook…it is absolutely fantastic. Unfortunately, I can also see why governments have made efforts to shut down twitter and facebook, because they really do create social networks.
8. At the end of the month I am heading to England for ten days to spend time with Michelle, Sarah, and the Greene family! I am very very verrrry excited.

That’s pretty much all that I can think of that would be interesting to note. I hope that you all have an absolutely wonderful week!

With love,
Lauren

Four people, one bed

When I walk through the streets of Vienna I can imagine that I am living during the time of the Austro-Hungarian Empire…until I see a McDonalds sign. After three weeks in the West Balkans, the first few days in Vienna were certainly full of culture shock. The biggest differences are simple but also very pervasive. Vienna is very clean, both on the ground, in lack of garbage, and in the air quality, especially compared to Pristina in Kosovo. There is a good mix of young and old people, as opposed to the mostly young population in Kosovo. There are not cats everywhere (a major bonus). The list seems to go on forever. Since we are on a more normalized schedule I have been able to fall into a routine and have had a good chance to skim the surface of all that the city has to offer. I have seen two of the main churches, a few museums and a few gardens. I am lucky that I still have two more weeks (despite the paper that I need to research and write) to explore more of the city’s sites, shops, restaurants and clubs.

This past weekend I was able to take a short mini-trip to Budapest, Hungary. Budapest was voted the EU’s best city to live in for 2009, after a mini-trip to Budapest I can certainly see why. First of all, Budapest is a beautiful city. The Danube River runs through the city, separating “Buda” from “Pest” (for once this summer, the geographic separation did not parallel an ethnic division). Each part of the city has a distinct character – Pest seems like any European city where as Buda feels like a small village. The buildings are stunning and the many memorials represent heroes from the multiple ruling periods in Hungary’s history. From the Byzantine Empire, Austro-Hungarian Empire, Communist Era and many more the city of Budapest has been governed by a number of different regents and styles of rule.

We (myself and the three UNC students with whom I was traveling) arrived in Budapest on Thursday evening. We spent the evening wandering the “castle district” of Buda and enjoyed a meal overlooking the Danube and Pest. While Hungary is a member of the European Union it does not use Euros and instead uses a local currency called Hungarian Furits, since one euro equals approximately 250 furits, conversions are a little complicated and my math skills (out of operation since senior year) were put to work. After dinner we ventured across the Chain Bridge into Pest and enjoyed cake and coffee with a beautiful view of St. Stephen’s Cathedral. Our hotel (where we four shared one bed, hence the title here) happened to be on the Buda side of the river, so after an evening in Pest we took approximately a billion stairs back up the hill. (Mom, I promise to never make fun of you for walking slowly again.) The benefit of the weekend in Budapest was that I now feel like I can conquer any amount of stairs, I know some of you (Allee, Hollister, Eva, Meghan) are laughing at me right now because of my previous misadventures with lots of stairs (read: Duomo), but really, I am a stair expert these days.

We started Friday morning early and by the end of the day had seen all of the “big sights” in Budapest, to say it simply. We saw the Parliament, St. Stephen’s Cathedral, the State Opera, the Jewish Synagogue, The Jewish Museum, The Holocaust Memorial, the Square of Heroes, a few museums, a Turkish bath, and a park. We walked approximately 1241209384385728947 miles, which might be an exaggeration but we were either walking or eating all day long. That being said, we were able to eat delicious meals through chance and good use of a tour book (this is not the first time that Lonely Planet has come to the rescue this summer). Saturday morning was a lot calmer and we just wandered around the city and small weekend fairs before it was time to head back to the train station.

There are a lot of things that the United States can learn from Hungary. First, we need a better train system (it is so easy to get from Vienna to Budapest). Also, if Hungary has wind turbines, the United States can have some too. Budapest is full of green spaces, which are so pleasant and really build a sense of community in a neighborhood. Finally, restaurants in Budapest provide fleece blankets to their clients. This is a wonderful wonderful wonderful WONDERFUL thing and all restaurants should do it, everywhere, end of story. It makes a meal that much more enjoyable when you aren’t shivering while eating your food.

Budapest was a fantastic weekend trip and I am very excited to get back to Vienna to explore some more. One of the most wonderful parts of Vienna is, like Budapest, the open space. Today was a gorgeous summer day and the Museumsquartier and Rathaus platz were both filled to the brim with people – both locals and tourists! There is a ton of free music, including opera that wafts in through my bedroom window. In addition to free music I was able to catch a David Byrne concert of Sunday night (the lead singer of Talking Heads). Listening to his voice sent me right back to my days growing up in Bethesda and to wonderful spring days in Chapel Hill – it was a wonderful experience! The venue was an “open air arena” that was a small courtyard with a stage set up and vendors for food and drinks. The crowd was lively and the band was electric! This past week I also turned twenty! I had a wonderful birthday thanks to love from all around the world – THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU (again) to all of you wonderful friends. I love hearing updates from you all, so please keep the emails coming!

 

In love,

Lauren

L'academie Diplomatique

Greetings from Vienna!

The past week has, once again, been a whirlwind! Settling in one place for three weeks does mean that the schedule is a lot more regulated. A normal day is something as follows: sleep through breakfast (its 7:30-8:30 AM!), wake up, shower, eat in my room (grocery stores are a blessing), go to lectures for three to four hours, have a four course lunch (delicious, Lenoir/AXO should take notes), email/read/research for an hour until about 3, at which point is museum time! Vienna has a million things to offer, and even though I’ve been here now for about four days, I feel as though I have only licked the tip of the iceberg!

The trip from Pristina to Kosovo was nothing short of awestrucking. It wasn’t that anything fascinating happened but that in two hours of a plane ride (really close to one hour of air time) I arrived in the Western World. Yes, geographically Kosovo is a part of Europe, but it is worlds and years apart in terms of development and modernization. I didn’t realize how dusty and travesty-stricken Pristina was until I arrived in Vienna. Now, after reflection, the big dust piles, harsh air, and vibrancy stick out like sore thumbs but I hardly noticed them while I was in the country. Pristina is a very vibrant and young (the average age is 24.3) city. Vienna is extremely more laid back and easy to navigate. The area of town we are in (since we are at the Diplomatic Academy) is nice and quiet and clean. And yet the word “clean” is such an understatement, there were piles of garbage that littered the streets of Pristina, there is no such thing in Vienna!

The museums have been nothing short of fantastic, and even a walk into town or around the neighborhood yields beautiful sights and buildings. I have, of course, already been to Zara and other wonderful stores, which were completely absent in the Western Balkans, its amazing to see the shift in globalization. Wednesday, being my birthday, meant that I got to explore a lot of the city (after class of course) and the sun was shining and there was a nice breeze! Some how, though, I feel as though I will never have the time to explore all of Wien! While we never made it to a discotheque officially, I spent the majority of the day dancing and, essentially, creating a dance party with myself and the entire city of Vienna. Not too shabby if I do say so myself.

Class has been a much slower pace since we arrived in Vienna. Since we aren’t meeting with new organizations every day, I actually have a chance to try to digest all that I learned and absorbed over the last three weeks. We have spent a lot of time on the epistemology of nationalism and the history of Balkan conflicts. I have had the chance to hone in my research and now intend to focus on the OSCE’s current programs for education reform and how those hold up to the past goals of the organization. I am really excited about it because it will give me a chance to discuss the “status” of education reform in 2009, something that has really been troubling me the last two weeks.

In other news, thank you all for the birthday wishes, it really means so much to me. I am heading off to Budapest, Hungary for the weekend (even though it will not mean a new stamp in my passport) and hope to have many more stories to tell.

With love,
Lauren

Cherries of Independence

The rest of the week was as hectic as the beginning of the week! I will try my best to break down the various events, but I am having a hard time decompressing the information for myself so I am just going to give you my favorite moments.

            Walking back from the USAID office one morning our group (of eighteen, mind you) was walking around a father and his young daughter who happened to be swinging a bucket full of cherries. After USAID a few members of the group were talking about independence in Kosovo and what that meant for its citizens. At the bottom of the hill the father and daughter stepped to the side of the path and held out the bucket for each of us to take a cherry. The little girl was beaming (and also very shy) and the father encouraged us to each take some fruit. As we each thanked him he frankly replied, “Yes, take, these are the cherries of our independence.” What is so glorious about being in Kosovo is that the people really want a country that will work and will work for them. There is a much stronger Kosovo identity than there is a Bosnia-Herzegovina identity.

            The citizens (and the country itself) are a little schizophrenic when it comes to their understanding of Kosovo. While most buildings proudly fly the Kosovo flag, those that do also fly an Albanian flag. Houses, churches and buildings that fly the Serbian flag do not fly the Kosovo flag at all. Kosovo can never unite and its people can never reconcile until the Kosovo flag (and thus identity) is exuded by all of its citizens, regardless of nationality.

            On the Fourth of July all of Kosovo had a celebration full of posters and good times. We were told that Pristina had fireworks, but we were not in Kosovo that day! We managed to take a trip into Macedonia to our Teaching Assistant’s home in Tetova, Macedonia. It was fascinating to see the way that another former Yugoslav country (the title is included in Macedonia’s formal name) functions, specifically Macedonia which is right behind Croatia in steps towards European Union Ascession. If globalization can be any symbol, there was a McDonalds in Tetova, the first one I have seen in three weeks. This was both disgusting (Waples’ class knows how much I dislike the chain) and exciting since it was the fourth of July and most of the group wanted to do something really Ahmurican. After a traditional meal and a walk around the town, we took the bus ride back to Pristina for our last day in Kosovo.

            Prizren is a beautiful city, reminiscent of Sarajevo, and has been dubbed the most multicultural city in Kosovo. The presence of both Orthodox churches and Mosques made this clear, as did the heavy presence of KFOR troops – a deterrence against violence. We were able to visit the building where the meetings that lead to the first understanding of Albanian nationalism took place in 1878, which was a fascinating representation of the conflict that exists today.

            After a two-hour plane ride we arrived in Vienna, in the heart of Western Civilization as it seems. After Pristina, everything is beautiful and shiny. I had forgotten how clean streets look when they are not crowded with garbage. Currently, I am mostly excited about doing laundry and getting my clothes CLEAN after three weeks of dust and travel. We are staying at the Diplomatic Academy and although I have been on the ground now for about 8 hours, I am still not entirely sure where we are situated in the city. A few runs around town will hopefully remedy this ignorance but clearly I might have some trouble motivating (Michelle knows all about this).

            Today marks the next three weeks of my nine-week saga. I am very excited to see what I will learn, eat and experience in my time here! It’s shaping up to be an exciting month. Today also marks my second to last day as a teenager, which is only REALLY weird, but time goes on. Classes start tomorrow (this) morning at eleven, but breakfast is served between 7:45 and 8:30 AM…it’s anybody’s guess if I will wake up or not.

           

In love,

Lauren

This is me and that is you!

Greetings from Pristina! I apologize that it has taken me so long to notify you Internet land peoples but Kosovo has been an absolute whirlwind of a week. We average about 3 meetings a day, which means that we are “on” from 8:30 am – 6 pm. We have met with the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), Mission in Kosovo, United Nations Mission to Kosovo, European Union Rule of Law Mission (EULEX), and Vetevendosja in Pristina. On Thursday we went to the city of Mitrovica and met with the OSCE Regional Office, the UNMIK regional office and the EULEX regional office. Since we have only been in Kosovo for three days, you can imagine our schedule and the amount of coffee I have consumed, so much for the detox!

Each meeting has been fascinating and has provided a lot of information on understanding this region and the politics here. One of the most confusing things in Kosovo is the status question – while Kosovo coordinated a declaration of independence in February 2008 not all countries have recognized this declaration. Only 60 of 192 UN Nation Members have recognized Kosovo and only 22 of 27 EU nations. This means that international organizations operate under a “Status neutral” or “no status” umbrella, meaning that they recognized institutions but not the state. Talk about complicated! Other than that, Bosnia-Herzegovina was definitely more complicated since the conflicts are of different nature and they are being handled differently. One surprising thing is that where decentralization is the problem in BiH, it seems to be the solution in Kosovo.

The food here is delicious. 80% of businesses in Pristina are in the service sector and about half of those are food. That, in addition to the presence of the international community makes for some delicious eating at very low prices! For example, an espresso is 70 Euro cents, and the average meal is about Six euro. The nightlife here is also very vibrant, due to the young population (the youngest in Europe). The fashion here is stuck in the cheap 1990s, and there are lots of shops for ball gowns everywhere. And by ball gowns I mean really tacky prom dresses.

There is so much to learn in Kosovo and while I am looking forward to moving to Vienna on Sunday, I will very much miss the experiences that I have had so far. On Saturday we will visit our Teaching Assistant’s home in Macedonia! This trip will add two more stamps on my passport, since we will actually get one from Kosovo after Macedonia! Keep the emails coming! I love hearing from you!

 

Love and best wishes,

Lauren