Whirlwind. That’s
the word I would use to sum up this semester.
I’ve been home
for over a week now and have attempted to sort out my head…which has been hard
to do between Christmas, seeing people, and finishing one more essay (ugh).
The last time I
was home, I was filled with thoughts of adventure, nervousness, excitement and
curiosity of what this semester would bring. It’s strange to be back, and it
all kind of feels like a dream.
But I think I
learned some really big things that I learned this semester:
1.Dreams
come true can be harder than you think they will be, but that doesn’t make them
less great.
2.Distance
can never stop a parent’s love and support.
3.There
are some truly incredible people in the world. From Jacksonville to DC to
London – I am so blessed by the people in my life.
4.Even
if it’s when I was scared of the dark as a child, or because I was an ocean
away from my homes, God has always provided for, loved, and protected me.
Lots of things
are different and I know I’ll continue to see that when I get back to GW next week. But I
feel different too – braver, more independent, more aware of the blessings in
life …more ready to face these “Grown Up” things that keep happening.
So ya. A
whirlwind – of adventures, of lengthy emails home, of long walks in a beautiful
city, of being in new cultures, of dancing, of independence, faith, schoolwork,
and of course - karaoke with my dear Alex.
Thank you to
everyone who read this blog. It’s been quite a ride.
To cap off our incredible,
different, crazy semesters, Alex and I decided to take a trip throughout the UK
and Ireland. One of Alex’s fellow classmates from Amsterdam – Sarah - joined us
and what an adventure we had. Feelings
written while traveling are written in italics.
Saturday:
Alex and Sarah flew to London
and crashed in Mandy’s closet of a room. (Shout-out to Isaac for helping with
luggage). Mandy could barely keep her excitement on the train platform and may
have casually tackled Alex when she saw her.
Alex: More thoughts to come on leaving
Amsterdam. There are a lot of feelings and a lot of thanks that will be posted
on my return to the states! (So stay tuned!)
Sunday:
Day 1 of our UK adventure began
with us taking the train to Holyhead, Wales with the intent of taking a ferry
to Dublin.
Mandy thoughts: I am listening to the playlist
that Alex made before we went abroad and I can’t help but be amazed that she is
now here with me. I’ve traveled all over this semester with mixed experiences.
And this trip ahead of us may be filled with no sleep, tons of transportation,
and who knows what else, but am so excited to have my partner in crime by my
side.
Alex: 3.5 months has led to this ferry ride.
This will be the end of my semester abroad. It has yet to hit me that I have
left Amsterdam and I am never going back, but I am looking forward to 6 days
with my best friend and going to a country where everything is in English. I
can’t even imagine what’s in store, but at this moment we are infinite.
Our ferry was delayed due to
inclement weather and the only thing near the ferry is a karaoke pub
across the street (oh darn). We made friends with some Aussies and had the most
amazing time listening to the family who runs the pub sing their hearts out and
then we proceeded to belt out our own Katy Perry tunes. Wales was incredible.
Unfortunately, seas were
still rough during our trip, which led to some miserable hours ahead, but we
made it to Dublin.
Monday:
We settled into Dublin by
taking the free walking tour and exploring the city. That night we went on a
pub crawl and not only met some really fun people, but heard incredible live
music at 3 of the 5 pubs we went to.
Mandy thoughts: Dublin music is the best.
Alex: Mandy is a social star. While Sarah &
I were unable to stop talking about the life we just left in Amsterdam, we
counted on Mandy to pick up some new friends for us and teach us the difference
between chips and crisps. The one thing that has shocked me the most thus far
is how nice everyone is. So typically not Dutch. I can’t help, but get
defensive when someone asks me if I need any help. Customer service scares me.
Reverse culture shock is taking affect and I am not even back in the states.
Tuesday:
Day 3 was spent shopping,
going to the National Museum of Ireland, and the Guinness Storehouse tour. The
tour was so fun and actually educational, with all of us enjoying our first
pint of Guinness at the end. We ended the night with more live music – there’s nothing
like an Irishman with a guitar.
Mandy thoughts: It’s amazing to talk to Alex
and Sarah about how different our study abroad experiences were. I love being
able to process being abroad with them, but it’s also so interesting to hear
the differences in culture, academics, and self-awareness that we all
experienced.
Alex: Everything could not be more of a better
time. My mood changes dramatically because I know that I should be grateful
that I am travelling around the United Kingdom with two amazing girls, but
slowly it’s hitting me I’ve left my home in Amsterdam forever. So grateful that
the Irish welcomed us at every turn with open arms.
Wednesday:
After a sleepless night
caused by weird people in the hostel, we took a bus to Belfast, Northern
Ireland. We then took the famous Black Taxi Tour of the city that covers the
history of the city’s historical political unrest between Protestants and
Catholics. The driver grew up during most of the terrorist attacks of the 60s
and 70s and was able to give us a personal history of the city, the murals, and
how the social and political present day Belfast is.
We missed our ferry boarding
time by 8 minutes and had to spend the night in Belfast. The night ended up
being great (partly because we stayed in a real-life hotel) and mostly because
we were with each other and everyone in Belfast was ridiculously nice.
Alex: I love love Belfast. There was so much
history, culture and art that I have heard of, but it was not the same after
seeing it and having explained by a real Irishmen. Our tour guide told us that,
after taking the black cab tour, a reporter wrote, “The
city of Belfast is the largest art gallery in the world.” And I absolutely
agree. It was definitely the most moving art gallery I have ever been to. I may
have jinxed us by “wishing we could stay in Belfast a little bit longer”,
ultimately leading us to miss our ferry, but I do hope to spend some more time
there and dive deeper into the Protestant and Catholic divide.
Our tour guide let us sign part of the Belfast Peace Wall
Thursday:
We took the 7am ferry from
Belfast to Scotland, then a bus followed by a train to Glasgow. Even though we
were in Scotland for less than 24 hours, it was stunning. We were able to see
the water, coastline, various towns, and gorgeous scenery as we traveled. After
a nice lunch in Glasgow, we took a bus to Edinburgh. In our 5 hours in
Edinburgh, we walked up to the castle, down the Royal Mile, shopped at the
Christmas markets, and enjoyed our first Hot Apple Toddy.
Alex: So this is what they mean when people talk
about a “backpacking trip.”
Mandy: AKA carrying our backpacks up a large
hill and everywhere we go.
Our bus back to London was an
overnight Megabus Gold. Not only did we have full beds, pillows, and wi-fi, but
we got free muffins. We are all proud (especially Alex) to now be Mega-bus Gold
members.
Friday:
We arrived to London at
7:30am. After a significant nap, Mandy showed Alex and Sarah around her
favorite city. We walked in a huge circle around all of the sights of the city
and ending at Covent Garden, which is all decorated for Christmas.
Saturday:
For the final day of the
trip, we went to Kensington Garden, shopped at Camden market, sat on Alex’s and
Sarah’s suitcases as they pack to head to the States tomorrow, and finished the
night in a proper pub.
Mandy’s thoughts: I am exhausted, overwhelmed,
and more thankful than words can say for this whirlwind of a trip. We met the
most amazing people, saw beautiful countryside, and I was so excited to share
some of my favorite places with Alex and Sarah. I still don’t know quite what
to think about everything, but having Alex here made it all seem to make more
sense.
Alex: I am overwhelmingly grateful to have had the
opportunity to explore the United Kingdom. A huge huge thanks to my family for
supporting me emotionally (and financially!) through this whole week. I couldn’t
have done this without you. It has been amazing to experience such a wonderful
adventure with my best friend; ending in a beautiful city I know she loves so
much. If anyone is ever in London with Mandy Smith, skip the free tour. She’s
chalk full of fun London facts.
So stay tuned this week for
final thoughts – Alex returns to the States on the 22nd and Mandy
goes the 23rd.
It’s Christmas
time here in London! Since term ends Friday, this week has been full of
Christmas festivities, essays, and goodbyes.
Last week was
the dorm’s James Bond themed Christmas party, but it seriously feels like
yesterday that they had their welcome party on my first day here, when I met all of the people that would soon become dear friends.
The next day,
Isaac, Felix and I went to Harry Potter Studios! There are no words to describe
how amazing it was. We stood in the original Great Hall, saw how flying brooms
work, took pictures next to all of the greatest props of the movies, and the
boys even had Butterbeer! It’s amazing how easily all of my Harry Potter
knowledge came back from reading the books countless times…maybe that’s why my
head doesn’t seem to have room for my essays…
My group of
friends here live upstairs in Flat number 6 and we had a proper Christmas
dinner on Monday night. Silverio and Joey cooked for hours: chicken, potatoes,
carrots, stuffing (American style), broccoli, gravy. You name it, they made it,
and it was all delicious. We exchanged Secret Santa gifts, had British Christmas crackers with toys in them, and ate until we
couldn’t move. It was one of those moments where everything was perfect. I am
so blessed that Flat 6 welcomed me into their little family here at King’s. They
have brought me such joy and I am going to miss them dearly. It was strange to
know that Christmas dinner was the last time we would all be together, since
people are starting to go home for Christmas break. And although I am having
trouble wrapping my head around the fact that these goodbyes I say here are a
bit more permanent than ones I’ve previously said in my life, that moment, that
Christmas dinner, was perfection.
This week I am
also drowning in essays. I have written 8,000 words worth of essays since
Friday and I have about 8,000 more to go. I haven’t written this much since
last May at GW, so I’m feeling a bit rusty and stressed. I hate that my last
week here has to be like this. But Alex comes on Saturday and then she, Sarah
(from Alex’s program in Amsterdam) and I go on our UK trip!
So in summary,
this week has been full of feelings – great, Christmassy, stressful, and
strange. But I am feeling blessed by all of it – by Christmas shopping, endings, laughter, great
dinners, unbelievable friends, and still more adventures ahead.
So much has happened while I was working on a 38 page research paper on what Dutch Law says about Sexuality and Family (nailed it.)
1. Budapest
I got to visit one of my best friends from GW, Oliver, in Budapest last week! This is where he originally hales from so it was great to see his home life, his girlfriend Bori (who I absolutely adore) and of course him! Oliver had the most exciting few days planned. We (Lyla & I) got to see so much of Buda and Pest, drink lots of mulled wine on the street and get a personal tour of all the cool bars. If that wasn't enough, Oliver took us to this amazing exhibit called, Invisible. It was a tour of four different rooms that were in complete darkness to represent what it would be like to be blind. It was so moving and a little frightening to be in complete darkness for over an hour.
And as you can see from the photos Budapest is one of the most beautiful cities I have ever seen in the world. I actually miss it. The weather was perfect for us and we got a little snow at night. I am so grateful to know Oliver and Bori. They were fantastic hosts, tour guides and friends.
2. Sinterklaas
I experienced one of the most magical experiences in Holland yesterday. My host mom, my host brother and his girlfriend and I went to my host mom's ex husband's house for Sinterklaas activities. All I have heard about Sinterklaas this semester is how all of Holland is debating whether or not it's racist because of 'Zwaarte Pete'. Zwaarte Pete is a little black slave who follows Sinter Klaas around with the presents. My conclusion: yes, it is very racist. But the Dutch don't believe in racism. Also not the point of this blog post. I experienced the true meaning of Sinter Klaas. Yesterday, my host mom's ex husband (Sam) made us an amazing Egyptian dinner (have I ever mentioned my host siblings are half Egyptian), and with the help of Sinter Klaas made us these amazing gifts. Apparently, you exchange gifts and notes from Sinter Klaas. Everyone else's notes were in Dutch so I couldn't understand what was going on, but everyone was laughing and having a grand time. I've only met Sam once, because he let me interview him for my ISP. But I think with the help of my host siblings he gave me the most thoughtful gift I have ever received.
The note reads: Dear Alexandra, You've been a good girl this year, and we hope you liked the visit to Holland this year. But try to eat some more vegetables and let the snacks behind. Because f you eat to much snacks, you'll be as round as a tomato. And we wish you a nice stay in Amsterdam, don't ever forget the Santa Claus in Holland! Good luck with your studies and keep up the good work. It is a pity you didn't go to Egypt but I hope you liked this country even as much as Egypt. Greetings Santa Claus (Sinter Klaas) *That's an Egyptian pyramid.
My Sinter Klaas gift to my host family. They loved them and we wore our Christmas sweaters all night!
3. 6 Days Left in Holland
6 Days. Six. Days. sixdays. 6days. WHAT? HOW DO WE ONLY HAVE SIX DAYS. I STILL HAVENT GONE TO THE VAN GOGH MUSEUM OR ATE AT SARAH'S PANCAKE HOUSE. IM NOT READY TO LEAVE. stop. time. now.
But actually, this is a very bittersweet feeling. Obviously, I am so blessed by the opportunities I have had abroad and probably don't even deserve six more days in this amazing city. I'm ready to go home, but I'm not ready to leave the life I have made for myself here. I'm not ready to leave my host family, my best friends or the right to drink legally. I'm just not ready yet. But, it is a relief to know that in a week I get to travel the United Kingdom with two of my best friends. After that, I get to return to the States where people are ready to welcome me with open arms. Needless to say, I don't know how I feel, but I understand that the show must go on.
Happy belated
Thanksgiving everyone! I am thankful for so many things in my life and this
semester, so after I tell about my parent’s visit here, I have made an acronym to represent Thanksgiving,
like I used to almost every Thanksgiving in elementary school.
I am thankful
for my parents and all that they do. They just spent a week here in London with
me! We were able to celebrate their 32nd anniversary, Thanksgiving, and
them coming to one of my favorite cities for the first time. They covered an
amazing amount of ground while they were here and I was able to join them at (just to name a few):
the Victoria and Albert museum, Trafalgar Square, Harrods, the evensong service
at St. Paul’s Cathedral, shopping, and lots of great food. And we even
took daytrips to Portsmouth, Bath, and Greenwich! It was fun to be a tourist
with them, but tough to be a student at the same time (this “study” part of
abroad sure does get in the way of things). I loved sharing this amazing city
with my parents and it was great to have them here for Thanksgiving. Although
it was strange to not be in the States for a proper Thanksgiving, I was still
with loved ones, and that made the day special.
The Parents – as I was just saying above,
Mama and Papa Smith are the best. I know it was a long trip to get here, but I
will never be able thank them enough for coming here and everything they do for me.
Left: HMS Victory
Right: Roman Baths
Home – I can’t believe this semester ends
in 2 weeks. Ready or not, the end of my semester here is coming, but I
am comforted that I will be returning to family in both Jacksonville and DC. I
know I couldn’t have done this without you.
Alex - I am thankful that I get to hug
Alex in 13 days. I am thankful that even though we have had a roller coaster of
a semester, are in two different countries, and have totally different
programs, we have managed to be keep each other sane(ish) through the changes, because we know we are in it
together.
New memories – Christmas is around the
corner and there’s nothing like making Christmas memories in London. It was so
wonderful to share the starting Christmas spirit with my parents.
Kool places – traveling around London and
the surrounding towns is so cool that it’s spelled with a “K”
Fish and Chips – Still my favorite
Unbelievable friends - I am thankful for
all of you reading this and the support you have given me while abroad. I’m
extremely humbled that our friends and family read this blog (and hopefully
find it interesting ;) ).
Life lessons – I have learned a lot here,
and I know that I will continue to learn things from this semester, even after
I return home.
So with my heart
full of gratitude to the One who’s blessed me with it all,
So as some of you probably know, Mandy's & I's Barcelona Dream didn't turn out the way that we wanted to. Due to circumstances outside of our control, Mandy was unable to join me in Barcelona for the weekend. I was heartbroken. You never realize how much you miss someone until you can't see them anymore. But it's okay! We're both safely in our respective countries planning a United Kingdom tour to take place in THREE WEEKS! AGH.
Thankfully Lyla, Ashley and Michael planned to be in Barcelona that same weekend so I had some people to play with for the weekend! Lyla & I took advantage of touristy things and went to a killer aquarium (where there were penguins!!!), walked up to find the jardins of Barcelona, and the next day went to Montserrat and climbed to THE TOP OF A MOUNTAIN. The weather on Saturday was awful and we were met with rain and heavy winds on the top of Montserrat. It was an exhausting weekend, but I was so thankful to have such a cute & patient travel buddy. Barcelona is known for it's nightlife and it's true. When I was heading to my flight at 3am, people were just beginning their nights! As someone who is not a big clubber, my favorite parts of the weekend were our long hikes through Spain and the Sangria tower that 5 of us couldn't finished (but we really tried!). It was good to be a new city for a little bit!
So, this was clearly a distraction on translating Dutch law.
Fun Fact: The Netherlands just passed new bill on lesbian parenthood which would make it so that if a lesbian couple is married and one of the mothers has a child the non-birth mother will have automatic legal parenting rights! My research now focuses on this bill and the immigration test. I currently can't get the term 'sexual politics' out of my head.
Wish me luck that I find interviewees in the next week!
xoxo
Alex
P.S. Next week, I am visiting one of my best friends from GW, Oliver, in Budapest, Hungary! He transferred to UCLA and I haven't seen him since May so I am ECSTATIC to be visiting him in his hometown!
This weekend I was invited by the VP of the Farm Animal
Protection Campaign at the Humane Society of the United States, Paul Shapiro,
to work on a campaign in NJ. This campaign seeks to override a recent veto by
Gov. Christie to ban the extreme confinement of pigs in gestation crates. Despite the fact that pigs have been proven to be smarter than dogs, and even smarter than some primates, a female pig in a factory farm is artificially inseminated and put into this
gestation crate where she cannot even turn around. Then she is pulled out to
give birth, and get artificially inseminated again, and the whole process
repeats itself for her entire life, until she dies from malnutrition,
exhaustion and/or disease. Already 9 states have banned these crates. (more info here: http://www.humanesociety.org/issues/confinement_farm/facts/gestation_crates.html)
The HSUS has been renting a giant beach house on the Jersey
Shore to house 20+ employees and volunteers from the HSUS, ASPCA, Mercy For
Animals and others. I just had to find a way to get there, and public transportation wasn't really an option.
Luckily, a friend of mine let me borrow his car, though I don’t know
why, because I hadn’t driven for the last year, and had never driven for longer
than about an hour. But I did it! Drove about 5 hours to north New Jersey to
meet the group at a rally at a local shelter. A freshman that I had only met
once at our first GW Animal Advocates Meeting replied to an email I sent out
and wanted to come with. So he was my co-pilot, and helped with directions
during the drive. After the rally, we went to a neighborhood and canvassed for
a few hours. (I received such a positive reception from almost every door that
I knocked on! I will talk more about this later).
Then we went to the house. The front door had a sign that
said “Welcome, Animal Advocates!” Immediately, we knew we had found the right
place. We walked right in and were greeted by everyone with a chant “Marissa
and Neil! Marissa and Neil!...” Apparently everyone knew who I was because everyone was around when Paul Shapiro answered my phone call
the night before. They all would not stop thanking us for being there, while I couldn't stop thanking them for having me!
People were sleeping on couches, sharing beds and using air mattresses. The dining room had been turned into a command center – the giant table had a large desktop computer at one end with an industrial-sized printer. Laptops and papers covered the rest of the table.
Once everyone had made it back to the house, we had the
nightly meeting where everyone went around with updates and highlights from the
day’s campaigning. I shared a story where I was invited inside a house to talk
about the issue. There happened to be several neighbors all gathered in this
one home. They were disgusted at the way pigs are treated and full-heartily
agreed to call all of their senators and assembly people. Then, one woman told
me all about her pit bull type dog who has been discriminated against for no
good reason. He loves children and saved this woman’s life once – she was against
to have a deadly seizure but before this happened, he went and woke up her
mother. Her mother was able to rush her to the hospital where she had to have
brain surgery! She asked me what she could do to fight local Breed
Discriminatory Legislation (also known by it’s supporters as Breed Specific
Legislation).
Canvassing team!
Everyone cheered when they heard my story, and many had
equally as exciting and inspiring stories from the front line. One volunteer
came in late with her dog, whom we all cheered for as well “Jake! Jake! Jake!
Jake!”. Then it was time for dinner. A small group had been working in the
kitchen making a giant meal of spaghetti with vegetables and a fresh salad. I
could barely eat, though, as I was so distracted by talking to all of these
amazing activists. Many of them are older than I, and work for the HSUS. They
gave me tons of advice and suggestions – most notably, do NOT go to law school.
Half of them said that if you really want to help animals, doing this type of
campaigning, as well as meeting with influential people/companies, keeping your
self educated and informed, and doing grassroots organizing. I haven’t yet made
that final decision, but I do believe that I want to work for HSUS for a bit
after I graduate. One HSUS employee has worked with the army base of Fort Lee,
VA to only use cage-free eggs. I told him that my father, though a Marine,
works at Fort Lee! They are now in contact to create Meatless Mondays on the
base.
Later that night I sat on the roof with some younger
volunteers (one a college student from Vassar and the other a wanderer), while
they smoked their medicinal drugs, and talked about life, relationships, and
the fleeting and temporary nature of emotions, particularly negative ones.
I shared a bed with someone, slept in a room full of people,
and never felt more at peace and safe. The next morning I awoke earlier than
normal, excited to start the day. I shuffled over to Paul’s room across the
hall where I received a lovely greeting, as well as all of the breakfast options
downstairs. There were many different types of healthy, fiber-filled cereals,
bags of frozen berries and about five different kinds of soymilk, almond milk,
and coconut milks. Oh, and that there was a pot of coffee already made. J (Obviously everyone in
the house is vegan! And health-conscious: most people were up at 7am running
around the neighborhood and working out. Love it!)
We had our morning meeting, while we were preparing the palm
cards that we would give out door-to-door. Teams were made, neighborhoods were
assigned, and we were off. The second day of canvassing was even more positive
than the first. It’s incredible the connections I was able to make with people
whom I never thought I would. Several houses were huge animal people. Many
people said that they would not only call their senator to vote for this bill,
but they would make their friends and family do the same. One old man, a former
Marine, was weary of me, but once I explained I wasn’t selling anything, he
quickly got on board with helping the pigs. He even let us play with his baby
bulldog. <3
GW Animal Advocates with Paul Shapiro! (A large part of my life is spent fan-girling over Paul Shapiro)
The vote on the bill S.1921 to ban gestation crates in NJ
was supposed to happen on Monday, Nov. 18th. However, last minute
some senators changed their vote, and the sponsor knew it wouldn’t get passed
so he had to pull it. He is reintroducing it Dec. 19th. The fight
continues! I plan on spending
more time up there.
I made so many great connections this weekend, and was inspired by so many healthy, happy, fun and effective animal advocates. There is a quote for Martin Luther King, Jr. that helps describe my decision to dedicate my life to speaking for those who cannot speak for themselves: “There comes a time when one must take a position that's neither safe, nor political, nor popular. But he must take that position because his conscience tells him that it's right.”
As well as another quote from him that gives me the courage to do this:
“Never, never be afraid to do what's right, especially if the well-being of a person or animal is at stake. Society's punishments are small compared to the wounds we inflict on our soul when we look the other way.”
One former a clearance diver in the navy, and then a special operations sniper, has many insights on the animal protection cause. He says choosing to dedicate his life to this cause is the bravest thing he’s
ever done. His TEDTalk is here:
