au revoir Bruxelles...je te manquerai

like all good things in life, study abroad does too come to an end. I cannot express what studying abroad has meant to me, and how living in Brussels has changed me both personally and professionally. College is a time to learn about yourself and what it is that you want to do with the rest of your life, and studying abroad, no matter where you choose to do so, is just one more thing that will help you create your professional image and inspire you in your chosen path.

My experience was made special not only because I had the opportunity to study the European Union, because of the people I got to meet, the opportunities for travel I had and the chance to get to know and live with a fun Belgian family. So to all of those who made my experience abroad wonderful...thank you so much!

If anyone takes anything away from this blog, it is that studying abroad is really the best way to learn about another world and expand your horizons. And studying abroad is now more reachable to more students though scholarships, financial aid and other means that get you to where you want to be.

So a special thanks to the folks at the Gilman Scholarship Foundation, who helped me finance this trip. For more information on how to apply for a Gilman Scholarship, please visit there website at www.iie.org/Gilman/. For more information on my specific study abroad program, please visit, http://www.aub.be/ or the American University website.

there's stuff to do in Brussels too!

So I realized that whoever reads this blog (ahem Daniela) might accidentally think that I spent no time in Brussels at all...so in honor of my host city, this blog entry is dedicated to all the fabulous things you can do in Brussels!
-Mannekin Pis (Gare Centrale metro stop):for a typical Brussels landmark, everyone must make a stop at Mannekin Pis. As an added bonus, the waffle shop next to Mannekin Pis is the BEST in all of Brussels!
-Grand Place (Gare Centrale):see the old guilds, the town hall and the center of Brussels!
-Atomium (Heizel)built 1958 for the Universal Exhibition this great metal structure is amazing to behold!
-Royal Palace(Parc): self explanatory. The best part is being in Brussels in September when its open to the public
-Le Sablon et Petit Sablon (either Parc or Porte du Namur): monument to two great Protestant leaders in Belgium as well as very close to the artsy area of Brussels
-EU Commission and Council buildings (Schuman) for the full Brussels and EU experience, take a look at Berlaymont and Justis Lipsius buildings right off the Schuman metro
-Le Cinquantaime (Schuman) build in commemoration of the 50 anniversity of Belgian independence during the reign of Leopold II, the Wars of Europe museum is free of charge and allows for visitors to climb to the top of the Cinquantaime for a view of Brussels
-EU Parliament (Maelbeek): in front of the Parliament is Place Lux, where you can enjoy a beer while talking to members of parliament and their staff.
-Celtica and Delirium (De Broukere) two great places to get a drink after a long of touristing. Celtica offers a great Irish pub feel with dance floor upstairs if you wanna keep going at happy hour prices until midnight and Delirium is a one of a kind place, with over 2000 types of beer available for you to sample!
-and much much more!!!!! Brussels offers many opportunities to see and do many incredible things...so go and have fun!

Becoming legal in a country where the drinking age is definitely before 21

Super long title folks but I was trying to be funny and failed. Oh well. As you may have surmised I turned 21 last weekend and in honor of this momentous occasion my friends and I traveled to the land of pubs (read Dublin) to celebrate in style. So although I'd been in Europe for three months now, I have my first official "legal" drink by U.S. standards at the Guinness factory among my still underaged (by American standards) amigos.

But I'm jumping the gun...first I should explain how we got there. Several months ago it was decided we would all meet up in Dublin... okay not much explaining needed to happened. Basically my friends are awesome and we went to Dublin to freeze our butts off on a walking tour, followed by Guinness (which is disgusting) followed by dinner at an authentic Irish Pub...Irelend's full of them (another attempt at a joke...please laugh) and dancing. Basically it was a very memorable day and I'm very grateful to everyone who came out to celebrate with me. No more typing... visual aids will now be provided... enjoy!

Rollin' through the Balkans

This post is going to set up a little differently. Normally I go through day-to-day on what I did and what happened but for this post I think I'll just right about my general impressions and what I learned because a) I took too long to enter this post and b) I think it makes more sense.

As part of my abroad program, we took a 12-day tour of the Balkans, traversing Nuremberg (Germany), Vienna (Austria), Budapest (Hungary), Belgrade (Serbia), Sarajevo (Bosnia), Zagreb(Croatia), Ljubljana (Slovenia), and finally Munich (Germany) before making it home to Brussels. Th purpose if this trip was to teach us about the experiences of the Balkans, potential for EU membership, and how ethnic divisions are contained within these territories.

Although I had a good time on the trip, it sadden me to see the state of some of the Balkan states. The turmoil of 1992-1995 has not yet left the streets of Belgrade or Sarajevo, and daily reminders of the war do not help the collective memory of these countries pull together and overcome their obstacles. In Belgrade, you can still see the destruction done by NATO missiles on the facade of buildings, and in Sarajevo, sarajevo roses color the sidewalks to show where bullets and bombs torn up a life. Additionally, ethnic tensions amongst the Orthodox Serbs and Muslim Bosnian continues to plague the political and social lives of many in Bosnia, especially internal conflicts over Repulbika Srpska and Kosovo for Serbia.



At this rate, I don't see either country belonging to the EU for some time. The EU won't allow internal and external conflict to enter within their "club" and the international dilemma that is Kosovo has put the EU and Serbia in quite a standstill. Talking with the office of the foreign minister, they seem to indicate the Kosovo takes presidence over EU membership and as for Bosnia, potential for violence is too great to result in the development and security it desperately needs.

Unfortunately, Bosnia and Serbia are yesterday's wars and conflicts and without international oversight, progress in these nations seems to move a snail's pace if that.

On another note, it was such an amazing opportunity to visit these locations and hear from local residents about their feelings and attitudes towards their neighbors and the EU. We also got a chance to visit Srebrenisa and the tunnel built by Bosniaks suring the seige of Sarajevo to provide supplies for those in the city. Experiencing the war from a soldier's and genocide survivor' perceptive helped put the conflict into tangible and realistic terms.

For those of you with the opportunity to ever travel to the Balkans, I suggest you do so and learn about the cultural conflict that has driven so many to fight and keep fighting for their homeland and territories.