London Wanderings

It’s study week here at the University of Bradford, so naturally Vanessa (my fabulous roommate) and I decided to go to London for a few days. We arrived on Tuesday afternoon at our hostel right in the heart of Piccadilly Circus. The place was a bit of a circus itself but clean enough and cheap enough for two student travelers like us. Plus we were hardly there.
We immediately went to meet friends in front of Westminster Abbey and then stroll down to see Big Ben, the parliament buildings and Trafalgar Square. We had a lovely Italian dinner off Regent Street and then headed for Wicked, the musical. Wicked is the story of the two witches from wizard of OZ, before they became the ‘Good Witch’ and the ‘Wicked Witch’, when they were roommates in college. It absolutely hilarious! Afterwards we decided we needed a couple of drinks to help us fall asleep in the hostel and so headed to the pub.
The next morning we got up early to head to Buckingham Palace to see the changing of the guards, which was unfortunately canceled for the day. Still we enjoyed seeing the sites. We picked up Daniel, another friend stopping over a night on a flight from Vancouver to Kenya, from the airport and headed to Hyde Park. However the chilly autumn weather was too much for my southern friends (Vanessa is from California and Daniel is from Kenya) so we detoured to the Natural History Museum were we traveled to the center of the earth. After that is was off to another pub and then Vanessa and I decided to cash in on cheep student tickets again and went to see the stage adaptation of Rain Man (Daniel went to sleep off his jet leg). The play was also fantastic – a perfect balance of laughter and tears. By the time Vanessa was fast asleep in her hostel bunk, Daniel was wide awake so he and I wandered Piccadilly in our pajamas for a few hours.
The next morning we decided to return to Westminster Abbey, and this time go inside. The history of the place is overwhelming. In a few hours of wandering we felt like we had absorbed most of the royal history since the 13th century and some of the science and literature too! Next we headed to Hyde Park where we had a fantastic Turkish lunch and poked in the cute shops. Unfortunately it was then time for Vanessa and I to catch our bus back to Bradford.
Now it’s Friday morning and I’m writing this instead of working on my essay or preparing for the Rotary Peace Seminar this weekend – I better get on to both.
Peace!

P.S. I would post photos but my computer has some problems and is refusing to let me : (

the Daily Grind

Just in case you all were thinking I was only having fun here. Let me share some of my daily grind with you…..
This morning I had my African Politics course – which I love. However, today’s topic was ethnic conflict and revolved around the Rwandan genocide. We watched a film about how all the world powers knew what was happening but failed to intervene. Then our professor told us about how he worked for the UN during the genocide and was in Rwanda immediately before it broke out. His job was to report on the likelihood of conflict – something he reported was very likely. He then spent the three months during the genocide in South Africa, as the world watched and did nothing. On returning to Rwanda after the massacre (one million people in 100 days) his job was to advise the UN on the best ways of disposing of the thousands of dead bodies throughout the country. He said what he learnt from the experience is that the world does not care about each other….. Somber thoughts for us idealist peace students.
After class I read about the links between HIV/AIDS and conflict for two hours. Once again the genocide came up in the readings which documented how rape and HIV are increasingly used as a weapon of war. I then went to a lecture of ‘Surprises in History’ including the very recent credit crunch…. More somber thoughts for a bunch of students hoping to get well paying jobs in the non-profit sector when we graduate.
After the lecture was an information session on how to write our first essays. I believe the purpose of the session was to build our confidence, but all 80 or so of us left feeling more panicked than before. For one thing, we learned that many people don’t pass their first essay! I could feel the stress level in the room rise with every other piece of advice the professor gave us, as we just built on each others’ anxiety. Next time I’m bringing my yoga candle to the session and lead everyone in deep breathing every few minutes : )
The good news is I then went out with a group of friends for dinner. Bradford is famous for curry and Omars (a great curry restaurant) is the only places I’ve eaten out here because I don’t see any reason to go anywhere else. It’s a cheap, you can bring you own wine, and they serve naan the size of the table! By the time our tummies were full the stress of essays, and our concern over the state of the world, had somewhat subsided.
So now I will watch a bit of Pride and Prejudice and sleep well. I’ll get up work on my essay, go to my Conflict Resolution course and then to yoga… and so life goes on for us lucky ones who get to read and study about the world’s problems instead of face them.
Big Love and Peace to Everyone.

Thankful Thoughts

Thanksgiving has come and gone and now fall is really here. I spent four hours in the library today and still feel there is so much to learn. Fall makes me reflective, and my time constraints make me prefer lists to narratives, so please forgive the continued trend of bullets on my blog. Here is a rather important little list to help me keep perspective.

10 things I’m thankful for:

1. 
   The fabulous Thanksgiving potluck we shared on Monday night in Bradford. Over 30 Peace Studies students from all over the world gathered to celebrate a holiday they knew little about but certainly enjoyed.
2. 
   My remarkable fellow-Peace Fellows… to meet the rest of the Rotary World Peace Fellows in class seven click here
3. 
   The wonderful weekend we all shared in Scarbourough and our successful presentation at the Rotary District Conference.
4. 
   The very boisterous, yet spiritual, ‘Beer and Hymns’ we enjoyed last night raising funds for Christian Aid
5. 
   That my African Politics professor gave me two more copies of his book ‘The Political Economy of AIDS in Africa’ to give to the library so I don’t have to wait three weeks for the one copy I reserved.
6. 
   The lovely photo I’m looking at right now of my nephew Beckam
7. 
   That I can call international for free (well kind of for free) so can talk to my parents as much as I like
8. 
   That my apartment has a bath tub and not just a shower
9. 
   That my friends and I booked tickets to Dublin for the day after we hand in our first essay
10. 
    That I showed my professor the outline for my first essay and he said I was 'on the right track'
11. 
    And ALWAYS… My sweet memories of days spent at Emmanuel Center in Kenya

Thank you everyone - Big smiles and hugs all around : )

Soak it In

I’m readjusting to student life and loving it. I feel like a sponge, ready to soak in knowledge (and the rain). This week I singed up for classes, bought my books, borrowed more books from the library and dusted off my brain cells. Of course not all learning comes from books and lectures. Most of it is achieved through experiences and relationships. Though I’m feeling a little overwhelmed by all I’ve attempted to soak up this week, I thought I’d share some of the highlights….
Five things I learned this week:
From a fellow scholar . . . . .That the Chinese symbol for Peace is the combination of the symbol for agriculture and the symbol for mouth – therefore symbolizing that peace is closely linked to people having enough to eat.
In Introduction to Peace Studies . . . .That, this year, the United States of America will spend more on its military than all the other countries in the world combined.
At the Rotary Link Weekend of Ambassadorial and Peace Scholars . . . . How to ‘country dance’ (square dance) English style, with 80 other international students.
In Introduction to African Politics . . . . That most African countries spend more on debt repayment than they do on health care.
In life . . . . that the British have pubs everywhere - even in health and fitness clubs!

Also here is a photo of myself and Puck (the statue) in Stratford (Shakespear’s birth place).
Big Hugs and Smiles all around : )