What a week!

Hi everyone! It’s been quite an exciting week here in Washington. Senator Byrd died early Monday morning, so a lot of senators and congressmen have been around in capitol building paying their respects. His body was on the Senate floor on Thursday afternoon, so I was able to go to the memorial service there. Speaking of the Senate floor, I gave a capitol tour last week to a group with a contact who granted them access to the floor. Interns aren’t allowed on the Senate floor, but since I had given the group their tour, I was invited to go along with them. It was awesome to see where all the senators sit, and to walk around looking at the plaques on their desks.

Most of this week’s news came from the Supreme Court. The Court issued a huge decision on Monday in the Chicago gun case, ruling that the right to own a gun is a federal law. The Court’s decision to incorporate the second amendment as applicable to the states will have widespread ramificiations on states with strict gun laws. This generated a lot of talk on Capitol Hill–especially because the D.C. area has some of the strictest gun laws in the country.

On Wednesday, I was able to sit in on the Elena Kagan confirmation hearings. As someone who closely follows the Supreme Court, this was a wonderful opportunity. The hearings were held in my building, so there were reporters and cameras around all week. I had watched most of the hearings on CSPAN, but the experience of watching them in-person was even better. The vote is set for the end of July, and it looks like she’ll be confirmed pretty easily. Also, Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s husband died last Sunday. There are rumors that this might influence her retirement plans, but I guess we’ll have to wait to see about that.

I’m also excited to be spending the 4th of July in Washington. Both Rachel and Gabby are coming to visit, so it should be fun to spend some time with them. I’m going to give them a tour of the capitol tomorrow, and we’ll go see the parade and the fireworks on Sunday. My family is coming to visit on Monday and Tuesday, so I’ll be able to give them a tour and have them meet some of the people I work with.

Next week should be pretty short–I have both Monday and Tuesday off for the holiday, so I’ll only be working three days. The Senate is in recess next week, which should make it pretty uneventful. But if my experience here has taught me anything so far, it’s that there’s always something going on in Washington. Happy Independence Day everyone!

And so it begins…

Hi everyone! So I successfully completed my first week as an intern on Capitol Hill, and it has been quite an adventure so far. When I was originally offerred the position, the intern coordinator told me that they had placed me on the Veterans Affairs committee. I assumed that every intern in the office was placed on a committee, but it ended up meaning that I don’t work with the other interns. There are 13 interns in the program, and three were placed on committees. The Veterans Affairs committee works out of a completely separate building, which is not connected to the main office. This surprised me at first–but I’ve come to learn that it will allow me to work on more interesting projects and hopefully attend more hearings as well.

After work on Monday, Zach and I went to a local bar for happy hour. The theme was “Politics and Pints,” and everyone in the bar formed teams to answer questions that pertained to topics like “House and Senate,” “Movies filmed in D.C.” and “Geography.” People became very competitive–the entire bar went silent when the host asked each question. Zach and I had a great time, and it quickly reminded me why I love this city. Everyone is interested in politics and wants to talk about it, and I find that really intriguing.

I had Wednesday off from work, so Zach and I visited the Newseum. It’s my favorite museum in Washington, and I was happy to spend some time there. They had a new Tim Russert exhibit, where they displayed the contents of his office at NBC in a conjunction with a video tribute to his career. It was really interesting, and I’m glad that we were able to go.

On Friday, we ventured over to the House to hear a Congressman from California speak. He focused on the impact of the Supreme Court decision in Citizens United, which deemed that corporations donating money to campaigns is a form of political speech, and thereby protected by the first amendment. This was a strong statement by the Court, which has prompted Congress to directly legislate against it. The Congressman spoke about lucky we were to be in Washington during a time when Congress is trying to counter the Court’s decision. The House is considering a bill to counter the decision this week, so I might try to attend the hearing. Speaking of the court, the Elena Kagan hearings begin one week from tomorrow! I am hoping to see at least one of them, and hopefully more. Watching this process in person would be the highlight of my summer, and I hope that I have the opportunity to do so.

Anyways, I’m going to get to sleep before work tomorrow. I’ll keep you updated on how everything goes this week!

Hello again…

Hi everyone! I’ve decided to start writing again this summer to keep everyone updated on my adventures as an intern in Washington.  I arrived at my new dorm this afternoon, and I’m excited to start my internship tomorrow. Most of tomorrow will be orientation activities, so I’ll learn how to give a tour of the capitol building, how to work the phones, etc. I’ll have a lot more to tell you tomorrow, so I’ll talk to you soon!

Some Final Pictures…

 

Ilona and I

 

Danielle (my roommate) and I

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Andrew and I

 

 

 

Alyssa and I

 

Gabby, Ilona, and I

Tony and I

 

The Charles Bridge, one of my favorite parts of Prague

Na schledanou Praha

It’s difficult to sum up an entire semester into a couple of paragraphs, but I’ll try my best. I’ve done a lot of thinking about how to approach this post, and I’m still not sure if I’ve found the correct way. Anyways, I’ll give it a try. 

From every angle, my semester in Prague was a learning experience. I’ll start with my first days in Prague when I was incredibly homesick. The thought of staying there for an entire semester was overwhelming, and I was convinced that it would never end. And while this feeling lasted for about two weeks, stepping outside of my comfort zone was one of the best things I could have done for myself. I learned how to adapt to a new culture and a different way of life, one that that I embraced by the end of the semester. Being so far away from my family also helped me to become more independent. I discovered that I don’t mind traveling alone–it can even be fun sometimes. I never took a trip by myself (although I knew people who did), but I can confidently say that I would be okay with it now. 

Speaking of immersing myself into other cultures, my semester wouldn’t have been complete without the many adventures I had in other countries. Here are some things I learned from each trip that I took:

Istanbul: This was the only country I visited where Islam is a prominent religion. Waking up to people praying at sunrise and visiting the Blue Mosque gave me some valuable insight into the Islamic way of life. And while there is a lot of controversy surrounding this religion, perhaps education is one of the pathways to understanding it.

Budapest: None of the people we encountered in Budapest spoke English. I quickly learned the value of communication, especially when hand-motions don’t suffice. Nevertheless, it was probably the most culturally enlightening trip I took this semester. 

London: Some of you might remember that I had food poisoning when I visited London. It was the first time I had been scared in a long time–I was traveling back to Prague by myself and I didn’t know what to do. Despite my reservations, I was able to work it out on my own and get back to Prague safely. I may have missed out on some good food, but I still loved London anyway.

Barcelona: Barcelona was a beautiful city, but what I learned  about traveling in Europe while getting there was just as important. When we originally planned spring break, we found a flight from Frankfurt to Barcelona for 10 euros on Ryan Air. We immediately booked the flight, planning to take an overnight bus from Prague to Frankfurt the night before. What none of us realized was that the Ryan Air terminals are almost 2 hrs outside each city. It took us almost 15 hours to get to Barcelona, and we didn’t save much money after it was all said and done. Lesson learned.

Paris: I didn’t have much time in Paris with my family, so I learned how to make the best of the little time that we did have. My parents and I walked all around Paris on Sunday and Monday, and we were able to see a lot. We did a TON of walking, and it only reinforced my belief that walking around cities (as opposed to taking the metro) is the best way to get to know them. 

Italy: I don’t want to say that Italy was the best trip I took while abroad because they were all different, but I may have had the most fun on this one. Easter weekend in unique in Italy, and watching them prepare for the holiday was fascinating. I saw parades, processions, and things I would never have seen had I gone at any other point. 

Stockholm: Many of the Scandinavian countries are known for their high taxes and political support for the advancement of women. Many people have called them almost socialist, an issue that continues to be debated. I’m not sure if Sweden is truly socialist, but their system of government is much more effective than many I’ve seen in Europe. I didn’t see a single person living on the street, and every person that I met was friendly and kind. It gave me a taste into Northern Europe, one that I appreciated at the end of the semester. 

I’ve detailed a lot of what I learned from Prague in the entries that I have above, but I have a few more things to say about my time there. Most of you know that the Czech government collapsed during a vote of no-confidence in March. Because we have the presidency of the European Union, this was especially controversial. Everyone was disappointed with the collapse, but France was especially critical about what occurred. Many people fail to realize that the Czech Republic and all of the other post-communist countries are still trying to build democracies. It’s easy to forget that the United States had the Articles of Confederation before the Constitution. The Articles of Confederation lasted 10 years before they were replaced, showing how difficult it is to build a democracy. The Czech Republic has been trying for 20 years, but it doesn’t mean that their struggle is any less complicated. If people in France (and other countries that I won’t name) would realize that building democracy takes time, perhaps they wouldn’t call the Czech Republic “unstable” just yet.

On the topic of spreading democracy, I’ve taken an increased interest in the Middle East this semester. My European-American Relations professor specialized in this area, and he taught me a lot about the dilemmas that we face in confronting the Middle East. I’m not a true advocate for spreading democracy overseas, especially because I have doubts about whether Islam is compatible with democratic values. Either way, I’m considering taking a class about Middle Eastern politics in New York, maybe even next semester. Living in Prague has showed me that international relations is much more important than I ever thought it was before I left. My generation is about to confront some of the most complicated international issues that our world has faced, and maybe I can find a way to help solve them too. 

I’ve left Prague with no regrets about my semester there. “Na schledanou” is the word for goodbye in Czech, but it’s literal translation is “until we meet again.” So na schledanou Praha, I know that we’ll meet again sometime soon. 

P.S. When I first arrived, one of my RA’s told me that Prague is unique because the students are always “interesting people.” I met many interesting people on my trip, and I thought that you should get a chance to see some of them. I’ve attached some pictures from the cruise that we took two days before we left Prague. Enjoy!

Stockholm Pictures!

 

 

Our hostel!

View of Old Town...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Vasa warship, pulled from the water over 330 years after it sank

 

Government building (I think)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My favorite picture of Stockholm at sunset!

And the countdown begins…

My time is Prague is coming to an end, but I’ll update you on my trip to Stockholm before I leave my final post! Since the timing of our flights wasn’t ideal, were only able to spend a day and half in Stockholm. When we arrived on Friday afternoon, we walked around Old Town Square to find a place for dinner. Everything in Stockholm is extremely expensive, especially when it comes to food. The man at the hostel gave us directions to a “cheap” restaurant that was over $20 a plate, but we decided to treat ourselves on the last trip of the semester.

We had a packed schedule for Saturday, which included walking around the Skansen open air museum, as well as a visit to the Vasa museum. The Vasa museum holds a boat that sunk in Stockholm on its way to Poland, but was pulled out of the water over 330 years later. It was fascinating to see how intact everything was–especially all of the carvings and details on the boat itself.

We ate at a Mexican place on Saturday night, which got me excited for Mexican food when I get back to New York City. We decided to go back to our hostel early that night, given our 6am wake-up call the next morning. Our hostel was on a boat, which was one of the cooler places we’ve stayed this semester. Our room was at the back of the boat, so I looked out into the water before I went to sleep at night. When the tide rose, the boat would rock back and forth, which made many of friends a little sick! We had to leave early on Sunday morning, and I wished that I’d had more time to spend there. The people in Stockholm were the nicest I had met in Europe so far, and I was happy to see part of northern Europe before I leave to go back to the U.S.

I’ve finished two exams so far, and I have one radio project and a conversation with my professor to end my time in Prague. I’m going to be taking a lot of pictures this week (especially of our end of semester cruise around the Vltava River on Wednesday), so stay tuned!

I’ve posted some Stockholm pictures above, and I’ve figured out how to write captions. Enjoy!

It’s Been a While

I’m sorry that I’ve taken so long to update–it’s been a busy couple of weeks leading up to finals. I’ll try to recap everything as best I can.

Two weeks ago, I had the opportunity to spend two days with a Czech family. The program was coordinated by NYU, and we drove 2.5 hours outside of Prague to a small town called Hlinkso. We were paired up with students who study at an elite high school, most of whom are preparing to go to university. The Czech education system is different than in the United States. First, there is a heavy emphasis on memorization. Every fact in class needs to be memorized, and there is little emphasis on discussion. This is standard for almost every class, with the exception of language classes. English classes are interactive, teaching Czech students to write and speak at the same time. These types of learning allowed me to reflect on my high school experience, which was extremely different. There was always a heavy emphasis on discussion, bringing everyone’s opinion to the table. However, the one class that this rule didn’t apply to was Spanish. You were required to learn all of the grammar and memorize vocabulary, placing less emphasis on speaking. As a result, I can read Spanish very well, but I can’t speak it back. It was interesting to compare the ways in which we learn and how we apply them to everyday life.

I was very sick that weekend, and my host generously took me to the pharmacy to get some medicine and gave me some of her cough drops. When we got to her house, she immediately offered to let me shower and recuperate for dinner. This was the first home-cooked meal I’ve had since January and I definitely enjoyed it. We had goulash (a traditional Czech dish) served with potato pancakes. The goulash itself is like beef stew, and you dip the potato pancakes into the sauce. I had three servings, and it was definitely one of the better meals that I’ve had here. That night, we went to the local pub and disco. When we left at 2am, I had completely lost my voice from singing all of the songs that came on at the club. I was sad to leave on Saturday morning, but I got my host’s email address, so I hope we’ll keep in touch.

Last week, we were able to speak with members of the Communist party in parliament. My Czech and Slovak politics professor arranged the meeting, and I was excited because I didn’t know what to expect. When we arrived, we sat a large conference table with two communist MPs who had been in the party for over 20 years. The meeting became intense very quickly. My professor got into an argument with one of them about what happened during the 1960′s and 1970′s, challenging the information that he had learned from his textbooks in school. While the communist MP insisted that the information was true, my professor advocated that it was not. Meanwhile, our translator was rapidly trying to provide us with the English version of their argument. It was fascinating to witness their dispute about the past, because in many ways, it haunts the Czech Republic to this day.

Afterwards, they gave us a guided tour of Parliament. It was awesome!! It was like getting a private tour of the Capitol Building, and we were able to get an insider’s look into the way that Parliament functions in the Czech Republic. I was grinning when I came home because we not only witnessed a dispute about the communist regime (the most fascinating part of the Czech Republic’s history to me), but we also were able to see where everything happens in Parliament. I am so grateful to my professor for giving us this opportunity because I learned more about communism in that hour than I’ve learned in any textbook. It was amazing experience, and I wished that my father could have been there with me to witness it (because I know you would’ve loved it too).

I had a great time in Stockholm this weekend, but I’ll write about that later because I have to get back to studying. Talk to you soon!

Italy Pictures!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lots of Updates…

I’m a little behind schedule here, so I’ll try to summarize everything as best I can. Obama’s visit to Prague was awesome. We stayed out all night at a popular dance club in Prague, and then reported to the castle around 5am. The gates didn’t open until 7am, so we had a lot of bonding time during the early hours of the morning. Once we were allowed to enter the grounds, we stood there for another 3.5 hours until Obama walked on stage at 10:30am. 

As for his speech, I thought that his most powerful message came at the end. He constantly referred to the history of the Czech Republic and its struggles with communism, which was a nice way to relate to the audience (even though the majority were Americans). The speech was about nuclear proliferation, a fitting topic due to all of the controversy over the proposed missile shield on Czech soil. He ended by saying that it was the Czech Republic who warded off a nuclear power without firing a shot, asking people to work for a world where conflicts didn’t have to be resolved by nuclear weapons. And while his sentiments were idealistic, I liked his final example because it spoke to the power of non-violence as a way to negotiate. 

After Obama’s speech, we had a brunch at a local restaurant before retiring to our dorm around 1pm. After being awake for almost 30 hours, I was definitely ready to sleep. It was a once in a lifetime experience for me, and one of the highlights of my semester here. 

On a completely different note, I spent last weekend in Italy. While at first I was hesitant about going to Italy on Easter weekend, all of my reservations were swept away by the beautiful cities that we visited. We spent our first two days in Sorrento, which is an hour south of Naples. It was gorgeous–between all of the beaches and the cliffs surrounding the Mediterranean Sea, I was taken aback by everything I saw there. It’s a smaller town that’s less touristy, so it was nice to experience a more local culture. On Friday, there was a large procession in town to mark Good Friday. People walked through the streets in black, some carrying torches, others singing. There were several references to the death of Jesus, and it ended with a group of priests singing a song in Italian. While I didn’t completely understand its significance, it was an experience that I wouldn’t have had anywhere else. 

On Saturday, we took a day trip to Rome on our way to Venice. I was excited to visit Rome because it was the first city in Europe that I returned to since my trip with Janet and Dick. I was telling everyone what I thought was worth seeing, and it made me proud to give other people advice based on my past experiences. It would be an understatement to say that Rome was packed, but we managed to see everything. We were able to see the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, the Pantheon, the Spanish Steps, and fit in lunch with my roommate Amanda. While I had lunch, my friends visited the Vatican. I love Rome, and I think my friends liked it as well. The weather was perfect, and I’m happy that we had the opportunity to spend the day there. 

We spent the last two days in Venice. I had no idea what to expect from Venice, but it was as beautiful as Sorrento and Rome. We took a gondola ride around the city on the first day, and we walked around the city on our last day there. I loved looking in all of the mask shops and seeing all of the exquisite designs on each mask. It gave me a taste of northern Italy, which I’m glad that I experienced. 

I also loved how we took the train everywhere, because we were able to see a lot of the Italian countryside. While all of my friends were sleeping, I wanted to catch all of the picturesque views that surrounded us during the entire ride. The combination of great weather, gelato, pizza, and good friends made for a fantastic weekend. I’ve posted pictures above, so take a look!