The Big Trip

Sorry it has been so long since my last post! We were all on a class field trip from the 13th-25th this month so i havnt been around much! The weekend before we left, i went to Berlin---but to spare myself arthritis, i will just skip to the big trip.

CYPRUS Tuesday 13th-Saturday 17th

We flew out of Brussels to Cyprus, and landed in a tropical paradise. Maybe that is a bit of an exaggeration, but the weather was still beautiful. I unfortunatley had woken up with a cold that morning, and our late arrival put me and some friends in the mood for room service and bad television.
The next day, we got up with the intentions of checking out the beach, but when we went downstairs we found alot of our classmates telling us that it was muddy and gross, so we decided to lay by the pool instead. The water was way to cold to swim in, but sun-bathing was definitley a good choice. A bunch of us did that for most of the day, and it was so relaxing and such a change to finally see the sun! That night a bunch of us went out for dinner at a traditional Greek place across the street from our hotel---it was mediocre, but still filling.
The next day it was back to the educational stuff. We started out the day in the "green zone" which is the UN run buffer zone between South and North Cyprus. We were going to a UN Peace Initiative center which was in the buffer zone in Nicosia, the capital city. It was an absolute ghost town. There was abandoned homes, and even an abandoned airport left from the Turkish invasion in 1974. It was really eerie. After that lecture, we went to the Greek Cypriot Foreign Ministry to hear their side of the story. It was obviously a very biased view of the conflict, but it is worth hearing both sides. After that lecture we checked out downtown Nicosia, had lunch and then all headed back to our town, Limassol in the South. That night we all hung out together and a few of us went down to the beach around midnight and went swimming in the mediteranean...one of the best experiences of my life.
The next day it was time to hear the other side of the story. A greek driver took us to Nicosia, where we were dropped off and had to walk over the Turkish Cypriot Border. Were were given a removable stamp for our passport so that the Greeks wouldnt give us any trouble as to why we went there. After exploring the downtown of the Turkish side of Nicosia, a Turkish driver picked us up to take us to the Turkish Cypriot Foreign Ministry, where we heard a totally opposite biased side of the story, a left with a bag full of propoganda goodies oh yay! It was our last night in Cyprus, so after a nice dinner we spent some time by the pool and on our balconies taking in the last few breaths of nice weather we would have for a longggg time.

BUDPEST Saturday-Monday

Saturday afternoon we left Cyprus (after hitting up a pretty cool Cypriot market by the hotel) and landed in Vienna, where our usual driver Alex picked us up to drive to Hungary. For some reason we all thought it was a ridiculously long drive, so we were pleasantly surprised to be there in 4 hours. Budapest was beautiful at night with so many buildings surrounding the Danube lit up. It reminded me alot of Prague and was a really nice city to be in. We explored the main pedestrain street for dinner, where we found a really cozy wine bar/restaurant in the cellar of a building. It was so late by the time we were finished, and we were all so exhausted from the day of travelling that we hit the hay pretty early.
The next day, i went to the Terror Haza or House of Terror Museum. It is an old building, converted to a museum that was the headquarters for the Nazis and Soviets in Hungary. It was a really interesting museum--but very eerie---especially the reconstructed Soviet torture/prison cells in the basement. Afterwards we tried to do a bit of shopping, especially at a market that Jerry recommended to us. But unfortunatley, we neglected to notice it was Sunday, so shopping was a bit limited. I had considered going to the Turkish baths, which alot of people did...but my fear of germs/hair and not-so-bathing suit body made me realize communal bathing just wasnt for me. Instead i went to the "Buda" side of the river, and went and saw the Royal Palace. Afterwards, I tried to go to St. Steven's Cathedral, where there is a relic of St. Steve himself ---his shriveled old hand. However, when i made it to the building it was closed (shocking for a Sunday right?)...it wasnt until later that i discovered i had actually gone to the PARLIAMENT building...which looks alot like a church in my defense, but which explains why the guards were such assholes when i asked why the church was closed. We went back to the hotel to warm up for a bit, since it was a gross rainy day. Afterwards, a bunch of us went out to dinner together to a traditional hungarian place. I however, didnt want to convert more money, so i skipped the gulasch and went for something cheaper. Everything in Budapest closed pretty early, especially on Sunday so there wasnt much to do after dinner. We all just hung out at the hotel for a while, and goofed off there.

BELGRADE, SERBIA Monday-Wednesday
The next day we departed from Budapest to drive to Belgrade. It was a verrrryyy long bus ride, and when we finally arrived in the city the weather was gross. It was sad to see alot of the destruction that was left over from the NATO airstrikes that had just never been repaired. That night, Jerry had arranged for us to have a traditional serbian meal...which turned out to be Chicken and french fries (a meal that would haunt us for the rest of the trip).
We had class the next day at the Serbian Foreign Ministry...a great honor considering we were dropping bombs on them as little as 8 years ago, and are currently trying to tear apart their country. It was really interesting and they made some really good points in their defense...they are always made out to be the bad guys of the balkan wars and they certainly did enough damage, but it was good to hear their side of the story also. We had a tour of the city in the afternoon with the RIDICULOUS woman who was hilarious. She kept singing to us, blurted out the most pointless information and started AND finished each sentence with "here in the belgrade..." It was entertaining to say the least. We drove past Slobodan Milosevic's old house (which was caved in from a bomb.), saw the 3rd largest orthodox church in the world (which has never been completed), and many more random things that i will never remember except in the sense that they point out the ridiculously that is Serbia. That night there was more roomservice (it is just so easy).

SARAJEVO, BOSNIA-HERZOGOVINA Wednesday-Friday

The next day we took the long journey to Sarajevo. It was one of the most eerie, but thought provoking drives i have ever been on. After crossing the border from Croatia into Bosnia, there were miles and miles of burnt out homes, deserted towns, just sheer depression. This was all in the "Republica Serbska" and the homes were that of Croats or Bosniacs who were forced out and never bothered to go back. It was a beautiful country--the Balkan mountains, the rivers...but it was hard to look at them without wondering how many people died in that very spot, how many mass graves are still unfound. We passed dozens of mine-fields, that are still being excavated. I have never really thought of it this way, but we are truly SO lucky to live in such a civil society. Could you ever imagine seeing those things in America? No. But this is what this region of the world has dealt with since the fall of Yugoslavia. When we arrived in Sarajevo, the fog was so thick that you could hardly see your hand in front of you. A group of us followed Jerry to the "old town" area to check it out. We saw some beautiful mosques along the way, and stopped at the marketplace which was twice bombed by Serbs--killing dozens of civilians each time. We went down to the Turkish Quarter of town which had lots of neat shops and stuff, and saw the bridge were the Archduke Franz Ferdinand was shot by Gavrilo Princip, "the shot heard round the world" they say...starting WWI. We were let loose to explore a bit, but unfortunatley most of the shops were closing, so we had dinner and headed back to the hotel. Our hotel was a Holiday Inn that was build for the Olympics held in Sarajevo, and it was severely damaged during the war, however everything was repaired.
The next day (Thanksgiving) was an interesting day. When the fog finally cleared, you could really get a good view of the city...and how war torn it was. Bullet holes and shell holes covered every building. We started the day at the High Representative, and UN ad hoc body responsible for keeping the politic groups working in Bosnia. I was so frustrated by the time we left, because our speaker was AWFUL in my opinion, was rude, anti-american, and ridiculously biased. Next we went to the OSCE, which works on alot in Bosnia including elections, education, human rights etc. We were equally disappointed with our speaker there, who read fast from a piece of paper and wasnt able to answer the majority of our questions. After class, I went back downtown to do a little shopping before the highlight of the day which was our tour of the city with Muki, a former member of the Bosnian Army. We drove all over the city, saw the destruction, the rebuilding, the former Olympic stadiums and grounds---one field of which was converted into the largest cemetary for the Bosnian war--a surreal waste of lives. We also drove outside of the city a little bit and went to what was called the "Tunnel". Which is literally what it was...a tunnel that was build by the muslims to get people out of sarajevo and into the bosnian safe area. We watched a movie there that was absolutely unbelievable...bombings every day for three years, cars going down the street at 100 mph because they were shot at either way, the deaths of more than 1,500 children. The tunnel was built under a house (we got to go through a little part of what remained of it) and saved thousands of people during the war. The man we spoke to there had also been a member of the army, and gave us alot of food for thought that i will never forget. We then drove through former Serbian controlled territory, where there were some old Roman ruins before heading back to Sarjevo. It was truly something you would never expect to do on Thanksgiving...but i dont think ANYTHING ELSE has EVER made me feel more thankful than being there. The damage, the atrocities, the loss of lives, the fact that these people are STILL effected by the war and are still rebuilding their homes and society...these are all things we really take forgranted when watching the news. We had a thanksgiving dinner that was arranged for us at a restaraunt which was really nice...a VERY small bird for all 17 of us, but it was the first time i had ever seen turkey in europe! A great way to spend the holiday...

ZAGREB, CROATIA Friday-Saturday

When we left Bosnia, all the rest of the trip was getting home. Because our driver needed to rest we had two planned stops, one of which was in Zagreb. It was a cool city, but we didnt do anything historical really because we were there for less that 15 hours. so instead...we SHOPPED. :)

MUNICH
Our last stop on the journey home was in "munich" but was really about 3 miles outside of the city, so it was a good place for us to all relax and catch up on some sleep...the next day it was an 8 am start and a 10 hour drive back to Brussels!

So now i am finally back...with only 17 more days to go...if you think i am sad you are mistaken because i am MORE than ready to come home. Of course i dont want it to end...and yet i do...badly. This week is spent writing our 15 page paper for our internship credit. This weekend i will be going to Dublin...which i am excited about but not at the same time just because i am so sick of the "transit" part of travelling. I know i need to watch my tongue because my mother would kill me if she thought i wasnt excited to travel to ireland...but you know what i mean. After that it is finals finals finals and then FINALly HOME!!!!!!!!!!


Love,
Cristen