Hruba Skala, Praha, and the Czech Experience

If someone asked you to walk off a cliff would you do it?

Choosing to go on the DIS trip called Czech Trek I knew that many of the activities would be nerve racking,  but nothing quite prepares you for that moment of standing at the edge of the drop off, praying that your line works, and stepping off. Whether climbing through caves, ziplining over a drop off, tightrope walking across a rope bridge between two cliffs, or climbing up a rock face, the Czech Trek was an amazing experience!

I filled my memory card taking as many pictures as a could but I still feel that no picture can truly portray the beauty of where we were. I felt like I had been plucked out of real life, and place into a fairytale, Bohemian castle included. When you get to wake up each day in Bohemian castle on a sandstone cliff face, and get to experience the landscape that is called Bohemian Paradise, it is hard to put into words precisely what you experienced. Quite simply I felt like an adventurer in this fairytale world.

One of the only activities which didn't involve sandstone rocks, ropes, and harnesses was Archery, which we did the first day at the castle. Besides being great fun I am glad that we didn't immediately start tight rope walking between cliffs after our overnight bus ride from Copenhagen to Hruba Skala.

Anyone feel like leaning back off the edge of a cliff? Here I am rapelling down the cliff, which consists of you leaning backwards enough that the ropes catch, so that you can almost "walk" down the cliff face. Easier said than done though, that is for sure!



In the picture below I am zip lining between the two cliffs. This is very eerie! You are in a full body harness, with a line attached to your back that is connected to the zipline, so when you walk off the cliff it does not feel as if you are attached to anything, until the line catches and you are wisked across the drop off. Of course I am not extremely adventurous so I held onto my harness until I reached the other side.

Whatever you do, if you do not have good balance do not cross between two cliffs on a rope bridge which consists of one rope for your feet, and one for each hand. Though you are attached to a safety wire above you, you are warned that if you fall off the bridge you may be hanging between the cliffs, over 90 meters from the ground until they can get another line out to that area. Talk about pressure! Luckly I was able to tight rope across despite the swaying of the bridge, without falling off.

In this picture I am just getting to the end of the rope bridge, which is the only reason why I posed for the picture with a smile on my face. Any pictures mid bridge, where there was the most amount of swaying would have been pictures of me hanging on for dear life, and swearing to myself about why I decided this would be a good idea in the first place... thankfully there are no such pictures!

Trekking around the Bohemian Paradise area you would come across these absolutely gorgeous views of the mountains, valleys, and cliffs. This one shows how the castle where we stayed seems to rise above other cliffs, yet somehow fits into the picturesque quality of this area.

The last day of our trip before heading back to Copenhagen we went to Prague for the day. Prague, or Praha, was absolutely gorgeous and I wish I had more time to explore the city. I was able to meet up with my friend Vojtech, who had studied at University of Richmond during my freshman year. It was great to see him again!! Here we are in front of the Old Town Square Astronomical clock.

That about wraps up my trip to Czech Republic! On Monday I will be heading off to Greenland on another adventure. Stay tuned for that post.
Vi Ses!

You can tell a serious politics student when they like to play a game....

While other students may spend their time playing video games, we students of politics prefer to change things up a bit. We play a particular type of game, and trust me it is not a laughing matter. With a combination of political dress up, passing notes while the moderator is talking, roleplaying, and of course maintaining these personas in public, Danish Model United Nations was by far the best MUN simulation I have seen thus far.

This was a mock Security Council summit for the discussion of Iran's Nuclear Program, and the controversy surrounding it. So from the 18th to the 23rd of October I was not an American but a Mexican citizen, sent to the Security Council to stand as a voice for my people. The exception to this, of course, was going to the Iranian Embassy, where I was most assuredly an American!

During the first part of the week we heard lectures from the Iranian ambassador to Denmark, the Israeli representative to Denmark, the Danish former ambassador to Iran, and the UN Office of Disarmament (via video conference). All of these talks were extremely useful in giving us the background information we needed for the game, so with the help of our moderator, a Danish representative to Russia, we kicked off our sessions.

During the three days worth of sessions, my fellow delegates and I made sure that the voice of the United Mexican States was not silent.

Not everything was just work. Sometimes it was a combination of work and play. We would go to dinners, hang out in the evenings together, and even say, take a cruise down the canal with our fellow delegates.

The United Mexican States ended up being one of five countries to co sponsor the only resolution to the issue at hand that ended up being passed by the council by the closure of debate on Saturday afternoon. Yay Mexico!!

That Saturday night we changed our suits for dresses and had a Gala dinner to end the Game.

And that, my dear friends is why politicians are thought to be oh so serious, because this is just a Game.
Vi Ses!

The Largest Tire Manufacturer in the world - Legoland!!!

Sunday I decided to be 5 years old again, and explore Legoland like a bright eyed child. Here is a pictural tour of my trip to Legoland.

The group of DIS University students were the only individuals over age 15 without a smaller counterpart. As the DIS staff that went with us said as we got there, " have fun being a kid again!" And that we did.

 There were so many creations out of Legos, that it is impossible to post them all to this post, but what follows are some of my favorites.

Luigi and I

 Here i am sitting next to the Lego recreation of Rosenberg Slot. See my post about my trip to Rosenberg Slot for pictures of the real thing.

Take a right to DuploLand but before your arrival you will encounter pirateships, dragons, soldiers, castles, and many more lego creations! It was great to see all these extremely happy children running around in their winter attire. I think I saw more children per adult and more smiles per person then I have seen in Disney, but then again who doesn't like legos!

Here I am at the Lego Fire station, having not been able to resist the childish urge to get some cotton candy, or candyfloss.

On the way back to Copenhagen our group stopped for dinner. I finally remembered to take a picture to show you. Pictured here is red cabbage, pork roast, deviled egg, shrimps, remoulade sauce, smoked salmon, asparagus, red cabbage, and bread.

Værsgo!

Le Petit Cochon avec chocolat, cathédrale, et d'autres choses Belge

As some of you may know the main language in Belgium is French, and Brussels is no exception. This was quite nice for me since I was able to read menu, signs, directions and communicate (though on a basic level). I promise with my last post that I would show you some Belgian history, or culture and here it is. Wandering around Brussels you oftentimes just stumble upon history. On such an occasion my friend Allie and I came upon a section of the old city wall.

 Being next to modern buildings and a bustling intersection one almost walks clear past the wall, except if you are looking for Grand Place, and are therefore looking for the narrow street that will take you there. (helpful hint: If you are in Brussels and you see this wall remnant when looking for Grand Place, turn around because you already passed the plaza!)

Despite our slight detour, we found the plaza, Grand Place, when we turned the corner and saw this.

The plaza was absolutely gorgeous, and the pictures simply do not do it justice. To the left is the Hôtel de Ville, which in French means Town Hall. It can not be seen in this picture, but Brussels patron saint, Saint Michael, guards over the top of the city hall with a statue of the archangel slaying the devil.

These buildings are the traditional Guildhalls which are now chocolate and handmade lace shops, along with the occasional cafe. Above the shops are some flats... anyone want to buy one? I know I do!!

 

With the huge French influence in Brussels, there is a large number of French style cafes, though this one is extra special. This picture was taken for Michael my big brother, le gros cochon! (gros cochon is big pig, petit cochon is little pig the rest you can probably put together if not ask)

And of course the promised Belgian world of chocolate! With our class we spend the afternoon at the chocolaterie Planete Chocolat, learning about the process of making chocolate from the bean to your mouth. Of course an essential part of this learning process is consumption of the product!! In addition to eating the chocolate we got to make chocolate in a workshop that they put on for us. I got to make pralines, such as what one sees here. This picture is directly after our workshop, complete with our chocolatier outfits (minus Marykate's hairnet).

The above is, in case you haven't guessed the city Cathedral. Specifically Cathédrale Saints Michel et Gudule. Building on the cathedral started in the beginning of the 13th century, and took 300 years to finish. Being finished in the time of Charles V, it is suffice to say that this Catholic Cathedral was being bearing the weight of mankind for many a year.

Made in the 1600's I can only imagine the speeches that this hand carved wood pulpit has heard. This is the primary pulpit in the Cathedral.

Soon after visiting the Cathedral, our class loaded onto a bus, and drove all night to get back to Copenhagen by nine o'clock  Saturday morning. It has been almost a week since we came back (though it feels like longer). After a busy academic week, I will be going to Lego Land on Sunday! Next week my political adventures continue as I participate in the Danish Model United Nations, as a delegate from the United States of Mexico.

The European Union from the inside!

The purpose of our long study tour was to observe the "playing of the political game" from within, by meeting with representatives from various countries to the EU (including the US), a representative from NATO, the EU commission, EU parliament, the European Council, as well as conduct a one on one interview with the  representative from a member state. With such a hands on approach to learning about the concepts in our books it becomes easy to make the connections which are necessary to understand the European Union.  What follows are pictures highlighting the trip to the European Union. Hopefully one can make sense of the various parts of the Union, the three most important being the commission (representatives appointed by national governments), the parliament (elected by the member state's population), and the Council (composed of head of state).

Flags of member states outside European Parliament

In the European Union Parliament building, this is my class and the other European Union class at DIS.

 We were able to sit in on a session of Parliament that was occurring, which was on biodiversity. Those areas that look like enclosed VIP boxes to the left and right of the chamber are translation areas for the different languages used.

We also were able to go into one of the chambers where the European Council holds meetings. Unfortunately, there was not a meeting going on at the time besides ours. What looks like the glass tank in the back is one of the areas in which the translators sit. There was another area akin to this one on the opposing wall.

Of course our study tour was not all lectures, and that is all to follow in a subsequent post. But to spark your curiosity I will give you a quick "bite" of my cultural experiences in Belgium.