~ Wednesday, June 14th 2011 ~
Hola, mis compadres! So I’m a bit behind in setting up my blog this trip…seeing as I left home yesterday and I’m still trying to fix the damn font colors for the posts. So for the time being, consider it a game of ‘find the black headers on the dark grey background’!
But welcome! For those of you who are new to my blogs, here’s a quick history: for every major trip since last summer, I’ve tried to keep a daily post of the shenanigans and strangehappenin’s of the trip. Unfortunately, my success at blogposting is also indirectly proportional to the amount of sleep I am getting. So never fear, if the blog suddenly stops halfway through for a few days, know that I am safe and mostly likely passed out somewhere, more than likely in a strange, twisted sleeping position.
Feel free, while you’re at it, to check out some of my past blogs!
o In which Ellen learns that she will never ever not be white
o In which Ellen learns to fight off hawkers while forging rivers
o In which Ellen learns that beer-filled guitars bring out the best of America
o In which Ellen gets lazy and stops blogging after Bangalore
· Dubai and Abu Dhabi
o In which Ellen doesn’t blog – and gets harassed
Hmmm you might notice a slight trend near the end. However, this time will be different and I will blog regularly! (And I’ll clean my room, and do my reading, and write my thank you letters….our future selves are so on the ball, aren’t they?). I can’t promise it’ll be everyday though. I can’t even remember to brush my hair every day, much less write an overly verbose blog post.
About the Trip
For those of you unfamiliar, PDPDP (the title of this post) is an acronym (and we definitely don’t have enough of those in our daily lives) for Post Departure Pre-Departure Post. This is where I give you the rundown of the trip to come until the guise that it hasn’t yet started.
SO. Basically, for the next two months, from June 16th til August 17th, I, Ellen Porter, will be in Europe! Yayyy. Now, I know what you’re thinking. (actually, I don’t. surprise...) “Ellen” you say, inwardly of course to avoid attracting stares, “are you becoming one of those angsty, aimless youngsters, uncertain of what you want in life, so you decide to go ‘take some time off’ and ‘backpack around Europe’ until you ‘figure life out’?” Your left eyebrow slightly raised. “Are you ashamed that all your friends have prestigious internships and/or are travelling to the slums of an undeveloped third world country to help starving Aids orphans feed their one-armed infant brothers?”
Possibly.
But luckily, I still have two more years in which to worry about careers (take that, my soul-selling intern friends), self-worth (aw, you put in all that work and those African orphans still have HIV and no parents…?), and a cliche trip of self-discovery (I’m saving that for after graduation).
Well now that I’ve alienated everyone, my trip. For the next six weeks, I will be participating in a Burch Field Research Seminar through UNC’s Honor Program (namedrop) that has the official title: ‘International Organizations and the Peace-Making Process’. I think. That’s what I’ve been telling everyone at least.
Where you ask? Well if the blog’s url didn’t give it away, my itinerary will look something like this:
· First three weeks: the Balkans [specifically: Serbia, Bosnia, Kosovo, and Croatia]
o (roughly around there at least - I’m iffy on the details)
· Second three weeks: Vienna, Austria
o Chya, watch out Europe. We’ll probably hit up Prague and Budapest, etc, during this time
· Last 2.5 weeks: hmm I dunno. I just have to be back in London on the 17th!
o I’ll more than likely be spending about a week in Germany and then a week in Italy, and maybe say hi to my buddy, Spain.
About the Program
In total, there will be 17 other UNC students accompanying me on this program. Led by the venerable Professor Bob Jenkins, we will be visiting with international organizations and learning about their role/effectiveness in post-conflict regions. Pretty cool, huh? I’m pretty pumped. AND I get PWAD* credit for it.
The first three weeks will be the ‘field research’ part of the trip. And what better post-conflict place to go than the Balkans? (funny story: apparently, with regards to unlocking credit cards, USAA considers England a high risk country…but not Serbia). During this time, we’ll be out visiting orgs, etc etc.
The Vienna portion will be the ‘seminar’ part of the trip. That’s when we’ll be staying at the *ahem* the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna. And strangely enough, it’s impossible to say that without a raised nose and the accompanying posh sneer. Go ahead. Try it. 5 bucks said you didn’t use your real voice.
Haha I’m sure it’s a great place. This is where we’ll be taking classes and writing our research paper. Yepp, we get to do our own research project! Ugh, it will be 15 pages (okay, just kidding, I’m actually super pumped to write the paper) so the blog posts will probably die the weekend before its due. *cough* slash the night before its due.
Conclusion
Okay, wow. That was more rambling than usual. In the past I would apologize for the length of the post, but I’ve decided to give in to my vices and accept my flaws. Besides, I may have people living vicariously through me, so I must give them as much detail as possible.
Well, signing out!
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