We have about thirty minutes until we head out to Table Mountain so I'll try to catch up my blog to real time as I'm sure it will only get harder to write as school starts. So I'll begin with my flight from Brussels and within the next couple days post on the rest of Edinburgh and the beginning of South Africa. A quick South Africa update: I found out where I was living today, in one of the largest houses with 18 people (including my friend Lexie). We all have our own rooms and bathrooms! It's the closest house to campus but farther from the shuttles so we will have a hard walk up the hill. The grocery store is about a 10 minute walk. There will be a security guard from 6pm-6am and there is a locked gate. Our Student Orientation Leader (they call them SOL (pronounced soul) mate (also our RA told us that in the 8 semesters she has been an RA, she's never had someone break into the house. Anyways, back to Brussels...
I was first sitting on the right side of the plane next to a very smelly man. I managed to move to the middle 5-seat section in the aisle where there were only two people sitting at the other end of the section. I ended up introducing myself to Pete Igor the 35-year-old video editor for the largest TV news in Belgium, VRT. Our flight had stopped in Dulles and he was there covering the inauguration. I had a great time learning about Brussels and the Belgian people. He drew me a map of Belgium, showing me the different areas and languages, and we discussed politics and how the Belgian people feel about the world including the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. He said that Belgians do not support the killing of all the Palestinians that has occured in the war but he did agree that what Hamas was doing was clearly not ok as well. Anyways, it was certainly an interesting flight and he offered to give me a ride but I did not want him to have to drive into Brussels during rush hour.
I arrived at the airport early around 6:30 and put sweatpants on under my jeans and all three of my hoodies. Then I took a 15-minute train into Brussels Central Station and began my day there. I found a large map on the street and tried to memorize the route to the info center. Unfortunately, the streets in Brussels, like most of Europe, are far from being in a grid, and it was only after an hour of wandering around and a half hour of sitting in a cafe sipping some lovely Belgian hot cocoa, that I found the info center.
They had free internet stations so I looked at the email I received from a friend of mine who'd studied abroad in Brussels and then asked the people working there what I should do. I ended up at least seeing everything she had circled on the map.
First, I walked over to the instrument museum. Though it wasn't super interesting, the cool part was the headphones which automatically played the instrument you were standing in front of.
From there I tried to rent a bicycle as they basically had bicycle vending machines for 1 euro and hour. My credit card didn't work unfortunately so I took the subway and went to the European Union Parliament. I missed the tours but I got to see it from the outside and the info center. Then I walked to the Natural Science museum, but it was too expensive to be worth it, so I hopped on the subway and went to the other end of Brussels to the site of the 1958 World's Fair. It was pretty empty because of the rain but I walked through the outdoor food market towards mini-Europe. To my dismay, it was closed, which made sense with all the rain and it being outside, so I went to the Atomium, which alone was worth the visit to Brussels.
They take you all the way to the top with the fastest elevator in Brussels. This is the observation "electron" where there are screens that show exactly what you're looking at. I travelled to the other electrons by escalators and stairs inside the tubes. They had interesting exhibits on the fair and about the atomium itself. After a lovely time at the Atomium, I went back on the subway and back to central Brussels. For dinner, I went to the narrow alley that had many restaurants on both sides. Unfortunately, each restaurant had someone outside trying to get you to come inside. I just wanted to look at menus but if I stopped for a second, the people would hound you. It was getting late so I just ended up in a random restaurant. I ordered one of the local dishes the waiter recommended, but it was probably the worst and most expensive meal I had of cubes of beef with frittes (fries) at 16 euros. The bottle of water (when I had asked for tap) was another 4 euros. Oh well, it would keep me nourished for my unintended late-night adventure in Edinburgh.
Friday, January 30, 2009
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Long Awaited Inauguration Day Report
I finally finished this on the way to Cape Town:
I'm currently southeast of Stephenville, Canada (that's the closest city it shows on the map as we're over the ocean. It's about 2 hours into the flight, and my report on the inauguration is long over due. I'm watching Eagle Eye too so this could take a while but what else have I got to do.
So Tuesday morning after 3 and a half hours of sleep we woke up at 4 a.m. to head to the inauguration. We were out by 4:30 and started walking towards the mall. There was a smattering of people around the GW campus but we seemed to be the early bunch. Then we arrived a couple blocks from the Washington Monument and all of a sudden busses were lined up and crowds of people were walking with us. Marc noted that it was like a scene from a zombie movie, with dead faces all heading towards the spot lights at the Capitol Building.
The police were out in full force but there were no security checkpoints as we expected. I'm sure the police were watching and looking for backpacks or anything suspicious but it seems it was either too early or we were already within the security zone. Either way, we felt pretty safe with the 35,000 police and other security in the city, and snipers lining the rooftops of every building along the mall.
We kept walking towards the capitol thinking that we would encounter the wall of people any second but we got all the way to the first jumbotron on the left of the mall. I had suggested we go to the side because you could go much farther up but we went dead center which ended up obstructing our view of the podium later (with binoculars). It was no real disappointment as this was it and we were there to witness it. It was about being with 1.5 million Americans as we all weathered the cold for 8 hours to witness history and celebrate the moment. But I'm getting ahead of myself.
We put down our blanket, surveyed the scene for a bit, and then sat and huddled. It was cold, and I certainly did as much as I could to bundle up with what I had, but even with four layers and the best long underwear money can buy, I still froze my butt off.
After an hour it was time to hike my way through the quickly building crowd to the bathroom. On the way back, I tripped over the Bennetts who turned out to be sitting just 20 feet behind us, quite a coincidence indeed. When I left the Bennetts I still didn't know where my friends were but just after I left, I heard Marc's voice and made my way back to them. We spent a half hour watching West Wing (it fit the mood) but we were interrupted by the Jumbotrons turning on. It was just announcements at first but we saw that they had already closed the parade route.
Then, they began to play the official concert on the Lincoln Memorial from Sunday night. Marc had gone too it but I did not get in until Monday morning. That really made time fly by and were some of the best moments of the morning such as when 1.5 million people "threw their hands up and shout". Overall, the concert lead to a lot of communal singing and truly made the crowd into a community of 1.5 million rather than just individuals.
The live feed of arrivals to the seated section of the inauguration began after the concert, which served very well as the comedy for the event. Someone made the mistake of leaving what I assume was the podium microphone on which picked up many important people's small talk. All of a sudden the chatter would get louder and distinct and someone would say "my mother really enjoyed your visit the other day". We could not always see who said them though as the cameramen were having a frenzy scoping out celebrities. It was nice when I would say to our group "who's that?" and the woman in front of us answered (every time, she also made sure we all got flags). Some guests like the members of the house of representatives were specifically announced when they walked through the doors, but when there was a possibility of a celebrity arriving by car, they still switched the camera view.
President Bush arrived by Marine One (his helicopter) and as soon as he was shown on screen he was booed. As much as I dislike President Bush, I felt it was just wrong to boo him during his last minutes in office. The staunch republican in our group was of course very pissed. Cheney on the other hand, who was behind almost everything that was wrong with the previous administration, deserved a resounding boo from the crowd so he maybe acknowledged (at least in his head if not out loud) how much he has negatively affected the nation.
When the motorcade was shown driving towards the capitol, you could feel the anticipation of the crowd, everyone waiting for that moment when everyone erupted in cheers. He got out of his car without really anyone seeing, and it wasn't until he walked in the building that the first of many crowd-wide eruptions occured. By that time of course everyone was on their feet and after a few more official introductions, the soon to be President of the United States was introduced and walked down the steps. The yelling and screaming that first met the President-elect when he was first seen was quadrupled as the ground literally shook with the cheers. He took his seat and the ceremony began.
Vice-President Biden's swearing in was met with almost as many cheers as Obama's was moments later (possibly more due to the man who was leaving the office). The excitement electrified the crowd as Obama's swearing-in was next. He took to the stage and put his hand on the bible. The last eight years of misery flashed before the crowd's eyes as a presidency came to a much anticipated end. There was a reaction from the crowd when the Chief Justice caused Obama to repeat the Oath incorrectly, but it could not distract from the real meaning of the moment. I teared up and as I glanced around me there were many wet faces in the crowd (even the staunch republican with us). Then he said his last words and it felt as if a great weight had been lifted off us as we all leapt into the air, hugging anyone in arm's length.
We left after his speech, as the poet began reading. It did us no good though as we still found ourselves stuck at an intersection, literally packed like cattle, without moving for a half hour. After that though, we made it back without much delay.
At night we attended the George Washington University Inaugural Ball. It was in the Omni Shoreham, one of the nicest hotels in D.C. It featured around seven large ballrooms all with different types of music and food. It was a great way to end the day, with a little bit of swing, hip-hop and jazz to finish it off.
Standing there within view of the President taking the oath of office and delivering his inaugural address will stand as one of the greatest moment's of my life and I will certainly never forget it.
I'm currently southeast of Stephenville, Canada (that's the closest city it shows on the map as we're over the ocean. It's about 2 hours into the flight, and my report on the inauguration is long over due. I'm watching Eagle Eye too so this could take a while but what else have I got to do.
So Tuesday morning after 3 and a half hours of sleep we woke up at 4 a.m. to head to the inauguration. We were out by 4:30 and started walking towards the mall. There was a smattering of people around the GW campus but we seemed to be the early bunch. Then we arrived a couple blocks from the Washington Monument and all of a sudden busses were lined up and crowds of people were walking with us. Marc noted that it was like a scene from a zombie movie, with dead faces all heading towards the spot lights at the Capitol Building.
The police were out in full force but there were no security checkpoints as we expected. I'm sure the police were watching and looking for backpacks or anything suspicious but it seems it was either too early or we were already within the security zone. Either way, we felt pretty safe with the 35,000 police and other security in the city, and snipers lining the rooftops of every building along the mall.
We kept walking towards the capitol thinking that we would encounter the wall of people any second but we got all the way to the first jumbotron on the left of the mall. I had suggested we go to the side because you could go much farther up but we went dead center which ended up obstructing our view of the podium later (with binoculars). It was no real disappointment as this was it and we were there to witness it. It was about being with 1.5 million Americans as we all weathered the cold for 8 hours to witness history and celebrate the moment. But I'm getting ahead of myself.
We put down our blanket, surveyed the scene for a bit, and then sat and huddled. It was cold, and I certainly did as much as I could to bundle up with what I had, but even with four layers and the best long underwear money can buy, I still froze my butt off.
After an hour it was time to hike my way through the quickly building crowd to the bathroom. On the way back, I tripped over the Bennetts who turned out to be sitting just 20 feet behind us, quite a coincidence indeed. When I left the Bennetts I still didn't know where my friends were but just after I left, I heard Marc's voice and made my way back to them. We spent a half hour watching West Wing (it fit the mood) but we were interrupted by the Jumbotrons turning on. It was just announcements at first but we saw that they had already closed the parade route.
Then, they began to play the official concert on the Lincoln Memorial from Sunday night. Marc had gone too it but I did not get in until Monday morning. That really made time fly by and were some of the best moments of the morning such as when 1.5 million people "threw their hands up and shout". Overall, the concert lead to a lot of communal singing and truly made the crowd into a community of 1.5 million rather than just individuals.
The live feed of arrivals to the seated section of the inauguration began after the concert, which served very well as the comedy for the event. Someone made the mistake of leaving what I assume was the podium microphone on which picked up many important people's small talk. All of a sudden the chatter would get louder and distinct and someone would say "my mother really enjoyed your visit the other day". We could not always see who said them though as the cameramen were having a frenzy scoping out celebrities. It was nice when I would say to our group "who's that?" and the woman in front of us answered (every time, she also made sure we all got flags). Some guests like the members of the house of representatives were specifically announced when they walked through the doors, but when there was a possibility of a celebrity arriving by car, they still switched the camera view.
President Bush arrived by Marine One (his helicopter) and as soon as he was shown on screen he was booed. As much as I dislike President Bush, I felt it was just wrong to boo him during his last minutes in office. The staunch republican in our group was of course very pissed. Cheney on the other hand, who was behind almost everything that was wrong with the previous administration, deserved a resounding boo from the crowd so he maybe acknowledged (at least in his head if not out loud) how much he has negatively affected the nation.
When the motorcade was shown driving towards the capitol, you could feel the anticipation of the crowd, everyone waiting for that moment when everyone erupted in cheers. He got out of his car without really anyone seeing, and it wasn't until he walked in the building that the first of many crowd-wide eruptions occured. By that time of course everyone was on their feet and after a few more official introductions, the soon to be President of the United States was introduced and walked down the steps. The yelling and screaming that first met the President-elect when he was first seen was quadrupled as the ground literally shook with the cheers. He took his seat and the ceremony began.
Vice-President Biden's swearing in was met with almost as many cheers as Obama's was moments later (possibly more due to the man who was leaving the office). The excitement electrified the crowd as Obama's swearing-in was next. He took to the stage and put his hand on the bible. The last eight years of misery flashed before the crowd's eyes as a presidency came to a much anticipated end. There was a reaction from the crowd when the Chief Justice caused Obama to repeat the Oath incorrectly, but it could not distract from the real meaning of the moment. I teared up and as I glanced around me there were many wet faces in the crowd (even the staunch republican with us). Then he said his last words and it felt as if a great weight had been lifted off us as we all leapt into the air, hugging anyone in arm's length.
We left after his speech, as the poet began reading. It did us no good though as we still found ourselves stuck at an intersection, literally packed like cattle, without moving for a half hour. After that though, we made it back without much delay.
At night we attended the George Washington University Inaugural Ball. It was in the Omni Shoreham, one of the nicest hotels in D.C. It featured around seven large ballrooms all with different types of music and food. It was a great way to end the day, with a little bit of swing, hip-hop and jazz to finish it off.
Standing there within view of the President taking the oath of office and delivering his inaugural address will stand as one of the greatest moment's of my life and I will certainly never forget it.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
In South Africa
So this will be a quick post because I don't have the converter to
charge my laptop yet but I'm safe an sound in Cape Town.
charge my laptop yet but I'm safe an sound in Cape Town.
We arrived today at 10:30am. They greeted us at the airport and we
took a bus to our hotel which is decent. Right when you leave the
airport there is a large township (shanty town) Which makes you
quickly realize you're in Africa.
We ate lunch on the waterfront, outside by a large mall which seemed
like any old boardwalk in the U.S. I have yet to figure out my cell
phone situation but hopefully I'm going to go do that right now. We're
also kinds trapped here and it sort of feels like a high school
retreat but that will let up as we get acclimated. Update you all soon
with my Europe trip and pictures!
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
We're here!
We made it farther than we ever thought we would, adjacent to the air & space museum. We can see the stars on the flag behind the podium! Stay tuned to my twitter for updates. Just click the link on the right of my blog. My twitter username is gadol87.Update: the map on the left shows where we were on the mall. Click on it for the full map.
The Day Before Change
After spending a week at Brandeis and going to the SSIS retreat at a house we rented in Cape Cod, it was time to head to Washington, DC for the inauguration.I got in at 10:30 a.m. today and was surprised to find a pretty quiet airport. The only odd thing was they had 3 TSA agents at the gate re-checking people getting onto our plane. I took a bus and a subway to the George Washington University campus and was met by Marc Friend at the station. About a week ago, he ordered me a special inaugural guest pass (a great souvenir), so I can get pass security at his dorm. Apparently they only have a guard for the inauguration and usually you just swipe in. We relaxed for a bit and then headed out for lunch and a bit of sightseeing.
We headed towards the White House after stopping for lunch at a great deli, and found it blocked (not surprising). We were trying to see the White House from the north side but we did not realize it would be blocked because that's where Blair House is (where Obama is staying). There was a large crowd gathered at the gate so we decided to stick around to see if we could catch a glimpse of Obama. He had just arrived a half hour earlier and his motorcade was outside but all we knew was that he had dinners to go to so he could not be leaving for hours.We decided to leave since nothing seemed to be happening and then a black SUV pulled up across the street and someone got out attracting a large crowd around him. We stood our ground at the gate for a little because we had good spots but then we decided to leave and see who it was. As we crossed the street he started getting back into his car, and we saw that it was Al Sharpton in the flesh. The police cleared the street to let him leave pushing me right to window where Al Sharpton was doing some last minute hand shaking. The car started inching away and I found myself right at his window, so I stuck out my hand and with my right hand shook his hand, he smiled, waved one more time, and then sped away. Though he's certainly no Obama, it was a funny consolation.
We then walked to try to get a glimpse of the White House from the south. That of course we found blocked off too, so we walked a little further to the national mall and we were able to stand 100 feet from a fence that was about another 100 feet from another fence. Basically not very close but you can still see it there in the background. Anyways, we're leaving to go stand on the mall at 4:30 a.m. tomorrow so it's time for bed. It's going to be a day I don't think I'll ever forget.
Introducing...
So before I write my first post on my week and a half long vacation of sorts on the way to Cape Town, I thought I should officially introduce my first foray into the blogging world. I decided to create this space as a way of both writing down my experiences while abroad and sharing them with friends and family. I'm excited about it right now so hopefully I will follow through and keep the blog regularly updated while I'm abroad. As for the name of the blog, University of Cape Town is situated on the east side of Table Mountain (as seen on the left) and since I am immensely creative I came up with the what now should be a self-explanatory title. Anyways, don't judge the name too much... enjoy reading!
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