My trip to the WWI and WWII sights was much more than I expected. Although I was originally excited to go, I was not prepared for all the really cool places I would see and basically relive. We left Brussels bright and early on a Saturday morning, so thank God I made it a movie night the evening prior. Our first stop was at the famous Battle of the Bulge and although it was insightful I was expecting a little more “ohh” and “ahh”. Then it began…

We left for Luxemburg and stopped at an American cemetery where General Patton is buried. It reminded me very much of Arlington Cemetery in Washington, DC, but this was in the middle of a forest and housed the grave of the heroic Patton. I was quite impressed. At this point, we were already plagued with rain and it basically never ended but it kind of suited the theme of the trip: gloomy and solemn.

We then visited the Maginot Line where the French dug up tunnels along their borders in WWI to protect themselves from the Germans, but of course that wasn’t used and eventually went under German control. The tunnels were massive and went on for miles and we were able to go inside and see how they survived daily life since it was like living in a submarine. We even got to see how the automatics weapons would rise out of the ground and shoot their targets…seemed unreal. At the end of the day we visited the famous city of Metz in France and toured some cathedrals before we finally headed to our hostel. Before heading to sleep, we all went out for some drinks and needless to say that some drank a little too much since we heard them chuck it all back up in the middle of the night…gross, I know.

We then went to Verdun and saw the Ossuary at Douaumont which looked like Arlington Cemetery again, but had a huge ossuary in the middle with the actual bones of soldiers. It was extremely morbid and disturbing to see all those millions of bones that once belonged to people.

Once we left, my friends and I dashed to a nearby Chinese restaurant to eat up since our dinner the night before was insufficient and left us starving. Later that night we went to Reims and tried new and fresh champagne. Of course, I bought a bottle since, afterall, where else can you get original and true champagne!!!???

The next day we headed to see another cathedral and shopped around until we jumped on the bus and headed to see where the armistices were signed for both the end of the worlds wars and that’s when I was really taken back. How many people can say they stood in the same room as to where an all out world war ended??? It was a speechless moment for me, needless to say. The WWI armistice was signed in a train car in the middle of nowhere in order to prevent an attack and WWII was signed in war room that was still in tact. After that we got on that big ole bus and head back to Belgium.

Well, there’s nothing new in my neck of the woods. I was supposed to go to London this weekend, but that fell through due to the price tag of the entire trip that was mounting well over 200 Euros. Since I’m going on a trip next weekend touring WWI battlegrounds and the like starting here in Belgium and stopping in France and Luxembourg, I figure I should save my money until then. And besides, some friends and I recently decided to go to Barcelona during the following weekend to celebrate my birthday! I haven’t been there before, but I hear it’s a blast. I can’t wait.

Last week I took advantage of my longer-than-normal hair and let my roommate cut it into a fohawk. It was fun being a European for a while, but I soon cut it to my normal style.

Obviously things haven’t calmed down and will inevitably get worse with paper proposals and project deadlines quickly approaching. On top of that, student government continues to keep me busy but also keeps me frustrated. Our terms seem to be too short to do much so if things aren’t done quickly and efficiently they will dissolve. Unfortunately, Belgium is anti-efficient and anti-productivity so there isn’t much working in our favor.

Tuesday was also an outstanding day in the U.S. A friend and I joined the Democrats Abroad (a DNC branch abroad) early Wednesday morning to watch the results come in and for the first in my adult and politically conscious life, I have experienced what it feels like for success at the polls. Although I am glad the American people have finally decided to vote the right way, I am still saddened that 1) it took them six years to realize the U.S. was digging itself in a shit-hole (pardon the French) and 2) that they probably don’t realize the many issues that are at the heart of the Democratic party that are for the benefit of mankind and everyone’s well-being. The election was obviously dampened by the constant Republican scandals (don’t people realize that they have always been corrupt and hypocritical???? I thought Nixon would have been a wake up call) and the mismanaged Iraq war that was unnecessary since Day One, so hopefully this will lead the country back to the U.S.’s democratic values and serve the American citizens like it was made to be. Hopefully this election is a foreshadow of the 2008 Presidential elections…my vote is for Barack Obama (if he runs).

The past couple of weeks have been quite hectic with paper proposals due and maintaining the reins of the student government. Needless to say I am already behind in my readings, I am on top of my classes. One paper I began discusses the causes of the Arab-Israeli Conflicts from 1948 to 1973 on the differing levels of analysis of the unit, state, and international system so it’s pretty exciting especially since it will help me with my dissertation. I am not too sure on what exactly my dissertation’s thesis, but I’m pretty sure it will be about religious fundamentalism and it’s newfound influence on the international system as a main actor. Enough about school…
Last night we had an amazing Halloween party here at my house. My entire program showed up and had awesome costumes. From the Flintstones, Kill Bill characters, Wonderwoman, drag queens, the Virgin Mary, to hula dancers and the common man from India. After many years of being called Fez (from That 70’s Show), I finally decided to dress as him. It was quite awesome; I cannot lie. I bought all my clothes at a thrift store and, yes, it was all womans clothing…but it didn’t seem like it! The platforms were womans heels, the bell-bottoms were tied with a string, and the shirt had extra cloth making it possible to make a slight tie…the picture above should explain it. We all drank and danced until 4:00am without any problems and fortunately warned our neighbors of our crazy party and, in fact, had some of them over so it turned out as a complete success.
There’s nothing too exciting to report, but I’ll be going to London next week for a conference so I’m sure that should entail some fun stories. Hasta luego.